In The News

09-03-09

Stranger Slaps 2-year-old In Walmart

A Gwinnett County man, Roger Stephens, is in custody accused of slapping a stranger’s crying toddler in a Stone Mountain Wal-Mart on Monday.

Sonya Mathews, the mother of the 2-year-old child, told police that both were walking in the aisles of the Rockbridge Road store when Roger Stephens, 61, approached and said “if you don’t shut that baby up, I will shut her up for you,” according to a police report.

A few moments later, in another aisle, Stephens grabbed the 2-year-old and slapped her across the face four or five times, according to the report.

Stephens then told Mathews, “See, I told you I would shut her up,” according to the report.

A bystander held Stephens until store security came to assist, according to a WSB-TV report.

When police arrived, Stephens said that he slapped the child and that he apologized to Mathews, according to the report.

Stephens was charged with felony cruelty to children. He had his first court appearance Tuesday and is being held at the Gwinnett County Detention Center without bond, according to the Gwinnett Police Department spokesman Cpl. David Schiralli.

The 2-year-old victim sustained slight redness to the face, according to the report. There was no video footage in the area the incident took place, according to the report.

Mathews said she forgives the man who slapped her daughter and says he must have mental issues.

Resource Pick... check it out!

http://www.ajc.com/news/gwinnett/man-slaps-strangers-crying-129235.html

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/20684677/detail.html

08-27-09

Dominick Dunne Dies

Dominick Dunne, the best-selling novelist and Vanity Fair writer who chronicled the misdeeds of the rich and famous with wicked glee -- most memorably in his highly personal accounts of the trials of Claus von Bulow, the Menendez brothers and O.J. Simpson -- died Wednesday at his home in New York. He was 83.

The cause was bladder cancer, according to the Vanity Fair Web site, where his death was announced.

Dunne had recovered from prostate cancer in 2001 but was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2008. Although ill, he covered Simpson's recent armed robbery trial in Las Vegas, which resulted in a guilty verdict for which Dunne had waited more than a decade.

Covering the last Simpson trial capped an extraordinary career that had bloomed from tragedy. Dunne was a television and film producer for two decades until drugs and alcohol nearly ruined him.

He had started life over as a writer when his daughter, Dominique, was murdered in 1982. Dunne wrote an article for Vanity Fair magazine that raged at the injustice of the crime and the leniency of the killer's punishment.

The story propelled its author into a new career reporting from the intersection of celebrity, society and scandal. He filled the niche with panache, becoming, according to the Cambridge History of Law in America, "one of the nation's premier popular chroniclers of notorious criminal trials and lawsuits involving celebrities."

He wrote a column, "Dominick Dunne's Diary," and hosted a Court TV program, "Power, Privilege and Justice."

What was indisputable was that Dunne became a celebrity in his own right, who openly sympathized with crime victims, skewered the perpetrators and rode in limousines to his front-row seat at their trials.

When Dunne wasn't covering a sensational trial, he was writing intimate profiles of movie stars, socialites and newsmakers -- "the only person writing about high society from inside the aquarium," former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown once said.

His willingness to entertain nearly any source made him the target of an $11 million defamation lawsuit by former California Rep. Gary Condit after Dunne told a bizarre, unsubstantiated story on national television and radio programs that implicated Condit in the 2001 disappearance of Washington intern Chandra Levy. He apologized to Condit and paid an undisclosed sum to settle the lawsuit in 2005.

Born Oct. 29, 1925, Dunne was the second of six children in a wealthy Hartford, Conn., family. One of his brothers was John Gregory Dunne, the late screenwriter and novelist who was married to another literary celebrity, Joan Didion.

In 1954, he married Ellen Griffin. They had two sons, Griffin and Alexander, in addition to Dominique.

Dunne's writings include "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles" (1985). His last novel, "Too Much Money," is scheduled for release in December 2009 from Random House.

But trial coverage became his signature. Dunne wore his sympathy for victims like a badge of honor.

"I made no pretense of doing balanced reporting about murder," he wrote in his memoir. "I was appalled by defense attorneys who would do anything to win an acquittal for a guilty person."

When the Simpson trial opened in 1995, Dunne's sympathy for the victims was so well-known that Judge Lance Ito assigned him a permanent front-row seat in the courtroom next to the Goldmans and Browns.

Privileged or not, Dunne worked hard, arriving at the courthouse early and recording every wink and nod. Dunne's insider accounts of the Simpson trial for Vanity Fair and commentaries on Court TV elevated him to a new celebrity. "O.J. Simpson improved my social position," he told USA Today in 1997.

Resource pick... check it out!!!

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090827/NATION/908270419/1020/NATION/Dominick-Dunne--best-selling-crime-story-author--dies-at-83

Vanity Fair 19 page tribute!!!

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2009/08/dominick-dunne-obituary.html

08-24-09

Michael Jackson's Death Ruled Homicide

The Los Angeles County coroner has ruled Michael Jackson’s death a homicide, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press, a finding that makes it more likely criminal charges will be filed against the doctor who was with the pop star when he died on June 25.

The coroner determined a fatal combination of drugs was given to Jackson hours before he died in his rented Los Angeles mansion, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the findings have not been publicly released. Forensic tests found the powerful anesthetic propofol acted together with at least two sedatives to cause Jackson’s death, the official said.

