Criminal

Rot In Hell Joseph E. Duncan III

2012-02-02T04:03:00.001-08:00

Joseph Edward Duncan III (born February 25, 1963) is an American convicted serial killer and sex offender who is currently serving multiple concurrent death sentences and life sentences in conjunction with the 2005 kidnapping and murders of members of the Groene family of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. He has also been convicted and scheduled to be sentenced to an additional life sentence for the 1997 kidnapping and murder of Anthony Martinez of Beaumont, California, and has confessed but not been charged with the 1996 murder of two girls in Seattle, Washington.

Born in Tacoma, Washington, Duncan's lengthy criminal history dates to when he was 15 years old. In 1980, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually assaulting a boy in Tacoma and as a result has spent most of his adult life in prison. He was paroled in 1994 but was returned to prison in 1997 for violating the terms of his parole.

In May 2005, Kootenai County, Idaho authorities discovered the bodies of Brenda Groene, her boyfriend, and her 13-year-old son in the family home near Coeur d'Alene. Authorities also noted that Groene's two other children were missing: Shasta, 8, and Dylan, 9. After an intense search for the two children, Shasta was found alive with Duncan at a restaurant in Coeur d'Alene nearly seven weeks later, and Duncan was arrested in conjunction with her kidnapping. Dylan's remains were found days later in a remote area near St. Regis, Montana. Duncan was subsequently charged with murdering Dylan as well as the three victims at the Coeur d'Alene home.

During his incarceration, authorities connected Duncan with the unsolved murders of Anthony Martinez in California and two girls in Seattle, all of which occurred during Duncan's parole from 1994–1997. Of those murders, Duncan has only been charged in the California case. In all, Duncan has been convicted in Idaho for kidnapping and murdering the three victims in Coeur d'Alene, for which he was given six life sentences; in federal court for kidnapping Shasta and Dylan Groene and murdering Dylan, for which he was given three death sentences; and in the state of California for kidnapping and murdering Martinez, for which he is scheduled to be given another life sentence.

Duncan has a long history as a violent sexual predator. He committed his first recorded sex crime in 1978 in his hometown of Tacoma, Washington, when he was 15 years old. In that incident, he raped a nine-year-old boy at gunpoint. The following year, he was arrested driving a stolen car. He was sentenced as a juvenile and sent to Dyslin's Boys' ranch in Tacoma, where he told a therapist who was assigned to his case that he had bound and sexually assaulted six boys, according to a report by the Associated Press. He also told the therapist that he estimated that he had raped 13 younger boys by the time he was 16.

In 1980, also in Tacoma, Duncan stole a number of guns from a neighbor and then abducted a 14-year-old boy and sodomized him at gunpoint. Duncan was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but was released on parole in 1994 after serving 14 years. While out on parole, Duncan is known to have lived in several places in the Seattle area. He was arrested in 1996 for marijuana use and released on parole several weeks later with new restrictions. Authorities believe that during his parole Duncan murdered Sammiejo White and Carmen Cubias in Seattle in 1996 and Anthony Martinez in Riverside County, California in 1997; however, both those cases went cold and were not tied to Duncan until after his arrest in the Groene case. Duncan was arrested in Kansas and returned to prison in 1997 after violating the terms of his parole. Duncan was released from prison on July 14, 2000 with time off for good behavior and moved to Fargo, North Dakota.

In March 2005, Duncan was charged with the July 3, 2004 molestation of two boys at a playground in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. On April 5, 2005, he appeared before a Becker County judge, who set bail at US$15,000. A Fargo businessman with whom Duncan had become acquainted helped him post bail; however, Duncan skipped bail and disappeared. On June 1, 2005, a federal warrant was issued for Duncan's arrest on the charge of "unlawful flight to avoid prosecution."

On May 16, 2005, authorities discovered the bodies of Brenda Groene, 40; her boyfriend, Mark McKenzie, 37; and her son, Slade Groene, 13, in their home along Lake Coeur d'Alene, outside the city of Coeur d'Alene. Two of Brenda Groene's other children, Dylan, 9, and Shasta, 8, were missing. An AMBER Alert was issued and searchers combed the area for the missing children while authorities investigated the deaths at the home as homicides. Autopsies determined the cause of death to be "blunt trauma to the head"; authorities also noted that the victims had been bound.

Seven weeks later, in the early morning hours of July 2, 2005, Shasta Groene was seen in a man's custody at a Denny's restaurant in Coeur d'Alene. A waitress, manager, and two customers at the restaurant recognized Shasta from the media attention and surreptitiously called police and positioned themselves to prevent Duncan from leaving. Police officers arrived at the restaurant and arrested the man, later identified as Duncan, without incident. Shasta Groene identified herself to a waitress at the restaurant and to authorities, and was taken to Kootenai Medical Center for medical treatment and to be reunited with her father. Coeur d'Alene police, meanwhile, detained Duncan on kidnapping charges and on his outstanding federal warrant.

When Shasta Groene was found without Dylan, authorities held little hope of finding the boy alive. Police asked the public for tips, specifically with respect to sightings of the stolen red Jeep Cherokee with Missouri license plates that Duncan was driving at the time of his arrest. Authorities discovered that Duncan had rented the car in Minnesota and never returned it. A gas station employee in Kellogg, about 40 miles (64 km) east of Coeur d'Alene, recognized the vehicle as one that had stopped at her station hours before Duncan was arrested. The employee suspected the girl wandering around the station might have been Shasta, but did not confront her, as nothing appeared out of the ordinary. The employee and her manager notified authorities after reviewing surveillance camera footage and seeing Duncan and Shasta in the video.

Many tips provided to authorities centered around remote areas along the Idaho–Montana border. On July 4, 2005, investigators found human remains at a remote makeshift campsite in the Lolo National Forest near St. Regis, Montana. The remains were sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia for DNA testing and were positively identified as Dylan Groene.

Much of what is known about the murders of the Groene family was revealed by Shasta Groene herself. According to Shasta Groene's police interview, Duncan killed her mother, older brother and her mother's fiance and then took her and her brother away in the red Jeep Cherokee.

Shasta told investigators her mother called her into the living room, from her bedroom where she had been sleeping, and she saw Duncan wearing black gloves and holding a gun. Her captor tied her mother's hands with nylon zip ties, and did the same to her mother's fiance and her brother Slade. Dylan and Shasta were removed from the house and placed inside the stolen rental car. While she waited with her brother, she heard her mother's fiance scream out and then saw her injured older brother staggering away from the entrance to the home. Duncan then bludgeoned the three to death; neither Shasta nor Dylan witnessed the murders. Both Shasta and Dylan were removed to other locations, where they were repeatedly molested for six weeks. She said that they drove a long distance and stayed in two different campsites, Duncan told her of having beaten her family members to death with a hammer. Dylan's remains were found in a remote, woodland area in Montana days after Shasta was rescued. Shasta is now in the custody of her father.

Duncan's arrest led the FBI to launch a nationwide review of unsolved missing child cases. He was implicated as a possible suspect in several crimes that occurred between 1994 and 1997, when he was on parole, and between 2000 and 2005, when he was free from prison. Although he was cleared as a suspect in some cases, authorities in California and Washington had enough evidence to believe Duncan had committed unsolved murders in their jurisdictions.

On April 4, 1997, 10-year-old Anthony Michael Martinez was playing with friends in the front yard of his home in Beaumont, California, when an unknown man approached the group asking for help finding a missing cat. When the boys refused, the man grabbed Martinez at knifepoint and threw him into his vehicle. After a 2-week search, on April 19 Martinez's body was found nude and partially decomposed in Indio. Investigators noted that he had been sexually assaulted and bound with duct tape. Although a composite sketch of the suspect was made available and a partial fingerprint taken from the duct tape found on Martinez's body, the case eventually went cold.

In July 2005, bloggers noticed similarities between Duncan and the composite sketch in the Martinez case, as well as between Duncan's vehicle and the one Martinez's assailant was driving. The FBI and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children became involved, and in turn contacted Riverside County authorities. Riverside authorities were able to match the fingerprint taken from Martinez's body to Duncan, and on August 3 the Riverside County Sheriff officially announced Duncan's connection with the Martinez case.

Federal prosecutors also revealed that Duncan confessed to the murders of Sammiejo White, 11, and her sister, Carmen Cubias, 9, who vanished on July 6, 1996, after leaving the Crest Motel in Seattle, Washington, to panhandle. Their remains were found February 10, 1998, in Bothell, Washington.

Joseph E. Duncan III has been convicted by three separate courts: first, by the state of Idaho for the kidnapping and murders of Brenda and Slade Groene and Mark McKenzie; second, by U.S. federal court for the kidnapping of Shasta and Dylan Groene, the murder of Dylan Groene, and various other crimes; and third, by the state of California for the kidnapping and murder of Anthony Martinez.

Duncan first appeared in a Kootenai County court on July 13, 2005, where he was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of first degree kidnapping, all in conjunction with the deaths of Brenda and Slade Groene and Mark McKenzie. Kootenai County prosecutors had initially planned to charge Duncan with the kidnappings of Shasta and Dylan Groene; however, they deferred those charges to the federal courts, as transporting children across state lines for the purpose of sexual exploitation is a federal offense. Trial was set to begin on January 17, 2006, but was delayed until April 4, after the district judge granted a request to the defense for more time to prepare for the trial, and then again to October 26, after the judge in the case stated that "No one wants to try this case twice, including me." Duncan's attorneys blamed the multiple postponements on the prosecution's insistence on pursuing the death penalty.

On October 16, 2006, shortly after jury selection began, Kootenai County prosecutors and Duncan's attorney reached a plea bargain in which Duncan pleaded guilty to all state charges against him. He was immediately sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for the three kidnapping charges. Sentencing on the three murder charges was continued pending the outcome of his federal trial on kidnapping and murder charges; the judge said that if he did not receive the death penalty on the federal charges, he would return to Kootenai County for a death penalty phase on the state murder charges. Over two years later, after being sentenced to death on federal charges, Kootenai County sentenced Duncan to three additional life sentences. Duncan also agreed to cooperate with Kootenai County sheriff's detectives investigating his crimes and provide passwords to encrypted files stored on his computer.

On January 18, 2007, Duncan was indicted by a federal grand jury in Coeur d'Alene on 10 counts of "kidnapping, kidnapping resulting in death, aggravated sexual abuse of a minor, and sexual exploitation of a child resulting in death," and other crimes related to illegal firearm possession and vehicle theft. He was arraigned the following day at a federal court in Boise, Idaho, where a judge ordered Duncan to stand trial the following March. Duncan's defense attorneys immediately requested a postponement, which was granted the week the trial was originally scheduled to begin; a new trial date was set for January 22, 2008.

On December 3, 2007, Duncan pleaded guilty to all 10 charges against him. As a condition of the agreement, Shasta Groene would not have to testify in the penalty phase of the trial. Due to a gag order, other details of the plea agreement were not released.

Jury selection for the penalty phase for Duncan's federal trial began on April 14, 2008. During jury selection, Duncan dismissed his attorneys and chose to represent himself. His attorneys objected, asserting he was not competent to do so and requested a formal hearing as to the issue. The district court ordered an evaluation of Duncan to determine his competence, then accepted, without holding a hearing, the evaluator's conclusion that he was competent to proceed without counsel.

On August 27, 2008, after three hours of deliberation, the jury recommended the death penalty, and the judge sentenced Duncan to three death sentences for "kidnapping resulting in death, sexual exploitation of a child resulting in death, and use of a firearm in a violent crime resulting in death," all related to the death of Dylan Groene. On November 3, 2008, Duncan was sentenced to an additional three federal life sentences for kidnapping Shasta Groene and for sexually abusing Shasta and Dylan.

Duncan's standby counsel filed a notice of appeal. Duncan subsequently wrote the court and informed it that any appeal was taken "against his wishes".

In July 2011, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court's decision to permit Duncan to represent himself without first holding a hearing as to his competence to do so and remanded for a hearing as to this issue.

No date has been set for the remand hearing. Should the district court find that Duncan was competent to waive his right to counsel, his execution could be scheduled for early 2012.

As of 2011, Duncan is incarcerated at USP Terre Haute.

On January 18, 2007, the same day Duncan was indicted in federal court, Riverside County officials announced that Duncan was charged with Martinez's murder. Despite attempts by Riverside County officials to extradite Duncan to California, including an appeal by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Duncan's federal trial proceeded. He was eventually extradited to California on January 24, 2009, five months after being sentenced to death by the federal court.

On March 15, 2011, Duncan pleaded guilty to Martinez's murder. As part of his plea deal, Duncan will be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or right to appeal. Although Duncan could have faced a separate death sentence in addition to the ones he had already been sentenced to in federal court, Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach justified the life sentence by stating that he had consulted with the Martinez family who wanted closure in the case and that "the federal system will kill him long before the state of California would have seriously considered it." He is scheduled to be formally sentenced on April 5, 2011, after which he will be returned to death row at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Prior to his arrest for murder, Duncan published his ideas on the Internet. He titled it "The Fifth Nail", which is also the URL for his personal website. According to lore, in addition to the four nails used to pierce the body of Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, there was a fifth nail that was taken away and hidden by Roma. Duncan adopted the name for his own website and blog. The website depicted Duncan's day-to-day life as a sex offender.

"The Fifth Nail" advocates for sex offenders and contained material that called for the legal reform law aimed at sex offenders, calling them, "State Sanctioned Discrimination." Duncan was particularly frustrated by the requirement for sex offenders to participate in a public registry.

With the help of a "ghost blogger", Duncan posted to his new blog, "Fifth Nail Revelations", from prison. He wrote his blog entries by hand and mailed them to the "ghost blogger", who posted them exactly as written. According to media reports, law enforcement agencies have been watching the contents of the new blog in hopes of gathering incriminating information about Duncan's crimes, both known and unknown.

Steven Clay Romero

2011-11-08T04:02:00.001-08:00

Two indicted in dog's dragging death

Two people were indicted late Monday by the federal grand jury in Denver for the death of a dog and subsequent cover-up. Buddy, a German shepherd mix, was dragged three miles up a steep, snowy road at the Colorado National Monument.

Steven Clay Romero, 37, of Grand Junction, did "knowingly torture, needlessly mutilate and needlessly kill" the dog, according to the indictment.

The grand jury alleged that Romero tied a rope around the bumper of a vehicle and tied the other end of the rope around Buddy's neck and dragged the German shepherd mix until it died.

Romero's sister, Marie Lockhart, 32, of Fruita, was also indicted.

The grand jury alleged that Lockhart knew that Romero had killed Buddy early on Dec.

30 but lied when questioned by law enforcement.

Romero is charged with one count of aggravated animal cruelty. If convicted he faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a $100,000 fine. Lockhart could receive a maximum of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to an affidavit by rangers for the National Park Service, an initial investigation showed that "Buddy" was stolen from downtown Delta on Dec. 29 and taken to a home in Fruita where Romero was staying.

Early the next day, about 2 a.m., Romero allegedly took Buddy from the Fruita home and returned to the home without him 30 minutes later.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver, video surveillance at the west entrance of the monument, which is near Fruita, showed a double-cab pickup truck entering the monument with Buddy in the bed of the truck.

Cameras in the outbound lane showed the same truck leaving the monument later without the dog.

According to Joan Anzelmo, superintendent of the national monument, footprints in the snow clearly showed how the crime was committed. Buddy initially walked, then ran and then was dragged when he couldn't keep up with the vehicle.

The head of maintenance at the monument found Buddy with the rope around his neck.

Thelma and Jesse Gaston pigs

2011-08-22T02:07:00.000-07:00

Thelma and Jesse Gaston, a 75 and 76-year-old Chicago couple, have been cited for 16 building code violations after they were found buried alive in their own garbage.

According to Chicago Police, the Gastons were found Monday, buried alive in garbage that filled their home from floor to ceiling.

Investigators say Gaston's neighbors called for a well-being check after the couple hadn't been seen or heard from in about 3 weeks.

Arriving officers contacted the Fire Department who were forced to utilize forced entry procedures in order to reach the couple. Fire officials were forced to wear hazmat suits because of the decaying debris and overwhelming stench.

A spokesman for the Fire Department offered speculation that Mrs. Gaston became trapped after falling through a mound of garbage. Mr. Gaston most likely succumbed to the same fate when he attempted to come to her aid.

Mr. and Mrs. Gaston were taken to Jackson Park Hospital where they are currently in Intensive Care. Mrs Gaston's body is covered with injuries that are believed to be rat bites.

The city's Department of Buildings wrote 16 citations including failure to maintain fences and failure to "stop noxious odors from permeating dwelling or premises."

"The citations were written for the purpose of getting a court order to allow for an emergency clean up," said Bill McCaffrey, a spokesman for the fire department.

Ryan Stephenson

2011-08-22T02:04:00.000-07:00

Ryan Stephenson, a 26-year-old Washington man was jailed after he allegedly raped a toddler girl so severely, she had to undergo reconstructive surgery.

According to police, Stephenson was babysitting his 5-year-old son and his ex-girlfriend's 20-month-old daughter when he brutally raped the toddler girl.

During the alleged rape, the girl's vagina was mutilated to a point where reconstructive surgery was required to minimize the damage.

An investigation was launched on May 27 when the little girl arrived at Whidbey General Hospital with large tears and significant bleeding in the vaginal area.

A doctor from Seattle Children's Hospital, who specializes in treating the victims of sexual assault, called the girl's injuries "the worst trauma (she) has see in 20 years of practicing medicine."

A source tells The Weekly Vice that the child suffered complete tearing through the vaginal and rectal walls - similar to a 4th degree episiotomy (skin, soft tissue and muscle tearing).

During questioning, Stephenson reportedly admitted that he probably caused the child's injuries but denied raping her. He stated that the injuries were caused when he became angry and retaliated by beating the toddler's vagina and bottom with a closed fist.

The doctor who examined the child, however, told detectives that the injuries were a result of penetration, not from being struck.

Detectives say Stephenson had been previously convicted of harassment after sending threatening messages to the child's father. He signed the letters "Lord Sparta" which is a name also referenced on his MySpace profile.

He was also previously convicted after violating a restraining order that barred him from contacting his ex-girlfriend, the victim's mother.

Stephenson was charged Wednesday with first-degree rape of a child. Prosecutors say more charges may be pending in the case.

Mcpimples

2011-08-11T12:01:00.000-07:00

Definitely not lovin’ it.

A man accused of disgusting McDonald’s patrons by popping his pimples was under arrest after customer complaints led to a brief chase by officers.

It started Monday when customers of the McDonald’s located at 2404 Santa Barbara Blvd. alerted authorities to a man standing outside the restaurant for about 10 minutes squeezing away at the acne on his back. Events that followed with police ended in a brief chase and the arrest of the man, who allegedly gave a false name when confronted about the complaints.

Owen Lemire Kato, 23, was arrested on charges of giving a false name upon arrest as well as drug offenses, according to Cape Coral Police Department reports.

According to the News-Press.com website, an off-duty police officer confronted Kato about the complaints from customers. Reports say Kato said his name was “John Smith” before giving his real name, but then fled on foot before being chased down and tackled by the officer and other police on duty nearby.

The News-Press also reported the suspect was found to have a syringe in his pocket allegedly used to inject Oxycontin.

No reason for the public dermatology exercise was given

The West Memphis

2011-07-19T13:16:00.000-07:00

The West Memphis Three are the three young men who were tried and convicted of the murders of three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas on May 5, 1993. During the trial, the prosecution put forth the idea that the only purported motive in the case was that the slayings were part of a Satanic ritual.

Damien Echols was sentenced to death, Jessie Misskelley, Jr. was sentenced to life imprisonment plus two 20-year sentences, and Jason Baldwin was sentenced to life imprisonment.

In July 2007, new forensic evidence was presented in the case, including evidence that none of the DNA collected at the crime scene matched the defendants, but did match Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of one of the victims, as well as a friend of Hobbs' whom he had been with on the day of the murders. The status report jointly issued by the State and the Defense team on July 17, 2007 states, "Although most of the genetic material recovered from the scene was attributable to the victims of the offenses, some of it cannot be attributed to either the victims or the defendants." On October 29, 2007, the defense filed a Second Amended Writ of Habeas Corpus, outlining the new evidence.

In September 2008, Judge David Burnett of the Circuit Court denied Echols' application for a hearing on the new DNA evidence. The Arkansas Supreme Court heard oral argument on Burnett's decision on September 30, 2010.

On November 4, 2010, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that Burnett's interpretation of the DNA statute was too narrow and reversed and remanded all three cases for hearings as to whether new trials should be ordered.

The Arkansas Attorney General said in June 2011 he won’t fight evidence of Juror Misconduct in the West Memphis 3 case. A new hearing regarding this and DNA evidence is set for December 5th.

Three eight-year-old boys (Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers) were reported missing on May 5, 1993. The first report to the police was made by Byers' adoptive father, John Mark Byers, around 7:00 PM. The boys were last seen together by a neighbor, who reported that they had been called by Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of Steve Branch around 6:00 PM. Hobbs later denied seeing the boys at all on May 5. Initial police searches made that night were limited. Friends and neighbors also conducted a search that night, which included a cursory visit to the location where the bodies were later found.

A more thorough police search for the children began around 8:00 AM on the morning of May 6, led by the Crittenden County Search and Rescue personnel. Searchers canvassed all of West Memphis, but focused primarily on Robin Hood Hills, where the boys were reported last seen. Despite a human chain making a shoulder-to-shoulder search of Robin Hood Hills, searchers found no sign of the missing boys.

Around 1:45 PM, Juvenile Parole Officer Steve Jones spotted a boy's black shoe floating in a muddy creek that led to a major drainage canal in Robin Hood Hills. A subsequent search of the ditch found the bodies of three boys. They were stripped naked and had been hogtied with their own shoelaces: their right ankles tied to their right wrists behind their backs, the same with their left arms and legs. Their clothing was found in the creek, some of it twisted around sticks that had been thrust into the muddy ditch bed. The clothing was mostly turned inside-out; two pairs of the boys' underwear were never recovered. Christopher Byers also had deep lacerations and injuries to his scrotum and penis, most likely caused by post-mortem animal predation.

The original autopsies were inconclusive as to time of death, but the Arkansas medical examiner determined that Byers died of blood loss, and Moore and Branch drowned. A later review of the case by a medical examiner for the defense determined that the boys had been killed between 1:00 AM and 5:00 AM on May 6, 1993.

The official interpretation of the crime scene forensics for the case remains controversial. Prosecution experts claim Byers' wounds were the results of a knife attack and that he had been purposely castrated by the murderer; defense experts claim the injuries were more probably the result of post-mortem animal predation. Police suspected the boys had been raped, however later expert testimony disputed this finding despite trace amounts of sperm DNA found on a pair of pants recovered from the scene. Police believed the boys were assaulted and killed at the location where they were found; critics argued that the assault, at least, was unlikely to have occurred at the creek.

Byers was the only victim with drugs in his system; he was prescribed Ritalin in January 1993, as part of a attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder treatment. (The initial autopsy report describes the drug as Carbamazepine.) The dosage was found to be at sub-therapeutic level, which is consistent with John Mark Byers' statement that Christopher Byers may not have taken his prescription on May 5, 1993.

Stevie Branch was the son of Steven and Pamela Branch, who divorced when he was an infant. Pamela was awarded custody, and Steven was allowed visitation with his son only when she was also present. She later married Terry Hobbs. When Stevie was murdered, his biological father owed over $13,000 in child support, and was under investigation for state tax violations.

Christopher Byers was born to Melissa DeFir and Ricky Murray. His parents divorced when he was four years old; shortly thereafter, Melissa married John Mark Byers. Byers adopted Christopher, but did not adopt her older son, Ryan Clark. John Mark Byers had a long criminal history, including charges for making "terroristic death threats" against his first wife, and multiple drug and theft offenses. John Mark Byers was a frequent paid informant for the West Memphis Police Department (WMPD), and, when the boys were murdered, was under Federal investigation for suspected grand theft from the U.S. Postal Service. Byers was also abusive to his stepson, and admitted to whipping Christopher with a belt only a few hours before the boys went missing. He later claimed to have beaten him because Christopher had tried to break into his own home, as he was not allowed a house key, and the empty house was locked when he arrived home after school. According to Crittenden County Prosecutor John Fogelman, police and other officials suspected John Mark Byers of committing the murders the day the victims were discovered.

Michael Moore was the son of Todd and Dana Moore. Of the three murdered boys, Michael's parents were the only ones still married and who never had any criminal charges made against them.

Baldwin, Echols and Misskelley

At the time of their arrests, Jessie Misskelley, Jr. was 17 years old, Jason Baldwin was 16 years old, and Damien Echols was 18 years old.

Baldwin and Misskelley had been arrested for vandalism and shoplifting, respectively, and Misskelley had a reputation for his temper and for engaging in fistfights with other teenagers at school. Misskelley and Echols had dropped out of high school, however Baldwin earned high grades and demonstrated a talent for drawing and sketching, and was encouraged by one of his teachers to study graphic design in college. Echols and Baldwin were close friends, and bonded over their similar tastes in music and fiction, and over their shared distaste for the prevailing cultural climate of West Memphis, which was conservative and Evangelical Christian. Baldwin and Echols were acquainted with Misskelley from school, but were not close friends with him.

Echols' family was poor, with frequent visits from social workers, and he rarely attended school. His relationship with an early girlfriend culminated when the two ran off together. After breaking into a trailer during a rain storm, the pair were arrested, though only Echols was charged with burglary.

Police heard rumors that the young lovers had planned to have a child and sacrifice the infant; based on this story, they had Echols institutionalized for psychiatric evaluation. He was diagnosed as depressed and suicidal, and was prescribed the antidepressant imipramine. Subsequent testing demonstrated poor mathematical skills, but also showed that Echols ranked above average in reading and verbal skills.

Echols spent several months in a mental institution in Arkansas, and afterward received "full disability" status from the Social Security Administration. During Echols' trial, Dr. George W. Woods testified (for the defense) that Echols suffered from:

"... serious mental illness characterized by grandiose and persecutory delusions, auditory and visual hallucinations, disordered thought processes, substantial lack of insight, and chronic, incapacitating mood swings."

At the time of his arrest, Echols was working part-time with a roofing company and expecting a child with his new girlfriend, Domini Teer.

Chris Morgan and Brian Holland

Early in the investigation, the WMPD briefly regarded two West Memphis teenagers as suspects. Chris Morgan and Brian Holland, both with drug offense histories, had abruptly departed for Oceanside, California four days after the bodies were discovered. Morgan was presumed to be at least casually familiar with all three murdered boys, having previously driven an ice cream truck route in their neighborhood.

Arrested in Oceanside on 17 May 1993, Morgan and Holland both took polygraph exams administered by California police. Examiners reported that both men's charts indicated deception when they denied involvement in the murders. During subsequent questioning, Morgan claimed a long history of drug and alcohol use, along with blackouts and memory lapses. He furthermore claimed that he "might have" killed the victims but quickly recanted this part of his statement.

California police sent blood and urine samples from Morgan and Holland to the WMPD, but there is no indication WMPD investigated Morgan or Holland as suspects following their arrest in California. The relevance of Morgan's recanted statement would later be debated in trial, but was eventually barred from admission as evidence.

"Mr. Bojangles"

The sighting of a black male as a possible alternate suspect was implied during the beginning of the trial, at which time the possibility of conviction of the initial suspects seemed slim. According to local West Memphis police officers, on the evening of 5 May 1993, at 8:42 pm, workers in the Bojangles' restaurant about a mile from the crime scene (a direct route through the bayou where the children were found) in Robin Hood Hills reported seeing a black male "dazed and covered with blood and mud" inside the ladies' room of the restaurant. Defense attorneys later referred to this man as "Mr. Bojangles."

The man was bleeding from his arm and brushed against the walls. The man had defecated on himself and on the floor. The police were called, but the man left the scene. Officer Regina Meeks responded (by inquiring at the drive through window) about 45 minutes later. By then, the man had left and police did not enter the restroom on that date.

The following day, when the victims were found, Bojangles' manager Marty King, thinking there was a possible connection between the bloody, disoriented man and the killings, called police twice to inform them of his suspicions. According to Regina Meeks' testimony during the Echols/Baldwin Trial, after the second telephone call, police gathered evidence from the restroom. Investigators wore their same shoes and clothes from the Robin Hood Hills crime scene into the Bojangles restaurant bathroom, conceivably contaminating that scene Police detective Bryn Ridge later stated he lost the blood scrapings taken from the walls and tiles of the restroom. A hair identified as belonging to an African-American male was later recovered from a sheet which was used to wrap one of the victims.

There has been widespread criticism of how the police handled the crime scene. Misskelley's former attorney Dan Stidham cites multiple substantial police errors at the crime scene, characterizing it as "literally trampled, especially the creek bed." The bodies, he said, had been removed from the water before the coroner arrived to examine the scene and determine the state of rigor mortis, allowing the bodies to decay on the creek bank, and to be exposed to sunlight and insects. The police did not telephone the coroner until almost two hours after the discovery of the floating shoe, resulting in a late appearance by the coroner. Officials failed to drain the creek in a timely manner and secure possible evidence in the water (the creek was sandbagged after the bodies were pulled from the water). Stidham calls the coroner's investigation "extremely substandard." There was a small amount of blood found at the scene that was never tested. According to HBO's documentaries "Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills" (1996) and "Paradise Lost 2: Revelations" (2000), no blood was found at the crime scene, indicating that the location where the bodies were found was not necessarily the location in which the murders actually happened. After the initial investigation, the police failed to control disclosure of information and speculation about the crime scene.

According to Mara Leveritt, investigative journalist and author of Devil's Knot, "Police records were a mess. To call them disorderly would be putting it mildly." Leveritt speculated that the small local police force was overwhelmed by the crime, which was unlike any they had ever investigated. Police refused an unsolicited offer of aid and consultation from the violent crimes experts of the Arkansas State Police, and critics suggested this was due to the WMPD being investigated by the Arkansas State Police for suspected theft from the Crittenden County drug task force. Leveritt further noted that some of the physical evidence was stored in paper sacks obtained from a supermarket (with the supermarket's name pre-printed on the bags) rather than in containers of known and controlled origin.

Leveritt also mistakenly presumed that the crime scene video was shot minutes after Detectives Mike Allen and Bryn Ridge recovered two of the bodies, when in fact the camera was not available for almost thirty minutes afterward.

When police speculated about the assailant, the juvenile probation officer assisting at the scene of the murders speculated that Echols was "capable" of committing the murders, stating "it looks like Damien Echols finally killed someone."

One expert in the film Paradise Lost 2: Revelations, stated that human bite marks could have been left on at least one of the victims. However, these potential bite marks were first noticed in photographs years after the trials and were not inspected by a board-certified medical examiner until four years after the murders. The defense's own expert testified that the mark in question was not an adult bite mark, which is consistent with the testimony of the list of experts put on by the State who had concluded that there was no bite mark. The State's experts had examined the actual bodies for any marks and others conducted expert photo analysis of injuries. Upon further examination, it was concluded that if the marks were bite marks, they did not match the teeth of any of the three convicted.

Police interviewed Echols two days after the bodies were discovered. During a polygraph examination, he denied any involvement. The polygraph examiner claimed that Echols' chart indicated deception. However, when asked to produce the record of the examination, the examiner indicated that he had no written record.

On 10 May 1993, four days after the bodies were found, Detective Bryn Ridge questioned Echols, asking Echols to speculate as to how the three victims died. Ridge's description of Echols' answer is abstracted as follows:

He stated that the boys probably died of mutilation, some guy had cut the bodies up, heard that they were in the water, they may have drowned. He said at least one was cut up more than the others. Purpose of the killing may have been to scare someone. He believed that it was only one person for fear of squealing by another involved.

At trial, Echols testified that Ridge's description of the conversation (which was not recorded) was inaccurate. At the time that Echols had allegedly made these statements, police thought that there was no public knowledge that one of the children had been mutilated more severely than the others. This contradicted John Mark Byers' (the stepfather of victim Christopher Byers) statement to reporters only minutes after the three bodies were found, "that two boys had been badly beaten and that the third had been even worse." At that time, Det. Gitchell had not released that information. Gitchell later said he had told John Mark Byers some details of the scene first, before the official release to the media. Leveritt also demonstrates that the police leaked some information, and that partly accurate gossip about the case was widely discussed among the public.

Throughout the course of the trial and afterward, many teenagers came forward with statements regarding being questioned and polygraphed by the local police. They said that Durham, among others, was at times aggressive and verbally abusive if they did not say what was expected of them. After the test, when asked what he was afraid of, Echols replied, "The electric chair."

After a month had passed with little progress in the case police continued to focus their investigation upon Echols, interrogating him more frequently than any other person; however, they claimed he was not regarded as a direct suspect but a source of information.

