GEORGIA: GEORGE ZINKHAN BURIED HIMSELF, COMMITTED SUICIDE

Georgia Bureau of Investigation official seal: Crime fighters get their man!

Authorities swarm wooded area in Bogart, Georgia, where cadaver dogs found a body.

Law enforcement agents worked near a wooded area where the Jeep belonging to murder suspect George Zinkhan was found. (Vino Wong/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via Associated Press)

Phil Skinner / pskinner@ajc.com
Athens police cordoned off an area of the Cleveland Road Elementary School playground after reports that a body was found near where George Zinkhan’s car was found.

Alpha K9 Search & Rescue cadaver dogs Circe (left) and Madison located the body of George Zinkhan Saturday. PHIL SKINNER /pskinner@ajc.com

Zinkhan’s body found in grave he dug
Police searched two days near elementary school
By Rhonda Cook, Kent A. Miles , Chip Towers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution / Saturday, May 09, 2009

Fugitive murder suspect George Martin Zinkhan III dug his own grave and covered himself with debris before firing a single bullet into his head, investigators said Saturday.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigations’ state crime lab confirmed early Saturday evening that the body discovered earlier that day in the woods outside Athens was Zinkhan, authorities said.

“A person not accustomed to the woods would not have found it,” Athens-Clarke County Police Chief Jack Lumpkin said. “The body was beneath the earth… The body was purposely concealed in a manner not to be discovered .”

Searchers found two handguns in the grave.

Zinkhan’s well-hidden body was discovered Saturday by cadaver dogs — an Australian shepherd and a German Shepherd — at 9:50 a.m. Saturday. The civilian Alpha Search and Rescue Team was working woods beyond the initial search area.

Zinkhan’s temporary grave was in thick woods about 1,000 yards from an elementary school and about a mile from where his red Jeep Liberty was recovered more than a week ago. Zinkhan’s home in Bogart in Clarke County is not far away.

BIZARRE ENDING TO A BIZARRE MAN...

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2009/05/09/%20body_found_near_zinkhan_car.html

GEORGE ZINKHAN: BODY BURIED IN GEORGIA; WHO KILLED THE KILLER?

MAP OF ATHENS, GEORGIA. TOWN OF BOGART IS TO THE LEFT.
Cadaver dogs found the body about 10 miles west of Athens in Bogart, where Mr. Zinkhan lived.

Police have discovered a body said to resemble University of Georgia professor George Zinkhan, who they say shot and killed three people, including his estranged wife, at a theater group picnic April 25. (Richard Hamm/Athens Banner-Herald/AP Photo)

GBI (GEORGIA BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION)
The GBI released these sketches of wanted triple-murder suspect George Zinkhan that show how he may appear today.

Authorities Identify Body in Georgia Woods as That of Fugitive Professor Wanted in Killings
Saturday, May 09, 2009 / FOX NEWS

A body found hidden in dirt and brush Saturday in the north Georgia woods is a professor accused of killing his wife and two others, authorities said.

A massive manhunt had been under way for University of Georgia marketing professor George Zinkhan, who vanished after the April 25 shootings at a community theater near the Atlanta campus.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation State Crime laboratory confirmed Saturday evening that the remains discovered earlier in northwest Athens-Clarke County were those of Zinkhan.

Athens-Clarke County Police Chief Joseph Lumpkin announced the news of the identification of the fugitive professor's body.

The guns matched those described by witnesses to the shootings, though police did not say how they believe Zinkhan died.

Authorities hoped to have a cause of death by the end of Saturday.

Cadaver dogs found Zinkhan's body about 10 miles west of Athens in thick woods in Bogart, where he lived.

Searchers — as many as 200 at one point — had been scouring the woods since his Jeep was found wrecked and abandoned in a ravine about a mile away a week ago.

HOW DID GEORGE ZINKHAN GET BURIED IN THE GEORGIA WOODS?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,519625,00.html

DREW PETERSON: HOW MANY WIVES CAN YOU KILL BEFORE BEING CAUGHT?