Dr. Conrad Murray, a Las Vegas cardiologist who became Jackson’s personal physician weeks before his death, is the target of a manslaughter investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department. Dateline NBC's Josh Mankiewicz confirmed that Murray is the target of a manslaughter probe. According to a search warrant affidavit unsealed Monday in Houston, Murray told investigators he administered a 25 milligram dose of propofol around 10:40 a.m. after spending the night injecting Jackson with two sedatives in an unsuccessful attempt to get him to sleep.

Read Complete Story...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32542682/ns/entertainment-music/

08-11-09

Police: 500-pound inmate hid gun in his flab

Three separate body searches failed to locate 9mm pistol, officials say

An obese inmate in Texas has been charged after officials learned he had a gun hidden in his rolls of fat.

George Vera, 25, was charged with possession of a firearm in a correctional facility after he told a guard at the Harris County Jail about the unloaded 9mm pistol.

The Houston Chronicle reported Thursday that Vera was originally arrested on charges of selling illegal copies of compact discs.

The 500-pound man was searched during his arrest and again at a city jail and the county jail, but officers never found the weapon.

Vera admitted having the gun during a shower break at the county jail.

Resource Pick - Check it out!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32340014/ns/us_news-weird_news/

06-26-09

100 Years For Neglect

James Sargent, Illinois, has been sentenced to 100 years for allowing his 5-month-old baby son to, basically, rot to death from the bacteria created from his dirty, unchanged diaper.

Peoria County Circuit Judge James Shadid differed from his normal sentencing routine, which he lays out his reasoning for a sentence. Instead, the judge said the facts are clear and speak for themselves.

"I don't believe that someone who would let a 5-month-old rot to death deserves" an explanation for the harsh sentence, Peoria County Circuit Judge James Shadid said in ordering James Sargent to prison.

Sargent, 24, showed little reaction and stared ahead as Circuit Judge James Shadid read his appeal rights. As he left the courtroom, he didn't look back at his parents or the parents of his former girlfriend, Tracy Hermann, also facing murder charges for the February 2008 death of Benjamin Sargent.

Sargent was convicted in April of first-degree murder for the infant death. At that bench trial, Shadid also found the South Peoria man's actions from Feb. 4 to Feb. 12, 2008, were "brutal and heinous . . . indicative of wanton cruelty," factors which led to the enhanced sentence of up to 100 years.

(Benjamin Sargent) Prosecutors Donna Cruz and Nancy Mermelstein argued that the infant's diaper wasn't changed for at least five days and possibly up to a week. He wasn't bathed for about nine days. His last meal likely came three to four days before he was found, lifeless, on Feb. 12, 2008. Prolonged exposure to that unchanged diaper caused his skin to be eaten away and allowed bacteria to seep into his body, ultimately causing his death.

"It's pretty difficult to think of a more horrendous series of events than those caused by the defendant," Cruz said. "He took a defenseless 5-month-old, strapped him into a car seat, put him into a crib and left him there for days on end.

"This child suffered and suffered terribly," Cruz said.

Read resource details...

http://www.pjstar.com/homepage/x135726492/Peoria-man-sentenced-to-100-years-in-prison-for-death-of-son

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090625/us_nm/us_usa_crime_infant

06-16-09

Tragic Sign Of The Times

Another family murder and suicide happened in Florida, Monday. The father is identified as John Wood who officers say killed his wife Cindy, 40, and his two children, 12-year-old Aubrey and 10-year-old Dillon.

Sheriff Don Eslinger said it appears three of the family members were killed and the other committed suicide. Although the investigation continues, Eslinger said John Wood was found with a head trauma and a gun nearby.

"It's just a huge tragedy," Eslinger said. "He apparently shot his entire family."

The Woods owned the home at 1214 Trentwood Court inside the gated community near Lake Mary. Eslinger said counselors were in the neighborhood, because "there are many children in the area who are friends of the two (children)."

Burma Posey said she was alarmed to hear that financial hardship may have played a role in the families tragic deaths.

"This is one street it makes me wonder how many people across Florida and cross the U.S. are facing this kind of stress," she said.

Back in 2004, John and Cindy Wood filed for bankruptcy. They had two mortgages on their Trentwood Court home and over $100,000 in debt on 17 credit cards. The Wood family had recently lost $2,500 gambling in Vegas.

By all appearances, the Woods were a happy and functional family.

Read Resource Details...

http://www.wesh.com/cnn-news/19756863/detail.html

http://www.wftv.com/news/19756937/detail.html

06-02-09

OJ Simpson Memorabilia To Be Sold

The memorabilia that was used as evidence in OJ Simpson's armed robbery and kidnapping trial, is now in Santa Monica waiting to be sold by the Sheriff's department.

The items are to be sold to satisfy part of the $33.5-million civil judgment against Simpson in the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole, and Goldman’s son, Ron, the lawyer said.

Goldman attorney David Cook said he expected the dealers and perhaps others involved in the case will try to claim the items before the sale. “Suffice it to say, we will see who emerges with what toys from that sandbox,” Cook said.