On 3 June police interrogated Jessie Misskelley Jr. Misskelley, whose IQ was reported to be 72 (making him borderline mentally retarded), was questioned alone; his parents were not present during the interrogation. Misskelley's father gave permission for Misskelley to go with police, but did not explicitly give permission for his minor son to be questioned or interrogated. Misskelley was questioned for roughly twelve hours; only two segments, totaling 46 minutes, were recorded. Misskelley quickly recanted his confession, citing intimidation, coercion, fatigue, and veiled threats from police.

During Misskelley's trial, Dr. Richard Ofshe, an expert on false confessions and police coercion and Professor of Sociology at UC Berkeley, testified that the brief recording of Misskelley's interrogation was a "classic example" of police coercion. Critics have also stated that Misskelley's "confession" was in many respects inconsistent with the particulars of the crime scene and murder victims, including (for example) an "admission" that Misskelley "watched Damien rape one of the boys." Police had initially suspected that the boys were raped due to their dilated anuses, but forensic evidence later proved conclusively that the murdered boys had not been raped at all, and their dilated anuses were a normal post-mortem condition.

Subsequent to his conviction, a police officer alleged that Misskelley had confessed to her. However, once again, no reliable details of the crime were provided.

Misskelley was a minor when he was questioned, and though informed of his Miranda rights, he later claimed he did not fully understand them. The Arkansas Supreme Court determined that Misskelley's confession was voluntary and that he did, in fact, understand the Miranda warning and its consequences. Misskelley specifically said he was "scared of the police" during his first confession. Portions of Misskelley's statements to the police were leaked to the press and reported on the front page of the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper before any of the trials began.

Shortly after Misskelley's original confession, police arrested Echols and his close friend Baldwin. Eight months after his original confession, on February 17, 1994, Misskelley made another statement to police with his lawyer Dan Stidham in the room continually advising Misskelley not to say anything. Misskelley ignored this advice continually and went on to detail how Damien and Jason abused and murdered the boys, while he watched until he decided to leave. Misskelley's attorney, Dan Stidham, who was later elected to a municipal judgeship, has written a detailed critique of what he asserts are major police errors and misconceptions during their investigation.

Vicki Hutcheson, a new resident of West Memphis, would play an important role in the investigation, though she would later recant her testimony, stating her statements were fabricated due in part to coercion from police.

On 6 May 1993 (the day the murder victims were found), Hutcheson took a polygraph exam by Detective Don Bray at the Marion Police Department to determine if she had stolen money from her West Memphis employer. Hutcheson's young son, Aaron, was also present, and proved such a distraction that Bray was unable to administer the polygraph. Aaron, a playmate of the murdered boys, mentioned to Bray that the boys had been killed at "the playhouse." When the bodies proved to have been discovered near where Aaron indicated, Bray asked Aaron for further details, and Aaron claimed that he had witnessed the murders committed by Satanists who spoke Spanish. Aaron's further statements were wildly inconsistent, and he was unable to identify Baldwin, Echols or Misskelley from photo line-ups, and there was no "playhouse" at the location Aaron indicated.

A police officer leaked portions of Aaron's statements to the press contributing to the growing belief that the murders were part of a satanic rite.

On or about 1 June 1993, Hutcheson agreed to police suggestions to place hidden microphones in her home during an encounter with Echols. Misskelley agreed to introduce Hutcheson to Echols. During their conversation, Hutcheson reported that Echols made no incriminating statements. Police said the recording was "inaudible", but Hutcheson claimed the recording was audible.

On 2 June 1993, Hutcheson told police that about two weeks after the murders were committed, she, Echols and Misskelley attended an esbat in Turrell, Arkansas. Hutcheson claimed that, at the esbat, a drunken Echols openly bragged about killing the three boys. Misskelley was first questioned on 3 June 1993, a day after Hutcheson's Esbat confession. Hutcheson was unable to recall the esbat location, and did not name any other participants of the purported esbat.

Hutcheson was never charged with theft. She claimed she implicated Echols and Misskelley to avoid facing criminal charges and to obtain a reward for the discovery of the murderers.

Misskelley was tried separately, and Echols and Baldwin were tried together in 1994. Under the "Bruton rule", Misskelley's confession could not be admitted against his co-defendants and thus he was tried separately. They all pled not guilty.

On February 5, 1994, Misskelley was convicted by a jury of one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder. The court sentenced him to life plus 40 years in prison. His conviction was appealed and affirmed by the Arkansas Supreme Court. On March 19, 1994 Echols and Baldwin were found guilty on three counts of murder. The court sentenced Echols to death and Baldwin to life in prison.

In May 1994, the three appealed their convictions. The convictions were upheld on direct appeal. In 2007, Echols petitioned for a retrial based on a statute permitting post-conviction testing of DNA evidence due to technological advances made since 1994 might provide exoneration for the wrongfully convicted. However, the original trial judge, Judge David Burnett, has disallowed hearing of this information in his court.

John Mark Byers, the adoptive father of victim Christopher Byers, gave a knife to cameraman Doug Cooper, who was working with documentary makers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky while they were filming the first Paradise Lost feature. The knife was a small utility-type knife, manufactured by Kershaw. According to the statements given by Berlinger and Sinofsky, Cooper informed them of his receipt of the knife on December 19, 1993. After the documentary crew returned to New York, Berlinger and Sinofsky reported to have discovered what appeared to be blood on the knife. HBO executives ordered them to return the knife to the West Memphis Police Department. The knife was not received at the West Memphis Police Department until January 8, 1994.

Byers initially claimed the knife had never been used. Blood was found on the knife and Byers then stated that he had used it only once, to cut deer meat. When told the blood matched both his and Chris' blood type, Byers said he had no idea how that blood might have gotten on the knife. During interrogation, West Memphis police suggested to Byers that he might have left the knife out accidentally, and Byers agreed with this. Byers later stated that he may have cut his thumb. Further testing on the knife produced inconclusive results, due in part to the rather small amount of blood, and because both John Mark Byers and Chris Byers had the same HLA-DQα genotype.

John Mark Byers agreed to, and subsequently passed, a polygraph test during the filming of Paradise Lost 2: Revelations in regards to the murders, but the documentary indicated that Byers was under the influence of several psychoactive prescription medications that could have affected the test results. During the filming of the show, Byers also volunteered his false teeth when presented with the challenge he had bit the boys' bodies, although at the time of the murders he had his original teeth, which he later had voluntarily extracted, and later claimed there was a medical reason for the procedure.

As documented in Paradise Lost 2, Echols, Misskelley and Baldwin submitted imprints of their teeth (after their imprisonment) that were compared to apparent bite-marks on Steve Branch's forehead, initially overlooked in the original autopsy and trial. No matches were found. According to the film, Byers had his teeth removed in 1997—after the first trial. He has never offered a consistent reason for their removal; in one instance claiming they were knocked out in a fight, in another saying the medication he was taking made them fall out, and in yet another claiming that he had long planned to have them removed so as to obtain dentures.

After an expert examined autopsy photos and noted what he thought might be the imprint of a belt buckle on Byers' corpse, the elder Byers revealed to the police that he had spanked his stepson shortly before the boy disappeared. He also had a 1988 conviction for terroristic threats that arose from an incident involving his ex-wife, Sandra Byers. Melissa Byers had contacted Christopher's school a few weeks before the murders, expressing concerns that her son was being sexually abused. A fact not revealed until after the trial was that John Mark Byers had acted as a police informant on several occasions. His prior conviction for the 1988 incident had been expunged in May, 1992, upon the completion of probation, despite the fact that other criminal charges against him should have caused the revocation of his probation.

In October 2003, Vicki Hutcheson, who played a part in the arrests of Misskelley, Echols and Baldwin, gave an interview to the Arkansas Times in which she stated that every word she had given to the police was a fabrication. She further asserted that the police had insinuated if she did not cooperate with them they would take away her child. She noted that when she visited the police station they had photographs of Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley on the wall and were using them as dart targets. She also claims that an audio tape the police claimed was "unintelligible" (and eventually lost) was perfectly clear and contained no incriminating statements. However, Hutcheson did not testify at the Echols/Baldwin trial.

In 2007, DNA collected from the crime scene was tested. None was found to match DNA from Echols, Baldwin, nor Misskelley. In addition, a hair "not inconsistent with" Terry Hobbs, stepfather to Stevie Branch, was found tied into the knots used to bind one of the victims. The prosecutors, while conceding that no DNA evidence ties the accused to the crime scene, has said that, "The State stands behind its convictions of Echols and his codefendants."

On 29 October 2007 papers were filed in federal court by Damien Echols' defense lawyers seeking a retrial or his immediate release from prison. The filing cited DNA evidence linking Terry Hobbs (stepfather of one of the victims) to the crime scene, and new statements from Hobbs' now ex-wife. Also presented in the filing is new expert testimony that the "knife" marks on the victims were the result of animal predation after the bodies had been dumped.

On 10 September 2008 Circuit Court Judge David Burnett denied the request for a retrial, citing the DNA tests as inconclusive. That ruling was appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in the case on September 30, 2010.

In July 2008, it was revealed that Kent Arnold, the jury foreman on the Echols/Baldwin trial, discussed the case with an attorney prior to the beginning of deliberations and advocated for the guilt of the West Memphis Three as a result of the inadmissible Jessie Misskelley statements. Legal experts have agreed that this issue has the strong potential to result in the reversal of the convictions of Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols. If their convictions are reversed, the State is expected to retry them.

In October 2008, Attorney (now Judge) Daniel Stidham, who represented Jessie Misskelley in 1994, testified at a postconviction relief hearing. Stidham testified under oath that, during the trial, Judge David Burnett approached the then-deliberating jury in the Misskelley matter at approximately 11:50 a.m. and advised them they would be breaking for lunch. When the foreman answered "we may almost be done", Judge Burnett responded "well, you'll still have to return for sentencing." When the foreman asked "what if we find him not guilty?" Judge Burnett closed the door without answering. Stidham testified that his failure to request a mistrial based on this exchange was ineffective assistance of counsel and that Misskelley's conviction should therefore be vacated.

On November 4, 2010 the Arkansas Supreme Court ordered a lower judge to consider whether newly-analyzed DNA evidence might exonerate three men convicted in the 1993 murders of three West Memphis Cub Scouts. The justices also said a lower court must examine claims of misconduct by the jurors who sentenced Damien Echols to death and Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin to life in prison.

In early December 2010, Circuit Court Judge David Laser was selected to replace David Burnett, who was elected to the state Senate, as judge in the appeal hearings.

Echols currently resides in the Varner Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction.

The families are divided on the belief that the West Memphis Three are guilty. In 2000, the biological father of Christopher Byers, Rick Murray, described his doubts on the West Memphis Three website. In August 2007, Pamela Hobbs, the mother of victim Steven Branch, and John Mark Byers, adoptive father of Christopher Byers, joined those who have publicly questioned the verdicts, calling for a reopening of the verdicts and further investigation of the evidence.[citation needed] In late 2007, John Mark Byers, adoptive father to Christopher Byers, announced that he now believes that Echols, Misskelley, and Baldwin are innocent. "I believe I would be the last person on the face of the earth that people would expect or dream to see say free the West Memphis 3," said Byers. "From looking at the evidence and the facts that were presented to me, I have no doubt the West Memphis 3 are innocent." Byers is writing a book, and a film biography is being considered for production. Mr. Byers has been speaking to the media on behalf of the convicted and has expressed his desire for "justice for six families."

In 2010, district Judge Brian S. Miller ordered Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of victim Stevie Branch, to pay $17,590 to Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines for legal costs stemming from a defamation lawsuit he filed against the band. Miller dismissed a suit Hobbs filed over Maines's remarks at a 2007 Little Rock rally implying he was involved in killing his stepson. The judge said Hobbs had voluntarily injected himself into a public controversy over whether three teenagers convicted of killing the three 8-year-old boys had been wrongfully condemned.

Two films, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills and Paradise Lost 2: Revelations, have documented this case and were strongly critical of the verdict. The movie marked the first time Metallica allowed their music to be used in a movie and drew attention to the cases. The directors are planning two more sequels.

In addition, there have been a few books, including Blood of Innocents by Guy Reel and Devil's Knot by Mara Leveritt, which also argue that the suspects were wrongly convicted. In 2005, Damien Echols completed his memoir, "Almost Home, Vol 1," offering his perspective of the case.

On April 28, 2011, the band Disturbed released a b-side from their album Asylum entitled "3". The song, released as an exclusive download on their official website, is about the West Memphis Three with 100% of the proceeds going to their benefit foundation for their release.

Investigative journalist Aphrodite Jones undertook an exploration of the West Memphis Three case following the DNA discoveries on her Discovery Networks show "True Crime With Aphrodite Jones." The episode premiered May 5, 2011, with extensive background information included on the show's page at the Investigation Discovery site.

See you in hell Robert Meeks

2011-06-24T01:15:00.001-07:00

There are new details on the brutal rape and death of a four year old Muskogee girl.

Her grandmother, 42-year-old Betty Hall, and her uncle, 22-year-old Robert Meeks Jr., are behind bars, accused of a string of crimes. Police say Hall suspected the girl had been hurt and did nothing.

The story is made even more heartbreaking because, according to police records, the four-year-old girl was on a heart monitor, still wore a diaper and was unable to speak. The victim's great aunt told News On 6 Tuesday night that the girl had cerebral palsy and had a feeding tube.

Police say the disabled little girl suffered internal injuries described as violent and sexual in nature.

6/20 2011 Related Story: Muskogee Police Arrest Two In Connection With 4-Year-Old's Death

In a police report, investigators say the grandmother, Betty Hall, woke up just after midnight on Saturday, when she heard the little girl's "heart monitor alarm go off."

That's when she told police that she saw her oldest son, Robert Meeks Jr., leave the bathroom, stop and look around suspiciously, and quickly walk into his bedroom and shut the door.

The report says Hall went back to sleep and didn't notice anything odd until she woke up five and a half hours later. That's when she told police she went to change the victim's diaper.

The report says Hall noticed the diaper was partially on and was not put on the way she always does it. She also said the diaper wasn't in the same condition she last left it.

It goes on to say when Hall went to wipe the girl, she was bloody.

Investigators say the girl's grandmother admits at that time she knew her son Robert had done something bad to the victim.

According to the report, Hall was scared to say anything to Robert or her husband and she was going to just wait and hope the injuries healed on their own.

The police report does say Hall knew her son had been in the victim's room because the only time the girl's heart monitor ever goes off is if the she was moved by another.

Hall is facing charges for failing to get her granddaughter medical treatment or report the abuse.

Robert Meeks Jr. is facing charges for child abuse and rape.

It's still unclear how the girl died. She was suffering from a heart attack and a high fever when she was taken to the hospital on Sunday, June 19, 2011. She died a day later.

5-year-old Killer

2011-06-10T18:13:00.000-07:00

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) – A 5-year-old girl could face murder charges in the recent drowning of a toddler in a bathtub, police said on Thursday.

Kansas City police are waiting for a medical examiner's report on how Jermane Johnson Jr., died, but have investigated the death as a homicide, spokesman Darin Snapp said Thursday.

"I've been in law enforcement for 20 years and it's the youngest suspect I can remember," Snapp said. "It's extremely rare."

Johnson, 18 months old, was in a Kansas City house on June 3rd with other children, but the 16-year-old girl who was supposed to be looking after them fell asleep, Snapp said.

Investigators learned through interviews that a 5-year-old girl in the house got irritated at the boy, Snapp said.

"She said she got angry because he would not stop crying and she held him under the water until he stopped crying," Snapp said.

Snapp said a decision on to handle the case will be left up to prosecutors after the medical examiner's report is released.

(Editing by James B. Kelleher and Peter Bohan)

Batman busted

2011-05-17T09:42:00.000-07:00

A 31-year-old Harbor Springs man who, police say, was on the roof of a business in downtown Petoskey, dressed as Batman was arrested early Wednesday morning for trespassing and possession of dangerous weapons, according to a Petoskey Department of Public Safety news release.

Petoskey police received a report of a man on the roof of a business, located in the 400 block of East Mitchell Street, about 12:40 a.m. May 11, today, according to the release. Additional information supplied by central dispatch included the fact that the man was dressed as Batman.

Responding officers, including Michigan State Police troopers, saw "a male subject, dressed in a Batman costume, hanging off the western wall of the building," according to the release. The officers got onto the roof and pulled the man back onto it.

Officers detained the man and located a baton-type striking weapon, a can of chemical irritant spray and a pair of lead lined gloves. The suspect was arrested for trespassing and possession of dangerous weapons.

The man was lodged at the Emmet County Jail and his name is being withheld pending his arraignment, said public safety director John Calabrese.

Calabrese said it is unclear what the man's motivations were. "I think he enjoys doing this," he said

Group of deaf, mute friends stabbed at bar after thug mistakes sign language for gang signs

2011-05-03T18:29:00.001-07:00

A group of deaf friends were stabbed at a bar in Florida after a woman mistook their sign language for gang signs.

Alfred Stewart, 31, was partying at the Ocean's Eleven Lounge in Hallendale Beach, Fla., with some friends who were also deaf on Saturday night when the group's signing caught the eye of gang-banger Barbara Lee.

The 45-year-old Lee thought the group was throwing gang signs at her, and responded by flashing gang signs back at them, cops said.

The group motioned for her to leave them alone.

Eventually, Lee left the bar but returned with two members of her crew, 19-year-old Marco Ibanez and a 17-year-old who was not identified, cops said.

Ibanez allegedly pulled a knife and began stabbing Stewart and his friends.

Stewart and three of his friends were taken to a hospital and treated for stab wounds.

A bouncer at the bar who had a bottle smashed over his head in the melee was also taken to the hospital. None of the injuries were life-threatening, officials said.

Lee, Ibanez and the 17-year-old were arrested and charged with aggravated battery.

Stewart's mother, Brenda, said there was no way her son was making gang signs.

"Only sign language," she told WSVN television. "That's the only way all of them, they do sign language."

Death of Osama bin Laden ?

2011-05-02T15:34:00.000-07:00

Both ABC News and the Associated Press have reported that the body has been identified by DNA testing, using tissue and blood samples taken from his sister who died of brain cancer. However, Reuters reports that DNA test results will be available in the next few days and that bin Laden's body was identified using facial recognition techniques. One of bin Laden's wives identified the body.

Anthony Garcia got a tattoo

2011-04-27T17:55:00.001-07:00

Anthony Garcia had crime scene (of a crime he committed in 2004) tattooed on his chest, convicted of 1st degree murder
Gang tattoo leads to a murder conviction

Inked on the chest of a Pico Rivera gang member was the detailed scene of a liquor store slaying that had stumped an L.A. County sheriff's investigator for more than four years. It leads to a jailhouse confession from Anthony Garcia — and a first-degree murder conviction.

April 22, 2011

The process was routine. L.A. County Sheriff's homicide investigator Kevin Lloyd was flipping through snapshots of tattooed gang members.

Then one caught his attention.

Inked on the pudgy chest of a young Pico Rivera gangster who had been picked up and released on a minor offense was the scene of a 2004 liquor store slaying that had stumped Lloyd for more than four years.

Each key detail was right there: the Christmas lights that lined the roof of the liquor store where 23-year-old John Juarez was gunned down, the direction his body fell, the bowed street lamp across the way and the street sign — all under the chilling banner of RIVERA KILLS, a reference to the gang Rivera-13.

As if to seal the deal, below the collarbone of the gang member known by the alias "Chopper" was a miniature helicopter raining down bullets on the scene.

Lloyd's discovery of the tattoo in 2008 launched a bizarre investigation that soon led to Anthony Garcia's arrest for the shooting. Then sheriff's detectives, posing as gang members, began talking to Garcia, 25, in his holding cell. They got a confession that this week led to a first-degree murder conviction in a killing investigators had once all but given up hope of solving.

For Lloyd, the image on the chest of the delicate, doe-eyed gang member brought back a rush of memories. The snapshot was taken inside the sheriff's Pico Rivera station after Garcia was arrested in a routine traffic stop and booked on suspicion of driving with a suspended license.

Before they are released, suspected gang members typically are asked to remove their shirts and have their tattoos photographed by graffiti team deputies. Taggers often mark their own bodies with the same signatures they spray on buses and storefronts — and eyewitnesses to crimes sometimes help close cases by recalling distinctive tattoos.

Homicide Lt. Dave Dolson said gang members frequently get symbolic tattoos to bolster their street cred: three dots on the hand to signify "mi vida loca" ("my crazy life"), sketches of prisons where they've done time, gang insignia prominently stenciled on their heads and torsos.

But a tattoo laying out a detailed picture of a crime scene is something far outside the norm. "I haven't seen it before, and I haven't heard of anything like it either," Dolson said.

Garcia's tattoo shows a man with the body of a peanut being hit by bullets and falling back toward the liquor store. In gang slang, the word "peanut" is used to derisively describe a rival gang member.

Lloyd had been at the scene of the Pico Rivera killing as a station sergeant. After he recognized it in the tattoo, the 30-year veteran called up the cold case file. He pored over the crime scene photographs alongside the photos of Garcia's chest. He also drove to the site of the slaying.

"I worked Pico Rivera a lot of years, so I'm pretty familiar with that area," he said. "It was incredible."

With the help of major crimes investigators, deputies found Garcia living with relatives in La Habra. They arrested him and began setting up a ruse to secure his conviction.

A detective posing as a Los Angeles gang member who'd been arrested on attempted murder charges was placed in Garcia's Norwalk station jail cell. He soon got Garcia talking, sheriff's investigators said. Garcia was proud, and he bragged about the shooting. He didn't know the conversation was being recorded and that it would soon be played for a jury.

But perhaps it was all bound to end up this way, said Capt. Mike Parker.

"Think about it. He tattooed his confession on his chest. You have a degree of fate with this," Parker said. "The detective who spotted it had been a Pico sergeant who went on to become a homicide sergeant. I never worked Pico station. I never would have recognized that Pico liquor store."

Investigators don't believe Garcia's elaborate tattoo was a rash decision. Photos from several bookings over the years show the mural on his chest evolving as he added details to the tattooed murder scene — until one day Lloyd saw them as a whole and something clicked.

Murder of Junko Furuta

2011-04-07T06:29:00.000-07:00

Concrete-encased high school girl murder case (女子高生コンクリート詰め殺人事件, Joshikōsei konkurīto-zume satsujin-jiken?) was a 1988-89 incident in which a Japanese girl, Junko Furuta (古田順子, Furuta Junko?), 16 at that time, was murdered. This incident has a high level of notoriety in Japan.

On November 25, 1988, four boys, including Jō Kamisaku, then 17 (Kamisaku was a new family name he took after being released from prison), abducted and held Furuta, a third-year high school (12th grade) student from Misato, Saitama Prefecture, for 44 days. They kept her captive in the house owned by the parents of Kamisaku, located in the Ayase district of Adachi, Tokyo.

To forestall a manhunt, one of them forced Furuta into calling her own parents and telling them that she had run away from home, but was with "a friend" and was not in danger. He also browbeat her into posing as one of the boy's girlfriends when the parents of the house where she was held were around, but when it became clear that the parents would not call the police, he dropped this pretext. Furuta tried to escape several times, begging the parents more than once to help her, but they did nothing, apparently out of fear that Boy A would hurt them. Boy A was at the time a low-level yakuza leader and had bragged that he could use his connections to kill anyone who interfered.

According to their statements at their trial, the four of them raped her, beat her with metal rods and golf clubs, introduced foreign objects including a light bulb into her vagina, made her eat cockroaches and drink her own urine, inserted fireworks into her anus and set them off, forced Furuta to masturbate, cut her nipple with pliers, dropped dumbbells onto her stomach, and burned her with cigarettes and lighters. One of the burnings was punishment for attempting to call the police. At one point her injuries were so severe that according to one of the boys it took more than an hour for her to crawl downstairs to use the bathroom. They also related that "possibly a hundred different people" knew that Furuta had been imprisoned there, but it is not clear if this means they visited the house at different times while she was imprisoned there, or themselves either raped or abused her. When the boys refused to let her leave, she begged them on several occasions to "kill (her) and get it over with".

On January 4, 1989, using a loss at mah-jong as a pretext, the four beat her with an iron barbell, poured lighter fluid on her legs, arms, face and stomach, and set her on fire. She died later that day of shock. The four boys claimed that they were not aware of how badly injured she was, and that they believed she had been malingering.

On January 5, the killers hid her corpse in a 55-gallon drum filled with cement; the perpetrators disposed the drum in a tract of reclaimed land in Kōtō, Tokyo.

The boys were arrested and tried as adults; but, because of Japanese handling of crimes committed by juveniles, their identities were concealed by the court. However, a weekly magazine Shūkan Bunshun reported their real names, claiming that "human rights aren't needed for brutes." Furuta's real name and details about her personal life were reported exhaustively in the media. Kamisaku was judged as a sub leader, at least according to the official trial.

The four boys pled guilty to a reduced charge of "committing bodily injury that resulted in death", rather than murder. Boy A's parents sold their house for approximately 50 million yen and paid this as compensation to Furuta's family.

For his participation in the crime, Kamisaku served eight years in a juvenile prison before he was released, in August 1999. In July 2004, he was arrested for assaulting an acquaintance, whom he believed to be luring a girlfriend away from him, and allegedly bragged about his earlier infamy. Kamisaku was sentenced to seven years in prison for the beating.

Junko's parents were dismayed by the sentences received by their daughter's killers, and enjoined a civil suit against the parents of the boy in whose home the crimes were committed. When some of the convictions were overturned on the basis of problematic physical evidence (the semen and pubic hair recovered from the body did not match those of the boys who were arrested), the lawyer handling the civil suit decided there was no case to be made and refused to represent them further.

In July 1990 a lower court sentenced the leader to seventeen years in prison. The court sentenced one accomplice to a four to six year term, one accomplice to a three to four year term, and another accomplice to an indefinite five to ten year term. The leader and the first two of the three appealed their rulings. The higher court gave more severe sentences to the three appealing parties. The presiding judge, Ryūji Yanase, said that the court did so because of the nature of the crime, the effect on the victim's family, and the effects of the crime on society. The leader received a twenty year sentence, the second highest possible sentence after life imprisonment. Of the two appealing accomplices, the one that originally got four to six years received a five to nine year term. The other accomplice had his sentence upgraded to a five to seven year term.

The case drew nationwide attention towards the sentencing and rehabilitation of youthful offenders, especially in the context of youths charged as adults, and became a media sensation.

At least two Japanese-language books have been written about the incident.

An exploitative film, Joshikōsei konkurīto-zume satsujin-jiken (女子高生コンクリート詰め殺人事件, Concrete-Encased High School Girl Murder Case?), was made about the incident by director Katsuya Matsumura in 1995. Yujin Kitagawa (later member of music duo Yuzu) played the role of principal culprit in the film. Another film, Concrete (コンクリート?, AKA Schoolgirl in Cement), directed by Hiromu Nakamura, was made in 2004 and based on one of the books written about the incident.

In 2006, the Japanese Visual Kei/rock band the GazettE released a song on their album NIL called "Taion" (Body Temperature); the song is a tribute to the girl.

Waita Uziga's "True Modern Stories of the Bizarre" includes the story: Schoolgirl In Concrete, based on the murder case of Junko Furuta.

Hello Kitty murder

2011-02-11T11:28:00.000-08:00

A 23-year-old night club hostess by the name of Fan Man-yee (樊敏儀) was kidnapped by three men: 34-year-old Chan Man-lok (陳文樂), 27-year-old Leung Shing-cho (梁勝祖), 21-year-old Leung Wai-lun (梁偉倫).They took her to an apartment at Granville Road, Tsim Sha Tsui where they imprisoned her. They beat and tortured her daily over a debt dispute.

After a month of imprisonment and torture, she was killed, dismembered and her skull was stuffed into a giant Hello Kitty mermaid doll. They discarded most of the other body parts. Only the woman's skull, one tooth and some internal organs were recovered.

The killing was exposed after the 14-year old girlfriend of one of the three perpetrators reported having continual dreams of being haunted by Fan's ghost.

The murder quickly became a sensational story in the media.

The three men were convicted of manslaughter because the remains could not identify exactly how she died. They remain incarcerated.

Justice Peter Nguyen, who sentenced the trio, said, "Never in Hong Kong in recent years has a court heard of such cruelty, depravity, callousness, brutality, violence and viciousness." The trio was convicted of manslaughter and unlawful imprisonment by a jury of the Court of First Instance after a six-week trial. They revealed it to be one of the most gruesome cases in the territory.

The publicity around the case resulted in the production and release of films that told the story. Both Human Pork Chop (烹屍之喪盡天良) and There is a Secret in my Soup (人頭豆腐湯) were released in 2001.

An episode of the television series Bones, "The Girl in the Mask" involves finding the decapitated head of a young Japanese woman from an American escort service in a mask.

Man killed woman for answering phone during sex

2010-12-09T01:04:00.000-08:00

MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee man is accused of killing a woman because she answered her phone while they were having sex.

A criminal complaint filed in Milwaukee County charges 46-year-old Garron Lewis with first-degree intentional homicide in the death of 44-year-old Sharron Dorsey over the Thanksgiving weekend.

The complaint says Lewis went to another man's house Nov. 27 and was crying when he told him he had killed Dorsey. When the man asked why, Lewis said that he killed her because she answered her phone during sex. The complaint alleges Lewis confessed to a detective that he killed Dorsey by strangling her with a belt. The Milwaukee County medical examiner's report says Dorsey died of asphyxiation due to strangulation.

Two women who were attempting to change clothes when driving killed three people

2010-09-07T15:27:00.001-07:00

Three people were killed and three others were injured in a head-on, drug-related accident on Highway 20 north of Oak Harbor Friday night, according to the State Patrol.

In an unusual development, two Oak Harbor women - both the driver and the front seat passenger - will face three counts of vehicular homicide, according to State Trooper Mark Francis.

Two Oak Harbor men, 25-year-old Jacob Quistorf and 26-year-old Francis Malloy, were fatally injured in the accident. The driver of the other car, 33-year-old Brian Wood of North Vancouver, BC, was also killed in the crash.

The accident occurred on Highway 20 near the intersection of Monkey Hill Road at 8:52 p.m.

Jordyn Weichert, 21, of Oak Harbor was driving a 1994 Chevrolet Blazer northbound on Highway 20. Samantha Bowling, a 22-year-old Oak Harbor resident, was in the front passenger seat. The two Oak Harbor men were in the backseat.

Sgt. Jason Longoria with the State Patrol said that the accident occurred when Weichert was trying to put on her sweater and Bowling was holding the steering wheel. When the Blazer started drifting off the road to the left, both women jerked the steering wheel to the right and then overcorrected again by steering left, sending the Blazer across the centerline, Longoria reported.

The Blazer struck an oncoming 2004 Subaru driven by Brian Wood. While he was killed, his wife, 31-year-old Erin Wood, was injured and transported by ambulance to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. She is 6 months pregnant; Longoria said it appears that both she and the baby will be fine, health-wise.

Weichert, who was arrested at the scene, was injured and transported to Whidbey General Hospital. Longoria said she would be booked into the jail as soon as she was released, which was expected on Saturday.

In addition to vehicular homicide, Weichert and Bowling may face vehicular assault charges.

Bowling was seriously injured and was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center for treatment. She suffered a broken leg and possibly other injuries, the state patrol reported.

Longoria said the Blazer drove over the top of Subaru and then rolled. Weichert, Bowling and Malloy weren't wearing seat belts, he said, and were ejected.

Francis Malloy and his brother Zane made regional headlines four years ago when they saved a baby at the Oak Harbor Marina. The two young men were divers who worked at their family's boat repair business, Waterworx Dive Service. They leaped into action when a baby in a stroller rolled off a dock and into the cold water. They rescued the child before the stroller sank to the bottom.

Minneapolis will pay $165,000 to zombies

2010-08-25T05:53:00.000-07:00

The Minneapolis city attorney's office has decided to pay seven zombies and their attorney $165,000.

The payout, approved by the City Council on Friday, settles a federal lawsuit the seven filed after they were arrested and jailed for two days for dressing up like zombies in downtown Minneapolis on July 22, 2006, to protest "mindless" consumerism.

When arrested at the intersection of Hennepin Avenue and 6th Street N., most of them had thick white powder and fake blood on their faces and dark makeup around their eyes. They were walking in a stiff, lurching fashion and carrying four bags of sound equipment to amplify music from an iPod when they were arrested by police who said they were carrying equipment that simulated "weapons of mass destruction."

However, they were never charged with any crime.

Although U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen had dismissed the zombies' lawsuit, it was resurrected in February by a three-judge panel of the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which concluded that police lacked probable cause to arrest the seven, a decision setting the stage for a federal trial this fall. The settlement means there will be no trial.

"I feel great that the city is being held accountable for the actions of their police," said Raphi Rechitsky, 27, of Minneapolis, one of the seven zombies, who said he and his friends were performing street theater when they were arrested. He is a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at the University of Minnesota.