AP / May 7, 2009 / State police Lt. Carl Anderson with a fellow investigator escort Drew Peterson into District 5 State Police headquarters in Lockport, Ill.

Peterson’s fiancee, Christina Raines, 24: ‘I just don’t believe it’

Feb. 13: Drew Peterson, who is suspected in the disappearance of his fourth wife and the death of his third, and his fiancee, Christina Raines, talk about their plans for the future.
Today show

Drew Peterson Charged With Murdering Third Wife, Held on $20M Bond
Thursday, May 07, 2009 / FOX NEWS

After pursing Drew Peterson for 1 1/2 years after the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, authorities in Illinois closed in Thursday, arresting the former Chicago-area police sergeant on two counts of first-degree murder in the drowning death of his third wife.

Peterson — who launched into the national spotlight after Stacy Peterson's suspicious disappearance in October 2007 — is being held on $20 million bond, police and prosecutors said Thursday night at a news conference.

Peterson, 55, hasn't been charged in Stacy Peterson's disappearance. But he now is criminally accused of killing Kathleen Savio, the third wife, who was found at home dead in a dry bathtub on March 1, 2004.

Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow said at the news conference that a judge granted his request for $20 million bond "without question."

"This is an extremely grave and serious matter, and I think that's reflected in the bond," Glasgow said.
An arraignment is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. CDT Friday in Joliet, Ill.

Glasgow said he intends to introduce evidence at trial that would allow Savio "to testify from the grave" through third-party statements uncovered during the investigation.

A recently passed law, spurred by the Savio and Stacy Peterson cases, would allow the statements to be admitted as an exception to hearsay rules if they are proven in a pre-trial hearing to be reliable, probative and relevant, he said.

"We're very confident in our case," Glasgow said.

Police said the arrest and indictment were the result of 18 months of intensive police work that garnered hundreds of leads and produces thousands of pages of investigative reports.
The search continues for Stacy Peterson, police said.

Drew Peterson is being held at the Will County Adult Detention Facility in Joliet, Ill., under supervision of the Will County Sheriff's office. His children were taken by police and transferred to family services.

STUNNING ARREST OF DREW PETERSON... http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,519392,00.html

SKYLAR DELEON: "WELL-DESERVED DEATH" FOR DROWNING TOM AND JACKIE HAWKS

TRUSTING VICTIMS
Thomas Hawks, a retired probation officer, was a victim in a chilling 2004 murder. He and his wife, Jackie Hawks, were spending time on their yacht, the Well-Deserved, when they were forced by assailants to sign over the boat and then tied to an anchor and thrown into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Catalina Island. The suspected murderer is former child actor and one-time Mighty Morphin Power Rangers extra Skylar DeLeon, who has pleaded not guilty and is currently under trial for the crime. Neither body has been discovered. (Courtesy of the Hawks Family)

Tom and Jackie Hawks (top) were murdered by Skylar Deleon, (bottom left) while at sea on their yacht, the Well-Deserved. (Courtesy of the Hawks Family/Skylar Deleon)

THE MASTERMIND AND LURE
Skylar James DeLeon, 26, and former wife, Jennifer Henderson, 24. Pregnant Jennifer convinced the Hawks to believe her husband wanted to buy their yacht by bringing their 9-month old baby aboard the yacht. Jennifer Henderson received two life terms without parole.

ACCOMPLICE
Myron Gardner, Sr., 45: Suspect accused in the murder of Thomas and Jackie Hawks. Myron Sandora Gardner had been a longtime member of the Insane Crips Gang in Long Beach. His gang moniker was "Fly." (JACK E. HANCOCK, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER)

ACCOMPLICE AND STAR WITNESS FOR PROSECUTION
Alonso Machain, 22: Machain explained in court that his assignment was to restrain Jackie Hawks above deck. Machain said Skylar Deleon asked him to tape the couple's eyes and mouths shut. He watched as Skylar Deleon grabbed an anchor and some rope, tied the Hawks to the anchor and brought them to the back of the boat.