Read resource details...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/06/footballs-jerseys-and-other-oj-simpson-memorabilia-used-as-evidence-in-the-former-nfl-stars-armed-robbery-and-kidnapp.html

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-simpson-memorabilia,0,3691094.story

Also:

Simpson Appeal

Simpson appealed his kidnapping and robbery conviction and has asked a judge to to let him out of prison while it decides whether to overturn his conviction in an armed hotel room heist. (Okay, I'm laughing hahaha!)

In the Vegas appeal, his lawyers said that Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass failed to properly prevent the robbery and kidnapping trial from being tainted by Simpson's infamy from the murders or thoroughly screen the jury.

Prosecutors told the Los Angeles Times they expected to prevail.

"While the appeal is certainly his constitutional right, I am confident the guilty verdict from the Clark County court will stand," said Clark County District Attorney David Roger.

"Judge Jackie Glass and the jury did a great job with this trial, during which the jurors saw Mr. Simpson for the criminal that he is," Roger told the Times.

Read resource details...

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE54Q0B920090527

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_12496030

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/27/2581711.htm?section=entertainment

05/07/09

Victim Of Spousal Abuse Gets Face Transplant!

(Connie Culp before the shooting) I find this story absolutely amazing. This victim, of her husband's violence, has a new face after her husband shot it off.

Connie Culp was left for dead in 2004 after her husband attempted a murder suicide. They both survived and he's now in jail.

After the shooting her own children shied away from her.

When you see her picture you will see all of the puffiness around her jaw-line. Doctors added more skin than needed in case of tissue rejection. After monitoring Culp's progress, doctors say they will remove the excess tissue and tighten her jawline in future surgeries.

And the saddest thing I read is the same thing we hear in almost all of the abuse cases... "Despite her wounds, she told WTOV in 2008, "I'll always love him. He was my first love.""

They expect Connie to look like this within 2 years.

Read the full article details here...

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/06/face.transplant.shooting/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

05-01-09

Woman Claims Her Father Was Zodiac Killer

Southern California Woman Claims Dead Father Was Infamous 1960s Bay Area Killer

A woman stepped forward Wednesday to claim her late father was the infamous Zodiac Killer and that she as a 7-year-old wrote and stamped some of the letters that taunted local police.

Kevin McLean, the former law partner of the late Melvin Belli, said he has led a two-year investigation into claims by Deborah Perez that her father, Guy Ward Hendrickson, was the Zodiac killer. Hendrickson, who lived in Orange County, died in 1993 of cancer.

Perez described Hendrickson as a carpenter, a father of six, with a violent nature.

“He was a Jekyll and Hyde,” McLean said of Hendrickson. “He was nuts. He set out to kill people. Some of these killings were not random.”

San Francisco homicide investigators said they will check into the information from Deborah Perez, who said her father, Guy Ward Hendrickson, killed at least two of the known victims 40 years ago.

Sgt. Lyn Tomioka said the investigation into the 1969 death of San Francisco taxi driver Paul Lee Stine related to the Zodiac killer remains ongoing.

"We get a significant number of calls a year. We will look into whatever evidence that is presented to us," Tomioka said about the case that also inspired a hit movie in 2007.

Perez also said she embroidered the mask her father wore during some of the slayings and added she had – as a child – seen a scrapbook that would indicate her father may killed “30-40” people.

“Everyone is going to say she is crazy, but we had psychologists examine Ms. Perez,” McLean said.

Resouces...

http://www.ktvu.com/news/19322231/detail.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/30/national/main4979788.shtml

04-18-09

Oops! Attempted Kidnapping Suspect Goes Free

Orange County Florida

A 9-year-old little girl fought her way out of an alleged kidnappers arms, Friday, just to have the man released 12 hours later.

Marcus Younge, 23, was arrested and booked into jail after trying to grab the little girl and pick her up. When she got away from her abductor she told her parents who immediately called deputies.

The girls parents started searching the neighborhood and when they saw the man who fit the description, the father snapped a picture with his cell phone, which he gave to authorities when they arrived.

Deputies cordoned off the area and used a K-9 to track the scent. The dog led deputies to a house about one block away. That is where they found Younge and arrested him.

Younge told deputies he reached down to give the girl a hug. He also acknowledged to deputies that he may have a problem when it comes to young children and wanting to hug them.

According to investigators, Younge admitted to deputies that he tried to kidnap the child Thursday night on Tern Drive in Orange County and also said he's attracted to young children.

After Younge was arrested, authorities say a rookie deputy in training put a zero in the bond amount column on Younge's arrest affidavit. The sheriff's office said that the rookie deputy, in training, was told to set Younge's bond for attempted kidnapping at $5,000.

See full resource details and video...

http://www.wftv.com/news/19206104/detail.html

01-05-09

Man Arrested In Death Of 4-Year-Old's Mom

Charlie W. Myers Arrested

Charlie W. Myers was arrested in the shooting death of a woman whose 4-year son was abducted and left unharmed at a highway rest area, authorities said Monday.

The 22-year-old, Myers was taken into custody in the slaying of Jennifer Nelson of Dayton, found dead in her home Friday, Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer said.

Myers confessed to involvement in the case, Plummer said. He didn't elaborate. Investigators were looking at several possible motives, including robbery, he said.

Myers was arrested on a warrant for aggravated murder, according to a spokesman with the Franklin County jail in Columbus. There was no information on whether he had an attorney.