Minneapolis City Attorney Susan L. Segal said it was in the best interests of the city to settle. "We believe the police acted reasonably, but you never know what a jury is going to do with a case," she said.

If a jury had concluded that the seven plaintiffs' constitutional rights had been violated and awarded $50,000 to each, plus defense attorney's fees, "it could have been quite substantial," Segal said.

Anna Shavenkova

2010-08-02T02:09:00.000-07:00

Corruption in Russia reached a whole new level. Anna Shavenkova, daughter of Irkutsk’s regional election commission chairman slammed at full speed into pedestrians on a sidewalk, got out of her car and the only thing she was concerned about was the damage done to her vehicle. So she kept inspecting it, while Elena Pyatkova whom she hit was dying on the ground with her sister Julia Pyatkova laying paralyzed next to her.

Onlookers called an ambulance which arrived 15 minutes later, but all attempts to revive Elena Pyatkova failed. She was declared dead in the hospital. Her sister Julia Pyatkova survived the hit but suffered from severe musculoskeletal injury that will leave her paralyzed for the rest of her life.

The best part of the ordeal is, that after rich father of Anna Shavenkova found out that his daughter just killed one young girl and paralyzed another for life, he went to get a lawyer and ensured that his daughter not only gets out of it without punishment, but will likely get COMPENSATED BY THE GOVERNMENT. Russian jury has ruled that Anna Shavenkova was not responsible for the accident, she just happened to be in the driver’s seat when the accident occured so she will simply be treated as a witness. Witnesses do not get prosecuted, instead, as a witness, Anna Shavenkova is eligible to apply for compensations for the damage and stress she has suffered due to the accident. The jury has yet to established who the culprit is. Possible suspect – white Toyota she was driving.

So here we are with two sisters having their lives ruined. Hard to tell which one got away easy as one was taken to a better place, while the other one will linger as a vegetable, needing someone to change her diapers and tube feed her every day. And while the family of two girls whose lives were destroyed due to irresponsible driving of Anna Shavenkova grieves, Anna’s family gets ready to receive government compensations. It surely must have been hard for poor Anna to go through all this. Jeeez!

Luckily, thanks to the power of the internet, public outcry reached Russia and latest news has it that 28 year old Anna Shavenkova may end up getting investigated for this. Given the corruption levels in Russia, it is questionable how far the investigation will go. Russian officials in this region in Siberia were trying to keep the story quiet and did a good job for a few months, but it’s back on the internet with leaked CCTV video of the accident and if Russian officials don’t take action to prosecute Anna Shavenkova, almighty internet will.

Old man murder-suicide

2010-05-05T14:27:00.000-07:00

An elderly gunman shot dead two younger men in West Town on Sunday morning, then turned his gun on himself in what police say was likely a domestic double murder-suicide.

As stunned relatives wept and police removed two bloody bodies from the yard of the home in the 1700 block of West Erie, neighbors said the 76-year-old shooter had killed two of his sons.

Police said the 76-year-old and a 44-year-old were found dead at the scene shortly before noon. A 42-year-old victim died soon afterward at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Eyewitness Brendan Ringhouse said he was studying in his apartment opposite the murder scene when he heard "two pops" of gunfire.

"I walked to my window and saw an older man standing with a gun in his hand," he said. "One guy was on the ground leaning against the house, and another was on the ground in the yard.

"He was still alive and he was saying, 'No, no, no,' but the old man walked over to him, stood over him and shot two or three more times."

The gunman walked away from the scene, "then he paused, walked back to the yard and shot himself in the head," Ringhouse said.

Ringhouse -- a medical student -- dialed 911 and ran down to help, but police and paramedics arrived almost immediately, he said.

"The whole thing was surreal," he said.

Relatives declined to comment, but one woman wailed, "Oh God, no!," as she arrived at the scene, shouting that guns "shouldn't be allowed," as relatives tried to console her.

George Petzer, who was staying at a home opposite the murder scene, said he was walking his dog earlier Sunday morning when he saw two men sawing a lock on a gate to the yard where all three men were shot.

He didn't know if the men he saw were the victims, but several neighbors said the apartment building where the 76-year-old lived had been a topic of dispute.

The building is for sale, and the elderly man had recently unsuccessfully lobbied for the ground floor to be used for a dry-cleaning business, neighbor George Edwards said.

Rodney Alcala the serial killer won on 'Dating Game'

2010-03-10T09:48:00.000-08:00

Watch a fellow game show contestant who knew convicted killer Rodney Alcala on tonight's AC 360, 10pm ET

(CNN) -- Before he was a convicted serial killer, Rodney Alcala was a winning bachelor on "The Dating Game."

"Oh yeah, I remember it quite clearly," said Jed Mills, the game-show contestant who sat next to Alcala in 1978. "He was creepy. Definitely creepy."

Found guilty in February of murdering four women and a child, Alcala, 66, is acting as his own attorney in the penalty phase of the trial. He is hoping to persuade the jury in Santa Ana, California, to spare his life.

The crimes Alcala committed date to the late 1970s. Nobody at the time knew the man with the wavy long hair and toothy grin was an apparent psychopath -- an unstable, antisocial personality.

That includes Mills, a veteran television and film actor, whose only encounter with Alcala was when both of them appeared on "The Dating Game."

"That's when I became part of a nightmare, and I didn't realize it was a nightmare until 32 years later," Mills said.

Alcala, who already had been convicted for the 1968 rape of an 8-year-old girl, was the first contestant to be introduced in the game-show episode.

"Bachelor No. 1 is a successful photographer who got his start when his father found him in the dark room at the age of 13, fully developed," host Jim Lange said. "Between takes you might find him skydiving or motor-cycling. Please welcome Rodney Alcala."

After the three bachelors were announced, the young woman who would choose one of them for a date began asking questions. She posed her first one to Alcala.

"What's your best time?" she said.

"The best time is at night," Alcala answered with a wide smile. "Nighttime."

Mills, who was bachelor No. 2, said he had an almost immediate aversion to Alcala. "Something about him, I could not be near him," Mills recalled. "I am kind of bending toward the other guy to get away from him, and I don't know if I did that consciously. But thinking back on that, I probably did."

Alcala was able to charm Cheryl Bradshaw from the other side of the "Dating Game" wall.

"Who will it be?" the host asked her at the end of the show. "I'll take One [bachelor No. 1]," Bradshaw said, and out strolled Alcala.

If Alcala appeared likable to viewers at home, Mills said he was the complete opposite when they sat together in the show's green room, where the show's contestants waited before going on air.

"He was quiet, but at the same time he would interrupt and impose when he felt like it," Mills said. "And he was very obnoxious and creepy -- he became very unlikable and rude and imposing as though he was trying to intimidate. I wound up not only not liking this guy ... not wanting to be near him ... he got creepier and more negative. He was a standout creepy guy in my life."

Within months of his "Dating Game" appearance, Alcala would become a killer, prosecutors said, abducting and murdering a 12-year-old girl in 1979. Before the decade was over, Alcala would claim four more victims, according to testimony at his trial.

CNN asked noted crime profiler Pat Brown to analyze Alcala's appearance on "The Dating Game."

"He was aware that he could say things that were considered sexy and funny and the girl would like that," Brown told CNN. "He watched the game and he gave those answers and he won, so he learned some tricks. But a psychopath's true nature comes seeping through.

"When you go back and look, what's most fascinating is that he had already committed a crime," Brown said, "Raped a little girl. Here is a man portraying himself as a desirable young man when he is a violent sexual predator of children."

Alcala's real identity revealed itself off the stage when he was with the other bachelors, Brown believes.

"He is showing his psychopathic personality in the green room," she said. "He wasn't acting at that time. Those were his enemies, and he had to beat them to get the girl and he wanted to win.

"This guy probably literally hated them. This guy was going on the show to prove how special and wonderful he was. And his ego was riding on it."

Though Bradshaw chose Alcala as her date, she refused to go out with him, according to published reports. Being rejected can have a profound impact on serial killers, Brown suggested.

"One wonders what that did in his mind," Brown said. "That is something he would not take too well. They don't understand the rejection. They think that something is wrong with that girl: 'She played me. She played hard to get.' "

Mills said he still has a difficult time discussing Alcala.

"The more time has gone by, the creepier it gets," he said, "because it kind of sinks in slowly. What this guy did, it's hard to express. He kind of haunts me a bit.

"Just talking about it, I get a tightness in my stomach."

Jesse James Hollywood

2010-02-06T19:29:00.000-08:00

Jesse James Hollywood (born January 28, 1980) is a former drug dealer who kidnapped and ordered the murder of Nicholas Markowitz and is serving a life sentence for the murder in prison.
He was born to John (Jack) Hollywood and Laurie and raised in West Hills in Los Angeles. As a child he was involved in junior baseball league. His father moved the family to Colorado in attempt to run a restaurant in the mid-1990s, but returned to West Hills in 1995.
Hollywood attended El Camino Real High School where he played baseball. During his adolescent years he started ingesting muscle supplements and doing power lifting to help build up his muscle mass. His coach would later describe him as an "emotional kid" who was later expelled for erupting into a violent fit of rage at one of his teachers near the end of his sophomore year. He transferred to Calabasas High School where he played on the varsity baseball team until he injured his back and leg, forcing him to give up the sport. Investigators believe that he started selling marijuana a year before he committed the murder of Nicholas Markowitz. He recruited his former high school friends William Skidmore, Brian Affronti, Benjamin Markowitz and Jesse Rugge to dispense narcotics for him and build up a profitable illicit drug operation. Coincidentally, he had been a close friend of Benjamin Markowitz, playing on the same junior baseball league and would visit the same Malibu, California gymnasium to exercise together.
Benjamin had been one of the schoolmates that dispensed drugs for Hollywood. Jesse James started a successful auto insurance-scam where he would report one of the many cars that were registered to him stolen and collect the money. This scam was later found out by Benjamin which irritated Hollywood. At nineteen years old, Jesse's drug operation proved so successful that he was able to afford a three-story white stucco home for $200,000, situated a few blocks away from the Markowitz household. Apart from hosting barbecues, he rarely talked to his neighbors, always having his head down and remaining silent. His every day wardrobe consisted of blue jeans and tank tops. He kept two pit bulls tied to an elm tree in the backyard. Despite his thriving drug operation he had no drug convictions, except for being charged as a minor for possession of alcohol and resisting arrest. He supplied drugs to Ryan Hoyt, the man who would later be convicted for the murder of Nicholas Markowitz and co-conspirators Jesse Rugge, William Skidmore and Graham Pressley.
The feud between Benjamin Markowitz, Nicholas Markowitz's half-brother, and Jesse James Hollywood, began over the alleged debt to Hollywood incurred by Markowitz of $1,200. On August 6, 2000, Hollywood and several of his gang members decided to confront Benjamin. On their way to see him, however, they saw Nicholas Markowitz walking on the side of the road, having run away from home. Hollywood and his gang decided to abduct Nicholas in broad daylight in order to hold him for ransom in lieu of Benjamin Markowitz' debt. They chased, assaulted, and abducted Nicholas, escaping in a van. He then returned the van to the owner--his dad's friend John Roberts.
Nicholas, Hollywood, and his gang then traveled to a motel in Santa Barbara, California, called the Lemon Tree Inn, where they held a party. After the party, members of Jesse's gang allowed Nicholas to believe that he was heading home soon. Hollywood called Ryan Hoyt, a crew-member of Jesse's gang who was also $1,200 in debt to him, to "take care of" Nicholas, giving him a Tec-9. Two members of the crew decided to commit the murder in the Goleta Hills north of Santa Barbara, California. The two dug a shallow grave and returned to the hotel to pick up Nicholas and drive him to the mountains. Before Hoyt headed up to Lemon Tree Inn, Hollywood borrowed a vehicle that belonged to the mother of a friend, claiming he needed it to help him move; he really used it, however, as transportation to the murder scene. Hollywood let Hoyt drive the borrowed car and Hollywood drove his girlfriend's car to celebrate her birthday at the Outback Steakhouse while Hoyt and the crew killed Nick Markowitz.
Within a few days, police began arresting the crew members based on tips.
At the time of Hoyt's arrest, Hollywood fled the country through Canada and went to Brazil with help from his father Jack, godfather Richard Dispenza, and his girlfriend at the time. Law enforcement agencies and the Markowitz family offered a reward of $30,000 leading to Hollywood's capture, which was later raised to $50,000. He lived on Copacabana Beach where he assumed the identity of "Michael Costa Giroux" and claimed to be a native of Rio de Janeiro and later on, of Saquarema. In an attempt to blend in with the countryside he took up the Portuguese language. He worked in Brazil by putting up posters advertising a nightclub and later landed a job by teaching private English language classes and being a dog walker. Yet, the bulk of the money Hollywood lived off came from a $1,200 monthly stipend funneled by his father. While in Brazil, he met Marcia Reis who became pregnant by Hollywood. Jesse James believed the pregnancy would protect him from extradition to the United States as Brazilian law stated "If you're the father of a native Brazilian, you cannot be extradited" however, Jesse James was wrong about the Brazilian laws, which had been changed since the international controversy with Biggs. Additionally, he was in Brazil as an illegal immigrant because he had arrived in the country with a false passport, a fact that already would have allowed his deportation, regardless of his fathering a child with a native Brazilian.
United States authorities worked with Brazilian agents and found out that Hollywood was supposed to meet a cousin in a mall. He was arrested by Interpol agents in Saquarema in March 2005. In August 2005 Reis gave birth to Hollywood's son, named John Paul Hollywood-Reis.
He was profiled on America's Most Wanted from September 2000- June 2004 and twice in 2005 after being captured. NBC's Dateline and Fox Network's America's Most Wanted have covered this story extensively.
While Hollywood was in Brazil, all participants in the murder were convicted or made pleas. Hoyt is currently on death row at San Quentin State Prison in California, Graham Pressley was released from the California Youth Authority Facility in 2007, and Jesse Rugge is currently serving a life sentence in Pleasant Valley State Prison. William Skidmore was released in April 2009 after serving 9 years behind bars for the kidnapping.
In 2005, on the same day Jesse James was arrested in Brazil, his father was arrested for manufacturing the illicit narcotic GHB, but the charge was later thrown out in court. Jack remained in custody on an outstanding 2002 warrant for a marijuana-related charge, and later received 18 months in an Arizona prison.
In 2006, the movie Alpha Dog, based on Jesse Hollywood and the kidnap and murder of Nicholas Markowitz, premiered. During filming, Santa Barbara County Deputy District Attorney Ronald J. Zonen provided copies of many documents on the case and served as an unpaid consultant to the film, citing his desire to have Hollywood captured. Zonen prosecuted Hollywood’s co-defendants and was poised to prosecute Hollywood. James Blatt, Hollywood's defense attorney, claimed there was a conflict of interest, and the California Court of Appeal for the Second District ruled on October 5, 2006 that, based on Zonen's disclosure of the files and consultant service—he should be recused from further involvement in prosecuting Hollywood. On December 20, 2006, the California Supreme Court granted review on the case effectively staying the order to recuse Zonen. On May 12, 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled that Zonen should not be recused. Nonetheless, Zonen was replaced with Joshua Lynn, who is serving as lead prosecution attorney. While in jail Hollywood began signing his mail as "Alpha Dog" and had mentioned an "Alpha Dog World Tour."
After the Court review, in June 2008 his trial date was set to begin February 19, 2009, but it was delayed. Three months later the murder trial officially started Friday May 15th with the defense's opening statements saying Hollywood was not involved with the murder. In his opening statement, Santa Barbara County Deputy Dist. Atty. Joshua Lynn described Hollywood as "a ruthless coward." On Monday May 18th witnesses called to the stand were Jeff Markowitz (the victim's father), Pauline Mahoney (who was driving with her sons when she saw a group of men attacking Markowitz), and Brian Affonti (a one time friend of Hollywood's who was picked up after the kidnapping). Affonti told the jury that he knew about Hollywood's gun, a TEC-9, which is the alleged murder weapon. Chas Salsbury, Hollywood's getaway driver, testified at trial that following the murder "Hollywood seemed remorseful, depressed, and at some points even suicidal." Saulsbury continued on the fifth day with Kelly Carpenter discussing the actions of Rugge and Pressley’s mother. The following day had testimony from Rugge childhood friend, Richard Hoeflinger, who spoke about what he witnessed. Subsequently, several Santa Barbarans told the jury about events leading to Nick Markowitz’s murder.
At the start of the second week Michelle Lasher, Hollywood's former girlfriend, testified that she still loved Hollywood while being emotional and was hostile to prosecution. Lasher also admitted on the witness stand to lying to police because she didn't want him to be caught. The Hollywood family friend, attorney Stephen Hogg, told the jury about "a tense conversation in the attorney's Simi Valley backyard" where he told Jesse James "that kidnapping can carry a life sentence. Graham Pressley's testimony about the events followed Hogg's appearance. Pressley testified Rugge "told me that Jesse Hollywood offered him $2,000 to kill Nick, but Rugge said that that was crazy, Hollywood was crazy." Pressley's testimony, important for the prosecution, continued Friday and early into the third week. Then Ben Markowitz was on the stand. Then Casey Sheehan quoted Hollywood as saying that as he and his longtime friend, Hollywood, dined at an Outback Steakhouse the suspect told to his friend “the situation” had been taken care of. In the following days, various medical experts and law enforcement officials testified then the prosecution rested their case on Wednesday of the third week.
Hollywood's defense began on the Monday of the third week. Hollywood took the stand on the first day of the defense denying any role in the murder and said he was angry when Hoyt told him about the murder at a birthday party. Hollywood recounted the kidnapping, the events that led up to it, and discussed his life on the run. Hollywood's testimony lasted four days with the prosecution cross-examining Hollywood about making threats, closing bank accounts, withdrawing money, and selling his home. Much of Hollywood' responses were denials about previous witness testimony. The last witness the defense called was District Attorney investigator Paul Kimes, questioned by co-counsel Alex Kessel about phone records. Closing arguments began on Tuesday and Wednesday of the fourth week, and the case went to the jury. During closing statements, the defense said Hollywood's associates lied while the prosecution called Hollywood "a child killer." The jury considered three different charges with penalties ranging from 8 years in prison to the death penalty.
On July 8, 2009, following three days of deliberation, the jury reached a verdict. The jury found him guilty of kidnapping and first-degree murder with special circumstances for which he can face the death penalty. On Monday July 13 the jury began the penalty phase of the trial. The mothers for the defendant and the victim took the stand. Additionally, brothers of the defendant and the victim testified and closing arguments began during the second day of the penalty phase. The jury recommended that Hollywood receive life in prison.

The Doodler

2009-10-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

The Doodler" (aka "The Black Doodler") refers to an unidentified serial killer believed responsible for 14 slayings and three assaults of men in San Francisco's gay community between January 1974 and September 1975. The nickname was given due to the perpetrator's habit of sketching his victims prior to having sex with them and then stabbing them to death. The perpetrator met his victims at after-hours gay clubs, bars and restaurants.

Police had developed a prime suspect in the case, identified by two of his survivors, but authorities could not proceed with an arrest as the surviving victims refused to "out" themselves by way of testifying (one was an entertainer, the other a diplomat). Meanwhile, the suspect spoke freely with police, although he did not admit the slayings.

At the time, Harvey Milk publicly expressed his empathy for the victims who refused to speak, stating "I understand their position. I respect the pressure society has put on them."

To date, the suspect has never been publicly named or apprehended, and the slayings have faded into obscurity; very little information is currently available about these crimes.

Susan Atkins

2009-09-25T17:27:00.000-07:00

Susan Denise Atkins (May 7, 1948 - September 24, 2009) was a convicted American murderer who was a member of the "Manson family", led by Charles Manson. Manson and his followers committed a series of nine murders at four locations in California, over a period of five weeks in the summer of 1969. Atkins, known within the Manson family as Sadie Mae Glutz, was convicted for her participation in eight of these killings, including the most notorious, the "Tate/LaBianca" murders. She was sentenced to death, which was subsequently commuted to life in prison. Atkins was incarcerated in California since October 1, 1969, having been denied parole 13 times. She was the longest-incarcerated female inmate in the California penal system.
Born in San Gabriel, California, the second of three children, Atkins grew up in northern California. Both of her parents, Edward and Jeanette, were allegedly alcoholics. Her mother died of cancer in 1963. Over the next three years, Atkins' life was disrupted by the gradual breakup of her family, frequent moves, and her leaving home to live independently. Atkins and her family lived in a middle-class home in the Cambrian Park area of San Jose, California until she was 14. She was described by those who knew her as a quiet, self-conscious girl who belonged to her school's glee club and the local church choir. Two weeks before her mother was hospitalized for the final time, Atkins arranged for members of the church choir to sing Christmas carols under her bedroom window. After Jeanette Atkins' death, relatives were asked to help look after Susan and her two brothers.
By some accounts, Atkins' family life subsequently deteriorated further as her father continued drinking and drifted around the country in search of work, which resulted in Atkins' being uprooted, frequently changing homes and schools. Her father has told a different story, one of a stable home, loving environment, and a happy family life.
Edward Atkins eventually moved to Los Banos, California with Susan and her younger brother Steven. When he found work on the San Luis Dam construction project, he left the two children behind to fend for themselves. Atkins took a job during her junior year in school to support herself and Steven. Atkins had been an average student in Leigh High School in San Jose, but her grades deteriorated when she entered Los Banos High School. During this time, she lived with various relatives.
Her older brother, Michael, had previously left home to join the Navy. Susan Atkins dropped out of high school at the age of 18 and went to San Francisco, where she supported herself as a secretary, an office gofer and topless dancer. During her time as a stripper, Atkins met Church of Satan founder Anton Szandor LaVey when she was hired for a stage production which featured her as a vampire.
During this time, she also had contact with local law enforcement authorities. In 1966, she was arrested and charged with possession of a concealed weapon and receiving stolen property.
In 1967, Atkins met Charles Manson when he played guitar at the house where she was living with several friends. When the house was raided several weeks later by the police and she was left homeless, Manson invited her to join his group, who were embarking on a summer road trip in a converted school bus painted completely black. She was nicknamed "Sadie Mae Glutz" by Manson and a man who was creating a fake ID for her at the time. Atkins later claimed to have believed Manson to be Jesus. The growing "Manson Family" settled at the Spahn Ranch in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California, where on October 7, 1968, she bore a son, by Bruce White, whom Manson named Zezozose Zadfrack Glutz. Atkins' parental rights were terminated once she was convicted of the murders and no one in her family would assume responsibility for the child. She has had no contact with her son, who was adopted and renamed, since her incarceration in 1969.

During the summer of 1969, Manson and his commune at Spahn's Ranch were attracting the attention of the police, who suspected them of auto thefts and were suspicious of the high number of underage runaways. In an attempt to raise money to move away to the desert, Manson encouraged drug dealing. Purportedly, a botched drug scam by Family member Charles "Tex" Watson led Manson to confront and shoot a man by the name of Bernard "Lotsapapa" Crowe. Manson believed he had killed Crowe, and he further believed Crowe to be a Black Panther. Neither was true. Nonetheless, Manson feared retaliation from the Black Panthers and pressured his followers for more money. During this time someone suggested that an old friend, Gary Hinman, had just inherited a large sum of money. Manson hoped Hinman could be induced into joining the commune and contributing his purported new inheritance.
Manson sent Atkins, Bobby Beausoleil, and Mary Brunner to Hinman's home on July 25, 1969. Atkins claimed she didn’t know a crime was going to take place, a claim she made when she pleaded guilty to the murder, although she wrote in her 1977 book that she went to Hinman's home to get money and knew that it was possible they were going to kill Hinman.
When Hinman insisted he had not inherited any money, Beausoleil beat him severely. When this didn't change Hinman's story, Manson himself showed up, and swung at his head with a sword, slicing his face and severely cutting his ear. Manson directed Atkins and Brunner to stay behind and tend to Hinman's wounds. Two days later, and after a phone call from Manson, Beausoleil had Hinman sign over the registrations to his cars and then killed him. Beausoleil left a bloody handprint on the wall along with vaguely revolutionary words that were reportedly hoped to implicate the Black Panthers. Beausoleil was arrested on August 7, 1969, when he was found asleep in one of Hinman's vehicles. He was still wearing the blood stained clothing he wore during the crime. The murder weapon was hidden in the tire well of the car's trunk.

On the evening of August 8, 1969, Manson gathered Atkins, Linda Kasabian, and Patricia Krenwinkel in front of Spahn's Ranch and told them to go with Charles "Tex" Watson and do as they were told. In Atkins' grand jury testimony, she stated that while in the car, Watson told the group they were going to a home to get money from the people who lived there and to kill them.
Five people were murdered at the Beverly Hills home where Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate lived: Tate (who was eight months pregnant), Steven Parent, Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, and Abigail Folger. Polanski, Tate's husband, was in Europe finishing work on a film project. Forensic evidence indicated that the murders were brutal. Just prior to leaving the residence, Atkins wrote "PIG" on the front door in Sharon Tate's blood.
The following night, August 9, 1969, Manson commented that the murders at the Tate residence had been too messy, and announced he'd have to take his followers out and "show them how it's done". Manson called Atkins, Krenwinkel, Watson, Kasabian, Leslie Van Houten, and Steve "Clem" Grogan, and they left Spahn's Ranch. Driving most of the night, he eventually found the home of grocery store owner Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary in Los Feliz, a section of north-eastern Los Angeles. Manson and Watson entered the home and tied the couple up at gunpoint, winning their compliance by convincing them they were only going to be robbed. He then went back to the car and sent Krenwinkel and Van Houten inside to do as Tex said, once again directing them to leave writings in blood, and to hitchhike back to Spahn's Ranch. Manson then drove Atkins, Kasabian, and Grogan to Venice Beach where Kasabian said she knew an actor named Saladin Nader. Manson dropped them off and told them to kill the actor, and hitchhike back to the ranch. But when Kasabian deliberately went to the wrong apartment, the three aborted the plan. Grogan allegedly threw the gun away. As the group abandoned the murder plan and left, Susan Atkins defecated in the stairwell.
At trial, the prosecution stated Manson's desire to start "Helter Skelter" (an apocalyptic race war) was the motive for the crimes. Initially, Manson told the group that during this war, they would hide in a hole in the desert, and would emerge when the war was over. He said the blacks would win the war, but would be unable to govern and would turn to Manson. In the weeks prior to the murders, Manson began to say that the war wasn't starting fast enough and the group would have to start it by murdering wealthy white people. As evidence for this motive, several witnesses testified to Manson's statements regarding "Helter Skelter" and his obsession with the Beatles' music, and the individuals convicted for the murders have testified at various parole hearings that this was the motive (e.g., Leslie Van Houten testified to this at her 1993 parole hearing). During Beausoleil's trial for the murder of Hinman, the defense, in order to discredit the prosecution's case, argued that the crimes were copycat murders made to misdirect police suspicion away from Beausoleil. The prosecution discounted this claim.
In later years, prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi stated that he believed the murders had numerous, disparate motives, all of which served to benefit Manson. The home where Tate and Polanski were living with friends was known to Manson and Watson, who had been there once and knew where it was, and Manson knew that wealthy, famous people lived there. One former tenant of the home was Terry Melcher, Doris Day's son, a record producer who Manson believed had made promises to him which had never materialized. Prosecutor Bugliosi suggested Manson may have very briefly encountered the eventual murder victims when he went to the home looking for Melcher and was reportedly turned away by Sharon Tate's photographer.

On August 16, 1969, Spahn's Ranch was raided by the police in connection with auto thefts. The charges were later dropped and everyone was released. Soon after their release, Manson and his followers left Spahn Ranch for Barker Ranch, another isolated location. However, the authorities were still suspicious of the group and the new location was raided in October 1969 with the outcome that the group was arrested again on auto theft charges. It would be the last time many of them would be free. Just after this arrest, another member of the group implicated Atkins in the Hinman murder and she was charged with that crime.
While in jail, Atkins befriended two middle-aged career criminals, Virginia Graham and Veronica "Ronnie" Howard, to whom she confessed her participation in the Tate/LaBianca murders, for example telling the women that she stabbed Tate and that she had tasted Tate's blood. They subsequently reported her statements to the authorities. This, combined with information from other sources, led to the arrest of Atkins and others involved in the Tate/LaBianca murders (Van Houten, Krenwinkel, Kasabian and Watson).
Atkins agreed to testify for the prosecution in exchange for dropping the death penalty, and she then testified before the grand jury as to what had transpired on the nights of August 8 and 9, 1969. When asked if she was willing to testify knowing that she was not being given immunity, was not being freed of any of the charges, and that she may incriminate herself in her trial testimony, she responded, "I understand this, and my life doesn't mean that much to me, I just want to see what is taken care of."
Atkins told the grand jury that she stabbed Frykowski in the legs and that she held Tate down while Watson stabbed her. She also testified that Tate had pleaded for her life and that of her unborn child, to which Atkins replied, "Woman, I have no mercy for you." Her explanation to the grand jury was that this was talking to (convince) herself, and not addressed to Sharon as "I was told before we even got there no matter what they beg don't give them any leeway". She also denied her earlier statement to Howard and Graham that she had tasted Tate's blood.
Prior to the trial, Atkins discontinued her cooperation with the prosecution and repudiated her grand jury testimony. From the early 1970's forward however, Atkins would tell Parole Boards that her original grand jury testimony was truthful and accurate as to what transpired in the Tate home.
Atkins alleges the reason that she repudiated her grand jury testimony was that "Manson sent his followers to suggest that it might be better for me and my son if I decided not to testify against him".(Atkins Official website, myth of Helter Skelter page, retrieved 29 August 2009). Her son was legally adopted in either 1972 or 1973 she'd later advise the Parole Board.
Atkins has claimed over the years, that her participation in the crimes led by Manson was passive and that she didn't actually kill anyone. In his 1978 memoir, Charles "Tex" Watson corroborated Atkins by taking responsibility for all of Tate's injuries, characterizing Atkins' initial confessions as exaggeration, jail house bragging, and a bid for attention. Her original lawyer Mr Caballero told the Parole Board in 1978 he believes Susan lied about killing Tate, and that her grand jury testimony was accurate, making her guilty nevertheless, but not as per the case facts summary..

Manson, Krenwinkel, Van Houten and Atkins went on trial on June 15, 1970. Watson was later tried separately as he was at the time in Texas fighting extradition. Kasabian was offered, and accepted, immunity. As Kasabian had not played a direct part in any of the murders and never entered either residence, and by several accounts had challenged Manson over the killings, the offer of immunity to her was less bitterly contested, particularly by the prosecutor, Vincent Bugliosi, who commented that he was relieved the offer was withdrawn from Atkins.
During the sentencing phase of the trial, Atkins testified that she stabbed Tate. She stated that she had stabbed Tate because she was "sick of listening to her, pleading and begging, begging and pleading". She also denied that Manson had any role in orchestrating the murders. Little credibility was given to the accuseds testimony in general. It frequently contradicted known facts. Atkins claims that "(Manson) told us that we were going to have to get on the stand and claim we had deliberately and remorselessly, and with no direction from him at all, committed all the murders ourselves" (Susan Atkins Official website, myth of Helter Skelter page, retrieved August 29th, 2009).
Throughout the trial, Atkins and her co-defendants attempted to disrupt proceedings and were noted for both their lack of remorse for their victims and lack of concern for their own fate. They sang Manson-penned songs while being led to the courtroom. All four defendants were sentenced to death on March 29, 1971. Atkins was transferred to California's new women's death row in April 1971.

After the Tate/LaBianca trial, Atkins was convicted for the Hinman murder. She pleaded guilty to the charges against her. She testified she hadn't known Hinman was going to be robbed or killed, although she subsequently contradicted herself on this point in her 1977 autobiography.
Atkins' death sentence was automatically commuted to life in prison the following year after the California Supreme Court's People v. Anderson decision invalidated all death sentences imposed in California prior to 1972.
In 1977, Atkins published her autobiography, Child of Satan, Child of God, in which she recounted the time she spent with Manson and the family, her religious conversion, and her prison experiences.
Since 1974, Atkins has claimed to be a born-again Christian and more latterly a Roman Catholic. Over the course of her imprisonment she has been involved in prison programs. She has received two commendations for helping save the lives of other inmates. She was married in 1980 to Donald Lee Laisure, a Texan claiming to be a multi-millionaire who would use his resources to help secure her freedom, but Atkins ended the marriage when it was revealed that many of his claims were false. She married a second time, in 1987, to a man 15 years her junior, James W. Whitehouse, who earned a law degree and represented Atkins at her 2000 and 2005 parole hearings. He maintains a Web site dedicated to her legal representation.
During her 2000 parole hearing, Tate's sister, Debra, read a statement written by their father, Paul, which said in part, "Thirty one years ago I sat in a courtroom with a jury and watched with others. I saw a young woman who giggled, snickered and shouted out insults, even while testifying about my daughter's last breath, she laughed. My family was ripped apart. If Susan Atkins is released to rejoin her family, where is the justice?"
In April 2002, she told a reporter of her work to discourage teenagers from idolizing Manson and her hope of someday leaving prison to live in Laguna Beach, California. In 2002, Atkins filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming that she is a "political prisoner" due to the repeated denials of her parole requests regardless of her suitability.
On June 1, 2005, Atkins had her 17th parole hearing. This hearing was attended by various family members of the victims, such as Debra Tate and members of the Sebring family, and they requested that her parole be denied. She received a four-year denial (out of a maximum of five years).