ACCOMPLICE

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 40: Jury recommends execution. Deleon threw the anchor overboard while Kennedy pushed the Hawkses down toward the water until the anchor pulled them overboard.

Skylar Deleon gets death sentence in Newport Beach yacht murders
-- Christine Hanley / 12:14 PM / April 10, 2009

A Long Beach man was sentenced to death today for lashing Thomas and Jackie Hawks to the anchor of a yacht and throwing them overboard off the coast of Newport Beach in a plot to steal the vessel and plunder the couple’s life savings.

Skylar Deleon showed little reaction as Orange County Superior Court Judge Frank Fasel explained that mitigating factors -- including any abuse Deleon suffered while growing up -- were outweighed by the “horrors” of the 2004 murders of the Hawkses and the earlier 2003 slaying of John Peter Jarvi in a Mexican desert.

Deleon was convicted of all three murders.

READ MORE...
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/04/skylar-deleon-gets-death-sentence-in-newport-yacht-murders.html

READ BACKGROUND OF HOW A CHILD GROWS UP WITH NO CONSCIENCE...

'Yacht' Killer Mom: Deleon's Home of Drugs, Orgies
Drama in Courtroom as Killer's Mom Recounts How Son Almost Drowned
By LEE FERRAN and KIMI CULP / Oct. 29, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=6137048&page=1

MORE OF SKYLAR DELEON'S DEMENTED MIND...

While awaiting trial in jail, Deleon was also charged with soliciting another inmate to murder his father and cousin. He was also accused of killing John Jarvi, a resident of Anaheim who was found dead in Mexico in 2003.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylar_Deleon

COLORADO: SUSPEND DEATH PENALTY OR SOLVE COLD CASE CRIMES?

Nathan Dunlap, on Colorado's death row, for killing four people at a Chuck E Cheese Restaurant in 1993

Colorado May End Death Penalty to Focus on Cold Cases
Sunday, May 03, 2009

DENVER — Colorado and nine other states considered abolishing the death penalty this year to save money, but Colorado's proposal has a twist: It would use the savings to investigate about 1,400 unsolved slayings.

The measure has sparked a fierce debate between prosecutors and some victims' families. Prosecutors want to keep capital punishment as an option for heinous crimes, and they say the bill has raised unrealistic hopes about solving cold cases.

Supporters of the bill say it's more important to find and prosecute killers still on the loose than to execute the ones already tried and convicted.

(snip)

Proponents of the bill, led by Evergreen-based Families of Homicide Victims and Missing Persons, say Colorado's death penalty is so rarely used that it's not a deterrent. The group says hundreds of thousands of dollars are wasted trying to put people to death when hundreds of murderers are free.

Suthers and other prosecutors say additional DNA testing, including a proposal pending in the Legislature to take samples at the time of a felony arrest, could do more than expanding the state's cold case unit to solve old cases.

Colorado has executed only one person in the past 42 years, Gary Lee Davis, put to death in 1997 for his conviction in a 1986 slaying.

Two men remain on Colorado's death row. Sir Mario Owens was convicted last year of killing Javad Marshall-Fields, a potential witness in a murder trial, and Vivian Wolfe, Marshall-Fields' fiancee. Nathan Dunlap was convicted in 1996 of murder, attempted murder and other charges for killing four people and wounding a fifth at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant in Aurora in December 1993.

WHAT WILL COLORADO DECIDE ON THE DEATH PENALTY?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,518745,00.html

MYRTLE BEACH: BRITTANEE DREXEL, 17, GONE WITHOUT A TRACE

BLUE WATER RESORT, MYRTLE BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA

2001 South Ocean Blvd, Myrtle Beach, SC 29578

GEORGE ZINKHAN: GEORGIA'S KILLER PROFESSOR JEEP FOUND IN RAVINE

Georgia: Map of area where police are searching for Professor George Zinkhan

WSB News (WSB RADIO)
New Photo of Fugitive Professor / By Jon Lewis @ April 30, 2009

The television show, "America's Most Wanted" has posted Zinkhan on their website, and the show is considering airing a segment on the crime and the hunt on May 16. The 57 year old marketing professor's passport is missing and police say Zinkhan had purchased a ticket to the Netherlands prior to the shooting. The ticket is for May 2. Zinkhan owns a home in Amsterdam.