Read full resource details...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/05/national/main4699363.shtml?tag=main_home_storiesBySection

12/30/08

Child Kidnapping Hoax

A 22-year-old former Boston woman was arrested in Miami for falsely claiming that a French nanny kidnapped her 6-month-old baby boy in Florida, police said.

Miami Police said the boy she called "Riley" – and the nanny named "Camile" – never existed. Instead, 22-year-old Meagan McCormic allegedly used a photograph of a brown-haired infant to lure her boyfriend, John Buchness, from Boston to Miami to visit the boy. She allegedly told Buchness that Riley was his son.

"It’s an unfortunate waste of resources," said police spokeswoman, Officer Kenia Alfonso. "What this woman did to try to lure her boyfriend to think that he had actually a child. ..She was quite creative. She cried. She did everything."

McCormic is charged with providing false information to authorities and is being held pending a bond hearing. Her urgent and tearful pleas for Riley's return triggered a massive two-day search and missing children's alerts starting Christmas Eve until today, when she allegedly confessed at the police department after being confronted with inconsistencies in her story.

She had told police that Riley, a 6-month-old with green eyes, had been allegedly taken by the nanny in a red Acura with a Massachusetts license plate. In her confession, police said, she said she had a miscarriage in March 2008 and never had a baby.

Police said John Buchness was duped by McCormic and is not facing charges.

Police are considering demanding that the woman repay the police department for the massive cost of the search, which included searching fields, detective work, and work on a holiday. At least 20 officers participated in the search.

Resource...

By Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/12/former_boston_w.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed7

12/24/08

Chicago sheriff baits fugitives with holiday ruse

The sheriff's office in Chicago has arrested more than 60 fugitives with a net of holiday cheer. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said Sunday that the suspects were invited to take a retailers' survey for holiday shoppers at a hotel earlier this month.

Participants who brought along a scratch-off card that was included with the survey were promised at least $500.

Those who showed up were taken into custody. One man who arrived with marijuana in his pocket was charged with possession on top of his previous charges.

The fugitives had warrants for crimes including forgery and aggravated battery.

Resource...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081222/ap_on_fe_st/odd_holiday_ruse;_ylt=Ai_EJmoG5d_h_zU8BtXrI_3tiBIF

12/17/09

Adam Walsh case close after 27 years.

Police Say Walsh's 1981 Murder Solved

A serial killer who died more than a decade ago is the person who decapitated the 6-year-old son of "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh in 1981, police in Florida said Tuesday.

The announcement brought to a close a case that has vexed the Walsh family for more than two decades, launched the television show about the nation's most notorious criminals and inspired changes in how authorities search for missing children.

The suspect, Ottis Toole, had twice confessed to killing the child, but later recanted. He claimed responsibility for hundreds of murders, but police determined most of the confessions were lies. Toole's niece told the boy's father, John Walsh, her uncle confessed on his deathbed in prison that he killed Adam.

For all that went wrong in the probe, the case contributed to massive advances in police searches for missing youngsters and a notable shift in the view parents and children hold of the world.

Adam's death, and his father's subsequent activism on his behalf, helped put faces on milk cartons, shopping bags and mailbox flyers, started fingerprinting programs and increased security at schools and stores. It spurred the creation of missing persons units at every large police department.

It also prompted national legislation to create a national center, database and toll-free line devoted to missing children, and led to the start of "America's Most Wanted," which brought those cases into millions of homes.

Resource...

http://news.aol.com/article/police-say-walshs-1981-murder-solved/279175

11/20/08

Allred Sentenced To Die

Andrew Allred

A judge today gave the death penalty to a 22-year-old Oviedo man to who cyberstalked his girlfriend after she dumped him then tracked her down and killed her and a friend.

Andrew Allred pleaded guilty in April to two counts of first-degree murder.

The sentence was handed down today by Circuit Judge O.H. Eaton Jr.

The judge could have sent Allred to prison for the rest of his life. The judge chose the death penalty, in part, he said, because the slayings were especially cold and calculated.

Allred killed Tiffany Barwick, 19, and her friend, Michael Ruschak, 22, April 24, 2007, at an Oviedo home Ruschak, a University of Central Florida student, shared with roommates. Allred also wounded Eric Thomas Roberts, who tried to wrestle the gun away.

The Ruschaks said that Allred's sentencing today was not closure for them.

"It won't be over until he'll be put to death," said Janice Ruschak, Michael's mother. "And, yes, I'll go to his execution."

She said she still checks Michael's MySpace page every day, and his cell phone is still on. "Some kids still call and leave him messages, but I don't listen to the messages. They've told me that they're glad the phone is still on."

Allred will be sent to prison in the next few days, where his long hair and beard will be shaved. He will be placed on death row.

Read resource details...

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-death-penalty-ovideo-slayings-111908,0,5826019.story

http://www.ocala.com/article/20081119/ARTICLES/811190283/1001/NEWS01?Title=Allred_sentenced_to_die_for_double_murder

11/07/08

Suspect In Custody For Savage Toddler Beating

Deputies in east Orange County shut down roads and even searched a Wal-Mart until they found a man who they say savagely beat a toddler Thursday afternoon.

The man beat the toddler so badly that the child had to be flown to Arnold Palmer Hospital. Then, witnesses said, the attacker ran away from the Cypress Club Apartments, along Rouse Road in east Orange County.