In April 2008, it was revealed that Atkins had been hospitalized for more than a month with an undisclosed illness, which was subsequently reported to be terminal brain cancer and one leg had been amputated. Atkins was given less than six months to live and subsequently requested a "compassionate release" from prison. In June, Atkins' attorney, Eric P. Lampel stated that Atkins' condition had deteriorated to the point that she was paralyzed on one side, could only talk "a little bit" and couldn't sit up in bed without assistance.

Vincent Bugliosi, who prosecuted Atkins, said he was not opposed to her release given her current condition, adding that she had paid "substantially, though not completely, for her horrendous crimes. Paying completely would mean imposing the death penalty." Bugliosi also stated that he supported her release in order to save the state money. The cost for Atkins' medical care since she was hospitalized on March 18, 2008 has reportedly surpassed $1.15 million with additional cost of over $300,000 to guard her hospital room." Bugliosi stated that he was challenging the notion that "just because Susan Atkins showed no mercy to her victims, we therefore are duty-bound to follow her inhumanity and show no mercy to her."
Former prosecutor Stephen R. Kay, who also prosecuted Manson supporters, opposed Atkins' release, stating:

"Atkins married twice while in prison. For a long time, she got conjugal visits and Sharon Tate and the others were dead and buried long ago. So I think it's a matter of principle that she should not be granted clemency."

Kay also stated that he had attended about 60 parole hearings related to the murders and spent considerable time with the victims' families and witnessing their suffering.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley stated that he was strongly opposed to the release, saying in a letter to the board it would be "an affront to people of this state, the California criminal justice system and the next of kin of many murder victims." Cooley wrote that Atkins' "horrific crimes alone warrant a denial of her request" and that she "failed to demonstrate genuine remorse and lacks insight and understanding of the gravity of her crimes." Suzan Hubbard, director of adult prisons in California, also recommended against granting Atkins' request. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also opposed Atkins' release, stating that: "I don't believe in compassionate release. I think that they have to stay in, they have to serve their time ... those kinds of crimes are just so unbelievable that I'm not for the compassionate release."
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas also opposed Atkins' release, stating that "It would be a grave miscarriage of justice to burden the citizens of Orange County by paroling her to Orange County, where she can enjoy the comforts of her husband, home and mercy she did not show Sharon Tate or her unborn baby."

Atkins' release hearing took place on July 15, 2008. During the 90-minute hearing, emotional pleas were made by both supporters and opponents of Atkins' release. The public hearing limited speakers to five minutes each for comment. After the board heard the case (as well as other agenda items) it retired to closed session for final deliberations. Due to her failing health, Atkins did not attend the hearing.
Debra Tate, the only surviving immediate relative of murder victim Sharon Tate, spoke in opposition to a compassionate release for Atkins, stating that "She will be set free when judged by God. It's important that she die in incarceration." Pam Turner, a cousin of Sharon Tate, also opposed Atkins' release, stating that "If she were capable of comprehending what our family's been through, she would be ashamed to come before this parole board and ask such a request." Anthony DiMaria, the nephew of murder victim Thomas Jay Sebring, also opposed Atkins' release stating that "You will hear various opinions with respect to this today, but you will hear nothing from the nine people who lie in their graves and suffered horrendous deaths at the hands of Susan Atkins."
Gloria Goodwin Killian, director of ACWIP (Action Committee for Women in Prison) and a Pasadena legal researcher and prisoner advocate, spoke in support for Atkins' compassionate release, arguing "Susan has been punished all that she can be. Short of going out to the hospital and physically torturing her, there is nothing left anyone can do to her. The people who are suffering are the people you see in this room today." In July 2008 Atkins' husband, James W. Whitehouse, told the board "They tell me we're lucky if we have three months. It's not going to be fun. It's not going to be pretty."
The 11 members of the California Board of Parole Hearings ultimately denied Atkins' request in a unanimous decision after final deliberations. The decision — posted on its Web site — means the Atkins' request will not be forwarded to the Los Angeles Superior Court that sentenced her, which would have had the final say as to whether she would be released.
Atkins was transferred back to the Central California Women's Facility, which has a nursing facility, in Chowchilla, California on September 24, 2008.
Atkins, reportedly paralyzed over 85 percent of her body, unable to sit up or be transferred to a wheelchair, according to a Web site maintained by her husband, was denied parole at a parole hearing on September 2, 2009.
Atkins died on September 24, 2009 at the Central California Women's facility in Chowchilla.

Velma Barfield

2009-05-17T02:05:00.000-07:00

Margie Velma Barfield (née Margie Velma Bullard) was the first woman in the United States to be executed after the 1977 resumption of capital punishment and the first since 1962. She was also the first woman to be executed by lethal injection.

Velma Barfield was born in rural South Carolina, but grew up near Fayetteville, North Carolina. Her father reportedly was abusive and she resented her mother who did not stop the beatings. She escaped by marrying Thomas Burke in 1949. The couple had two children and was reportedly happy until Barfield had a hysterectomy and developed back pain. These events led to a behavioral change in Barfield and an eventual drug addiction.

Thomas Burke began to drink and Barfield's complaints turned into bitter arguments. In April 1965, after Burke had passed out, Barfield and the children left the house, returning to find the home burned and Burke dead. Only a few months later, her home burned once again, this time with a reward of insurance money.

In 1970, Barfield married a widower, Jennings Barfield. Less than a year after their marriage, Jennings died from heart complications, leaving Velma a widow once again.

In 1974, Barfield's mother, Lillian Bullard showed symptoms of intense diarrhea, vomiting and nausea, only to fully recover a few days later. Approximately two months afterward, a man whom Velma had been dating was involved in a fatal car accident. During the Christmas season of the same year, Lillian experienced the same illness as earlier that year, resulting in her death only hours after arriving at the hospital.

In 1976, Barfield began caring for the elderly, working for Montgomery and Dollie Edwards. In the winter of that year, Montgomery fell ill and died. A little over a month after the death of her husband, Dollie experienced identical symptoms to that of Velma's mother and she too died, a death to which Barfield later confessed.

The following year, 1977, Barfield took another caretaking job, this time for 76-year old Record Lee, who had broken her leg. On June 4, 1977, Lee's husband, John Henry, began experiencing racking pains in his stomach and chest along with vomiting and diarrhea. He died soon afterward and Barfield later confessed to his murder.

Another victim was Stuart Taylor, Barfield's boyfriend and a relative of Dollie Edwards. Fearing he discovered she had been forging checks on his account, she mixed an arsenic-based rat poison into his beer and tea. He died on February 3, 1978, while she was trying to "nurse" him back to health; an autopsy found arsenic in Taylor's system. After her arrest, the body of Jennings Barfield was exhumed and found to have traces of arsenic, a murder that Barfield denied having committed. She subsequently confessed to the murder of Lillian Barfield.

During her stay on death row, Barfield became a devout born again Christian. While she had been a devout churchgoer all of her life and had often attended revivals held by Rex Humbard and other evangelists, she later said she'd only been playing at being a Christian.

Her last few years were spent ministering to prisoners, for which she received praise from Billy Graham. Barfield's involvement in Christian ministry was extensive to the point that an effort was made to obtain a commutation to life imprisonment. After a Federal court appeal was denied, Barfield instructed her attorneys to abandon plans to appeal to the Supreme Court. Barfield was executed on November 2, 1984 at the Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina. She released a statement before the execution, stating "I know that everybody has gone through a lot of pain, all the families connected, and I am sorry, and I want to thank everybody who have been supporting me all these six years."

Barfield's execution raised some political controversies when Governor Jim Hunt, who faced a bout with incumbent Jesse Helms for his Senate seat (which he lost), rejected Barfield's request for clemency.

Barfield was buried in a small rural North Carolina cemetery, near her first husband, Thomas Burke.

Megan Gillan

2009-03-31T09:15:00.001-07:00

A man on a rampage fatally stabbed his 17-year-old sister, decapitated his 5-year-old sister in front of a police officer and then turned toward his 9-year-old sister with a knife in his hand before officers shot him dead in what their chief described as "a killing field."

There was no clear motive for the events that unfolded Saturday, the day after the 5-year-old's birthday, in a tony Boston suburb that also is home to Gov. Deval Patrick. But there was no doubt at the carnage wrought by 23-year-old Kerby Revelus against his sisters in the two-family home they shared with their parents and grandmother.

Five-year-old Bianca was killed as a cake for her birthday, which investigators believe was Friday, sat on the kitchen table. Nine-year-old Sarafina dialed emergency services and watched police shoot her brother as her elder sister, 17-year-old Samantha, lay dead on the floor.

Sarafina was hospitalized Sunday with defensive wounds to her hands and stab wounds in her abdomen and one of her legs, police said.

"In policing, we see the raw human emotion every day, but to think that a human being could afflict such an atrocious, violent act on his own family is unbelievable," Milton police Chief Richard G. Wells Jr. said. "When I walked up to the first officer (on the scene), I could see the whole story right in his face. This just told me that this was something very bad."

Saturday's attack came about 24 hours after Revelus had gotten into a fistfight with a man living next door, Wells said.

"Blows were exchanged," he said. "I don't know the cause of it, but we're confident that did happen. He had been agitated in the hours that followed that, going into the day and last night."

Investigators believe Revelus targeted Samantha, a senior at Milton High School, and fatally stabbed her with a household knife while their grandmother, who neighbors say lives on the first floor, was doing laundry in the basement. The children's parents, whose identities weren't immediately revealed, were away; their mother is a nurse at a Boston hospital, Wells said.

Sarafina, a student at the Tucker Elementary School, just behind the house, called police around 5 p.m. local time. An officer on patrol in the neighborhood arrived within a minute, Wells said, and could hear an altercation inside as he reached the second floor. The police dispatcher operator tried to persuade Sarafina to open the door, but when she didn't the officer broke through.

"As the officer entered the door, (Revelus) decapitated (Bianca) in front of him," Wells said. "He actually walked into a killing field. He walked into such carnage, as far as the atrocity of it, I've never seen it."

Within moments, four officers were inside and two of them shot Revelus as he tried to get to Sarafina, Wells said. Revelus fell, still clutching the knife.

Details about the number of shots and who killed Revelus were pending the outcome of an autopsy Sunday.

Revelus had recently served jail time on a gun charge, Wells said, but the details would not be released until courts opened Monday. Neighbors said Revelus was in a car that was pulled over by police and from which one occupant threw a gun into a sewer.

Police had been called to the family's house in 2004 after a domestic violence report that Revelus had punched a woman living there, Wells said.

A neighbor, Norm Walsh, said his daughter Kate Walsh, a New Hampshire police officer, reported hearing two shots as she went outside to bring in groceries from the family car. Moments later, a blood-covered officer emerged carrying Sarafina, seeking towels to stanch her bleeding.

"It's shocking to me," said Norm Walsh, whose son is the same age as Revelus. "He played a lot of pickup hoop in the driveway."

Walsh said the family members had lived in the neighborhood for more than 20 years and were warm. They were of Haitian descent, as are many residents in the neighborhood, where Creole is spoken alongside English.

"The family is a solid family. Both parents worked; good kids. Completely makes no sense," Walsh said.

Samantha's classmates referred to her by her nickname, Princess, and remarked at her grace, class and friendliness. She had been one of about 20 students who had been at the high school Saturday afternoon to rehearse for a poetry jam on Thursday. Saturday morning, Samantha also had practiced for a school fashion show.

"She had a stage presence like you couldn't believe," classmate Kassi Stein said.

Sobbing, she added: "She had just a soft voice and everyone would lean in to hear what she was saying."

In one of the poems Samantha was to recite, "Acquaintance," she wrote of the strength of women in the face of "ignorant souls."

The poem closed, "So what lousy wind brought you here? What values you offer? She's a woman, a queen, a goddess. Don't treat her like any other."

A two-hour grief counseling session was held at the school Sunday afternoon and will be offered Monday to students and employees.

The officers involved in the case were placed on administrative leave and were receiving counseling from the Boston Police Department.

Charles Harrelson

2009-03-27T06:38:00.001-07:00

was an American freelance hitman connected with organized crime and was convicted of assassinating a federal judge. Harrelson was sentenced to two life terms for the May 29, 1979, assassination of U.S. District Judge John H. Wood, Jr. Harrelson was convicted of shooting and killing Wood in the parking lot outside of Wood's San Antonio, Texas, townhouse after being hired by drug dealer Jamiel Chagra of El Paso. Wood — nicknamed "Maximum John" because of his reputation for handing down long sentences for drug offenses — was originally scheduled to have Chagra appear before him on the day of his murder, but the trial had been delayed.

Harrelson was apprehended with the aid of an anonymous tip and a taped conversation between Jimmy (Jamiel) and his brother, Joe Chagra. He claimed at trial that he did not kill Wood, but merely took credit for it so he could score a huge payout from Chagra.

Harrelson was eventually convicted based largely on Chagra's conversation with his brother who was visiting him in prison. Both Harrelson and Chagra's brother Joe were implicated in the assassination. Harrelson was sentenced to life imprisonment, while Joe Chagra received a ten-year sentence. Jamiel Chagra was acquitted of the murder when his brother Joe refused to testify against him. Chagra was represented by current mayor of Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman. In a plea bargain, Chagra admitted to his role in the murder of Judge Wood and the attempted murder of a U.S. Attorney.

After his release in 2003, Jimmy Chagra claimed that Harrelson did not murder Judge Wood. While he did not identify the real killer, Chagra indicated that he or she was long deceased. Jamiel and Joe Chagra allegedly misled federal officials by talking about hiring Harrelson to kill Judge Wood when they knew they were being illegally taped during a legal visit in the prison because Harrelson had been blackmailing Joe Chagra with information he did have about the murder of the judge.

This incident is mentioned in Cormac McCarthy's book No Country for Old Men. In the film for the book Charles Harrelson's son, Woody Harrelson, plays one of the contract killers.

Prior to the Wood murder, Harrelson was tried for the 1968 murder for hire killing of Hearne, Texas grain dealer Sam Degelia Jr., in McAllen, Texas. Harrelson's attorney was Percy Foreman, who had been counsel for convicted Martin Luther King assassin James Earl Ray. Foreman produced a surprise witness: a nightclub singer who claimed that she had been with Harrelson at the time of the murder. The trial ended in a hung jury: 11 for conviction, one for acquittal.

Harrelson was retried in 1974 in Brownsville, Texas. The lead investigator on the Degelia case, was in the courtroom with a perjury arrest warrant for the nightclub singer, but she had learned of it and fled to Aruba. Without the help of her testimony, Harrelson was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison. With time off for good behavior, he was free in five years.

Harrelson mentioned in an early confession to the Wood murder that he shot President John F. Kennedy in Dallas in 1963. He then later repeatedly denied his role in the shooting of the President, for which no connection was ever found.

Conspiracy theorists have also labeled him as one of the "Three Tramps" hiding in a box car on the railroad tracks behind Dealey Plaza just after the shooting. Harrelson at various times before his death boasted about his role as one of the tramps, even though in a previous interview he had denied being in Dallas on the day of the assassination.

About the assassination, Harrelson remarked to Dallas Fox affiliate KDFW (then a CBS affiliate) in 1982, "Do you believe that Lee Harvey Oswald killed President Kennedy, alone, without any aid from a rogue agency of the US government or at least a portion of that agency? I believe you are very naive if you do."

After attempting to escape from the Atlanta federal penitentiary in 1996, Harrelson was transferred to Supermax prison ADX Florence in Florence, Colorado. He was found unresponsive in his cell on March 15, 2007, having apparently died of natural causes.

Sideshow note: Charles Harrelson He was actor Woody Harrelson's father.

Nathan Gale

2009-03-21T03:55:00.000-07:00

Nathan Gale was a former U.S. Marine who murdered former Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott during a Damageplan concert at the Alrosa Villa club in Columbus, Ohio on December 8, 2004.
Earlier in the day, Gale got into a heated exchange at a tattoo parlor that he frequented. The argument was over tattoo equipment that he wanted to buy. An artist there told Gale that "you had to be an artist" to buy such equipment and that they "didn't sell that equipment," at which point Gale threw down his magazine and said "Bullshit, man!" Gale called the artist a liar and then left.

The incident occurred just after the band started their set. Gale leapt on stage, dodged band members and then shot "Dimebag Darrell" Abbott three times in the back of the head. Gale then turned and shot into the crowd, killing four others and injuring two. In total, Gale fired 15 shots and had an additional 35 rounds of ammunition on his person. After firing ten bullets, Gale reloaded and fired five more before being shot and killed by police officer James Niggemeyer.

The gun Gale used, a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun, had been given to him by his mother because she was "proud of his military service."
According to Gale's mother, he was discharged from the Marines in 2003 because the military had diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia. The discharge came only two years into his four year agreement. She also said that Gale had a drug problem in high school, was obsessed with Pantera and that he believed Pantera had stolen and used his lyrics.

According to his friends, Gale thought Pantera was "trying to steal his identity." One friend recounts a story in which Gale showed up to a band practice with lyrics he claimed to have written, but the band knew they were Pantera lyrics.

Less than a year earlier, on April 5, 2004, Gale had a fight with security guards on stage during a Damageplan show in Cincinnati, Ohio, causing about $1,800 in damages.

Gale was from Marysville, Ohio. He stood 6'3" and wore thick eye glasses. At one point, he played offensive line for a semi-professional football team, the Lima Thunder.

Sister Ping

2009-02-13T06:26:00.001-08:00

Cheng Chui Ping, also known as Sister Ping, ran a notorious Chinese human smuggling operation primarily from her base in New York City from 1984 until 2000, when she was arrested in Hong Kong and subsequently extradited back to the United States.

Individuals who conducted such Chinese alien smuggling operations are known as "snakeheads". Almost all of the immigrants whom Sister Ping harbored came from the Fujian province of China. Sister Ping was renowned as the most notorious snakehead operating the largest most sophisticated operation of its kind, which became international in scale.

Sister Ping's smuggling operation were fraught with numerous problems, many of which made headlines. One such story involved a cargo ship named the Golden Venture which ran aground off the beaches of Queens, New York in June of 1993. The Golden Venture had 286 would-be immigrants from China in its hold, all of whom had been traveling for months, many near starvation. Ten people drowned in the incident.

She was convicted in June 2005 after a jury trial before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, on three separate counts, which included one count of conspiring to commit alien smuggling, hostage taking, money laundering and trafficking in ransom proceeds, one count of money laundering and one count of trafficking in ransom proceeds.

Sister Ping is currently serving a 35-year sentence. She is currently incarcerated in Danbury, Connecticut (BOP #05117-055) and is due for release in 2030.

Enema Bandit.

2009-02-07T20:37:00.000-08:00

Michael H. Kenyon is an American criminal nicknamed the Enema Bandit. He pleaded guilty to a decade-long series of armed robberies of female victims, some of which involved sexual assaults where he would give them enemas. He is also known as the "Champaign Enema Bandit" the "Ski Masked Bandit", and "The Illinois Enema Bandit".

His earliest attacks were in March 1966 in Champaign, Illinois. Early one morning he entered a home through a window and, wearing a red argyle ski mask and carrying a gun, administered enemas to two sisters, aged 16 and 18. After stealing $70 from their father's wallet, he left them, tied with torn strips of bedsheet, with a promise to call the police within 15 minutes to free them. Kenyon's largest attack was on five sorority girls. He often gained entry through sliding glass doors that were typical in student apartment buildings in Urbana and Champaign at the time, and provided the impetus for landlords to provide bars to block sliding doors from opening from the outside.

Kenyon graduated from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1967. The attacks ended in Champaign and the attacks were repeated in Manhattan, Kansas; Norman, Oklahoma; and Los Angeles, California.

In May 1975, Kenyon returned to Champaign. In a single night of terror he administered an enema to a Champaign woman, robbed and bound four women, and gave two enemas to the same woman. He was involved in a minor traffic accident later in the night.

Kenyon was arrested in suburban Chicago a few weeks later in connection with a number of robberies there. Under questioning he began to talk about the enema bandit. He was found to be legally sane, and pleaded guilty to six counts of armed robbery in December 1975. He was sentenced to six to twelve years in prison.

He was later questioned and released in connection with the 1982 Chicago Tylenol murders after a prisoner claimed Kenyon boasted that he planned to do something worse upon release, which occurred shortly before the Tylenol incident. It was determined that Kenyon had nothing to do with this incident.

Sideshow Note:
The Enema Bandit became the subject of Frank Zappa's song "The Illinois Enema Bandit", first released on Zappa in New York.
The Enema Bandit was the inspiration for the 1976 adult film Water Power

Love Hurts

2009-02-07T02:21:00.000-08:00

A drunken fling ended in disaster for a man who woke up to find his lover's name carved into his arm.
Dominique Fisher, 22, used a Stanley knife to write her name on Wayne Robinson's upper arm.
She inflicted the injuries on the 24-year-old at her home in Blackburn, Lancashire.

Mr Robinson woke to find his body decorated with a star on his back, 'Dominique' written on his upper right arm, and numerous slash marks on his left arm and shoulder.
He told police he had drunk vodka and taken Valium and was not awake during the incident on the night of June 14 last year.
Mr Robinson said he panicked when he woke up and took a taxi back to his home in Fleetwood, Lancashire.
He said: 'I went to her place for sex, not to be tattoed. I can't believe she did this to me and I hate her.

'When I woke I was covered in blood. Dominique was snoring. I just had to get out of there. I didn't even wake her to ask what she'd done.'
'I'm scarred for life,' he told The Sun. 'I wish I'd never met her.'

Fisher was found guilty of one charge of unlawful wounding at Preston Crown Court on Monday, following a two-day trial.
She will be sentenced on February 27 at Preston Crown Court.

Blow-up Doll Party

2009-02-05T21:04:00.000-08:00

A Florida man was arrested yesterday after he was spotted fondling and making out with a pair of blow-up dolls in a supermarket parking lot. Shoppers called cops when they spotted George Bartusek, 51, getting busy in the front seat of his 1998 Lincoln Town Car, which was parked directly in front of a Publix store. Evidence photos showing Bartusek's inanimate partners were provided to Sideshow Library by the Cape Coral Police Department. According to a police report, witnesses told cops that Bartusek was "performing activity to two different blow up dolls in his vehicle that was consistent with masturbation and other simulated sexual activity." He was also spotted "aggressively" kissing the dolls. When confronted by police, Bartusek said that he was headed to Target to "get some clothes for his dolls." Bartusek, charged with breach of peace, was wearing shorts with a three-inch opening "in the crotch area." Of course, he "had no underwear on under the shorts,

Zombie Threat Spreading

2009-02-05T00:58:00.000-08:00

Pranksters in at least three states are messing with electronic road signs meant to warn motorists of possible traffic problems by putting drivers on notice about Nazi zombies and raptors. And highway safety officials aren't amused.
The latest breach came Tuesday during the morning rush hour near Collinsville, Ill., where hackers changed a sign along southbound Interstate 255 to read, "DAILY LANE CLOSURES DUE TO ZOMBIES."
A day earlier in Indiana's Hamilton County, the electronic message on a board in Carmel's construction zone warned drivers of "RAPTORS AHEAD — CAUTION."
And signs in Austin, Texas, recently flashed: "NAZI ZOMBIES! RUN!!!" and "ZOMBIES IN AREA! RUN."
Officials in Illinois are concerned the rewritten signs distract motorists from heeding legitimate hazards down the road. The hacked sign on Tuesday originally warned drivers of crews replacing guardrails.
"We understood it was a hoax, but at the same time those boards are there for a reason," said Joe Gasaway, an Illinois Department of Transportation supervisory field engineer. "We don't want (drivers) being distracted by a funny sign."
Authorities haven't figured out how pranksters access the signs. Gasaway believes the Illinois sign was changed remotely, and Austin Public Works spokeswoman Sara Hartley suspected the hackers there cut a padlock to get into the signs' computers.
Some Web sites, such as Jalopnik.com, have published tutorials titled "How to Hack an Electronic Road Sign" as a way to alert security holes to traffic-safety officials. Jalopnik urges its readership of 2.6 million a month not to put its lesson to practice.
"Hacking generally is about showing where there are holes in security systems, and I think this is a great example of that," the site's editor-in-chief, Ray Wert, told The Associated Press by telephone Wednesday. "I'm sure there are all sorts of ways to use that information in a way that's inappropriate, but we're trying to make clear this is an issue that needs to be confronted by traffic safety and transportation officials."
Wert said he had no immediate plans to take down Jalopnik's how-to guide.
In Illinois, tampering with an official traffic control device is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $250 fine — half what a culprit might have to pay in Texas if caught. If convicted in Indiana, a culprit faces up to a year in jail and $5,000 in fines.

Brenda Spencer

2009-01-29T14:37:00.000-08:00

is a convicted American murderer who carried out a shooting spree at Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego, California on January 29, 1979. Principal Burton Wragg and head custodian Mike Suchar were killed in the attack, while eight children and a police officer sustained wounds. One of the children, who was hit in the hand, talked about the incident on a local radio station to San Diego County.
The school was across the street from Spencer's house, from which she fired the shots. She used a rifle that she had recently been given for Christmas by her father. When the six-hour incident ended and she was asked whom she wanted to shoot, she said, "I like red and blue jackets". When asked why, she shrugged and replied, "I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day." She also said, "I had no reason for it, and it was just a lot of fun"; "It was just like shooting ducks in a pond"' and "The children looked like a herd of cows standing around; it was really easy pickings." At the time of the shootings, Brenda Ann Spencer was 16 years old.
She pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and assault with a deadly weapon, and was sentenced to prison for 25 years to life, currently being served at The California Institution for Women in Chino. She has been eligible for parole four times and has been turned down each time, most recently in 2005. She will be eligible for parole again later this year.
In 2005, she claimed that she was drunk and under the influence of PCP, and that her father, Wallace Spencer, had sexually abused her as a child and that the state and her attorney conspired to hide her drug test results.
Spencer's crime, perceived lack of remorse, and lack of a serious explanation for her actions when captured, inspired the song "I Don't Like Mondays" by The Boomtown Rats, written by Bob Geldof. Her quote "I Don't Like Mondays" also appears written on a wall in the 1985 movie The Breakfast Club.

Bruno Lüdke

2009-01-29T14:34:00.000-08:00

was an alleged German serial killer. At least 51 people, mainly women, were killed in a 15-year period, which began in 1928.

Born in Köpenick, Lüdke had a mild intellectual disability (he could not tell interrogators how many minutes there were in an hour). He was discovered by Nazi police committing necrophilia on a recently-deceased victim. He quickly confessed to his crimes and was taken into custody. Witnesses report Lüdke showed signs of physical abuse and he stated that 'they would kill me if I didn't confess'.
Declared insane, he was sent to a Vienna hospital, where experiments were carried out on him until he died by lethal injection in 1944.

The 50-odd crime scenes showed no similarities in modus operandi, signature, or motive. No fingerprints were ever found and no evidence against Lüdke has ever been presented.
A Dutch former Chief of police named Blaauw took an interest in the case and investigated original police reports. He found them inconclusive, incoherent, and vague. He also expressed his disbelief that a semi-illiterate, who once got caught stealing a chicken, could evade authorities for nearly 20 years, let alone get away with murder.
Many believe Lüdke to be the victim of a frame-up, carried out by an ambitious Kriminalkommissar (chief homicide investigator) Franz, the heavily censored Reichskriminalpolizeiamt, and the budding Nazi government, that had little patience with people with intellectual disabilities.
A post-war movie, Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam, affirmed the image of Lüdke as one of Germany's worst serial killers. Attempts at reopening the case by members of the Kriminalrat (the German Internal affairs division) Faulhaber yielded no results. The true nature of the 51 murders remains unsolved to this day.

The Sasebo slashing

2009-01-24T19:45:00.000-08:00

refers to the murder of a 12-year-old Japanese schoolgirl, Satomi Mitarai by an 11-year-old classmate. The murder occurred on June 1, 2004 at an elementary school in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, and involved the slitting of Mitarai's throat and arms with a box cutter.
The killer's real name has not been released to the press, as per Japanese legal procedures prohibiting the identification of juvenile offenders, and Japanese police referred to her as "Girl A". The Nagasaki District Legal Affairs Bureau cautioned internet community members against their revealing her photos.
The 11-year-old schoolgirl was known by the Internet meme of Nevada-tan, a former name adopted by German rock band Panik.

The 11-year-old schoolgirl murdered her 12-year-old classmate, Satomi Mitarai, in an empty classroom during the lunch hour at Okubo Elementary School in Sasebo. She left Mitarai's body at the murder scene and returned to her own classroom, her clothes covered in blood. The girls' teacher, who had noticed that both were missing, found the body and called the police.
After being taken into custody, she was reported as confessing to the crime, saying "I am sorry, I am sorry" to police, though initially said no motive. Shortly afterward, she confessed to police that she and Mitarai had fallen out as a result of messages left on the Internet. She claimed that Mitarai slandered her.
On September 15, 2004, a Japanese Family Court ruled to institutionalize her, putting aside her young age because of the severity of the crime. She was sent to a reformatory in Tochigi prefecture.The Nagasaki family court in 2004 originally sentenced her to two years of involuntary commitment, but it sentenced her to an additional two years of involuntary commitment in September 2006. On May 29, 2008, local authorities announced they will lift the restrictions of freedom on her.

The murder sparked an ongoing debate in Japan about whether the age of criminal responsibility, shifted from 16 to 14 in 2000 due to the 1997 Sakakibara Seito murders in Kobe, needed to be shifted again. The killer was considered to be normal before the incident, which made the public more anxious.
Members of the Japanese Diet came under heavy criticism for comments made in the wake of the killing, such as Kiichi Inoue. Inoue was criticized for using a word which Seiichi Ota also used during gang rape scandal. Sadakazu Tanigaki was also criticized for claiming that the throat cutting was a "manly" crime.
Akio Mori used her for supporting his theory "Game Brain". The killer reportedly saw "Red Room". A Battle Royale fansite reported that the creators of the sequel postponed the release of the DVD (originally scheduled for June 9, 2004, a week after the killing) to later that year due to "current events."
In the March 18, 2005 Okubo Elementary graduation, students were given a graduation album with a blank page, should the students decide to place pictures of Mitarai and the killer, or class pictures containing both, on them. Mitarai and the killer were exceptionally given graduation certificates.

Billy The Kid

2009-01-23T06:53:00.000-08:00

He was born in New York City as Henry McCarty. His mother's name was Catherine McCarty. Not very much information is known about his father except that he died when the Kid was young. Eventually, Catherine moved with the Kid and his brother Joseph to Wichita Kansas. After his first brush with the law, Catherine was diagnosed with tuberculosis and decided to move to New Mexico, where she remarried and died in 1874. When he was arrested for theft of laundry the Kid escaped from jail and left town, fearing his stepfather's reaction. He worked in Arizona doing odd jobs until 1877 when he killed his first man. This occurred when an ongoing feud with a blacksmith named Frank P. Cahill fatally ended when the Kid shot the much larger antagonist. He was arrested and broke out of jail and fled to Mesilla, New Mexico and began to use the alias William H. Bonney. After riding with the Jesse Evans gang, he eventually drifted to Lincoln, where he became associated with John Chisum, who was challenging the New Mexico government beef contracts. The Kid's association with Chisum led the Kid to become employed by Chisum associate John Turnstall. When rivals murdered Turnstall, the Kid and several associates formed the Regulators and were responsible for tracking down and killing those responsible for Turnstall's death including Sheriff William Brady. These activities were part of what eventually became known as "The Lincoln County War". The Kid agreed to turn himself in when Governor Wallage promised the Kid a full pardon in exchange for testimony in several murder cases in 1879. After several months, the Kid lost patience and eventually left town. When Chisum refused to pay the Kid for service in the Regulators, the Kid decided to help himself to some of Chisum's livestock. Two years later, he was eventually captured, tried and sentenced to hang for the death of Jim Carlyle in 1881. Sheriff Pat Garrett shot the Kid to death after the Kid escaped from prison three months later.

cop eye

2009-01-23T04:56:00.000-08:00

A ROOKIE cop was so determined to make his first arrest he chased a suspect despite having a BRANCH stuck in his eye.
PC John Nash, 25, only realised the horrific extent of the injury after the man he arrested told him: “Mate, you’ve got to go to hospital.”
John had been in the force only six days when he started pursuing two cars being driven erratically.

One of the cars pulled over and the PC began to chase the men — but he slipped head-first into a bush and skewered his eye on the end of a branch.