MyFOXAtlanta.com
George Zinkhan

AP / May 1: The red Jeep belonging to murder suspect and former University of Georgia professor George Zinkhan is transported on a flatbed truck in Bogart, Ga. Authorities who have searched nearly

Georgia Professor Forced Jeep to Crash Into Ravine, Police Say
Friday, May 01, 2009 / FOX NEWS

Authorities believe a fugitive Georgia professor on the run since allegedly gunning down his wife and two others intentionally put his Jeep into drive and let it plummet into a ravine near his home.

He also theorize that George Zinkhan, 57, is still in the Atlanta area — where he lives and teaches business courses at the University of Georgia — and that the rampage may have been sparked by a fight with his wife, who reportedly was planning to leave him.

"We don't believe he drove it off, 'cause it's in drive," one officer told reporters of the crashed Jeep, according to MyFOXAtlanta.com. "Looks like he put it in drive and maybe kind of pushed it off the edge."

Police hadn't previously revealed a motive, but FBI agent Greg Jones said Friday that interviews with friends and family indicate the shooting likely stemmed from a domestic dispute between Zinkhan and his wife, 47-year-old attorney Marie Bruce.

Authorities have some indication she was preparing to file for divorce, he said.

Detectives swarmed the heavily wooded area where Zinkhan's wrecked red Jeep was discovered Friday, but turned up no sign of the fugitive professor. Some officers in pickup trucks drove down dirt roads and helicopters searched from above.

BEWARE! STAY ALERT! GEORGE ZINKHAN IS STILL OUT THERE AMONG US. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,518589,00.html

Letter From UGA President Michael Adams To Students http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/19299724/detail.html

PHILIP MARKOFF: OWES $130,000; TAXPAYERS PAY FOR ATTORNEY

Photo by Mark Garfinkel (file)
Philip Markoff appeared in court Tuesday with his lawyer, John Salsberg.

Philip Markoff $130G in debt
Appointed tax-paid defense attorney
By Jessica Fargen and Jessica Van SackTuesday,

April 28, 2009

The second-year medical student accused of murdering an erotic masseuse with a bullet to her heart is $130,000 in debt and has been awarded a taxpayer-paid defense attorney, according to court records.

Philip Markoff, 23, does not receive money from his parents and has been living off his student loans while attending Boston University, according to a court document in Boston Municipal Court. Markoff is now suspended from BU.

"(Markoff) stated he did not receive financial support from his family. (Markoff) further stated he was unemployed for a lengthy period of time and was essentially living off of student loans in the amount of $130,000,” according to an April 23 document signed by a probation officer.

The officer interviewed Markoff on April 21 and wrote that he signed an indigency form. That same day, the Committee for Public Counsel Services appointed attorney John Salsberg to represent Markoff.

WHAT OTHER SECRETS DOES PHILIP MARKOFF HAVE FOR US?

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/ 2009_04_28_Philip_Markoff__130G__in_debt:_Appointed_tax-paid_defense_attorney/srvc=home&position=1

CARLOS PEREZ-OLIVO: WIFE KILLER GETS 25 YEARS, MOTIVE IS MONEY

Carlos Perez-Olivo listens as he is sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder of his wife.
CBS

Carlos Perez-Olivo listens as he is sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder of his wife.
CBS

Perez-Olivo Gets 25 Years For Wife's Murder
Former Clinton Neighbor To Spend Next Quarter-Century In Prison
WCBSTV.com / Dec 2, 2008
Reporting Tony Aiello


WHITE PLAINS (CBS) / The Chappaqua man convicted of murdering his wife after staging a carjacking off the side of Route 100 in Millwood in 2006 was sentenced to 25 years to life behind prison for the crime on Tuesday.