Deputies said the toddler's mom was hysterical when she called 911 reporting her 18-month-old boy had been beaten by a male friend in her apartment.

Resource...

http://www.wftv.com/news/17922943/detail.html?treets=orlc&tml=orlc_break&ts=T&tmi=orlc_break_-1_02180111062008

10/23/08

Another Family Court judge removed!

Clark County continues to clean house!

Tuesday the Commission on Judicial Discipline removed Clark County Family Court Judge Nicholas Del Vecchio from office after he admitted to numerous sexual improprieties, including having sex in hotels with a staff member during working hours. The ruling bars Del Vecchio from again seeking judicial office in Nevada as well.

The commission's decision put the eight-year judge in the company of three other Southern Nevada jurists removed from the bench since 1987.

In 1987, District Judge Paul Goldman, was kicked off the bench after being found guilty of judicial misconduct.

In 1995, North Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge Gary Davis, accused of borrowing money from court employees and endorsing political candidates, was removed.

Then in 1998 the commission removed Family Court Judge Fran Fine for having ex-parte conversations, or conversations involving only one side of a case and appointing a cousin as a mediator without disclosing the relationship.

This is the same commission that now has before it the misconduct case of suspended Clark County District Judge Elizabeth Halverson.

Mary Boetsch, special prosecutor for the commission, described Del Vecchio as a man with great sexual hunger.

"He was constantly on the prowl," she said, adding that it was "abundantly clear he has no business being a judge."

After the judgment was announced, Del Vecchio asked if he could continue to receive his salary and health care benefits until his term concludes at the end of the year.

District Judge Richard Wagner of Lovelock said "Our order immediately removes you,", not answering Del Vecchio's question directly.

Read More...

http://www.lvrj.com/news/32204129.html

10/21/2008

More arrests in Vegas abduction

Another arrest has been made in the investigation of a 6-year-old abducted Nevada boy who was found during the weekend.

Sunday in Fontana, California, 42-year-old Terri Leavy was taken into custody by police. Leavy is believed to be the companion of Clemons Fred Tinnemeyer, the grandfather of the boy, Cole Puffinburger, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

Leavy and Tinnemeyer have not been charged in the case. The two will be taken to Las Vegas where they will remain in custody as material witnesses. Under a federal statute, they can be held for a "reasonable amount of time" until a deposition can be taken or they testify under oath.

Authorities said Leavy was wanted on an outstanding federal material witness warrant. U.S. Magistrate Oswald Parada ordered the pair detained and turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service late Monday.

Defense attorney Joan Politeo, who represents both material witnesses, declined to comment about the case.

Cole was set free late Saturday on a quiet Las Vegas street.

Authorities are looking into whether Tinnemeyer had ties to drug dealers. Police say he may have stolen millions of dollars from them.

09/26/08

Penis Pump Judge Given Release

Judge Donald Thompson Disbarred

The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday disbarred a former judge who served prison time for using a sexual device while presiding over trials.

Former Creek County District Judge Donald Thompson, 61, was accused of using a "penis pump" in court and convicted in June 2006 on four counts of indecent exposure.

Thompson was released in April after serving 20 months of a four-year prison term and has had to register as a sex offender. He was suspended from the bar association in late 2006.

The opinion written by Supreme Court Justice John Reif states that discipline less than disbarment has been imposed in cases involving felony convictions.

"However, the nature of the crimes in this matter led this Court to conclude that nothing less than disbarment is appropriate.

Resources:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/24/national/main4475167.shtml

http://newsok.com/former-judge-donald-thompson-disbarred/article/3301627

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-08-18-judge-sentenced_x.htm

08/29/08

China Arnold GUILTY!

China Arnold was found guilty of murdering her baby by burning her in a microwave oven.

Arnold was found guilty of aggravated murder and could be sentenced to death. The jury was scheduled to return Tuesday to begin hearing evidence in the death-penalty phase of the case.

The baby's DNA was found inside the microwave in Arnold's apartment, prosecutors said.

Defense attorney Jon Paul Rion told jury the there was evidence that someone else was responsible.

Resource...

ap.google.com

http://www.kirotv.com/news/17337414/detail.html

08/27/08

China Arnold Microwaved Baby Case

An 8-year-old boy who claims he saw another child place Arnold's baby in a microwave, testified Tuesday just before the defense rested their case.

The 8-year-old said he was playing hide-and-go-seek with other children at Lionda Talley's home, three doors away from China Arnold's home in Parkside Homes, when the incident occurred. The witness was 5 when Paris Talley died on Aug. 30, 2005.

The witness said that he had been upstairs when he came down and saw the other boy, who was about 8 at time, walking into the kitchen holding the baby. Then he heard the microwave starting.

When the witness went into the kitchen, he said he saw "the baby burnt" and it was "in the microwave." The door was "closed until I opened it," the boy said.

At that point, the other boy, a Talley relative who had been living with Lionda Talley, "belly-bumped me," took the child, and ran away, the witness said.

The other boy fled out the back door with the baby and "put it somewhere," the witness said. As the other boy ran away, "he threw the baby over the gate," the witness said said.