The six-inch piece of wood snapped off but, incredibly, John was unaware how badly he was hurt. It had pierced his eyelid, smashed a cheekbone, forced itself under his eyeball and had come to rest against his brain. But John carried on chasing one of the men in Rochdale, Gtr Manchester.

He said: “I thought I’d hit my baton as I fell. I just thought I’d given myself a black eye.
“The suspect was still trying to get over a fence and I grabbed his ankle. He kept referring to my face and I said, ‘That doesn’t matter — come on’. Then somebody said, ‘Get an ambulance quick’. I wondered whether he was talking about me.”

John underwent three hours of surgery at Blackburn Royal Hospital, Lancs. He has retained some sight in the eye and hopes it will return to normal.
Surgeon Annaswami Vijaykumar said: “If the wood had entered a few millimetres differently the eye would have been permanently damaged.” John, who is engaged, added: “I would do the same again tomorrow. I love my job.”

The suspect was later released.

Brianna Broitzman and Ashton Larson

2009-01-22T16:55:00.000-08:00

Brianna Broitzman and Ashton Larson. The Minnesota women, both 19, were arraigned yesterday on charges that they sexually humiliated, spanked, groped, and spat on nursing home residents suffering from Alzheimer's disease and dementia. According to criminal complaints, Broitzman and Larson engaged in a variety of cruel behavior while employed part-time at the Good Samaritan Society nursing home in Albert Lea, a city in southern Minnesota. Broitzman (top) and Larson are pictured below in mug shots taken yesterday by the Freeborn County Sheriff's Office. Investigators allege that Broitzman poked one resident's breasts, spit into the mouth of another elderly person, and "put her bare butt" in the face of a Good Samaritan resident. For her part, Larson allegedly once "inserted her finger into a resident's rectum" and spit water on another "vulnerable adult." She also has been accused of bathing a male resident in a deliberately rough manner so the elderly man would get an erection. Four other teenagers--who were minors when the nursing home abuse allegedly occurred--have been charged in Juvenile Court. Broitzman, charged with 11 criminal counts, and Larson, charged with 10 counts, face a maximum of a year in jail on each of the misdemeanor raps.

no lol 4 Canada

2009-01-22T00:11:00.000-08:00

Jan 22 1918
Manitoba, Canada film censor board decides to ban comedies, on the grounds that they make audiences "too frivolous".

Joseph E. Duncan III

2009-01-17T21:11:00.000-08:00

is an American convicted serial killer and sex offender who received national attention after being arrested in connection with the kidnapping of Shasta Groene, aged 8, and her brother Dylan, 9, and being featured on America's Most Wanted. He pleaded guilty in December 2007 to 10 federal counts involving the kidnapping and torture of the children and the slaying of Dylan at a remote campsite west of the Rocky Mountain Front, and was sentenced to death under federal laws for kidnapping resulting in death (he had already pleaded guilty in state court). He was sentenced in federal court on August 27, 2008.

Duncan has a long history as a violent sexual predator, and was clinically diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder in 1980, while in prison for raping a younger boy at gunpoint.
In 2004, Duncan was charged with groping the genitals of a six-year-old boy. He was arrested in April 2005 in Minnesota. The judge granted bail at $15,000. A businessman in Fargo, North Dakota, Joe Crary, gave Duncan money for bail. When freed, Duncan skipped bail.

According to Shasta Groene's police interview, Duncan killed her mother, older brother and her mother's fiance and then took her and her brother away in a 2000 Jeep Cherokee. Almost seven weeks after their abduction, a camera in a convenience store, approximately 40 miles outside of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, recorded Shasta wandering the aisles while Duncan read a newspaper. Later on, in the early morning hours of July 2, 2005, Shasta was found in Duncan's custody. The two had entered a Denny's restaurant in Coeur d'Alene. A waitress recognized Shasta from media reports, as well as posters that had been posted around town and in the restaurant. The waitress, Amber Deahn, worked with her manager to delay the suspect and contact local police. Deahn stalled the order until the police arrived and made a positive ID on the stolen rental car, which also displayed stolen Missouri state license plates. Police later entered the restaurant and arrested Duncan. When one of the officers asked Shasta where her brother was, she replied "My brother is in heaven." The girl was then removed to a local hospital for observation and care.
Shasta told investigators her mother called her into the living room, from her bedroom where she had been sleeping, and she saw Duncan wearing black gloves and holding a gun. Her captor tied her mother's hands with nylon zip ties, and did the same to her mother's fiance and her brother Slade. Dylan and Shasta were removed from the house and placed inside the stolen rental car. While she waited with her brother, she heard her mother's fiance scream out and then saw her injured older brother staggering away from the entrance to the home. Duncan then bludgeoned the three to death; neither Shasta nor Dylan witnessed the murders. Both Shasta and Dylan were removed to other locations, where they were repeatedly raped and molested for six weeks. She said that they drove long distances and stayed in various campgrounds, while Duncan bragged of having beaten her family members to death with a hammer.
Dylan's remains were found in a remote, woodland area in Montana days after Shasta was rescued. Shasta is now in the custody of her father.
Duncan appeared in court on July 6, 2005, during his arraignment on two counts of first-degree kidnapping. His trial was set to begin on January 17, 2006, but was delayed until April 4, after the district judge granted a request to the defense for more time to prepare for the trial, and then again to October 26, after 1st District Judge Fred Gibler stated that "No one wants to try this case twice, including me", thus granting Duncan's attorneys the six month extension. On October 16, 2006, Duncan pled guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of kidnapping for the deaths of Brenda Groene, Slade Groene and Mark McKenzie. In an agreement reached with prosecutors, Duncan, 43, will receive three consecutive life sentences on the kidnapping charges, which stem from the manner in which Duncan detained the victims before their deaths. His sentencing on the murder charges has been delayed until the completion of his case in federal court for crimes that allegedly occurred against Shasta and Dylan Groene after they were kidnapped from the family's home.
In a January 23, 2007 interview, Duncan admitted to killing three other children in the California area. Detectives are checking into this new information.

On December 2, 2007, Duncan appeared in Federal court in Boise, Idaho. At this hearing he pleaded guilty to a total of 10 federal felonies related to the Idaho kidnapping and murders. During this court appearance, he read a statement in which he said, "The not-guilty plea was not entered by me, but on my behalf." On 27 August 2008, a federal jury unanimously sentenced Joseph Duncan to the death penalty for 3 of the 10 federal charges of which he has been found guilty.
There was no deal made by federal prosecutors in return for the plea and Duncan was sentenced to death on August 27, 2008.

Duncan recorded many of his violent sexual fantasies, even to the extent of becoming a sex offender advocate working for the repeal of sex offender law. He published his ideas on the Internet. He titled it "The Fifth Nail", which is also the URL for his personal website. According to lore, in addition to the four nails used to pierce the body of Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, there was a fifth nail that was taken away and hidden by Roma. Duncan adopted the name for his own website and blog. The website depicted Duncan's day-to-day life as a sex offender. Together with his many years of incarceration, Duncan expressed his feelings of persecution.
Investigators are also considering the possibility that a "Minnesota girl" (Minnesotan) mentioned in his online diary could be related to another minor who is listed as missing.
"The Fifth Nail" advocates for sex offenders and contained material that called for the legal reform law aimed at sex offenders, calling them, "State Sanctioned Discrimination." Duncan was particularly angered by the requirement for sex offenders to participate in a public registry.
With the help of a "ghost blogger", Duncan posted to his new blog, "Fifth Nail Revelations", from prison. He wrote his blog entries by hand and mailed them to the "ghost blogger", who posted them exactly as written. According to media reports, law enforcement agencies have been watching the contents of the new blog in hopes of gathering incriminating information about Duncan's crimes, both known and unknown.

In August 2005, California cold case investigators connected a single fingerprint to Duncan in an unsolved homicide. The case, cold since 1997, is the murder of 10-year-old Anthony Michael Martinez, a resident of Beaumont, California. Martinez was abducted April 4, 1997 right in front of his friends after an unknown male approached them with an offer of one dollar, if they helped him find his missing cat. The boys refused the offer, but the stranger grabbed Anthony by the collar, placed a knife near his throat, and threw him into a white vehicle. Anthony's nude body was found April 19 near Indio, California. His hands were bound with duct tape, where the killer left his fingerprint. Duncan is believed to have been in the southern California region around April 1997. It is unknown when Duncan will be formally charged. If charged and convicted he may face a life sentence in Federal Supermax Prison in Florence, Colorado in addition to the federal death sentence he has already received and the state sentences he is under. He will likely remain in federal custody unless he is extradited to Riverside.
In January 2007, Rod Pacheco, the Riverside, California District Attorney, stated he will seek to extradite Duncan to California for the 1997 murder. If convicted he will face the death penalty from the state of California.

Michael Bruce Ross

2009-01-15T05:41:00.001-08:00

Convicted in 1987 of the murders of four young women in eastern Connecticut, between 1982 and 1984. In addition, Ross admitted to murdering four additional young women in eastern Connecticut and New York State. Ross had asked to be executed, going through a lengthy legal process to forego further legal appeals and allow his execution to proceed. Ross grew up on his parents' chicken farm in Brooklyn, Connecticut, the town where he committed one of his murders years later. Ross was executed by lethal injection, pronounced dead at 2:25 a.m., on May 13, 2005, at the Osborn Correctional Institution in Somers, Connecticut. He was the first person executed in Connecticut since May of 1960, and the first to die by lethal injection.

Miyuki Ishikawa

2009-01-13T03:10:00.001-08:00

was a Japanese midwife who is believed to have murdered many infants with the aid of several accomplices throughout the 1940s. It is estimated that her victims numbered between 85 to 169, however the general estimate is 103. When she was finally apprehended, the sentence she received was remarkably light considering that Miyuki's actions resulted in a death toll so high that it remains unrivaled by any other serial killer in Japan. According to a report of "Children's Rainbow Center", a writer referred the incident as "unbelievable and unbearable."

Ishikawa was born in Miyazaki, and graduated from the University of Tokyo. She later married Takeshi Ishikawa. The relationship did not produce any children.
She worked as a hospital director in the Kotobuki maternity hospita. She was considered to be a midwife, although no form of midwifery licence existed at that time in Japan.

In the 1940s, there were many babies in her maternity hospital, and Miyuki Ishikawa found herself facing what she perceived to be something of a quandary. The parents of many of these infants were poor and unable to rear their children without financial struggle, and she herself was unable to help the infants because of a lack of social and charitable services.
In order to solve this dilemma, Ishikawa chose to neglect numerous infants, many of whom died as a direct result of this abuse. The exact number of victims is unknown, but it is estimated that she killed at least 103 babies.Almost all of the other midwives employed by the Kotobuki maternity hospital were disgusted by this practice and resigned from their positions.
Later she also attempted to garner payment for these murders. She and her husband Takeshi solicited large sums of money from the parents, claiming that it would be less than the actual expense of raising these unwanted children. A doctor, Shiro Nakayama, was also complicit in this scheme and aided the couple by falsifying death certificates. The criminals also bribed the Shinjuku ward office in an effort to cover up their actions.

Similar cases had occurred in Japan before this incident. The people of Itabashi were accused in 1930 of murdering 41 foster children. Hatsutaro Kawamata was arrested in 1933 for murdering at least 25 foster children. The Japanese government was aware of this crisis, but did nothing.
Japanese tradition also disputed the rights of infants. Cases of infanticide by a parent had been typically regarded as bodily injury resulting in death under the Criminal Code of Japan until 1907.

Two police officers from the Waseda police station accidentally found the remains of five of Ishikawa's victims on January 12, 1948. Autopsies performed on the bodies of the five babies proved that they had not died of natural causes. She and Takeshi were arrested on January 15, 1948.
The victims were deserted children, and so she insisted that parents were responsible for their deaths. Public supported the assertion, but Yuriko Miyamoto criticized them, saying it was an example of discrimination.
Upon further investigation the police found over 40 dead bodies in the house of a mortician. 30 corpses were later discovered in a temple. The sheer number of dead bodies recovered and the length of time over which the murders took place made it difficult for the authorities to determine the exact number of victims. Consequently, the exact death toll remains unknown.
The authorities viewed her murders as a crime of omission. In the Tokyo district court, Ishikawa was sentenced to eight years in prison, Takeshi and Dr. Shiro Nakayama were each sentenced to four years imprisonment. The couple appealed their sentences and in 1952 the Tokyo High Court revoked the original sentence and sentenced Ishikawa to four years in prison and Takeshi to two years.

This incident is regarded as the principle reason the Japanese Government began to consider the legalisation of Abortion in Japan. One of the reasons this incident was thought to have occurred was as the result of an increase in the number of unwanted infants born in Japan. On July 13, 1948, the Eugenic Protection Law (now the Mother's Body Protection Law) and a national examination system for midwives was established. On June 24, 1949, abortion for economic reasons was legalised under the Eugenic Protection Law in Japan.

Mary Bell

2009-01-04T15:28:00.000-08:00

Bell's mother Betty was a prostitute who was often absent from the family home, travelling to Glasgow to work. Mary was her first child, born when Betty was sixteen years old. It is not known who Mary's biological father was; for most of her life she believed it to be Billy Bell, an habitual criminal later arrested for armed robbery who had married Betty some time after Mary was born. Independent accounts from family members suggest strongly that Betty had attempted to kill Mary and make her death look accidental more than once during the first few years of her life. Mary herself says she was subject to repeated sexual abuse, her mother forcing her to engage in sex acts with men from the age of five.
Bell grew up in the Scotswood area of Newcastle, an economically depressed area where domestic violence and criminal behaviour was commonplace. As a result, her previous crimes, including attacks on other children at school, vandalism, and theft did not attract undue attention. She had also developed a reputation as a showoff, so her proclamation, "I am a murderer", was dismissed as just another one of her idle boasts.
Mary Bell was convicted of strangling toddler Martin Brown on May 25, 1968, when she was 10 years old. She was, as far as anyone knows, alone on this occasion. Between that time and the second murder, she and her friend Norma Bell (no relation) broke into and vandalised a Nursery in Scotswood, leaving notes that claimed responsibility for the Brown murder. The Newcastle Police dismissed the incident as a prank typical of the populace of the area.
On July 31, 1968, the two took part in the death, again by strangulation, of three-year-old Brian Howe. Police reports concluded that Mary Bell had gone back after killing him to carve an "M" in his stomach with a razor, as well as use scissors to cut off bits of his hair and scrape part of his genitals. As the girls were so young and their testimony contradicted each other, it has never been entirely clear which of the two did what. Martin Brown's death was initially ruled an accident as there was no evidence of foul play. Eventually, his death was linked with Brian Howe's murder and in August, the two girls were charged with two counts of murder.
Mary Bell was convicted of manslaughter on December 17th, 1968. She was found guilty not of murder, but of "manslaughter due to diminished responsibility," the jury taking their lead from her diagnosis by court-appointed psychiatrists who described her as displaying "classic symptoms of psychopathology". She was sentenced to be "detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure," effectively an indefinite sentence of imprisonment. Norma Bell was found not guilty on both charges.
From the time of her conviction onward, Bell was the focus of a great deal of attention from the British press and also from the German Stern Magazine. Her mother repeatedly sold stories about her to the press and often gave reporters writings she claimed to be Mary's. Bell herself made headlines when in September 1977, she briefly escaped from the custody of Moore Court open prison.
Bell was released from prison in 1980 and was granted anonymity to start a new life (under an assumed name) with her daughter. This daughter did not know of her mother's past until Bell's location was discovered by reporters. The daughter's anonymity was originally protected until she reached the age of 18. However, on May 21, 2003, Bell won a High Court battle to have her anonymity and that of her daughter extended for life.
She is the subject of two books by Gitta Sereny; The Case of Mary Bell, 1972, an account of the murders and trial, and Cries Unheard: the Story of Mary Bell, an in-depth biography based on interviews with Bell, as well as relatives, friends and professionals who knew her during and after her imprisonment. This second book was the first to detail Bell's account of sexual abuse by her mother and her mother's clients.
The publication of Cries Unheard was controversial because Bell received payment for her agreement to take part. The payment was criticised by the tabloid press, and the Blair government attempted to find a legal means to prevent its publication on the grounds that a criminal should not profit from his or her crimes, but were unsuccessful. In a 1999 debate in the House of Lords, Lord Wakeham stated "the public interest oozes from every pore of the book".

Al Capone

2008-12-30T19:50:00.000-08:00

Chicago Gangster. Probably the best know of the 1920s gangsters, he controlled Chicago until brought down by FBI Agent Elliott Ness. Ness later wrote a book "The Untouchables" which detailed his efforts to jail Capone. Capone was the largest of the racketeers, and captured the American public's imagination as few ever did. Born Alphonse Capone in Brooklyn, New York, of Italian immigrant parents, Gabriele and Teresina Capone, the fourth of nine children. Raised in a loving middle class Italian family, he was brought up to be honest and hard working. Surprisingly unbiased for his time, he would become friendly with anyone of any race, creed or color who was loyal to him. He quit school at 8th grade, and began work for Johnny Torrio, a new breed of gangster then taking over New York. From him, Al Capone learned his trade, initially running errands and working his way up the ladder to manager. He also learned from a rough local gangster, Frank Yale, about the use of violence to build an empire, while maintaining a respectable home and social life. He married an Irish Catholic, Mae Coughlin, and they had a son, Albert Francis Capone, born December 4, 1918. Baby Albert was born with congenital syphilis, which Al later admitted he had contracted many years before, but had thought the disease had gone away when it went into remission. His syphilis was never treated properly. When Johnny Torrio moved his operations to Chicago in 1921, he brought Capone with him, and together, they built up the crime empire, concentrating on nightclubs, prostitution, and illegal liquor. His first murder occurred in 1924, for which he was found innocent when the eyewitnesses were bribed. In March 1925, Torrio quit the business to retire to Florida, and gave his entire empire to Capone. Killing other gang members to build his empire, Al Capone's violence peaked with the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, 1929 when seven members of Bugs Moran's gang were murdered. This murder brought the attention of the Federal government, who swore to get Capone off the street and into jail. In 1931, he was indicted and convicted of Income Tax evasion and sentenced to eleven years in jail. He died in his home in Miami, Florida, of cardiac arrest resulting from third stage syphilis. He was originally buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois.

O God i need a fix

2008-12-13T04:50:00.000-08:00

Meet God Lucky Howard he was arrested by undercover detectives for selling cocaine in his neighborhood.If the delivery of cocaine charge isn't enough Howard is charged with the delivery of cocaine near a church, a school and public housing near North Avon Avenue in Tampa.After obtaining a warrant Police searched Howard's home and found an additional 22 grams of cocaine and a scale.The investigation began toward the end of April and led to Howard's arrest Saturday.

William Beadle

2008-12-11T02:31:00.001-08:00

Beadle was born in a village near London, England. He emigrated to America in 1762, settling initially in Stratford, Connecticut, then moved to Fairfield where he married and remained for some years, and finally moved to Wethersfield, Connecticut, about 1772. By the time of his arrival in Wethersfield he had acquired property worth about twelve hundred pounds. During the American Revolution he gradually sold off his stock, and shifted his wealth into Continental currency, believing it to increase in value as the United States became independent. Unfortunately, the currency lost value, becoming nearly worthless, and when it became clear that his cash would not regain its former worth, he was thrown into a state of despair. With his estate diminished he adopted a plan of the most rigid family economy while at the same time trying to keep up his former appearances. Beadle was convinced that every man had a right to take his own life and also that the right of self-destruction extended to offspring. He thought about this for around three years and made at least three aborted attempts to murder his family in November 1782 but was still unsure. The morning of December 10th he sent the maid off with a note to the family physician. At that time he had already killed his wife. When the maid had left he went to his children's bedchamber, killed them and laid them out in a row on the floor, covering their bodies with a blanket. Afterward he walked downstairs and placed the muzzle of a pistol into each ear and fired them. The villagers were so outraged at this murder-suicide that they placed his body on a sled, pulled it to the riverside and buried in between the high and low water mark, with the bloody knife fastened to his body.

Edward Covington

2008-11-28T01:48:00.001-08:00

Edward Allen Covington has been charged this afternoon with three first-degree counts of murder in the deaths of Lisa Freiberg, Zachary Freiberg and Heather Savannah Freiberg. Covington has also been charged with three counts of abuse of a corpse, one count of animal cruelty and a probation violation.
Covington has admitted his involvement in the murders, going so far as to provide officers with details described as "extreme" and "graphic". He tested positive for cocaine at the hospital, and told officers he sold his motorcycle for crack last week. Covington has not provided a motive for the killings, and the medical examiner's office is still working on the cause of death for the victims, saying only that the victims died by multiple means and that more than one weapon was used.
A day before Lisa Freiberg's mobile home became the scene of a crime so heinous it tested even the most hardboiled investigators, a probation officer visited to check things out.
The officer came to look in on her boyfriend, Edward Allen Covington, who lived there and was on probation for drunken driving and drug charges.
Freiberg was making lunch for her children, Zachary, 7 and Heather Savannah, 2.
The officer found the home "very messy with stuff everywhere." Covington said his girlfriend was a pack rat. Other than that, the probation officer wrote in a report, the home they shared had "no problems or concerns."
Twenty-four hours later, that familial setting became a charnel house.
Freiberg and her children were found dead Monday inside the home. The deaths were so grisly that investigators could not identify the bodies by looking at them. Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee confirmed the identities of the victims Tuesday.
"The victims were mutilated; some were dismembered," Gee said. "At least one was decapitated."
The family dog, a white German shepherd, was slain.
There was more than one weapon involved, Gee said.
Lisa Freiberg's mother found her daughter and grandchildren dead Monday after becoming concerned she hadn't heard from Freiberg on Mother's Day.
Freiberg's mother forced her way into the home because it was locked, Gee said. She called the sheriff's office after discovering the bodies.
The first deputy to arrive found a man hiding in one of the children's closets. Gee, who identified the man only as Freiberg's boyfriend, said the man had pulled clothing over himself to hide.
Deputies took the man to University Community Hospital, Gee said, after he claimed to have ingested an unknown substance. The man is still at the hospital.
Gee said of the man: "He is not a victim."
No arrests were made Tuesday.
Gee said the mother and two children are thought to have been killed early Sunday morning. He would not release details on any motive for the slayings but said detectives do not think neighbors should be concerned about someone on the loose.
"The violence appeared to be oriented toward the family members," Gee said.
Neighbors Mourn Slain Family
A white cross surrounded by flowers, candles, notes and stuffed animals was posted around the corner of Freiberg's home, 1918 S. Mobile Villa Drive. The makeshift memorial sprang up overnight. It includes a picture of Freiberg with Zach and Heather Savannah.
Neighbors gathered Tuesday to comfort one another. They remembered Freiberg, who worked at Wal-Mart on North Dale Mabry Highway, as a "quiet girl" and "a good mom to her children," neighbor Kelly Baum said.
Others said Zachary and Heather Savannah were beautiful and recalled that when Freiberg first moved to the neighborhood, she threw a block party complete with a moonwalk and balloons for the children.
According to county tax records, the mobile home she lived in is owned by Keith and Barbara Frei- berg, who live in a house less than a mile away.
Monday afternoon, detectives were seen entering the couples' home on East Lake Burrell Drive, where Lisa Freiberg grew up. Detectives spent about three hours inside. Neither the detectives nor the Freibergs would comment.
Freiberg met her live-in boyfriend on the Internet, neighbor Tom Collard said.
According to a driver's license issued April 28, Covington lives at Lisa Freiberg's address.
He previously was arrested on an animal cruelty charge, but that case was not prosecuted. In January 2005, a 911 call led Tampa police to Covington's home at the time. An officer asked Covington to come to the door, but he said he couldn't, a police report states.
The officer forced his way in and saw Covington face down on his living room floor, crying. "I don't want to die like this," he told the officer, according to the report.
Covington was taken to the emergency room at St. Joseph's Hospital, under the terms of the state's Baker Act, the report states.
Police saw three dead cats on Covington's kitchen floor.
"There was blood spatter all over the surfaces of the kitchen and in some areas throughout the residence," the report said. "The cats appeared mutilated and deformed."
Ronnie Covington told police his son had been distraught after separating from his wife. He said his son suffers from depression and has bipolar disorder.
"There's not going to be any statements, so please quit calling," Ronnie Covington told a reporter Tuesday.
When asked about Edward Covington, state attorney's office spokeswoman Pam Bondi said the office "cannot make any comment at this time."
Covington, 35, is a former officer with the Florida Department of Corrections. He worked for the department from May 1996 to January 2006 in Hillsborough and Hardee counties.
He continued to work for the department after the Baker Act episode, corrections department spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said. Before Covington returned to work, he was referred to the employee assistance program and deemed fit for correctional officer duty by an independent professional.
"The department took appropriate steps with this employee," Plessinger said.
According to his Department of Corrections personnel file, Covington was accused of verbally and physically abusing an inmate in 1999, but no action was taken. In 2002, his file states he shoved and knocked over an inmate and was suspended. He was cited for excessive absenteeism in 2005, and resigned.
On April 22, he told his probation officer he would have to move in with Freiberg at least temporarily, according to DOC records. He was unemployed and looking for a job.
Collard, the neighbor, said Freiberg and her boyfriend enjoyed spending time with the children, including going to the beach and watching the children ride a child-size four-wheeler.
"She finally found somebody she could be happy with," Collard said.
Pets Led To Code Enforcement Citations
Freiberg filled her home with animals and had brushes with code enforcement officials because of it. She was scheduled to appear before a judge last week regarding citations for failure to have vaccination tags and allowing her dog to be at large, Hillsborough County Animal Services spokeswoman Marti Ryan said.
In June 2006, a neighbor complained about a rabbit and a large white horse living on Freiberg's property, said Ed Brill, Hillsborough County's manager of code enforcement. The horse was owned by a young girl who visited the property occasionally, according to a report. By August, the horse had been removed from the property.
According to a story published by The Tampa Tribune when she was 15, Freiberg said she loved spending time with her nine hermit crabs, rabbit, bird and two dogs. She had her heart set on becoming a veterinarian.
That dream appeared difficult to reach.
In March 2002, about one year after Zachary was born, Freiberg signed a joint agreement that would give her parents temporary custody of the child, court records show.
"The mother is just 20 years old and is simply not emotionally or financially capable of properly providing," the custody petition said.
At the time, Freiberg worked as a bakery clerk at a Publix grocery store on North Dale Mabry Highway and earned about $650 a week, court records show.
She regained custody of Zachary by 2005, the year Heather Savannah was born. Court records say that the father of the children is unknown.
According to a report by the Department of Children & Families released Tuesday, Freiberg would leave the children home alone at night while she drove around her neighborhood looking for her boyfriend at the time, Tom Fish. Fish was "badly on crack," the caseworker's report said, and Freiberg "sells her food stamps to support the boyfriend's habit."
Fish could not be reached Tuesday for comment.
Freiberg's parents refuted the accusations and said they had never seen the family use illegal drugs, or the children being neglected, according to report by DCF protective investigator Tanikee D. Wright. The children's vaccination shots were up to date and Freiberg and Fish tested negative for drugs, Wright wrote.
Wright closed her investigation of the family on Sept. 15, 2005, writing, "There is no concern for the children's safety."
''It's Very Disturbing''
The memory of those children and their mother pains Barbara Walker, 49, of Los Angeles, who lived next door to Freiberg for nearly five years but left in August 2007.
"It's like I lost part of my family," she said Tuesday. "It's very disturbing. I'm taking it very hard. She was like a daughter to me. It's very heartbreaking."
Walker said Freiberg's son was a beautiful child who had his own way of talking and that she was so close to Freiberg's daughter, "You would have thought she was my own child."
"Those kids were innocent," she said. "Whatever snapped in someone to do that to those kids and to her, we're dealing with a real coldhearted person.

Sideshow note:

SUCK AS FUCK!!!!

Michael Vick

2008-11-24T07:04:00.000-08:00

is a suspended National Football League (NFL) quarterback under contract with the Atlanta Falcons team.
Vick as an inner-city youth became a stand-out player in Newport News Public Schools, and attended Virginia Tech on a football scholarship. He declared for the 2001 NFL Draft and played professionally, setting records for performance and the financial arrangements of his contracts and commercial product endorsement deals. As late as 2006, Vick was characterized as "reportedly one of the top 10 richest athletes in the United States."
In April 2007, discovery of an elaborate dog fighting complex he owned in Surry County, Virginia led to criminal investigations by state and federal authorities, massive publicity, suspension from his team, loss of his promotional agreements, and criminal charges. In August 2007, a U.S. federal district court convicted him and several co-defendants of criminal conspiracy and sentenced him to serve a 23-month prison sentence. He is being held in the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas.
Vick is also under indictment for two related Virginia state felony charges for dog fighting and animal cruelty. He is expected to be transported from federal prison to appear before a Surry County judge on November 25, 2008, and plead guilty to both charges. However, in return, he is not expected to be sentenced to any state jail or prison time. Resolving the state charges is a prerequisite to entering a federal half-way house program, a procedure often used for transitioning prisoners near completion of their sentences.
As a result of discovery of the dog fighting ring and subsequent events, his financial affairs were severely impacted by lost income, legal expenses, litigation, and mismanagement by a series of friends and financial advisers. That led to a personal reorganization bankruptcy filing in federal court in July 2008. His attorneys have told the court they have been unable to complete efforts to account for large portions of his funds during the preceding 2 years, an effort they said was still in progress more than 4 months after the initial filing.
While in prison, Vick's income was reduced to wages of less than a dollar a day, plus a small amount of interest earned on a single modest investment account. During this same time, his attorneys estimated that he has been spending $30,000 a month to support his fiancée and their 2 daughters, a former girlfriend and his son with her, his mother, and his brother Marcus. On November 13, 2008, his attorneys told the bankruptcy judge that Vick "has every reason to believe that upon his release, he will be reinstated into the NFL, resume his career and be able to earn a substantial living."

Sideshow note:

I hope some one will fuck him up

Men to face charge after court finds necrophilia is illegal in Wisconsin even when using a condom

2008-11-24T05:13:00.000-08:00

Three men accused of trying to dig up a grave in Wisconsin in order to have sex with a dead woman entered not guilty pleas this week.
The twin brothers, Alex and Nicholas Grunke, and Dustin Radke (all pictured) are alleged to have attempted to remove the body of a 20 year-old woman killed a week previously in a motorcycle crash. The three decided on the woman after seeing her photo in an obituary in the local newspaper.
Stranger still perhaps is the legal argument leading to the point. The case in the courts so far hasn’t been whether the three were guilty or not, but whether necrophilia was illegal in Wisconsin or not. A lower court originally found that there was nothing in the state that banned the boys having their way with the corpse, but the State Supreme Court over-ruled that decision in July. The fact that the three brought condoms to the scene to protect themselves was not taken into account by the court.

Dont Do it In School Kids!!!!!!!

2008-11-23T08:47:00.000-08:00

A 12-year-old Florida student was arrested earlier this month after he "deliberately passed gas to disrupt the class," according to police. The child, who was also accused of shutting off the computers of classmates at Stuart's Spectrum Jr./Sr. High School, was busted November 4 for disruption of a school function. A Martin County Sheriff's Office report, a copy of which you'll find below, notes that the 4' 11" offender admitted that he "continually disrupted his classroom environment by breaking wind and shutting off several computers." The boy, whose name was redacted from the police report released today, was turned over to his mother following the arrest. The young perp turned 13 on November 15.

Sideshow note:
wtf

Chopper Read

2008-11-14T23:57:00.001-08:00

Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read (born 17 November 1954), is an Australian ex-convict, author, and celebrity

Read was born to an ex-army father and a mother who was a devout Seventh-day Adventist. He was placed in a children's home for the first five years of his life. Read grew up in the Melbourne suburbs of Collingwood, Thomastown, Fitzroy and Preston. He was bullied at school, claiming that by the age of 15 he had been on the "losing end of several hundred fights" and his father, usually on his mother's recommendation, beat him often as a child. Read was made a Ward of the State by the age of 14, and was placed in several mental institutions as a teenager, where, he later claimed, he was subjected to electroshock therapy.
By his mid-teens, Read was already an accomplished street fighter, and the leader of the Surrey Road gang. He began his criminal career by robbing drug dealers, based in massage parlours in the Prahran area. He later graduated to kidnapping and torturing members of the criminal underworld, often using a blowtorch or bolt cutters to remove the toes of his victims before killing them (hence the slang term "Toecutter", used for Headhunters).
While in Pentridge prison's H division in the late 70's, Read launched a prison war. His gang, dubbed 'The Overcoat Gang', because they wore long coats all year round to conceal their weapons, were involved in several hundred acts of violence against a larger opposing gang during this period. Around this time, Read had a fellow inmate cut both of his ears off in order to be able to leave H division temporarily. While in his early biographies Read claimed this was to avoid an ambush by other inmates, his later works state that he did so to "Win a bet". Several other members of Read's gang also cut off their own ears in a similar fashion after this incident. Read was ambushed and stabbed by members of his own gang in a sneak attack, when they felt his plan to cripple every other inmate in the entire division and win the gang war in one fell swoop was going too far. Read lost several feet of bowel and intestine in the attack. Ironically, one of the attackers was James Loughlan, a longtime friend of Read's. Read was, at the time, serving a 17-year sentence after attacking a judge in an effort to get Loughlan released from prison.
The nickname 'Chopper' was allegedly based on the protective Bulldog from the cartoon series Yakky Doodle, due to Read's habit of protecting the small and innocent from harm. Read once claimed to have served two years for GBH in 1978 after attacking a local pimp and drug pusher who was attempting to force a 13 year old school girl into prostitution, claiming "It was worth it".
Described variously as witty, charismatic, sadistic, and frightening, Read admits to being involved in the killing of 19 people and a further 11 attempts. Many of his associates in the underworld claim that Read is prone to making up numbers to increase his own notoriety and the sales of his books. Read himself has stated on numerous occasions that he would "never let the truth get in the way of a good yarn."