Carlos Perez-Olivo, 60, had nothing to say in his own defense before Judge Barbara Zambelli handed down the maximum sentence with these harsh words: "The defendant is a master of deceit who contrived a diabolical plan to murder his wife for his own financial gain."

The plan involved the Nov. 18, 2006 shooting of Peggy Perez-Olivo. The motive: $900,000 in life insurance.

Last month, in an exclusive jailhouse interview, Perez-Olivo stuck by his claim that an unknown carjacker shot his wife.

But the jury found Perez-Olivo shot her in the head and himself in the stomach as part of a cover-up.

The Perez-Olivos had lived just down the street from Bill and Hillary Clinton.

The couple's three children still support their father. Their oldest son, Carlitos, held back tears as a letter from the siblings was read to the judge.

WIFE-KILLERS NEVER THINK ABOUT THE CHILDREN...
http://wcbstv.com/local/carlos.perez.olivo.2.877772.html

PHILIP MARKOFF: PREDATOR / KILLER SAVED SOUVENIRS FROM VICTIMS

Megan McAllister's email to ABC NEWS
"Unfortunately, you were given wrong information as was the public. All I have to say to you is Philip is a beautiful person inside and out and could not hurt a fly! A police officer in Boston (or many) is trying to make big bucks by selling this false story to the TV stations. What else is new?? Philip is an intelligent man who is just trying to live his life so if you could leave us alone we would greatly appreciate it. We expect to marry in August and share and wonderful, meaningful life together."

Police Source: Items From 2 Victims Found in Accused 'Craigslist Killer's' Apartment
FOX NEWS / Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Items from two attack victims were found in accused "Craigslist Killer" Philip Markoff's Boston-area apartment, a law enforcement source said.

A law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity told The Associated Press that police found belongings of both women in Markoff's apartment in Quincy, south of Boston.
The source wasn't authorized to speak about evidence in the investigation.

The official would not confirm reports by the Boston Herald and ABC News that the items seized by police included the victims' underwear and that he appeared to be collecting the lingerie as "souvenirs."

The news came as more details emerged Wednesday about the case authorities are building against the 23-year-old Boston University medical student.

Markoff has been charged with targeting women who advertised erotic services on Craigslist, luring them into hotels to rob them and killing one woman who fought back.

FEEL SAFER THAT ANOTHER PREDATOR IS OFF THE STREETS!
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517409,00.html

CHOMP: Megan McAllister might have become one of Phillip Markoff's victims! Does Megan McAllister still believe that Philip Markoff is innocent or will she "stand by her man?" The evidence is stacking up against him...a lot of evidence!

BOSTON: PHILIP MARKOFF "STRANGE IN DARK WAYS"

Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) is a major research institution, providing an exceptional environment for students interested in basic science, clinical investigation, or public health and health services oriented research. BUSM has 660 medical students

Medical School Lab Partner of Accused Craigslist Killer Says He Was 'Disturbed'
FOXNEWS / Wednesday, April 22, 2009

A former medical school lab partner of the accused Craigslist killer said Philip Markoff was prone to profound mood swings and seemed "disturbed."

Tiffany Montgomery told The Boston Globe that she's "not even remotely surprised" that Markoff, 22, is a suspect in the case and said she was often alarmed at his extreme changes in mood.

Markoff would appear warm and friendly one day and then brooding and depressed the next, according to Montgomery.

She said she was so troubled by his behavior that she considered alerting Boston University school counselors that he might be suicidal.

"He just wasn't right in the head, and I knew it, and probably other people did, too," Montgomery, 26, told the Globe.

The two spent hours together in the lab while they were students at Boston University School of Medicine, according to Montgomery, but they never became close.


Markoff spoke only when someone else initiated a conversation, Montgomery said, adding that he seemed nice but "strange in a dark way."

Markoff is charged with murder in the April 14 shooting death of 26-year-old Julissa Brisman of New York City at a luxury hotel in Boston and with kidnapping and armed robbery in the other assault on April 10 at a different hotel in the city.