The baby was wearing a pink nightgown, the boy said. The nightgown prosecutors entered into evidence, identified by hospital workers as the one Paris had been wearing, is pink.

During the boy's testimony, some of Arnold's family members and supporters started to weep.

Read full story details...

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/08/26/ddn082608arnoldweb2.html

08/22/08

Jason Young Now Linked to Wife's Murder

Michelle Young, 29, was five months' pregnant when her sister found her lying face down on Nov. 3, 2006, inside her home at 5108 Birchleaf Drive. Her then-2-year-old daughter, Cassidy, was unharmed at her side.

Her husband, Jason Young, has now been linked to the murder of his wife, Michelle, after blood spatter that was found on a bedroom wall near her body matched his DNA, according to affidavits released to the public.

According to authorities, bloody shoe prints were also reported at the crime scene, surveillance video from a Virginia hotel of Jason Young coming and going, and a propped-open door that eliminated the need to use a traceable key card.

"Sometimes, circumstantial evidence can be more powerful than direct evidence," a former federal prosecutor said.

Jason Young told Wake County sheriff's investigators that he was out of town on business when his wife was killed.

The family of the murdered Wake County, NC, mother says they have known all along about some of the shocking details just released about the investigation.

No one has been charged in the case.

Read details...

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6337719

http://www.ncwanted.com/ncwanted_home/story/3401466/

http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20080819/NEWS/125236/1042&title=Young_linked_to_wife_s_murder

08/16/08

Mystery man is no Rockefeller, FBI confirms

The FBI said Friday that fingerprints from a German man's decades-old immigration papers matched to a kidnapping suspect who calls himself Clark Rockefeller, the first forensic link to a conclusion California authorities had already made.

The FBI said it matched fingerprints from Christian Gerhartsreiter's immigration papers from the early 1980s to those taken from a wine glass Rockefeller touched in late July -- around the time he is accused of abducting his daughter -- and those taken by Baltimore, Maryland, police after his August 2 arrest.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said this week that it had concluded that Rockefeller was Gerhartsreiter after conducting interviews with people who knew him in California in the 1980s.

Resources:

www.cnn.com

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Meet+Christian+Gerhartsreiter&articleId=e61b273e-21c3-4ea9-af05-b60e28b5a204

07/31/08

Crazy man stabs and decapitates man on Greyhound

Murderer carries victim's head

Children saw a berserk man stab and decapitate a sleeping man on a greyhound bus as it drove along the Trans-Canada Highway en route to Winnipeg from Edmonton.

A man was taken into custody after an hours-long standoff with police ended around 1 a.m. near Portage la Prairie, a city about 85 kilometers west of Winnipeg, according to reports.

Passenger Garnet Caton, who was sitting in the seat in front of the victim, told CBC News in gruesome detail how he saw the attacker stab his seatmate.

"He must have stabbed him 50 times or 60 times," said Caton.

Caton, the driver and a trucker who had stopped at the scene later boarded the vehicle to see if the victim was still alive.

"When we came back on the bus, it was visible at the end of the bus he was cutting the guy's head off and pretty much gutting him up," said Caton.

The attacker ran at them, Caton said, and they ran out of the bus, holding the door shut as he tried to slash at the trio.

When the attacker tried to drive the bus away, the driver disabled the vehicle, Caton said.

"While we were watching the door, he calmly walks up to the front with the head in his hand and the knife and just calmly stares at us and drops the head right in front of us," said Caton.

Read more of this story here.... and watch the video link interview...

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/07/31/greyhound-transcanada.html

www.cnn.com

Video...

www.cnn.com

07/29/08

Two-year-old murder by parents

If you don't want him, someone else does

Parents are facing murder charges in the death of their 2-year-old badly abused son.

Parents facing murder charges in the June death of their 2-year-old son restrained the toddler with duct tape while he stood naked in the corner of the closet, court documents allege.

According to a probable cause statement, Johnson and Lumpkin blamed each other for the child's injuries, which included severe burns on his face, neck, lip, arms and genitals; loose teeth; and deep cuts and ligature marks on his wrists.

An autopsy determined that Cortez Johnson died June 25 at University Hospital from blunt force trauma to his head. Prosecutors on Thursday charged the boy's parents, Horace Johnson, 25, and Keyonda Lumpkin, 26, with second-degree murder. Court documents have also spelled her last name Lumpkins.

"Some gruesome injuries were inflicted," Boone County prosecutor Dan Knight said. "Cortez died a horrible death."

I'm going to start calling these "Why Parents" I don't understand how this happens. Why would you abuse your child? Why did you have him in the first place. When you knew you were abusing him, why didn't you stop. Why? Why? Why?

I think it should be manditory for people who abuse their children to not be able to have any, anymore. *snip snip

Read resource story details...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080726/ap_on_re_us/toddler_death

07/09/08

One of the best mothers!

Gail Lynn Coontz wasn't a threat to her kids!

Last year Gail Lynn Coontz called a crisis hot-line and said she was going to kill herself and her two children. This past March, she killed both of her children, 14-year-old son, Greg, and 10-year-old daughter, Nikki.

Police said Greg was found on a couch in his room, shot three times, including once in the head. Nikki was shot once in the head and "covered with a blanket as if sleeping," according to a scene analysis in court documents.

Two Easter baskets were on the kitchen table and a school lunch had been prepared.