Convicted of crimes including armed robbery, firearm offenses, assault and kidnapping, Read spent 13 months outside prison between the ages of 20 and 38, then went on to become a successful author of crime novels, selling in excess of 500,000 copies of his works. More recently, he has also found success as a recording artist.
In 2005, Read embarked on a tour of Australia performing a series of shows titled I'm Innocent with Mark "Jacko" Jackson and later toured Sydney in a stage show with a new co-star, former Detective Roger "The Dodger" Rogerson.
In 2001, Read was featured in an advertisement on behalf of the Pedestrian Council of Australia warning of the dangers of drunk driving. Read is seated at a kitchen table and undoes his shirt, and while pointing to the numerous scars and injuries on his body, says:
“ When I was in prison… I got slashed in the face… my ears cut off…..my eyebrows trimmed and a butcher's knife here, an icepick here - NOT FUN AT ALL, etc… If you drink and drive and you're unfortunate enough to hit somebody, you ought to pray to God that you don't go to prison. ”
In 2006, Read appeared in another commercial speaking out against domestic violence. On 13 March 2006, he released a rap album titled Interview with a Madman. He also appeared in the 2002 Australian comedy, Trojan Warrior.
Read allowed use of his name to Australia's heaviest alcoholic lager called "Chopper Heavy". The beer is produced in Rutherglen, Victoria, a town associated with Australia's most notorious outlaw - Ned Kelly.

Sideshow note:

he is Awesome

Stab by 14-year-old girl

2008-11-09T17:02:00.000-08:00

Delaware State Police Detectives yesterday arrested and charged 14-year-old Andeshia B. Satchell, of Millsboro, with the attempted murder of a 78-year-old man, an incident that occurred on Nov. 1 just after 1 p.m.

The incident occurred in Millsboro. A 78-year-old male victim was approached by Satchell as he was attempting to leave his residence.

Police said Satchell asked the victim for a ride, and when he refused she became angry. The victim advised Satchell he was calling the police. Upon hearing this, police said Satchell grabbed the victim’s cellular phone and damaged it beyond use.

Satchell then allegedly took a spray bottle and sprayed the victim in the eyes with a bleach substance. Satchell next jumped onto the victim as he was seated in his car and began to punch him about his body.

The victim was able to push Satchell away long enough to attempt an escape. Police said Satchell then pursued the victim and stabbed him in the back region of his body with a knife.

The victim continued running and was again overpowered by Satchell who knocked him to the ground. Satchell with the knife again stabbed the victim a second time penetrating the chest area. Detectives say Satchell attempted to stab the victim a third time, however the victim was able to grab the knife with his hand and remove it from Satchell’s possession. Satchell then fled the area.

John List

2008-11-09T04:23:00.001-08:00

was an American mass murderer. On November 9, 1971, he murdered his mother, wife and three children in Westfield, New Jersey, and then disappeared. He had planned everything so meticulously that nearly a month passed before anyone noticed that anything was amiss. A fugitive from justice for nearly 18 years, he was finally apprehended on June 1, 1989 when the story of his murders was broadcast on America's Most Wanted. List was found guilty and sentenced to five terms of life imprisonment, dying in prison in 2008 at age 82.

Born in Bay City, Michigan, List was the only child of German American parents, John Frederick List (1859-1944) and his mother Alma (1887-1971). He was a devout Lutheran, and taught Sunday school. List served in the U.S. Army during World War II and later was given an ROTC commission as a lieutenant. He attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration and a master's degree in accounting. List had a history of losing jobs and had accumulated debts that he found increasingly difficult to pay.

List killed his family: his wife, Helen, 45; his children, Patricia, 16, John, Jr., 15, and Frederick, 13; and his 84-year-old mother, Alma. He first shot his wife in the back of the head and his mother once in the left eye, while his children were at school. When Patricia and Frederick came home, they were murdered in the same way. John, Jr., the elder son, was playing in a soccer game that afternoon. List made himself lunch and then drove to watch John play. He brought his son home and then shot him once in the back of the head. List saw John twitch as if he were having a seizure and shot him again. It was later determined that List had shot his elder son ten times.

List then dragged his dead wife and children, on sleeping bags, into the ballroom of the large house. He left his mother's body in her apartment in the attic and stated in a letter to his pastor that "Mother is in the attic. She was too heavy to move." In the letter, List also claimed he had prayed over the bodies before going on the run. The deaths were not discovered for a month, due to the Lists' habit of keeping to themselves. Moreover, List had also sent notes stating that the family would be in North Carolina for several weeks to the children's schools and part-time jobs and had stopped the family's incoming mail at the local post office.

The case quickly became the second most infamous crime in New Jersey history, surpassed only by the legendary kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh Baby. A nationwide manhunt for List was launched. The police checked out hundreds of leads without results.

In 1989, New Jersey law enforcement approached the producers of the television show America's Most Wanted because of that show's track record of fugitive captures. It was the oldest unsolved case the show had ever featured. The broadcast included an age-progressed clay bust, which, as it turned out, looked remarkably similar to List, even though he had been missing for 18 years.

Ironically, List himself had been a fan of the show and had often urged friends and acquaintances to watch it. In an interview, List said he had often wondered whether he would be featured.

The man who sculpted the bust of List was forensic artist Frank Bender, who had successfully captured many aging fugitives and identified decomposed bodies via his art. To imagine what an older List would look like, he consulted forensic psychologist Richard Walter, who created a psychological profile. He looked at photographs of List's parents and predicted his appearance. For example, he gave List a receding hairline and sagging jowels. Bender and Richard Walter were particularly praised for one final touch: a pair of glasses. They theorized that List would want to appear more important than he really was by evoking the intellectual/professional stereotype associated with wearing glasses. John Walsh, the host of America's Most Wanted, called Bender's work the most brilliant example of detective work that he had ever seen. Walsh kept Bender’s bust of List in a place of honor in his office for many years, and in 2008 donated it to a forensic science exhibit at the privately owned National Museum of Crime & Punishment.

At the time List was at a Richmond, Virginia accounting firm where he worked while living under the pseudonym Robert "Bob" Peter Clark. List had chosen the name because it had belonged to one of his college classmates, who later stated that he had never known List. Prior to his arrest, List had lived in Denver, Colorado and Midlothian, Virginia, having remarried and begun a career as an accountant. Upon viewing the broadcast, a friend of the Clarks recognized the subject of the profile as a neighbor and contacted the authorities. The police immediately arrived to arrest List, who refused to voluntarily surrender, but stood by his alias until his true identity was conclusively proved.

On April 12, 1990, List was convicted in a New Jersey court of five counts of first-degree murder. On May 1, he was sentenced to five consecutive terms of life imprisonment. List never expressed any remorse for his crimes. In a 2002 interview with Connie Chung, when asked why he had not taken his own life, he said he believed that suicide would have barred him from heaven, where he hoped to be reunited with his family.

Investigations revealed that prior to the murders, List had been suffering from financial problems after losing his job as an accountant. He had also incurred heavy debt on his expensive house and had dealt with family problems caused by his wife's mental illness, brought on by advanced syphilis that she had contracted from her first husband. Almost a year after the murders, the List home burned to the ground under mysterious circumstances, on August 30, 1972. The fire destroyed the ballroom's glass ceiling, a signed Tiffany original worth over $100,000. It is believed that List did not know of the existence or the worth of that glass ceiling; had he known, the glass could have been sold at a high price to settle his debts.

List was one of the people suspected of being "D. B. Cooper"; his age, facial features, and build were similar to those of the mysterious skyjacker. "Cooper" parachuted from a hijacked airliner with $200,000. From prison, List strenuously denied being Cooper, and the FBI no longer considers him a suspect in that case.

List died from complications of pneumonia in a Trenton, New Jersey prison on March 21, 2008. He was 82. In announcing his death the Newark, New Jersey Star Ledger referred to him as the "bogeyman of Westfield". His body was not immediately claimed.

SOME ONE NEEDS A TIME OUT

2008-11-07T06:56:00.001-08:00

Hardcore Teens Dig Up Skull And Made a Bong

2008-11-06T03:36:00.000-08:00

Three teenagers are accused by Houston police of digging up a grave, removing a skull and using it to smoke marijuana.
Houston police said Thursday 17-year-olds Kevin Wade Jones and Matthew Richard Gonzalez, and a 16-year-old, dug up the grave with shovels, removed the skull from the coffin and converted it into a "bong."

Gonzalez were arrested Wednesday night and have been charged with misdemeanor abuse of a corpse, officials said. The 16-year-old was referred to the Harris County juvenile justice system. Investigators said another person may be involved.
Houston police said they initially interviewed Jones about the use of a stolen debit card when Jones told them about the grave theft. Asked why Jones would volunteer such a story, Sgt. John Chomiak said, "We can only speculate and guess to what goes on in the criminal mind."
Gonzalez confirmed the story to investigators in a follow-up interview. Police were led to a heavily wooded site, where they found a knocked-over headstone and water-filled hole more than 4 feet deep. At the time, the muddy water prevented police from seeing if the coffin had been disturbed.
"They dug into this gravesite and that was enough to warrant the abuse of corpse charge," Chomiak said. "There has to be further investigation into the actual gravesite."
Police said they do not know where the skull is.
A man named Willie Simms was buried in the grave, according to court documents. Chomiak said that Simms' next-of-kin had not been notified.
Residents in the area knew of the cemetery's existence, it did not appear to be maintained. Preliminary reports indicated it was a 19th-century "veterans" cemetery, he said.
All of the teenagers live in Kingwood and are home-schooled, officials said.

Robin Dale Lee The Methadone Mom

2008-11-06T02:53:00.000-08:00

of North Carolina. She’s accused of overdosing her 5-year-old son Phillip with methadone. She also tried to overdose her 13-year-old son, Alex Martinez, and herself as well.
Her MySpace hasn’t been logged into since 2007 but this is what she had to say about her kids at the time…
I have 2 terrific sons. One is 11 and thinks he is grown up and smarter than me. I think he is ready for bootcamp. He is a marvel to watch playing soccer and guitar. The other one is 3, almost 4, and ready to become partners with his dad in landscaping, handyman work, and just about anything else that involves the use of tools, gadgets and heavy equipment that gets a man’s testosterone pumping. Both kids are really intellegent but have a whole life of temptations, and decisions ahead of them.
Speaking of temptations it seems that Ms. Lee may have given in to one of the most darkest temptations by allegedly killing her son. Now only one of them has a life of temptations and decisions in front of him.www.myspace.com/mysundari

John Wilkes Booth

2008-11-05T16:47:00.001-08:00

He was born on the small farm of his parents, both British immigrants, in Harford County, Maryland, the ninth of ten children. Wilkes Booth became an highly acclaimed actor prior to his act that would change history. After being shot through the neck by Sergeant Boston Corbett, He was taken to the porch of Richard Garrett's house near Port Royal, Virginia where he died. The strange Odyssey of his body to a final disposition began after being sewn up in a horse blanket. Taken to Belle Plain, it was hoisted upon the deck of the steamer John S. Ide and transported up the Potomac to Alexandria and then transferred to the Washington Navy Yard by a tugboat and finally placed aboard the monitor Montauk which was tied up at the Yard. The body was identified by a multitude of witnesses. An autopsy was performed aboard the Montauk. Then Secretary of War Edwin Stanton ordered Booth's body to be buried in the Old Penitentiary on the Washington Arsenal grounds . It was taken there by boat and carried to a cell in the prison. A grave was dug and the corpse was wrapped in an army blanket and lowered into the hole then covered by a stone slab. In 1867 the body was exhumed and re buried in a pine box in a locked storeroom in a warehouse at the prison. The corpse was again positively identified in 1869 when Booth's remains were exhumed. A final inquest was held at Harvey and Marr's Funeral Parlor in Washington prior to release of the remains to the Booth family. The corpse was taken to Baltimore for burial and was once again positively identified by many people including John T. Ford, Henry Clay Ford, and members of the family. The body was buried in the family plot in Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore on Saturday, June 26, 1869. John's individual grave is unmarked at request of the Booth family. It remains that way today.

Nathaniel Bar-Jonah

2008-11-05T14:45:00.000-08:00

was a convicted felon who was serving a 130-year prison sentence without the possibility of parole in Montana after being convicted of kidnapping, aggravated assault, and sexual assault of various children.He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts was a convicted felon who was serving a 130-year prison sentence without the possibility of parole in Montana after being convicted of kidnapping, aggravated assault, and sexual assault of various children. He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts.

In 1974 he pleaded guilty to impersonating a policeman and assaulting an eight-year-old boy, for which he received one year of probation. In 1977, Brown was convicted of the kidnapping and attempted murder of two boys and was sentenced to 18 to 20 years in prison. He was strangling the two boys while one managed to escape and find help.
While in prison he was transferred to the Bridgewater State Hospital.[citation needed] In 1991, he changed his name to Nathaniel Benjamin Levi Bar-Jonah. Later in the same year, Superior Court Judge Walter E. Steele ruled that Massachusetts had failed to prove that Bar-Jonah was dangerous and he was released before moving to Great Falls, Montana.

Bar-Jonah was arrested in 1999, again and initially for impersonating a police officer. After searching his home and finding, among other things, many pictures of young children cut out of magazines and a bone that was identified as belonging to an unknown young male, Montana police charged Bar-Jonah with kidnapping and sexual assault, as well as the kidnapping and sexual assault of three other boys.
Jonah had evidence against him and was going to be tried for the murder and cannibalism of young Zack Ramsay. There was also evidence that Bar-Jonah cooked the child up and served him to unexpected guests and neighbors including the child's own family. However, the mother of this child refused to cooperate with the police authorities on the belief that it was not her son and he was still alive.
The charges involving the other three boys, on the other hand, were carried out and Bar-Jonah was convicted of kidnapping, aggravated assault, and sexual assault, including charges that he had tortured one of the boys and hung him from the ceiling.
Bar-Jonah was convicted of kidnapping, aggravated assault, and sexual assault. He was given a 130-year prison sentence. He maintained his innocence up until his death.
Montana authorities were unaware of Bar-Jonah's past trouble in Massachusetts, a fact that was cited by activists campaigning to force former sex offenders to register.
Nathaniel Bar-Jonah was found unresponsive early Sunday April 13, 2008. He had been in poor health.
His post mortem found significant levels of LDL in his arteries and myocardial infarction was the determined cause of death.

Nepalese royal massacre

2008-11-04T11:24:00.000-08:00

The Nepalese royal massacre occurred on Friday, June 1, 2001, at the Narayanhity Royal Palace, the former residence of the Nepalese monarchy, when Crown Prince Dipendra shot members of his family. As a result of the shooting, ten people died and five were wounded. The dead included King Birendra of Nepal and Queen Aiswarya, Dipendra's father and mother.

According to the official report, Dipendra had been drinking heavily and had "misbehaved" with a guest which resulted in his father King Birendra telling his son to leave the party. The drunken Dipendra was taken to his room by his brother Prince Nirajan and cousin Prince Paras.
One hour later Dipendra returned to the party armed with an MP5K and a M16 and fired a single shot into the ceiling before turning the gun on his father King Birendra. Seconds later Dipendra shot one of his aunts. He then shot his uncle Dhirendra in the chest at point-blank range when he tried to stop Dipendra. During the carnage Prince Paras suffered slight injuries and managed to save at least three royals, including two children, by pulling a sofa over them.
During the attack, Dipendra darted in and out of the room firing shots each time. His mother Queen Aiswarya who came into the room when the first shots were fired left quickly, looking for help.
Dipendra's mother Aishwarya and his brother Nirajan confronted him in the garden of the palace where they were both shot dead. Dipendra then proceeded to a small bridge over a stream running through the palace where he shot himself.

Some people in Nepal suspected that Gyanendra was responsible for the royal palace massacre on June 1, 2001 and blamed Dipendra so that he could assume the throne himself. Gyanendra, not as popular in the country as his brother Birendra, had been third in line to the throne before the massacre. He was out of town (in Pokhara) during the massacre and was the closest surviving relative of the king. Gyanendra's wife and son were in the room at the royal palace during the massacre. While his son escaped with slight injuries, his wife was injured during the incident.
Recently, a Nepali writer, Ashutosh Shrivastav, in his article published that India and Nepali political parties could jointly have committed this crime . The writer has suggested Indian expansionism over Nepal as a possible conspiracy theory.
Feeding the rumor is the allegation that Dipendra was mortally wounded by a gunshot to the left side of the head, while Dipendra was right-handed. Some believe that this casts doubt on whether the injury was self-inflicted.
Despite the fact that two survivors have publicly confirmed that Dipendra was doing the shooting, as was documented in a BBC documentary, many Nepali people still consider it a mystery. Recently a book has been published in Nepal named Raktakunda recounting the massacre. It looks at the incident through the eyes of one of the surviving witnesses, Queen Mother Ratna's personal maid, identified in the book as Shanta. The book, which the author says is a "historical novel", posits that two men masked as Crown Prince Dipendra fired the shots that led to the massacre. Shanta's husband, Trilochan Acharya, also a royal palace employee, was killed along with 10 royal family members, including the entire family of King Birendra. In addition to details of the Royal Massacre, Shanta alleged many other cover-ups by the Royal Family, including a claim that then-King Mahendra committed suicide.

Dipendra was proclaimed King while in a coma but he died on June 4, 2001 after a three-day reign. Gyanendra was then appointed regent.
While Dipendra lived, Gyanendra maintained that the deaths were the result of an "accident". However, he later said that he made this claim due to "legal and constitutional hurdles", since under the constitution, and by tradition, Dipendra could not have been charged with murder had he survived. A full investigation took place and Crown Prince Dipendra was found to be responsible for the killing. Numerous conspiracy theories suggest an alternate conclusion but there is little evidence to support them.
The widely accepted motive is that Prince Dipendra was angry over a marriage dispute. Dipendra's choice of bride was Devyani Rana, daughter of Pashupati SJB Rana, a member of the Rana clan, against whom the Shah dynasty have a historic animosity.[citation needed] The Rana clan had served as the hereditary prime ministers of Nepal until 1951, with the title Maharaja, and the two clans have a long history of inter-marriages. All linked Dipendra's actions to a clash with his mother over his wish to marry Devyani Rana. It is also alleged that he had problems with both drugs and alcohol and, despite his affable public persona, had a cruel side to his personality.
A two-man committee comprising Keshav Prasad Upadhaya, the then-Supreme Court Chief Justice, and Taranath Ranabhat, the then-Speaker of the House of Representatives, carried out the week-long investigation into the massacre.The investigation concluded, after interviewing more than a hundred people, including eyewitnesses and palace officials, guards and staff, that Dipendra had carried out the massacre. Some critics both inside Nepal and abroad disputed the official report.
In a sense, the royal massacre was the beginning of the end of the Nepalese monarchy. It shattered the aura of Hindu mythology that had sustained the monarchy by exposing the real quarrels and factionalism within the royal families. The next king, Gyanendra, proved unable to govern the country effectively, and his aggressive attempts to fight the Maoist insurgency only led to an increase in violence and death; ironically, his imposition of absolute monarchy drove the moderate, democratic parties of Nepal into an unlikely alliance with the Maoists in opposition to him, an unlikely partnership which would lead to the Loktantra Andolan reaching a resolution in 2006 to end the monarchy on 28 May 2008, and a new peace process to commence.

Mary Kay Letourneau

2008-11-04T10:38:00.000-08:00

(formerly Mary Kay Letourneau, née Mary Katherine Schmitz) is a former schoolteacher famous for having an affair with a young student, giving birth to two children by him, and later marrying him after being convicted of statutory rape and serving several years in prison

Mary Kay Letourneau's father was John G. Schmitz, a Roman Catholic U.S. Congressman from Orange County, California, and a professor at Santa Ana College. Schmitz was generally considered one of the more conservative members of the House, and he ran for President of the United States in 1972 on the conservative American Independent Party ticket.

Her mother, Mary Schmitz, was a homemaker and anti-feminist activist. Mary Kay was one of seven children born to the couple, but she also has two half-siblings who were the result of a longtime affair between her father and his mistress. One of Mary Kay's brothers, Joseph E. Schmitz, was appointed Inspector General of the Department of Defense by George W. Bush.
Mary Kay Schmitz married Steve Letourneau on June 30, 1984. The couple had two daughters and two sons.

Letourneau first met Vili Fualaau (born June 26, 1983) when he was a student in her second grade class at Shorewood Elementary School in Burien, Washington. He was then eight years old; she was 29. She became his teacher again when he was in the sixth grade, and their sexual relationship began during the summer of 1996, when Vili was 13 and she was 34. Her husband became aware of the situation when he read their letters to each other in February of 1997 and revealed it to family members. His cousin then reported the relationship to local child protection services.

On February 26, 1997, Letourneau was arrested for statutory rape, which is called "Rape of a Child" with three degrees in Washington. Four months later, she gave birth to Fualaau's daughter, Audrey Lokelani Fualaau. On August 7, 1997, she pled guilty to two counts of second-degree statutory rape. She was sentenced to 89 months in prison by Judge Linda Lau.
The prison term was suspended, and Letourneau was sentenced to serve six months in county jail and enroll in a three-year sex offender treatment program. She was released from jail early on (January 1, 1998) for good behavior, on the condition that she not see Fualaau. However, on February 3, 1998, police discovered Letourneau in a car with Fualaau and arrested her for violating the conditions of her suspended sentence. She had also failed to comply with her sex offender treatment program. In the car, police found $6,500 in cash, baby clothes, and a passport, indicating that Letourneau had been planning to leave the country. The original sentence of seven and a half years was reimposed.
In March 1998, prison officials discovered that Letourneau was pregnant with another child by Fualaau. Their second daughter, Georgia Fualaau, was born in Tacoma on October 16, 1998. Hours after the birth, Mary Kay Letourneau was returned to prison. In November, 1999, Letourneau was placed in solitary confinement for six months for smuggling letters to Fualaau. In January, 2001, Letourneau's father died. She asked to attend his funeral, but the request was denied.
In May 1999, while she was in prison, Letourneau and her first husband, Steve Letourneau, were divorced. Steve was given custody of their four children. He remarried and moved the family to Alaska.
In 2002, Fualaau's family sued the Highline School District and the city of Des Moines, Washington, for emotional suffering, lost wages, and the costs of rearing his two children, claiming the school had failed to protect him from Letourneau. The jury ruled against them and no damages were awarded.

Letourneau was released on community placement on August 4, 2004. She will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of her life unless a judge lifts the requirement. Washington does not have the traditional concept of parole. The court would have the authority to impose incarceration up to sixty days, per violation, if an offender violates the terms of community placement. Two days after her release, Fualaau, who was by then 21, applied to the court to lift the no-contact order; the request was granted. Letourneau and Fualaau were married on May 20, 2005 in the Seattle suburb of Woodinville in a ceremony at the Columbia Winery, covered by the media. Access to the wedding was strictly controlled by the television show Entertainment Tonight, which had paid for exclusive access, though photographs were released to other media outlets. Mary Kay Letourneau now goes by the legal name of Mary Kay Fualaau. She currently is working for attorney Scott J. Terry as a secretary at his law firm, The Terry Law Firm, in Kent, Wa.

Singer/songwriter Jill Sobule wrote a song about Letourneau, "Mary Kay", appearing on her album Pink Pearl.
On the seventh episode of the second season of 30 Rock Liz Lemon compares her relationship with a 20 year old Jaime to Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau.
Was also mentioned on the 4th season 4th episode of Everybody Hates Chris.

Juana Barraza

2008-11-01T14:22:00.001-07:00

Barraza was arrested on January 25, 2006 while running away from a murder scene, on suspicion of being the serial killer known as Mataviejitas ("The Old Lady Killer"). Police said that fingerprint evidence linked her to at least 11 of the as many as 48 murders attributed to the killer. She confessed to murdering Ana María de los Reyes Alfaro and three others to the officials that arrested her, but denied involvement in other murders.
Her modus operandi consisted in approaching old ladies with the excuse of doing some social work for them; once inside the house she strangled them (usually with the first thing at hand such as a sock or telephone wire) and then stole some objects from the victims' house.
Police believe she had a partner in the murders (probably a cab driver) who is currently at large.
In March 2008, she was eventually sentenced to 759 years in jail for killing 16 elderly women

Sideshow note:

Before her arrest, Barraza was a professional wrestler called "The Silent Lady". A couple of weeks prior to her arrest she was interviewed by a Mexican network (TV Azteca) during a wrestling match she was attending as a fan. Her crimes inspired episodes in the Mexican TV show Casos de la Vida Real. This Mexican biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it

the Chijon Family

2008-11-01T05:27:00.001-07:00

The Chijon Family were a South Korean gang of cannibals. The gang was founded in 1993 by Kim Ki-hwan, a former convict, and six other former prisoners and unemployed workers who shared his grudge against the rich.
Kim christened his band the "Chijon Family" and ordered them to kidnap wealthy people and extort money from their families. The gang's hatred of the rich led them to systematically kill the best customers at one of the most exclusive department stores in Seoul. The six gangsters were found guilty of murdering five people in 1994, burying some of the corpses on remote hillsides and burning the rest in an incinerator specially installed for that purpose in the cellar of their rustic hide-out.
One gang member admitted dismembering his victims and eating their flesh, saying this was to fire up his courage and to renounce his humanity. The gang, boldened by a series of successful murders and kidnappings, decided that they needed a more effective way to pick out wealthy victims. They were able to buy the mailing list from Seoul's exclusive Hyundai department store from a disgruntled worker. The list contained the names of the shop's 1,200 best customers who paid with credit cards. From it they chose their next victims.
On November 1, 1994, the Chijon Family was sentenced to death for murdering five people. After sentencing, none of the murderers showed any trace of remorse. One told television reporters before his trial that his only regret was that he had not killed more rich kids.

Sheriff Lawrence Rainey

2008-11-01T03:21:00.000-07:00

Sheriff for Neshoba County Mississippi, His men led three civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner into the hands of the Ku Klux Klan who murdered them. The State of Mississippi never brought murder charges. Rainey was acquitted of Federal Civil Rights charges at his 1967 trial. This case was the basis for the movie, "Mississippi Burning.

Sideshow note:

he in hell now

John Wayne Gacy

2008-11-01T01:31:00.000-07:00

Serial mass murderer believed to have killed a total of 33 men and boys (nine of the recovered victim bodies were never identified). The victims ranged in age from 9 to 20, many of them runaways or male prostitutes. Born the second child (first son) of three children to John Wayne Gacy and Elaine Robinson, his father was an alcoholic tyrant, and John Jr. was raised to doubt his own masculinity. Originally a shoe salesman, he married Marlynn Myers, a coworker whose parents owned several KFC fried chicken restaurants in Waterloo, Iowa, and he quickly became restaurant manager for one of them. He had two children with Marlynn. In May 1968, he was arrested for coercing a young male employee into homosexual acts. Pleading guilty to sodomy, he was sentenced to ten years, and released after 18 months for good behavior. After his divorce and release from prison, he returned to Chicago where he soon remarried and became a building contractor. In January 1972, he began his rape and murder spree, "arresting" some of his victims with a fake police badge and gun, luring others with promises of alcohol or drugs. Initially, he planted the corpses in the crawl space under his house, but when he ran out of space, he would dispose of the bodies in the nearby river. His second wife divorced him in 1976, and his program of rape and murder increased with her departure. On October 12, 1978, he murdered 15-year-old Robert Piest, and police were able to trace his disappearance to Gacy, who had been seen offering the young boy a construction job the day he disappeared. Going to Gacy's house to question him on the disappearance of Piest, the police immediately recognized the odor coming from the crawlspace, and obtained search warrants. Under the house and in the backyard, they discovered 28 bodies. Five bodies were later recovered from the nearby river. Gacy was convicted of 33 counts of first-degree murder, and sentenced to death. After 14 years on death's row, and countless appeals, he was put to death by lethal injection on May 10, 1994, at the Stateville prison, Illinois.

Sideshow note:

a photographed with First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who was in town for the annual Polish Constitution Day Parade, held on May 6. Gacy was directing the parade that year, for the third year in a row. Carter posed for pictures with Gacy and autographed the photo "To John Gacy. Best Wishes. Rosalynn Carter". In the picture Gacy is wearing an "S" pin, indicating a person who has received special clearance by the Secret Service. During the search of Gacy's house after his arrest, this photo caused a major embarrassment to the Secret Service.

The Murder of Shanda Sharer

2008-10-31T02:52:00.000-07:00

On the morning of Saturday, January 11, 1992, Canaan, Ind., resident Donn Foley and his brother Ralph were quail hunting in nearby Jefferson County when they spotted a strange object in a fallow soybean field near Lemon Road.
Ralph's first thought was that the object was a body, though logic dictated that it were something else. Even so, the two men went for a closer look. At first glance it appeared to be a rubber blow-up doll someone had discarded and burned, but upon closer inspection the reality became horribly apparent. The object was not a doll, but the charred remains of a human body.
Apart from a pair of panties, the body was naked and extensively burnt from the waist up. The legs of the victim were spread as if they had been posed, and the arms were stretched skyward with clenched fists. The victim appeared to have been a young woman, but the chest had been burned so badly that it was difficult to tell. Most horrifying of all was the victim's face — the eyes were empty, without color; and the mouth was wide open, exposing teeth tightly clenched on the victim's tongue. The scene was brutal, one that neither man would soon forget.
At 10:55 a.m., Chief Deputy Randy Spry from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office in Madison received Foley's call and set out for Lemon Road. Since there had not been a murder in Jefferson County in over three years, the deputy was somewhat skeptical of the Foley brothers' report. However, after he arrived at the scene, Spry's doubts were erased, and he immediately radioed headquarters to request Sheriff Richard "Buck" Shipley's presence at the scene.

It took more than an hour for Shipley to reach the crime scene from his home in Madison. At first glance he was appalled. He had seen many dead bodies during his time on the force, but never one in such a grisly state. It was immediately obvious that the Sheriff's Office did not have the resources to handle the investigation properly, so Shipley radioed the Indiana State Police for assistance.

Indiana State Police Detective Steve Henry and forensic expert Sergeant Curtis Wells arrived at the crime scene just after 1:00 p.m. Wells recorded the crime scene with a video camera and took several still photographs. After taking castings of various unknown tire tracks and footprints, he began a cursory examination of the body.
With Sgt. Wells' extensive knowledge of forensics, it was apparent to him that a flammable substance had been used to destroy physical evidence. Examining the genital area of the victim, he noted that the victim's panties had been pulled to one side and that the condition of the body indicated some type of anal molestation, either prior to or immediately after death. As Wells was examining the body, Detective Henry discovered a melted plastic bottle containing trace amounts of gasoline lying in the weeds nearby. When the coroner arrived on the scene, Wells collected hair samples from the victim and removed a ring from one of the victim's fingers. Examining the ring free from the victim's hand, Wells discovered it was a Jeffersonville High School class ring with the initials SGH engraved inside.

According to the book Cruel Sacrifice, by Aphrodite Jones, the initial feeling among the investigators was that the killing was the result of a bungled drug deal, but they could not understand why the body had been left in plain sight. If the killer or killers had simply carried the body another 20 yards into the brush, it might not have been discovered for years. The most plausible explanation was that whoever committed the murder had assumed the body would be rendered unidentifiable by the fire.

Clifton and Glenda Lawrence, later that day, were spending their Saturday evening watching television when the couple's youngest daughter, 15-year-old Toni, walked through the front door, followed by her best friend, Hope, and Hope's parents, Carl and Gloria Rippey, all with solemn faces. Before her parents could say a word, Toni began babbling incoherently, obviously upset and in a state of near shock. Concerned, Clifton instructed Glenda to take Toni to another room while he talked to the Rippeys.

Carl Rippey told Clifton that the girls had said that they had witnessed a murder earlier that day. He said the details were sketchy, but that he felt they were telling the truth. After absorbing what he had just heard, Clifton asked the Rippeys to accompany him to the police station, but they refused, insisting that they were going to talk to an attorney.