Meanwhile, a former high school classmate of Markoff's told the Boston Herald that he was a contemptuous high school bully.

"He had this hatred for people he thought were beneath him," said the classmate, Caitlin, 23, who asked that her last name be withheld. "He saw me as beneath him and he needed to degrade me. I think he had a complex."

TIFFANY MONTGOMERY NOT SURPRISED THAT PHILIP MARKOFF IS A KILLER ...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517409,00.html

CRAIGSLIST KILLER: FIANCEE SAYS PHIL MARKOFF IS BEAUTIFUL PERSON

BOSTON'S COPLEY MARRIOTT PLACE / 110 Huntington Avenue Boston, MA

BOSTON'S COPLEY MARRIOTT PLACE

The Boston Marriott Copley Place, a Boston Hotel anchors the upscale Copley Place Mall and is connected to the Prudential Center Mall. There are over 200 shops, restaurants, theatres and the Hynes Convention Center conveniently located under one roof.

Philip Markoff lives in Qunicy, and he is a Boston University pre-med student originally from upstate New York. Since his arrest, Phil Markoff has been suspended from his pre-med program.

FNC/MyFOXBoston.com / Philip Markoff, "Mr. Nice Guy...or Really Bad Dude" ???

Fiancee of Medical Student Arrested in Craigslist Killing Says He 'Could Not Hurt a Fly'

Tuesday, April 21, 2009 / ASSOCIATED PRESS

BOSTON — The fiancee of a Boston medical school student accused of fatally shooting a woman who placed an ad on Craigslist said police have the wrong man and there is no way he could have done it.

In an e-mail to ABC's "Good Morning America," Megan McAllister said Philip Markoff "could not hurt a fly."

She called him "a beautiful person inside and out," according to the message read on the air Tuesday.

McAllister said she and Markoff expect to be married in August "and share a wonderful, meaningful life together."

An e-mail message sent to McAllister via her Facebook page was not immediately returned Tuesday. There was no published telephone listing for a Megan McAllister in the Boston area.

Markoff, 22, was arrested in connection with the death of a woman last week who advertised massage services on Craigslist. Police have said he also may have been involved in other crimes against women who posted ads on Craigslist.

Two of Markoff's neighbors told "Good Morning America" on Tuesday they were stunned by the accusations.

"I can't even put it into words, the disbelief I'm feeling right now," neighbor Jonathan Uva said. "This is a great guy ... Just a total disconnect from what we're hearing in the news."

Another neighbor, Mike Dye, told the show he had Markoff over to his apartment complex for parties including a Super Bowl party.

Dye said he seemed outgoing, but also rarely talked about himself.

Uva described "Just a nice, normal couple. I lived right next door to him, and I would never have expected this," Uva said. "We thought they were just regular guys ... just our neighbors, like anyone else."

WHAT'S NEXT FOR PHILIP MARKOFF, "JUST A REGULAR GUY?"
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517275,00.html

FLORIDA: PAM BIGGERS ON BUSINESS TRIP, VANISHED

Pam Biggers: More than a year after her disappearance, there's no clue as to what happened to the 52-year-old woman from Hueytown, Ala. Biggers was on a business trip in Panama City Beach, Fla., when she vanished Jan. 27, 2008. She was last seen in her hotel. All her belongings, including her cell phone and purse, were left in her hotel room.

No Clues in Missing Woman Case
By RUPA MIKKILINENI,
CNN / April 14, 2009

(April 14) -- Pam Biggers, a 52-year-old woman from Hueytown, Alabama, disappeared while on a business trip to the Florida Panhandle.

She drove to the La Quinta Inn at Panama City Beach on January 27, 2008, a Sunday. She checked in and talked with her husband over the phone about 5:30 p.m.

She told him she was going out to eat with a colleague who was staying across the hall.

After an early dinner, the two women returned to their rooms about 7 p.m., police said. And then Pamela Biggers simply disappeared.

"It's completely baffling," said her husband, Don Biggers. "All of her belongings, clothes, purse, cell phone, were left in her room."