After her call to the crisis hot-line on January 29, 2007, an investigation by the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services was made.

"The mother said she can't kill herself because she is all her children have, but that if she does, she would have to take them with her," an employee for the hot line said of Coontz on Jan. 29, 2007, according to Jefferson Circuit Court records released yesterday.

But after talking with Coontz and her children and getting a letter from her therapist -- who called Coontz "one of the best mothers" the therapist had seen -- the cabinet declared that Coontz was not a risk to her children, according to the court records, which include more than 1,000 pages of documents.

Vikki Franklin, a cabinet spokeswoman, said she couldn't comment on the decision because of confidentiality issues.

Read resource details...

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080708/NEWS01/807080396

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/07/08/Mother_had_talked_of_killing_children/UPI-44141215535504/

06/26/08

The Boogyman

This story will make you want to hold your children closer!!!

Some people just don't know when to hit the edit button when they speak, and Massachusettes Representative, James Fagan, didn't use his. Maybe some people just can't restrain themselves from their true feelings.

MA Rep. James Fagan said, "I'm gonna rip them apart," Fagan said of young victims during his testimony on the bill. "I'm going to make sure that the rest of their life is ruined, that when they’re 8 years old, they throw up; when they’re 12 years old, they won’t sleep; when they’re 19 years old, they’ll have nightmares and they’ll never have a relationship with anybody.”

Drop him an email and let him know what you think!

E-mail: Rep.JamesFagan@hou.state.ma.us

State House phone: 617-722-2040

District office phone: 508-824-7000

Read the full story...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,371344,00.html

06/10/08

Woman pleads guilty to friend and family murders

A woman pleaded guilty Monday to killing her pregnant friend, the unborn child and the victim's three children in a plea deal that allowed her to avoid the death penalty.

Tiffany Hall, 26, pleaded guilty to all five charges against her - four counts of murder and one count of intentional homicide in the death of the fetus - and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Hall struck her friend Jimella Tunstall, 23, on the head repeatedly with a table leg, then cut Tunstall's fetus from her womb in a bathtub, prosecutor Robert Haida said. Tunstall bled to death, Haida said. Hall then dumped her friend's body in an East St. Louis lot.

Hours later, Hall told police in Illinois she had given birth to a stillborn child. When police arrived, she had the dead fetus with her. She refused to be examined at a hospital.

Story Details From Betsy Taylor, AP writer....

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CUT_FROM_WOMB?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT No longer available

05/31/08

Could Cynthia Sommer get re-tried for murder

Cynthia Sommer Case

Just as you think the case is finished, it may not be. Judge John Einhorm will decide on July 18, 2008 whether the Cynthia Sommer case should be dismissed without prejudice or not.

Should the case be dismissed without prejudice, the prosecution has the option of refiling murder charges at a later time should more evidence be discovered.

Sommer was charged with poisoning her Marine husband with arsenic. The charges against Sommer were dropped when further testing on additional samples found no traces of arsenic.

Resource...

http://www.10news.com/news/16437786/detail.html

05/26/08

NY cop went hunting for homeless man, DA says

A suburban policeman hunted down a homeless, frequently arrested illegal immigrant, hit him hard and left him to die last year, a prosecutor told jurors in opening statements of his manslaughter trial Friday.

Assistant District Attorney Perry Perrone said Mount Kisco Officer George Bubaris later confided to a colleague, "I went out hunting or looking for Rene Perez. I found him. I took him to Byram Lake Road," where Perez was found.

Perrone said that the next day, as it became known that Perez had died, Bubaris told the colleague, Officer Edward Dwyer, "You're the only one that knows, bro.

Read More...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080523/ap_on_re_us/immigrant_killed No longer available

05/15/08

OJ's Girlfriend In Bad Accident

Christie Prody

OJ Simpson's girlfriend, Christie Prody was in a very bad accident, early Saturday morning. Even though she was walking, she's been cited with a ticket.

Prody had been driving down a Florida highway, with two flat tires. She pulled over to the curb, and for some reason, got out of the car and tried to cross the Highway.

Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Pat Santangelo said Prody almost made it across but about two thirds of the way, she was hit by an oncoming car. Her head and arms went through that car's windshield and she landed inside the vehicle with her legs sticking out. The driver stopped and called 911 immediately.

She was airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center at Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital where Santangelo says she was still being treated Wednesday for broken legs and other serious injuries.

Santangelo says Prody was cited for "being a pedestrian on an expressway" which is against the law.

Resources...

http://www.showbuzz.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/14/people/main4097302.shtml

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_9256957

05/10/08

Authorities to dig at old Manson family ranch

Authorities said Friday that they will begin digging for evidence of graves at a California ranch that once was home to the infamous "family" of convicted killer Charles Manson.

Soil testing to determine the possible presence of buried bodies was inconclusive, authorities said Friday, so "exploratory excavation" will be done this month, Inyo County Sheriff Bill Lutze said.

The dig will be carried out "to either confirm or put to rest speculation that bodies may remain there from the Charles Manson era," Lutze said in a written statement.

Read Story Details...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/05/09/manson.ranch/index.html

05/06/08

Defense wants gag order on dead girls family

The family of Becca McEvoy has been working diligently to get the word out about Becca's alleged rapist and molester not going to trial, because her abuser has the right to face his accuser. His accuser, Becca, died in a car accident. Now Bob Ingle's defense attorney wants the judge to put a gag order on the family.