It was just after 9:00 p.m. when the Lawrences arrived at the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office in Madison. Upon learning that a young girl and her family claimed to have information regarding a murder in Jefferson County, Sheriff Shipley quickly ushered them into his office. Toni Lawrence stated that she had spent the previous night with two friends, Hope Rippey, 15, and Laurie Tackett, 17. The three had driven to New Albany in Tackett's car and picked up Melinda Loveless, 16, a friend of Tackett's whom Toni had not met before. After picking up Loveless, they had gone to a hard-core punk rock show for a few hours and then headed back toward home. Toni said that on the way back Loveless began talking about a girl named Shanda, saying that Shanda was trying to steal her girlfriend and that she wanted to kill her.

Before the Lawrences left the police station, they informed Sheriff Shipley of the Rippeys' plan to get an attorney. As he was deciding what to do next, Shipley received a missing person's report from Clark County. Shanda Sharer, 12 years old, had been reported missing by her parents some eight hours earlier. Shipley felt his heart sink as he read the description — blonde hair, five feet tall, around 100 pounds. The description matched his Jane Doe. Shipley then started the paperwork to get warrants for the arrest of Laurie Tackett and Melinda Loveless. As investigators rushed to get their paperwork in order, they received word that the teeth of the victim matched the dental records of Shanda Sharer. No matter which direction the case went now, the hardest part was at hand — Sheriff Shipley had to notify Shanda's parents.
Shanda's parents, Jackie Vaught and Steven Sharer, were excited at first when the police contacted them. They were certain that their little girl had been found and that they would be reunited with her; however, as soon as they saw the look on Detective Henry's face, they knew something terrible had happened. There is no right way to tell parents that their child is dead. Regardless of the eloquence or sensitivity of the messenger, the impact on the family remains the same. When Detective Henry told them Shanda was gone, Jackie became hysterical.
It was almost 2:00 a.m. by the time Sheriff Shipley and Detective Henry acquired arrest warrants for Tackett and Loveless. Laurie Tackett's vehicle had been spotted at Melinda's mother's house, so it was there that investigators decided to serve the warrants.

When the two men knocked on the door, Melinda's mother, Margie, answered. They quickly explained why they were there and asked her where the girls were. Margie told them they were upstairs, so the investigators made their way up to Melinda's room. Entering the room they found Melinda and Laurie in bed, asleep. Henry yelled for the two to get up. As they arose from their slumber, he informed them that they were both being arrested on charges of murder. The two teens were then led out of the house in handcuffs and transported to the police station, where they were booked and jailed.

On Sunday morning, Dr. George Nichols conducted Shanda's autopsy. The procedure revealed that she had suffered multiple injuries. Ligature marks were found on her wrists, and she had several lacerations on her head, neck and legs. Shanda's fingers were in such distorted condition that they had to be cut off in order to take prints. Her jaw was also removed so that her dentist could make a positive identification. The upper part of the body was covered in third and fourth degree burns, and her tongue protruded through clenched teeth. Lacerations to the anus and rectum indicated a blunt object had been inserted at least three and a half inches. In addition, the extent of rectal bleeding showed that she had been alive at the time of the assault. Most revealing of all was the discovery of soot in the upper airway, indicating that she had been alive when she was set on fire.
Investigators questioned both Melinda Loveless and Laurie Tackett before transporting them to the Indiana Circuit Court in Madison. A single count of murder was entered against both girls, and counsel was appointed to represent them. In a separate hearing, Judge Ted Todd waived both girls from the juvenile court system, determining that they would be tried as adults. Following Loveless and Tackett's hearing, prosecutor Guy Townsend spoke with Hope Rippey's attorney regarding her involvement.
By this time, the media were swarming all over the case, and it was making national headlines. The public was in shock and demanded quick justice for Shanda. The media attention also brought forth several teens who knew the accused and felt they had interesting tidbits of information to contribute. Apparently Loveless and Tackett had confessed to at least three people, two of whom swiftly made statements to Shipley and Henry. The facts were starting to fall into place, and investigators were slowly piecing together what had happened to Shanda. While each of the girls tried to play down her own role in the murder, most of their statements matched. Prosecutor Guy Townsend was confident. There was no way Shanda could be brought back, but he was determined that she get justice. A picture, based upon the girls' confessions, statements by witnesses and evidence uncovered by investigators, was beginning to emerge of Shanda Sharer's last hours of life, which would make that possible.

By the night of Friday, Jan. 10, 1992, Melinda Loveless had reached her boiling point. Her girlfriend, 14-year-old Amanda Heavrin, had been cheating on her with Shanda, and she was fed up. It was now time for her to show them just how serious she was. Laurie Tackett was coming over, and Loveless knew that she would be more than happy to help her put a plan into action. Loveless had always thought Tackett was strange, because she dabbled in the occult and claimed to have another personality that was a vampire; but she was, after all, a devoted friend and had often talked about killing someone for the fun of it.
Tackett picked up two of her friends on the way to Loveless' house, 15-year-olds Hope Rippey and Toni Lawrence. Lawrence had never met Loveless before, and Rippey had met her only once or twice herself. When the girls arrived at Loveless', they all went upstairs and began chitchatting about what the night had in store. All of them had lied to their parents earlier that day, telling them they were spending the night at a friend's house. As the girls sat around talking, Loveless pulled a large kitchen knife out of her purse and said she was going to use it to scare someone. She then told Rippey and Lawrence about the problems she had been having with Shanda Sharer.
Loveless obtained Sharer's address, and before long the girls were en route to her house. They had a difficult time locating it, but after asking directions a few times they eventually found it and parked half a block away. Since Rippey and Lawrence had never met Sharer, Loveless instructed them to go to the door, claiming to be friends of Amanda Heavrin. Loveless wanted the girls to lure Sharer out to the car. When the girls knocked on the door, Sharer answered. Lawrence and Rippey explained to her that they were friends of Heavrin, and that she was waiting for her at a deserted stone building in the woods called the Witches' Castle. Sharer said she could not go then because her parents were up, but told them she would sneak out around midnight if they wanted to come back. Lawrence and Rippey agreed and headed back to the car. Loveless was angry that Sharer was not with them, but she calmed down when they told her about Sharer's plan. Since they had time to kill, the girls decided to go to a concert at a nearby state park.

It was after 12:30 a.m. by the time the girls made their way back to Sharer's house. Lawrence did not want to go back up to the door, so Rippey and Tackett agreed to go. Loveless was the only one of the bunch that Sharer knew, so she hid in the back seat under a blanket. Sharer was waiting at a side door when Tackett and Rippey walked up. They explained that Heavrin was still waiting for her and that she had sent them back to pick her up. Sharer was hesitant at first, but Rippey was able to convince her to go, and soon they were all getting into Tackett's car. Lawrence slid out of the front passenger seat so that Sharer could sit in the middle, and they were on their way. Tackett explained to Sharer that the Witches' Castle was a short drive away in Utica, and that it used to be the home of nine witches who controlled the town. As they drove to the castle, Rippey asked Sharer questions about Heavrin and their relationship. Sharer said that they had been going out for quite a while and that she really cared about her. Suddenly, Loveless popped her head from the backseat, grabbed Sharer by the hair and placed the knife to her throat. Sharer cried and begged Loveless not to hurt her, but for the remainder of the ride Loveless berated her and repeatedly referred to her as a "bitch," all the while holding the knife tightly against her throat.

Sharer was sobbing uncontrollably by the time they reached the Witches' Castle. Loveless and Tackett pulled her out of the car and held her arms tightly as Rippey and Lawrence illuminated the trail to the castle with lighters. Once inside, Loveless tied Sharer's hands as Rippey taunted her with the knife. Loveless then took several pieces of Sharer's jewelry, which she and Lawrence put on. Rippey decided she liked a musical Mickey Mouse watch Sharer was wearing, so she took it for herself.
It was dark in the castle, so Tackett took an old t-shirt and started a fire. As the flames grew, Tackett pointed at the fire and told Sharer that that was what she was going to look like before the night was over. Sharer was so frightened that she could not even speak; she just sobbed uncontrollably. Tackett was growing nervous as several cars drove by the castle and suggested they leave and go to another place by her house, so the girls dragged Sharer back to the car and drove off with their prisoner.
When the girls stopped at a Five Star station, Sharer was stuffed behind the back seat and covered with a blanket as Loveless stood guard. Tackett pumped gas while Rippey went inside to pay, and Lawrence made a phone call to a friend. During the conversation, Lawrence mentioned nothing of Sharer being held captive. For someone who later claimed to be very distraught over the night's events, she made no attempt to seek help. As soon as Lawrence hung up the phone, the group hit the road again.

It took nearly an hour for the girls to reach Madison. Tackett pointed out her house, and a few miles later they pulled onto an old logging road and stopped. Rippey and Lawrence got out of the car and Loveless and Tackett yanked Sharer from the back seat. Loveless untied Sharer's hands and ordered her to remove her clothes. It was bitterly cold, so Rippey and Lawrence got back in the car and took up positions next to the window to watch what happened. Sharer stripped down to her panties as Loveless threatened her with the knife. Loveless then scooped up the clothes and threw them in the car, telling the others that she wanted them as souvenirs. Rippey picked up Sharer's polka-dot bra and put it on as Lawrence turned on the radio.
Tackett grabbed both of Sharer's hands and held them behind her back so that Loveless could hit her. Sharer begged them to let her go and swore to stay away from Heavrin, but each plea was answered by Loveless' command for her to shut up. Suddenly, Loveless punched Sharer as hard as she could in the stomach, and Sharer collapsed to the ground. Through gasping breaths, Sharer begged them to stop hurting her. Sharer's cries fell upon deaf ears; Loveless picked her up by the hair and repeatedly slammed Sharer's head into Loveless' knee. The multiple blows caused Sharer's braces to cut into her lips, and blood flowed from her mouth.
As Sharer lay on the ground moaning, Loveless pulled out the knife and tried to cut her throat, but it proved too dull to cut the skin. Rippey then jumped out of the car to help hold Sharer down as Loveless tried using her foot to force the knife, but again it failed to have any effect. Unable to slit Sharer's throat, Loveless and Tackett took turns stabbing her in the chest with the knife. The wounds were not severe enough to cause immediate death, so Tackett decided that they would have to strangle Sharer and ran back to the car for a length of rope. Sharer continued to beg for her life, but Loveless simply laughed in her face. When Tackett returned with the rope, Loveless sat on Sharer's legs as Tackett straddled her chest. Tackett then wrapped the rope around Sharer's neck and pulled with all her might until Sharer's body went limp. Uncertain if Sharer was really dead, the girls tossed her body into the trunk and headed for Tackett's house.

When the group got to Tackett's house, the girls went upstairs to her room, and Tackett pulled out some stones and tried reading their future. Just as Tackett said that their futures looked good, her dog began barking. When the girls listened out the window, they could hear Sharer's muffled screams. Tackett ran into the kitchen, grabbed a paring knife, and ran outside. She threw open the trunk and without warning stabbed Sharer multiple times, hoping to silence her. Finishing, Tackett closed the trunk and returned to her room, where the others were waiting. She was covered in blood. After a brief pause, Tackett announced that they needed to go for a ride. Rippey and Lawrence refused, so Loveless and Tackett left by themselves.
As Loveless and Tackett drove around, deciding what to do next, they stopped to see whether Sharer was dead. When the trunk lid opened, Sharer sat up, covered in blood with her eyes rolled back in her head. She tried to speak, but was only able to utter the word, "mommy." Tackett then reached into the trunk, picked up a tire iron, and struck Sharer on the head. She then closed the trunk and they were on their way again.
A short time later, as they traveled down winding back roads, they heard gurgling noises coming from the trunk. Tackett quickly pulled the car over to the side of the road to assess the situation. Loveless stayed inside while Tackett walked to the rear of the car and opened the trunk. Sharer was lying on her side. She looked as though she had been painted red and strange gasping and gurgling noises were emanating from her chest wounds. Tackett grasped the tire iron again and brought it down hard on Sharer's head several times. One of the blows was so severe that a chunk of Sharer's skull broke off. Satisfied with her handiwork, Tackett shut the trunk and walked back to the front of the car. When she got inside, she placed the end of the tire iron under her nose and smelled it. She began laughing as she explained what had happened and waved the tire iron under Loveless' nose.
The sun was starting to rise, so they decided to head back to Tackett's to burn Sharer's body. Along the way, they stopped several times to try to quiet Sharer with the tire iron. Back at Tackett's, the two girls woke up Rippey and Lawrence and bragged about the blows they had inflicted upon Sharer. Afterward, they explained their new plan, and Rippey and Lawrence followed them to Tackett's burn pile.

The girls quickly discovered that their plan would not work. The burn pile was covered in frost, and they did not have any gasoline to start a fire. Instead, Tackett decided to show Rippey her handiwork. Lawrence did not want to look at the body so she was told to start the car and rev the engine if Sharer started to scream. When Tackett opened the trunk, Rippey noticed a bottle of Windex next to Sharer, so she picked it up and began spraying Sharer with the cleaning liquid. As the Windex fizzled in her wounds, Sharer somehow managed the strength to sit up. Her body was covered in blood, and her eyes were pure white. Sharer began swaying back and forth as Tackett talked to her, but she said nothing in response. At some point about this time, the evidence suggests the girls sodomized Sharer with the tire iron; however none of them has ever admitted any knowledge of the wounds inflicted to her anal cavity. Tackett's mother then yelled out the door for her, causing Tackett to slam the trunk down on Sharer's head.
Once Tackett returned from the house the girls decided it was time to end Sharer's life once and for all.
As the girls drove down the road, they again concluded that the best way to get rid of Sharer was to burn her. Tackett pulled into a Clark Oil station north of Madison to fill up the gas tank and asked Lawrence to buy a two-liter bottle of soda to fill with gas. Finishing their business at the gas station, the girls then drove out to Lemon Road. Rippey was familiar with the area and suggested that it would be a good spot to get rid of Sharer.
When they spotted an old logging road they turned in and stopped the car. Tackett opened the trunk, and Loveless and Rippey helped her pick up Sharer with the blanket with which they had covered her earlier. Lawrence chose not to help and sat in the car watching as they carried Sharer several feet behind the car before laying her on the ground. Rippey took the bottle of gasoline and poured a significant amount on Sharer; then Tackett struck a match and threw it down on Sharer's gas-soaked body. The gasoline instantly ignited, and the fire appeared to be burning well. The girls hopped back into the car and began to pull away when Loveless became nervous and told Tackett to turn around. She wanted to make sure the body was burning. Back at the scene, Loveless grabbed the bottle with the remaining gasoline and ran over to Sharer's body. She stood staring momentarily as Sharer curled up into a fetal position and her tongue darted in and out of her mouth. After she felt she had seen enough, she poured the remaining gasoline on Sharer's smoldering corpse and ran back to the car. Loveless thought Sharer's death throes were funny and described them to the others.
Sharer was finally out of Loveless' life for good. Tackett had seemed to enjoy herself during the crime, and Rippey and Lawrence must not have been too shaken up, because they had had several opportunities during the night to summon help for Sharer, but they had chosen not to. All of their exertions had tired them, so they stopped at a McDonald's on their way back. During breakfast, Tackett and Loveless joked several times about the resemblance of the sausages they were eating to Sharer. Afterwards, Tackett drove Rippey and Lawrence to their homes and went with Loveless to her house. They had decided earlier that Tackett would sleep over, but first they wanted to make some calls and brag about what they had just done.

It did not take prosecutor Guy Townsend long to bring charges against Hope Rippey and Toni Lawrence. On March 15, 1992, he charged both girls with murder, arson, battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery, criminal confinement, and intimidation. During their arraignment, Judge Ted Todd waived both into the adult system. Following their brief appearance they were taken to the Jefferson County jail to await trial. Later that same afternoon, Melinda Loveless and Laurie Tackett were brought before Judge Todd and charged with seven additional crimes, including child molestation and criminal deviate conduct. A month later, on April 9, 1992, Townsend filed an additional count of felony murder against Loveless and Tackett.
On April 22, 1992, Toni Lawrence accepted a plea deal with the state. In exchange for testimony against the other three girls and a guilty plea to the charge of criminal confinement, Townsend agreed to drop all of the other charges against Lawrence. For this guilty plea Lawrence would face six to 20 years behind bars, at the sentencing judge's discretion. Many people were angry about the plea agreement, but Townsend felt it was necessary in order to have an eyewitness for the state.
Unmoved by the state's new witness, Loveless, Rippey and Tackett repeatedly turned down offers from the state. In response, Townsend filed death penalty specifications against Loveless and Tackett on July 13, 1992. In addition, he filed another charge against both girls — conspiracy to commit murder. Because of Rippey's age, Townsend could not file death penalty specifications against her.
On August 17, 1992, Toni Lawrence was discovered slumped over in her cell. She was rushed to Scott Memorial Hospital in Scottsburg, where it was determined that she had taken an overdose of Lorazepam, an antidepressant drug. It was later learned that she had been saving her prescribed daily doses for some time in order to make a suicide attempt. Lawrence was initially comatose and remained in the intensive care unit for eleven days before regaining consciousness. Following her recovery, Judge Todd ordered that she be transferred to Lifespring Mental Health Facility in Jeffersonville for evaluation. Lawrence remained in the custody of mental health officials until October 1992, when she was transferred back to jail.
On September 21, 1992, Melinda Loveless and Laurie Tackett decided to accept a plea bargain with the state. Both would plead guilty to the murder and torture of Shanda Sharer and to arson and criminal confinement. In exchange, the state would drop all other charges and withdraw the death penalty specifications against them. The agreement specified that they both cooperate with the state and that their ultimate sentences run concurrently.
According to the book Cruel Sacrifice, by Aphrodite Jones, just eight days after her plea agreement, Melinda Loveless was caught having sex with an employee at the Clark County Jail. The employee subsequently resigned, and Loveless was transferred to the Indiana Woman's Prison. No charges were filed.
In November 1992, Tackett and Loveless attended separate plea agreement hearings in which they admitted to their actions in the death of Shanda Sharer. Judge Todd set both sentencing hearings for December 14, 1992. The following day Hope Rippey's trial date was set for March 1, 1993. Regardless of her cronies' actions, she continued to maintain her innocence.

During the first week of December 1992, Laurie Tackett gave an exclusive interview to Chris Yaw, a reporter from WKRC-TV in Cincinnati. During the five-minute interview, Tackett repeatedly blamed Melinda Loveless for Shanda's death.
"I didn't think she was going to go that far," Tackett said. "It wasn't really the fact that I can't believe I'm doing this. It was the fact that I can't believe this is happening. I told her it was stupid.
"Shanda hugged me. She asked me not to let Melinda do it. She was crying...there wasn't anything I could do."
Tackett went on to say that she expected to beat the charges against her and that she planned on pursuing a degree in child psychology.
On December 10, 1992, Judge Todd accepted Toni Lawrence's plea agreement in exchange for her full cooperation. Reporters from all over the United States were already making their way to Madison in anticipation of the girls sentencing hearings.
"The age of innocence here ended about 10:45 a.m.. last January 11 on a dirt road fifteen miles out of town," wrote Chicago Tribune reporter Ron Grossman. "It's like you look at the Leopold and Loeb case, recast it for girls, and set it in Main Street, USA," he added.

On December 14, 1992, the opening day of the sentencing hearing for Melinda Loveless, television trucks lined the street outside the Jefferson County Courthouse. The courtroom was packed with reporters, onlookers, and family members from both sides. As the session began, prosecutor Guy Townsend described to the court in vivid detail the events of Sharer's abduction, torture and murder. Over the next several days Toni Lawrence, Laurie Tackett and several friends and acquaintances of Loveless were called to testify against her. Townsend also called Donn and Ralph Foley, Sheriff Shipley, Detective Henry, Sergeant Wells, Dr. George Nichols and several members of Sharer's family.

In the end, the most compelling and heart wrenching testimony came from Shanda's mother, Jackie Vaught. She began with a video, which was a collection of photographs of Shanda at different stages in her life. As the tape played, Vaught narrated the photos. Following her presentation, she read a previously written statement to the courtroom running approximately 45 minutes.
"It has obviously shattered all of our lives. I speak for all of us when I say I don't think there is anything worse than burying your own child.
"I can't control my emotions most of the time, and I cry because I want my baby back. I want her home for Christmas this year, but I can't have her. This year I didn't get to buy Shanda any presents. There are no presents for her under my tree.
"Melinda has cheated me out of being with my daughter during this life. It is my wish for you [Melinda] that you live your life with memories of her screams and the sight of her burned and mutilated body. I'm not sure who you love most in life, Melinda, whether it be your mother or your father, but I want you to imagine them in the trunk of that car. I want you to imagine the person you love the most begging and screaming for their life. I want you to imagine that person being the person lying on the ground who was burned and mutilated. Maybe then, and I doubt this seriously, you could feel a small portion of the pain our family feels. The proper punishment for Melinda would be to place her in a cell with pictures of Shanda's burned body and force her to continually listen to a tape of my daughter screaming like she did that night.
"I hope and pray you remember these words for the rest of your life. — May you rot in hell."
At the conclusion of Vaught's testimony, Judge Todd announced that he would wait until after Laurie Tackett's sentencing hearing to pronounce both girls' sentences.

Laurie Tackett's sentencing hearing began on December 28, 1992, and was almost identical to that of Melinda Loveless's. Townsend more or less recounted the same events and the witnesses varied little. In addition, Loveless and Lawrence both testified as part of their plea agreement.
On the morning of January 4, 1993, Melinda Loveless stood before Judge Todd awaiting her sentence. He began by citing all the factors involved in the case, including the "gruesome nature" of the crime and the victim's age. After a brief pause, Judge Todd sentenced Loveless to 60 years in prison, the maximum sentence allowed under the plea agreement.
"You still have time to turn your life around and do something good and useful with your life after prison," Todd said as Loveless began weeping uncontrollably. "Shanda Sharer does not. I hope you take advantage of this opportunity."
Melinda sobbed uncontrollably as she was led away and Laurie Tackett was brought in. The judge again cited the factors involved in the case and passed down an identical sentence. Tackett, stone-faced, did not flinch during the proceeding.
Just two days after the sentencing of Loveless and Tackett, Sharer's parents filed a $1 billion dollar lawsuit against all four girls. The suit was filed after a Louisville television station reported that Tackett was negotiating to sell her story to a movie production company, and that Loveless was also considering various offers she had received. Sharer's parents never expected to collect any of the money and wanted to discourage the girls from profiting at their daughter's expense. That same day, Jackie Vaught gave a brief interview to The Courier Journal.
"It's appalling to think that they could profit from killing Shanda, but I can't say I was shocked to hear about their plans. I know the horrible things these girls are capable of," she said.
Clark County Circuit Judge Daniel Donahue agreed with Jackie and quickly issued a temporary injunction blocking the girls from making any deals to sell their story.
Despite Judge Donahue's injunction, Indiana law mandates that any money a felon receives for publication or broadcast rights be deposited in a violent crime victim's fund; hence it was, and remains, highly unlikely that the girls would ever be able to profit from their crime.

Toni Lawrence's sentencing hearing began on January 19, 1993. The hearing lasted a mere two days, during which time investigators praised Lawrence for her cooperation and several teachers, family members and friends testified on her behalf. Lawrence was also granted permission by the court to read a statement of her own to Sharer's family.
"I'm so sorry about your little girl. I know that you can never forgive me for being with those girls on January 10th and 11th, but I would like to explain some things to you.
"I do feel very much remorse for your daughter. I've been locked up for ten months, and that time has been a living hell. I've had nightmares where I wake up screaming and can't stop to think for a second without seeing Shanda's burned body or hearing her screams. I was terrified of Melinda and Laurie. Melinda had a knife and was going to kill Shanda. I know I should be punished, but in my heart, seeing Shanda tortured and burnt was punishment in itself. I didn't get help because I was scared they would kill me too.
"That night and morning will live visibly in my mind for the rest of my life. I know you have the right to hate me. I wish there was something I could do for you, but all I can say is how very sorry I am."
Following Lawrence's statement, Jackie Vaught took the stand and gave her reply.
"I sat through three sentencing hearings and had to look and listen to my daughter's murderers day after day while they lied and put on acts worthy of an Oscar . . . I see attorneys trying to convince everyone that these girls are victims. The victim here is Shanda Renee Sharer and her family and friends. Toni could have saved my daughter's life that night at any given time. She chose not to."
When court reconvened the following morning, Judge Todd sentenced Toni Lawrence to serve 20 years in prison, the maximum sentence allowed by law. Lawrence broke down and cried as deputies led her away.

Hope Rippey ultimately accepted a plea deal as well, and her sentencing hearing began on June 1, 1993. At the request of the defense, the hearing was moved to South Bend, Ind., and was held at St. Joseph's Superior Court House with Judge Jeanne Jourdan presiding. At the outset of the hearing, Rippey made a statement maintaining her claim that her only action against Shanda had been pouring the gasoline on her body. Following her brief statement, the defense called psychologist Michael Sheehan to the stand. Dr. Sheehan stated that Rippey was immature and had acted solely under the domination of Melinda Loveless and Laurie Tackett. However, testimony by Lawrence, Loveless and Tackett painted a different picture. The prosecution also called witnesses from the previous three proceedings. The last to testify was Sharer's mother, Jackie Vaught. As she once again showed the video of Sharer to the court, she became angry when Rippey held her head down. In response Judge Jourdan ordered Rippey to watch the presentation. Following the video, Vaught made a brief statement.
"Imagine how you would feel if someone did to your niece what you did to our child. You cannot know the pain we've felt. There is no greater pain than losing your child."
After a short recess, Judge Jourdan sentenced Hope Rippey to the maximum sentence of 60 years, but suspended 10 years for mitigating circumstances, ordering her to be placed on probation for 10 years at the time of her release. Judge Jourdan then made her own statement to the court.
"Hope Rippey had choices. There were avenues of escape, ways to help herself, ways to help Shanda. She poured the gasoline so no one would get caught, even though she knew it would kill Shanda. Her lack of mercy, of tender courage, is a horrifying lesson to us all."
Following Rippey's sentencing, Jackie Vaught spoke to the press from the steps of the courthouse.
"I don't know what normal is anymore, I'm not the person I was when Shanda was here. I'm going home to my new grandbaby who was just born. You have to go on. Shanda's with God."

In the spring of 1994, Toni Lawrence received her GED. Four years later, on Nov. 10, 1998, she was denied early release from prison. During 2000, she received an associate's degree, which reduced her prison sentence by nearly one year.
In March 2000, Crime Library reporter David Lohr sent a letter to each of the convicted murderers asking for their opinion as to why someone would kill. Only two responded, Laurie Tackett being the first:

"Let's say, for instance, I know a couple of people who kill simply for the fear that they see in their victim's eyes, and for the sight of blood on their bodies...my opinion is that they do it to feel superior or high on the victim's fear, and they're thirsty for the spill of blood."
The only other reply came from Toni Lawrence. In some ways her views were similar

"I think the first time one kills, they kill to get that high that they could never obtain any other way."
But it is a separate, more telling paragraph that catches the attention:
"So you write Laurie? How about Hope — Melinda?...I don't mind about Laurie — please tell her I think of her daily and that I'm ok."
The above statement leads one to seriously question some of Toni's statements regarding her relationship with Laurie and her participation in the murder of Shanda Sharer. It seems odd that someone would want to send best wishes to a person whom they claimed ruined her life by brutally murdering an innocent girl.
Regardless of her level of guilt, on December 14, 2000, 24-year-old Toni Lawrence walked out of prison on parole after serving nearly nine years of her 20-year sentence. Following her release, Lawrence spoke briefly with Louisville television station WAVE before heading back to Madison with her parents.
"I didn't stop it, I couldn't stop it. I don't care what anyone else says. If I had tried anything different, I would've been dead, lying there with her, and they would never know."
Toni remained on parole until December 2002.
On Saturday, April 21, 2001, 45-year-old reporter for The Courier-Journal Michael Joseph Quinlan, author of Little Lost Angel: The True Story of the Teenage Conspiracy to Kill Twelve Year Old Shanda Sharer, died at his home in Lawrenceburg, Ky., from brain cancer. Following his death, Kathy Quinlan started the Michael Quinlan Brain Cancer Foundation.

On November 3, 2004, Indiana Superior Court Judge Jenny Manier reduced Hope Rippey's prison sentence from 50 to 35 years. According to reports in The Courier-Journal, Judge Manier felt Rippey was remorseful and likely to be productive in society. In making her decision, Manier took into account Rippey's bachelor's degree from a Ball State University general studies program for inmates, along with the time she spent training seeing-eye dogs and speaking to various youth groups. With the judge's decision affirmed, Hope Rippey's earliest possible release date was changed from 2017 to 2006.
Sharer's mother, Jacque Vaught, was angered by the decision. "She's taken every class," Vaught said. "She's gotten every degree she can get, with my tax dollars, I might add. She's done everything she can to get out early. But it's just wrong." The only thing Vaught said she wanted was for Rippey and the others to serve their full sentences.
While the news of Rippey's impending release was difficult for Shanda's family to understand, their anger would once again turn to sorrow when, on May 8, 2005, Shanda's father, 52-year-old Stephen Maloy Sharer, died. The cause of death has not been publicly released; however it has been reported that he was buried in the same cemetery as his daughter.

During the spring of 2006, the news spotlight momentarily switched from Hope Rippey to Laurie Tackett. During the previous year the Indiana Department of Corrections launched a program called PLUS in three of its state prisons. The program, which stands for Purposeful Living Units Serve, is a faith-based boot camp for prisoners intended to change their lives through spiritual renewal and education. In March 2006, Indiana news station WTHR broadcast a report from inside the prison to see how well the program was working. Reporter Anne Ryder interviewed several inmates, including 31-year-old Laurie Tackett.
"I am changing everything I have known all my life," Tackett said. "God was the last thing I wanted in my life. I had no faith in life. I had no faith in God. I had no faith in people. I had none of that. I had to fall on my face and start over." Tackett told Ryder that the shame of her crime defined her until she tried unsuccessfully to take her own life in the fall of 2004. It was then she claims that she felt God's love in her heart. "I took God's hand...I've never felt that before in my life."
Regardless of whose hand Tackett felt soothing her, six months later, when the PLUS program came to the Indiana Women's Prison she was one of the first to sign up. Tackett now supposedly spends her free time studying the Bible and coming to grips with the consequences of her crimes. "I don't think I've really forgiven myself. I feel that's a lifelong process. Hopefully by the time I die I will be able to do that," Tackett said. In a later interview with WTHR, when asked whether she could ever forgive Tackett, Jackie Vaught simply replied, "It's just not up to me to forgive those girls. It's up to God to forgive them."
One must question why it is that Tackett suddenly embraced religion. It is certainly interesting how her conversion to God coincided with Rippey's sentence reduction. The Department of Corrections commissioner and others are quick to defend the PLUS program, and that's fine. It may work for some inmates; however, Laurie Tackett's sudden conversion may well have more to do with her own hopes for early release than it does with finding God.

As Tackett tried to map out her own road to freedom, Rippey was busy packing her bags, and on April 28, 2006, 29-year-old Hope Ann Rippey walked out of Indiana Women's Prison on parole after serving 14 years of her original 50-year sentence. "She tortured her," Sharer's mother, Jacque Vaught, told The Courier-Journal. "She tortured her for 10 hours . . . I do not accept this," she said. "She murdered my daughter . . . I'm just incensed by [the release]," Vaught said. Vaught then reminded reporters how Rippey lured Sharer out of the house, held her down while she was stabbed and strangled, sprayed window cleaner into her wounds and poured gasoline on her so the group could burn her alive.
According to Sharer's mother, Rippey's early release was made possible because the St. Joseph County prosecutor failed to do his job. Vaught was adamant that they could have prevented Rippey's sentence reduction if they had chosen to oppose the sentence-modification motion back in 2004. "She poured gasoline on my 12-year-old child and burned her alive, but she is an asset to society and has strong convictions and is ethical? I don't get it," Vaught said. "I just don't get it."
Regardless of who's right and who's wrong, once again a brutal killer was free to roam the streets of Jefferson County, Ind. Hope Rippey will be required to report to probation officials there; however, she will be under supervision for only the next five years.

In October 2007 Melinda Loveless's attorney, Mark Small, announced that she as well was seeking an early release from prison. Small said he would argue that Loveless's sentencing rights were violated and that she had received insufficient legal representation.
"She pled guilty under duress, believing that she faced the death penalty," Small recently said in an interview with Madisoncourier.com. "A person does something under duress when they can't freely choose and face a threat. The law was changing at that time on the death penalty. At that point she wasn't really looking at execution."
It was Small's belief that his client had served her time and that the judgment should be vacated. She is, according to Small, both reformed and remorseful.
Shanda's mother, Jacque Vaught, was upset at the prospect of Loveless being freed from prison.
"She is not remorseful. She has never contacted me or shown remorse. She is not capable of remorse. She is dead inside," Vaught said in a recent interview with Madisoncourier.com. "The only tears that I've ever seen her shed were when she was sentenced, and the only thing that she has tried to do since going to prison is get out."
According to Jefferson County Prosecutor Chad Lewis, Loveless had adequate legal representation during her sentencing hearing, and he strongly objected to a modification of her sentence.
A Jefferson Circuit Court was expected to hear the case on October 15, 2007; however that hearing was postponed on the grounds that her attorney was denied access to his client before the hearing was to begin.
According to Small, he had attempted to visit Melinda Loveless twice to prepare for the hearing, and both times was refused access to his client because jail officials said they were busy with bookings.
"It's very important for an attorney to consult with his or her client, especially right before a major hearing," Small told Wave3.com.
The judge agreed with Small and granted a 60-day continuance.
Prior to the ruling, Small spoke with News-tribune.net. During a telephone interview, he said that Loveless had been abused as a child and that the severity of the abuse had made her "profoundly retarded." Small also said his client had pled guilty under duress because she was afraid of facing the death sentence and did not understand all her options.
Jefferson County Prosecutor Chad Lewis disagreed with Small. During an interview with the same website, Lewis balked at claims that Loveless had ineffective counsel.
"She had three attorneys, two who were very high-profile with death penalty cases," Lewis said. "She had a dream team, so to speak. . . [She] also had a proven benefit from pleading guilty to the charges in that she avoided the death penalty."

Shanda Sharer's mother, Jacque Vaught, believes Melinda Loveless holds the most responsibility for her daughter's murder. In an October 2007 interview with Wave3.com, Jacque said, "Melinda is...of the four girls, she is just evil...if it wasn't for her, Shanda would still be alive. She was the one who started it all...she brutally murdered my child, and when I say brutal, it was brutal. There were 10 hours of torture."
Jacque also disagreed with statements by Small that Melinda Loveless was remorseful for her crimes.
"I've heard from people who have been in that prison," Jacque said. "They seem to want to contact me, and I've heard things about Melinda, and Melinda relishes the fact that she is Shanda's murderer. She is very proud of that."
After reading a series of news articles published by Crime Library on the Shanda Sharer case, Brenda Nyberg, a reader from Illinois, took action and started a petition to keep Loveless behind bars.
"I've never been compelled to start a petition until I read about Loveless trying to get out," Nyberg said. "I cannot fathom a human being inflicting the torture those girls did on Shanda. I'm a crime buff and read about so many horrible cases, but none has ever affected me as this one has. I just cannot get the images of that child out of my head...it's pure evil, no matter how old those girls were!"
By December 2, 2007, the petition had received nearly 7,000 signatures.
Melinda Loveless's hearing was held on December 6, 2007. During the proceedings, Loveless told Jefferson Circuit Judge Ted Todd that she could not remember most of the legal proceedings that had taken place before she signed her original plea deal, but that it had been her belief that she would receive the death sentence if she failed to accept it.
As of this writing Todd has yet to rule on Loveless's request.
Melinda Loveless and Laurie Tackett are currently serving out their original sentences. Whether or not Melinda will receive an early release is yet to be determined; however, because of Indiana's policy of reducing sentences by a day for every day served with good behavior, Melinda Loveless and Laurie Tackett could possibly walk out of prison in 2022, when Loveless is 46 and Tackett is 47 years old.

Bibliography
setSize(curSize);
Books/Journals:
Furio, Jennifer. Voices of Women Murderers. Algora Publishing Books; February 2001. ISBN: 1892941597.
Jones, Aphrodite. Cruel Sacrifice. Pinnacle Books; January 1994. ISBN: 0-7860-1063-0.
Quinlan, Michael. Little Lost Angel. Pocket Books; February 1995. ISBN: 0-671-88468-9.
Newspapers:
Johnson County Daily Journal
Times
The Courier-Journal
Dallas Observer
SEI Data Local News
Internet:
http://www.news-tribune.net/
http://www.madisoncourier.com/
http://www.wave3.com/
http://www.aphroditejones.com/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shanda-sharer-murder/

Osama bin Laden

2008-10-29T19:59:00.001-07:00

he is a member of the prominent Saudi bin Laden family and the founder of the jihadist organization Al-Qaeda. He has been designated as a terrorist by scholars, journalists, analysts and law enforcement agencies. In conjunction with several other Islamic militant leaders, bin Laden issued two fatwas in 1996 and then again in 1998 that Muslims should force the United States and its allies to withdraw their military forces from the Arabian peninsula, by attacking American military and civilian targets.
He has been indicted in United States federal court for his alleged involvement in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, and is on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.
Although bin Laden has not been indicted for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, he has been reported to have orally claimed responsibility for them in audio and video tapes that have been made public. The attacks involved the hijacking of United Airlines Flight 93, United Airlines Flight 175, American Airlines Flight 11, and American Airlines Flight 77; the subsequent destruction of those planes and the World Trade Center in New York City, New York; severe damage to The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia; and the deaths of 2,974 people excluding the hijackers.

Sideshow note:

A woman claiming to be one of Bin Laden's mistresses (against her will), Kola Boof, in her autobiography Diary of a Lost Girl published in 2006, makes claims that Bin Laden was so obsessed with Whitney Houston that he fantasized about killing the singer's husband Bobby Brown, and welcoming Houston into his Harem. "He had a paramount desire for Whitney Houston... He mentioned her constantly, how beautiful she is, what a nice smile, how truly Islamic she is, but just brainwashed by American culture and her husband." Story originally broken by the New York Post. and his bff is George W. Bush

Robert Hanssen

2008-10-29T19:53:00.001-07:00

is a former American FBI agent who spied for the Russian KGB against the United States for more than 20 years. He is serving a life sentence in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day at the Supermax Federal Penitentiary in Florence, Colorado.
Hanssen was arrested on February 18, 2001, at Foxstone Park near his home in Vienna, Virginia, charged with selling American secrets to Moscow for more than $1.4 million in cash and diamonds over a 22-year period. On July 6, 2001, he pled guilty to 15 counts of espionage in federal court. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without parole. His activities have been described as "possibly the worst intelligence disaster in US history."

The Browning Family

2008-10-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

Nicholas Browning, the Baltimore County teen charged with murdering his parents and brothers in their sleep, joked about killing his parents several times before their deaths, several students said.
"He often complained about his father, and I specifically remember him saying he would kill his family one day in a joking manner," Browning's Dulaney High classmate John Lockwood told The Examiner in an Internet message.
Lockwood's statement appears to corroborate previous statements from students who rode the school bus with Browning and said the teen recently began talking about killing his parents -- but none of them took him seriously.
"He talked about how rich his father was, how he wanted some of that money," said one middle schooler, whose father asked The Examiner not to publish her name. "He didn't like his father because he used to always yell at him and stuff."
Lockwood said Browning had "another side to him away from school where he would beat up his younger brothers really badly, steal from his dad's liquor cabinet, and steal their car without a permit or license."
He said Browning was "a spoiled kid" who mocked minorities and people with disabilities.
"He got away with everything and thought he ran the world," Lockwood said.
Called an "all-American family," successful lawyer, John Browning, 45, along with his wife, Tamara, 44, and sons Gregory, 14, and Benjamin, 11, were found dead in their Cockeysville home last Saturday around 5 p.m. by Nicholas Browning as he returned home from a friend's house, police said.
Police said Nicholas, an honors student close to becoming an Eagle Scout, dumped his father's gun in nearby bushes and spent Friday night and all day Saturday with friends.
A source with knowledge of Browning's actions that night said John Browning had wanted his eldest son to accompany the family to western Maryland Saturday, but Nicholas wanted to stay home and party with his friends. The night of the killings, Nicholas abruptly left a friend's house and walked more than two miles to his parents' home, returning five hours later, the source said.
Browning then began inviting friends to a party at his house on Saturday night, before returning home and faking surprise at finding their dead bodies, several sources, including police, said.
As police worked the crime scene that Saturday night, officers were repeatedly interrupted as students, unaware of the horror inside the home, kept arriving expecting a party, law enforcement sources said.
Browning did not immediately confess to the crime, but claimed a botched robbery led to the murders, sources said. After about six hours of interrogation, he admitted to the murders after police found inconsistencies in his story, the sources said.
Nicholas Browning marked his 16th birthday behind bars in the Baltimore County Detention Center Saturday, the same day about 1,300 people attended a funeral for his family at Trinity Assembly of God church in Lutherville.
In a statement released after the funereal, family members expressed support for Nicholas.
"Our concern and love goes out to Nick," they wrote. "Whatever else lies ahead, he is a member of our family and he will have our support."

Anthony Accardo

2008-10-27T23:14:00.001-07:00

Born in Chicago in 1906, he joined the city's organized crime family, the "Outfit," during the late 1920s. He served under three bosses (Alphonse Capone, Frank Nitti, and Paul Ricca), before becoming the boss himself. He expanded the Outfit's influence to most of the western states, eventually succeeding in allowing the Outfit total independence from the eastern mobs which had their own ruling commission and territories. Anthony Accardo, who was also known as the "Big Tuna," ruled the family from approximately 1943 until 1957, when he abdicated leadership to his underboss, Sam (Momo) Giancana. When Giancana went to prison in 1965, he returned to full control unti the early 1970s, when his new underboss Joseph Aiuppa took the reigns - always with his supervision. His years on the Chicago throne were remarkable by their brutality and bloodshed, particularly on violators of the drug ban enforced in the city. He, unlike other mob bosses throughout history, was serious about this rule. When the Chicago leadership was decimated by Las Vegas casino skimming convictions in the mid-1980s, he returned to the fold and reinstated a new administration, remaining in the background to survey their management. When he passed away in 1992, the family he had turned into a vast army of money-making killers was a shell of its former self.

Jack Abbott

2008-10-27T23:11:00.001-07:00

While serving a 30-year prison sentence in Utah for murder, Jack Henry Abbott struck up a correspondence with author Norman Mailer, who helped him publish his best-selling book about prison life, "In The Belly of The Beast" (1981). Mailer and other celebrities supported his parole, which was granted in June 1981. Abbott moved to New York City and briefly became the darling of the literary circuit. Six weeks later he murdered a waiter and in January 1982 he was sent to prison for life. He wrote another book, "My Return" (1987), which was not a success, and never expressed remorse for his crimes. Abbott committed suicide at the Wende State Correctional Facility in Aden New York.

Abu Abbas

2008-10-27T23:07:00.000-07:00

He was the head of the terrorist group Palestine Liberation Front, who masterminded the 1985 hijacking of the Italian passenger ship Achille Lauro in which wheelchair-bound American tourist, Leon Klinghoffer, was thrown overboard. He was captured by United States forces in Iraq in April, 2003, and was being held in United States military custody in Iraq.

Frank Abbandando

2008-10-27T23:05:00.001-07:00

Known as "The Dasher", he was a member of a murder-for-hire gang made up of Jewish and Italian street gangsters working out of Brooklyn, New York during the 1930s. This gang, who came to be known in the news media as "Murder Inc.", carried out gangland murders in the New York City area under the direction of Lepke Buchalter and Albert Anastasia. Frank Abbundando died in the electric chair at Sing-Sing Prison at age 31.

Marc Lépine

2008-10-27T05:37:00.001-07:00

On December 6, 1989, 25 year old Marc Lepine, armed with a Sturm Ruger Mini-14 Semi-automatic rifle, knives and bandoliers of ammunition, entered the Engineering Department of the Montreal Ecole Polytechnique Institute (University of Montreal), in Montreal, Quebec, and gunned down 14 innocent women, wounding 13 others, before turning the gun on himself. The women were later identified as, Genevieve Bergeron, 21, Helene Colgan, 23, Nathalie Croteau, 23, Barbara Daigneault, 22, Anne-Marie Edward, 21, Maud Haviernick, 29, Barbara Maria Klucsnik, 31, Maryse Laganier, 25, Maryse Leclair, 23, Anne-Marie Lemay, 27, Sonia Pelletier, 28, Michele, Richard, 21, Annie St-Arneault, 23, and Annie Turcotte, 21. After the 'Montreal Massacre' a note written by Lepine was found and according to the letter he blamed women feminists for ruining his life after he was denied admittance to the school. The day of December 6, was proclaimed a National Day of Rememberance and Action on Violence Against Women by the Canadian Government. The women are remembered every year with tributes across Canada..

Lépine's suicide note-

"Forgive the mistakes, I had 15 minutes to write this. Would you note that if I commit suicide today 89-12-06 it is not for economic reasons (for I have waited until I exhausted all my financial means, even refusing jobs) but for political reasons. Because I have decided to send the feminists, who have always ruined my life, to their Maker. For seven years life has brought me no joy and being totally blase, I have decided to put an end to those viragos. I tried in my youth to enter the Forces as a student-officer, which would have allowed me possibly to get into the arsenal and precede Lortie in a raid. They refused me because antisocial [sic]. I therefore had to wait until this day to execute my plans. In between, I continued my studies in a haphazard way for they never really interested me, knowing in advance my fate. Which did not prevent me from obtaining very good marks despite my theory of not handing in work and the lack of studying before exams. Even if the Mad Killer epithet will be attributed to me by the media, I consider myself a rational erudite that only the arrival of the Grim Reaper has forced to take extreme acts. For why persevere to exist if it is only to please the government. Being rather backward-looking by nature (except for science), the feminists have always enraged me. They want to keep the advantages of women (e.g. cheaper insurance, extended maternity leave preceded by a preventative leave, etc.) while seizing for themselves those of men. Thus it is an obvious truth that if the Olympic Games removed the Men-Women distinction, there would be Women only in the graceful events. So the feminists are not fighting to remove that barrier. They are so opportunistic they neglect to profit from the knowledge accumulated by men through the ages. They always try to misrepresent them every time they can. Thus, the other day, I heard they were honoring the Canadian men and women who fought at the frontline during the world wars. How can you explain then that women were not authorized to go to the frontline??? Will we hear of Caesar's female legions and female galley slaves who of course took up 50 per cent of the ranks of history, though they never existed. A real Casus Belli. Sorry for this too brief letter. Marc Lépine"

the letter is followed by the 19 name list, with a note at the bottom) "Nearly died today. The lack of time (because I started too late) has allowed these radical feminists to survive. Alea Jacta Est."

Lepine's last words, "Oh shit", before putting the gun below his face and firing.

Ronald Simmons

2008-10-27T02:54:00.000-07:00

He committed the largest familial murder in American history. He was responsible for killing 16 people, including 14 family members. The killing spree began on December 22, 1987, when he shot and killed his wife Rebecca and son Gene at their home in Dover, Arkansas. He also strangled his three year old daughter, Barbara. The bodies were dumped into a pit that he had made his children dig in prior weeks. He went back to the house and waited for his children Loretta, Eddy, Marianne, and Becky to return from school. He told the children that he wanted to give them their Christmas presents one at a time, and he took them behind the house individually where he killed them by strangulation and holding their heads under water in a barrel. The killing continued on December 26, 1987 when the remaining family members began to arrive for a Christmas visit. Simmons shot and killed son Billy, daughter-in-law Rentata, daughter Sheila and her husband Dennis McNulty. He strangled and drowned grandchildren Trae, Silvia Gail, and Michael. On December 28th, he drove to the neighboring town of Russellville, Arkansas and killed two acquaintances, Kathy Kendrick and J.D. Chaffin, and wounded two other people. After the shootings, Simmons asked a secretary to call the police, and he chatted with her until the police arrived and he peacefully surrendered. The Simmons family never had a telephone, so police drove to the residence to notify them of the arrest, only to find the dead bodies. Simmons pleaded guilty and resisted all appeals during the ensuing trial. He was found guilty of 16 counts of murder and sentenced to die by lethal injection. Bill Clinton, then the Governor of Arkansas, signed the death warrant on May 31, 1990. In 1991, a book titled "Zero at the Bone" by Bryce Marshall and Paul Williams was published detailing the murders, trial, and execution. The incident is also mentioned in the book "Fatal Families: The Dynamics of Intrafamilial Homicide" by Charles Patrick Ewing.

Jesse Campbell slashed his mom's neck over a computer dispute

2008-10-27T00:11:00.000-07:00

Police said a man slashed his mother's neck with a kitchen knife, read her the Bible and left her to die after a dispute over a computer.
Jesse James Campbell, 20, is accused of slaying his mother, Cindy Jo Coleman, at her Clearfield County home.
Around 3 a.m. Thursday, a friend of Campbell's called police and told investigators Campbell talked about killing his mother hours before she died.
Police then contacted Coleman's parents, who went to check on her and found her dead around 5 a.m.
Campbell's girlfriend said Coleman called him and asked him to have a computer back by 8 a.m. or she would call the police. The girlfriend told police that Campbell subsequently went to his mother's house and hit her several times with a plastic weight, and then cut her on the neck with a kitchen knife.
He reportedly told his girlfriend that, as his mother died, he read her the Bible. The girlfriend said Campbell returned home and showered. She said she threw his bloody clothes in a Dumpster.
Campbell is charged with criminal homicide and remains in Clearfield County Jail.

Tokyo Rose

2008-10-26T07:40:00.001-07:00

was a generic name given by Allied forces in the South Pacific during World War II to any of approximately a dozen English-speaking female broadcasters of Japanese propaganda. Their intent was to disrupt the morale of Allied forces listening to the broadcast near the Japanese mainland. The name is most strongly associated with Iva Toguri D'Aquino, who broadcast under the pseudonym "Orphan Ann" during the 15-20 minute D.J. segment of the 75-minute "The Zero Hour" program on Radio Tokyo (NHK). Other women who, separately or together, may have warranted the title include American Ruth Hayakawa (who substituted for Iva on weekends) and Canadian June Suyama ("The Nightingale of Nanking"), who also broadcast on Radio Tokyo, and Myrtle Lipton ("Little Margie"), who broadcast from Japan-controlled Radio Manila.

Charles Whitman

2008-10-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

was a student at the University of Texas at Austin who killed 14 people and wounded 31 others as part of a shooting rampage from the observation deck of the University's 32-story administrative building on August 1, 1966. He did this shortly after murdering his wife and mother. He was eventually shot and killed by Austin Police Officer Houston McCoy , assisted by Austin Police Officer Ramiro Martinez.
An autopsy was performed as requested in Whitman's suicide note and approved by Whitman's father, Charles Adolf Whitman, and performed by Dr. Chenar. A brain tumor was found and initially reported as an Astrocytoma brain tumor. Whitman, in the note, wanted to have the examination to help prevent future tragedies as the one he was about to commit. Governor John Connally had a task force commission assembled that included neurologists and other psychiatric professionals who re-examined Dr. Chenar's findings and found that Chenar had mis-identified the tumor. The commission found that Whitman had been suffering from a glioblastoma, a highly cancerous and deadly tumor. This has led to speculation that the tumor may have been contributory to his rampage.
In the 1960s, persons diagnosed with glioblastoma had an expected prognosis of dying from the tumor within one year. Symptoms of the tumor include headaches and nausea, about which Whitman had complained to friends, family and the University of Texas Health Center.

Veerappan

2008-10-26T06:57:00.001-07:00

was a most famous and notorious bandit of India who operated on Tamil political and LTTE support. He resided and carried out his activities in the Biligirirangana Betta and Male Mahadeshwara Betta (Hills) and Sathyamangalam and Gundiyal forests, covering 6,000 km² in the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. He challenged three state governments and the paramilitary force of Indian Border security. He once had a mini army with hundreds of armed members in his gang. He was wanted for killing about 184 people, including senior police and forest officials, poaching about 200 elephants, and smuggling ivory worth US$2,600,000 and sandalwood of about 10,000 tonnes worth US$22,000,000. He had a price of Rs. 50 million (Rs. 5 crore or US$1.1 million) on his head, but evaded arrest for 20 years until he was killed by police in 2004

John Dillinger

2008-10-26T06:45:00.000-07:00

John Dillinger was made an outlaw hero during the depths of the Depression by Americans mired in financial ruin, loss of hope and simply frustrated by desperation brought on by the times. He was hardly a "Robin Hood" figure envisioned by the public. John was a cold-blooded killer. In one year, September 1933- July 1934, he and his violent gang terrorized the midwest, killing 10 men, wounding seven, robbing banks and even police arsenals to replenish arms and ammunition needs. While staging three jail breaks, a sheriff was killed and two guards seriously wounded. He was born in Indianapolis, Indiana to a grocer. He quit school at an early age and obtained a job at a machine shop. He was soon in trouble after an auto theft. John enlisted in the Navy but deserted his ship in Boston, returned home and married a sixteen year old. Unable to find employment, he robbed a grocer. Apprehended, he received a harsh sentence. Upon release, his criminal career fully blossomed culminating in absolute infamy. He and his gang robbed banks across Ohio and Indiana. With his captures, then escapes, more robbing and killing followed, all reported gleefully by newspapers. Then; Dillinger made the mistake that would cost him his life. He stole a sheriff's car which was a federal offense actively involving the FBI. They tracked him and his gang. Finally after a shoot out, wounded, he fled to Mooresville, Indiana and stayed with his father until his wound healed. Returned to health, more robberies and shootouts ensued. Finally, the madam of a brothel in Gary, Indiana came forth giving information with a promise of a reward that would lead FBI agents to the fatal theater in Chicago where the infamous career of John Dillinger was terminated. He was struck by four shots and taken by ambulance to the nearby Alexian Brothers Hospital where a pronouncement was made. The embalmed body of Dillinger was transported to Mooresville, Indiana, his adopted home town, accompanied by a vertical caravan of automobiles. A wake was held at the home of his sister in nearby Maywood. A public viewing of the body was held in the front parlor where friends and hundreds of curious filed past. On the day of his burial at Crown Hill Cemetery, the entrance was a mass of humanity with near riotous conditions and the crowd assaulted reporters and smashed cameras. Threats and even a note was left at the covered grave in the family plot vowing vengeance for his death. His grave became a number one destination of tourist. Marker after marker were erected, all needed replacement as souvenir hunters chipped away until nothing was left. A 3 ft slab of reinforced concrete was poured over the grave to discourage robbers. Memorials to Dillinger still abound: The Allen County Museum, Lima, Ohio, where the Sheriff was killed, has an exhibit with a reconstructed jail cell showing where Dillinger was held and even Sheriff Sarber personal pistol is there. A gangster theme restaurant called Dillinger's, thrives in Hudson, Indiana. Plaques and markers are numerous across Ohio and Indiana marking connections to the outlaw. In Chicago alone, more than 50 sites have been tied to him including the Barrel o'Fun Tavern, first meeting place of his girlfriend, and two bordellos run by the madam who had betrayed him. A new word has been coined: Dillinger, a descriptive word indicating a criminal lifestyle.

Billy the Kid

2008-10-26T06:42:00.000-07:00

was a 19th-century American frontier outlaw and gunman who participated in the so-called Lincoln County War. According to legend, he killed 21 men, one for each year of his life, but he most likely participated in the killing of less than half that number.
McCarty (or Bonney, the name he used at the height of his notoriety) was 5 ft 8 in-5 ft 9 in (173-175 cm) tall with blue eyes, a smooth complexion and prominent front teeth. He was said to be friendly and personable at times, and many recalled that he was as "lithe as a cat". Contemporaries described him as a "neat" dresser who favored an "unadorned Mexican sombrero". These qualities, along with his cunning and celebrated skill with firearms, contributed to his paradoxical image, as both a notorious outlaw and beloved folk hero.
A relative unknown during his own lifetime, he was catapulted into legend the year after his death when his killer, Sheriff Patrick Garrett, published a sensationalistic biography titled The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid. Beginning with Garrett's account, Billy the Kid grew into a symbolic figure of the American Old West.

Blackbeard

2008-10-26T06:33:00.000-07:00

Edward Teach was a notorious English pirate in the Caribbean Sea and western Atlantic during the early 18th century, a period referred to as the Golden Age of Piracy. His best known vessel was the Queen Anne's Revenge, which is believed to have run aground near Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina in 1718.
Blackbeard often fought, or simply showed himself, wearing a big feathered tricorn, and having multiple swords, knives, and pistols at his disposal. It was reported in A General Historie of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates that he had hemp and lit matches woven into his enormous black beard during battle to intimidate his enemies. Blackbeard is often regarded as the archetypal image of the seafaring pirate.

Teach was killed, and the battle ended. Teach was reportedly shot five times and stabbed more than twenty times before he died and was decapitated. Legends about his death immediately sprang up, including the oft-repeated claim that Teach's headless body, after being thrown overboard, swam between 2 and 7 times around the Adventure before sinking. Teach's head was placed as a trophy on the bowsprit of the ship (it was also required by Maynard to claim his prize when he returned home). After the sheer terror of the battle with the pirates, and the wounds that the crew received, Maynard still only acquired his meager prize of £100 from Spotswood. Later, Teach's head hung from a pike in Bath.

A School Is No Place For A Gun

2008-10-25T18:06:00.001-07:00

One of the Columbine High School gunmen prepared a report on the danger of guns in schools more than a year before carrying out a deadly attack on teachers and fellow students. Eric Harris's December 1997 school report was included in more than 900 pages of Columbine-related documents released yesterday by Colorado investigators. In grading the Harris report, a copy of which you'll find below, a Columbine teacher judged it "thorough & logical" and gave the paper a 69 out of 75. Noting that, "a school is no place for a gun," Harris concluded that the use of metal detectors and an increased police presence "are a great start to fight against guns in school." On April 20, 1999, Harris and Dylan Klebold--armed with shotguns and semiautomatic weapons--murdered 12 classmates and a teacher before killing themselves.

Bath School disaster

2008-10-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

The Bath School disaster is the name given to three bombings in Bath Township, Michigan, USA, on May 18, 1927, which killed 45 people and injured 58. Most of the victims were children in the second to sixth grades (7-12 years of age) attending the Bath Consolidated School. Their deaths constitute the deadliest act of mass murder in a school in U.S. history. The perpetrator was school board member Andrew Kehoe, who was upset by a property tax that had been levied to fund the construction of the school building. He blamed the additional tax for financial hardships which led to foreclosure proceedings against his farm. These events apparently provoked Kehoe to plan his attack.
On the morning of May 18, Kehoe first killed his wife and then set his farm buildings on fire. As fire fighters arrived at the farm, an explosion devastated the north wing of the school building, killing many of the people inside. Kehoe used a detonator to ignite dynamite and hundreds of pounds of pyrotol which he had secretly planted inside the school over the course of many months. As rescuers started gathering at the school, Kehoe drove up, stopped, and detonated a bomb inside his shrapnel-filled vehicle, killing himself and the school superintendent, and killing and injuring several others. During the rescue efforts, searchers discovered an additional 500 pounds (230 kg) of unexploded dynamite and pyrotol planted throughout the basement of the school's south wing.

SuccessTech Academy shooting

2008-10-25T15:49:00.001-07:00

The SuccessTech Academy shooting was a school shooting that occurred on October 10, 2007 at the SuccessTech alternative high school in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The gunman, 14-year-old suspended student Asa H. Coon, had entered the school campus and shot and injured two teachers and two students before committing suicide.Coon, armed with .22 caliber and .38 caliber revolvers with extra rounds of ammunition, and a sachet holding three knives, walked into the fourth floor of the building at approximately 1:15 p.m, and first shot Michael Peek, 14, in the chest, who attempted to disarm him by punching him in the face. His second victim was Darnell Rodgers, 17, who was shot and injured in the elbow, following the shooting and injuring of two teachers: David Kachadourian, a math teacher, 57, shot in the back, and Michael Grassie, a social studies teacher, 42, shot in the chest. Coon then entered a classroom where he committed suicide via a gunshot to the head.In addition to the gunman's fatality, three students and two teachers were injured in the attackA crime scene photo taken of the gunman after his suicide was allegedly leaked to the public via a Cleveland radio disc jockey from Rover's Morning Glory show. Cleveland police officer Walter Emerick took the picture using his cell phone camera. Classes throughout the Cleveland Metropolitan School District were canceled the day after the shooting, and classes at SuccessTech Academy did not resume until Tuesday, October 16.Less than a week after the shooting, Cleveland's public school system established an anonymous hotline for students to report threats and dangerous behavior. The school system also announced plans to install metal detectors in all its schools and hire additional armed security guards to patrol the campuses. Schools were instructed to implement additional security precautions, to be reviewed by a professional security firm.

John du Pont,

2008-10-25T14:24:00.000-07:00

is a member of the prominent American Du Pont family who in 1996 was convicted of murdering Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz and sentenced to up to 30 years in prison. Experts at the trial testified that du Pont suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.
du Pont was born in Marseille, France and is the son of William du Pont, Jr. and Jean Liseter Austin (1897–1988) and is one of four children. At a young age, du Pont and his family immigrated to the United States and settled in North Philadelphia, where he attended preparatory schools and graduated from Haverford School in 1957. du Pont attended college in Miami, Florida and graduated from the University of Miami in 1965 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology. An ornithologist, du Pont is credited with the discovery of two dozen species of birds. He is also a philatelist, and during a 1980 auction anonymously paid $935,000 for one of the rarest stamps in the world, the British Guiana 1856 1c black on magenta.
On September 3, 1983, he married a therapist named Gale Wenk but emotional instability was already evident and the difficult marriage ended in a divorce two years later in 1985.
du Pont largely funded a new basketball arena at Villanova University which opened in 1986. Originally, the venue was called du Pont Pavilion, but his name was removed from the facility after his conviction. Today, it is called simply The Pavilion. Shortly after du Pont was arrested, after sexually harrasing Andre Metzger, the his mother died on 9 August 1988 at the age of 91. After the death of his mother, du Pont turned his 800 acre estate in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, into a wrestling facility for amateur wrestlers. du Pont's wrestling team was called "Team Foxcatcher" and the team's trainer was David Schultz, and members included Kurt Angle.
On 26 January 1996 he shot dead Olympic gold medalist wrestler David Schultz at the wrestling facility of du Pont's Team Foxcatcher, without apparent provocation and with Schultz's wife among several witnesses. After the shooting, the multimillionaire locked himself in his mansion for two days, while he negotiated with police on the telephone. Police turned off his power, and were able to capture him when he went outside to fix his heater. Expert psychiatric testimony described du Pont as a paranoid schizophrenic who believed Schultz was part of an international conspiracy to kill him. He also was paranoid that people were going to break into his house and kill him, which is why he put razor wires in his attic. On February 26, 1997 a jury found him guilty of third degree murder but mentally ill. He was sentenced to 13-30 years incarceration and is currently housed at State Correctional Institute-Mercer, a minimum-security institution in the Pennsylvania prison system.

Sylvia Seegrist

2008-10-25T02:18:00.001-07:00

is an American woman who on October 30, 1985 opened fire at a Springfield, Pennsylvania shopping mall, killing three people and wounding seven others before being disarmed by a shopper. The individuals killed included two men and a two-year old. She was 25 years old and had been diagnosed as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia 10 years earlier. Having been committed and discharged several times, her case stimulated discussion about the state's authority to commit possibly dangerous people vs. individual rights.

Woo Bum-Kon

2008-10-25T02:13:00.000-07:00

South Korean Mass Murderer. A police officer, on April 28th, 1982, he left the house of his live-in girlfriend, Chun-Mai Sun in a rage. Upon arriving at work, he began to drink heavily. The other officers were at a community meeting, and a still-furious Woo raided an unguarded police armory, taking two carbines, 18 rounds of ammunition and many hand grenades. He then went on a eight-hour long drunken rampage through five villages of Uiryong County, 200 miles south of Seoul, firing without reason, sparing nobody in his path. Since he was moving under cover of darkness, the police had an exceedingly difficult time tracking him. He claimed his final victims when he walked into a farmhouse and pressed two grenades to his chest, blowing himself to pieces and killing three. Altogether, with a toll of 58 dead and 35 injured, the rampage of Woo Bum-Kon is one of the worst spree killings in modern times. Chun Mai-Sun later said that her boyfriend "suffered from an inferiority complex and had been bothered by villager's comments on their living together unmarried." Later on, the provincial chief of police was suspended, and four other officers were arrested for negligence of duty. When word got to Seoul, Home Minister Suh Chung Hwa flew to the scene, and later offered his resignation as a form of atonement for Woo's rampage.

Little Dick

2008-10-25T02:10:00.001-07:00

was a 15 year old girl, despite the moniker. She lived in San Francisco around 1850, an original gangster far in excess of any OG rapper.
Little Dick was quite vicious, especially when dealing with the myriad Chinese immigrants that called San Francisco an expatriate home. She was known to tie fireworks into their long Qi braid, or set fire to businesses owned and operated by Chinese folk.
The most famous tales of her attribute a certain whimsical nature to her torture of these people. She's said to have said that her favorite thing in life was to drag a chinese man under a deck or a building and stab him to death slowly with her legs wrapped around his middle.