"We are sitting here trying to defend our little cousin," said Rhonda Wheelus, who was in court for Monday's hearing. "She doesn't have a voice anymore. We have to be her voice now."

Judge Michael Youngpeter presided over the hearing. Youngpeter said he will make a decision by May 20th.

A trial date is set for September 22!

Read resource story...

http://www.wkrg.com/news/article/defense_wants_gag_order_in_child_rape_case/13562/

04/25/08

Three Cops Acquitted

Queens Supreme Court Justice Arthur Cooperman announced his verdict this morning in the trial of three police officers charged in the shooting death of Bell, 23, outside a Jamaica, Queens, strip club in the early hours of Nov. 25, 2006. "Not Guilty" according to the judge, sighting problems with the testimony of some of the witnesses.

Justice Cooperman delivered the verdict in State Supreme Court at 9 a.m. Giving his reasoning, and describing the evidence, he said it was reasonable for the detectives to fear that someone in the crowd that night carried a gun. He added that many of the prosecution’s witnesses, including Mr. Bell’s friends and the two wounded victims, were simply not believable. “At times, the testimony of those witnesses just didn’t make sense,” the judge said.

Several supporters of Mr. Bell stormed out of the courtroom, and a few small scuffles followed outside the courthouse. By midafternoon, there were no suggestions of any broader unrest around the city. Mr. Bell’s family and fiancée left without making any comments and drove to visit his grave at the Nassau Knolls Cemetery and Memorial Park in Port Washington.

Resource and more reading...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/26/nyregion/26BELL.html?ex=1224734400&en=caf594d88ac6d407&ei=5087&excamp=GGGNseanbellverdict&WT.srch=1&WT.mc_ev=click&WT.mc_id=GN-S-E-GG-NA-S-sean_bell_verdict

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/04/officers_in_sean_bell_trial_ac.html

http://socialitereport.com/2008/04/3_nypd_detectives_aquitted_of.html

04/24/08

A Nervous New York

Queens Supreme Court Justice Arthur Cooperman will announce his verdict Friday in the trial of three police officers charged in the shooting death of Bell, 23, outside a Jamaica, Queens, strip club in the early hours of Nov. 25, 2006.

“If the right decision is made Friday, this will help any other family from suffering the way we have,” said Bell’s fiancée, Nicole Paultre-Bell.

“There are those that say to us, there should be calm and peace — you’re addressing that to the wrong people,” Sharpton said. “Maybe you ought to ask people that believe it’s all right to shoot 50 times at unarmed men how they’re going to react if justice is achieved?”

Resources...

http://ny.metro.us/metro/local/article/High_tension_as_city_awaits_Bell_verdict/12316.html

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nysean0424,0,391016.story No longer available

04/15/08

Closing Arguments For Sean Bell Case

Closing arguments were heard, after seven weeks of testimony, Monday. This is the trial of the three detectives who were charged in the shooting death of Sean Bell on his wedding day, almost a year and a half ago.

When the verdict in the Bell trial is handed down, the NYPD says it will be ready. Last week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg met with leaders of the black community in Queens and he later expressed confidence that New Yorkers will obey the law whether they agree with the verdict or not.

The New York Post says 1,000 extra officers will be in Queens the moment the verdict is delivered in the hopes of fending off any possible riots. Patrols will be beefed up outside the courthouse and near Club Kalua, where the shooting took place.

There will also be extra police units stationed along major streets in Queens, like Roosevelt Avenue and Woodhaven Boulevard.

The NYPD is hoping to avoid a repeat of the protests that took place in 2000, following the acquittal of four police officers in the shooting death of Amadou Diallo.

The case is being heard by a judge instead of a jury, at the request of the defendants. The judge says he will issue his verdict on April 25th.

Full Details on the closings....

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=6&aid=80475

04/07/08

Inmate Who Escaped in Trash Can Caught in CA

A killer who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison in a trash can was captured in California after boasting of an appearance on Fox's "America's Most Wanted," state police said Sunday.

Malcolm Kysor, 54, was arrested Saturday in a Bakersfield, Calif., park after someone notified police about the claim, police said.

"Basically, it's a citizen's tip. He was in a park and he started bragging," Trooper Donald Claypoole of the Girard barracks said.

Read Story...

http://ktla.trb.com/news/ktla-trashcanescape,0,7689479.story No longer available

04/04/08

Let Freedom Ring?

It looks like the public can start looking forward to having convicts from prison, including drug addicts, thieves and even violent criminals out on the streets months early, before too long.

According to an AP report California may be letting out 22,000 inmates who have less than 20 months remaining to go on their sentences.

There are at least eight states considering this type of action to save millions for their states.

"You're talking about victim safety. You're talking about community member safety," said a woman who was beaten by her husband and served time. "You can't balance the budget on the backs of victims of crimes."

But prisons "are one of the most expensive parts of the criminal-justice system," said Alison Lawrence, who studies corrections policy for the National Conference of State Legislatures. "That's where they look to first to cut down some of those costs."

Read full resource story...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PRISONERS_EARLY_RELEASE?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT No longer available