Biggers' bed did not look slept in, police said, but it appeared that she had been reading in bed. Her open book and glasses were on the bedside table, and the pillows were propped up against the headboard.

She had not changed into her pajamas, and her hotel room key and car keys were in the room. There was no sign of struggle, police said.

Biggers' family believes that she left the hotel and either lost her way or became the victim of foul play.

READ PAM BIGGERS' STORY...

http://news.aol.com/article/missing-woman-pam-biggers/427921

HELP FIND PAM BIGGERS

http://findpambiggers.com/default.aspx

If you have any information on Pam,

please, contact the Bay County Sherriff's Office 850-747-4700.

If you see Pam, please call 911 immediately!

TRACY, CA: FOUR INDICTED FOR TEEN KIDNAP AND TORTURE

Indictment: Group shackled, tortured teen

April 1, 2009 / CNN.com /CRIME

SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- Four Californians are accused of kidnapping a 16-year-old boy and torturing him for nearly a year before he escaped captivity wearing only boxer shorts and a shackle on his ankle, according to an indictment released Wednesday.

Anthony Vincent Waiters, 34; Caren Ramirez, 43; Kelly Layne Lau, 30; and her husband, Michael Luther Schumacher, 34, were charged with a slew of offenses, including torture, aggravated mayhem, child abuse and false imprisonment by violence that allegedly occurred from January 2008 to December 2008.

Authorities said the teen was shackled in the home of Lau and Schumacher in Tracy, about 65 miles east of San Francisco. During his captivity, the teen was tortured with a bat, knife and belt, according to court documents.

The teen escaped December 1 and walked into a fitness center about 500 feet away from the home. He was bruised and battered, wearing only boxer shorts and with his bloody ankle shackled, police said.

The four also face a new charge -- assault with caustic chemicals. The indictment accused the defendants of attacking the teen with "vitriol, corrosive acid, flammable substance and caustic chemical with the intent to injure the flesh and disfigure the body of the said victim."

The 17-count indictment was handed down by a San Joaquin County grand jury on March 23. Lau and Schumacher being held on a $2.26 million bail, while Ramirez and Waiters are being held without bail, a jail official said Wednesday.

The judge has issued a gag order in the case prohibiting attorneys on either side from speaking publicly.

Lau, Ramirez and Waiters all pleaded not guilty to the charges, but Schumacher, Lau's husband, postponed entering a plea until his attorney, John Casanave, has an opportunity to review transcripts from the grand jury investigation, the San Joaquin Herald reported Wednesday.

EVIL PEOPLE DESERVE EVIL PUNISHMENT... http://www.edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/01/shackled.teen/index.html?iref=hpmostpop

CRAIGSLIST MURDER: JULISSA BRISMAN BODY FOUND AT MARRIOTT COPLEY PLACE HOTEL

AP / Julissa Brisman, 26, of New York. Boston police are investigating attacks on two masseuses-for-hire at luxury hotels, including the killing of Brisman at the Marriott Copley.

FNC / Surveillance footage from the Marriot Copley Place hotel shows the suspect in the death of a woman there

AP / Frame from video surveillance camera at the Marriott Copley provided by the Boston Police Department shows a 'person of interest' in attacks on two masseuses-for-hire at luxury hotels. Boston police are investigating attacks on two masseuses-for-hire at luxury hotels, including the killing of one woman at the ritzy Marriott Copley. Both women had advertised massage services on Craigslist, the online classified service, and both were guests at luxury hotels.

Boston 'Craigslist' Killing May Be Linked to Attempted Robbery in Rhode Island
Friday, April 17, 2009 / ASSOCIATED PRESS

WARWICK, R.I. — An exotic dancer who was bound and held at gunpoint at a suburban Providence hotel by a man who answered her Craigslist ad suggested that her ordeal could be linked to a Boston hotel slaying, police said Friday.

A 26-year-old Las Vegas woman who police believe was offering sex for money through the Craigslist posting was attacked at a Holiday Inn Express late Thursday night, Warwick Police Chief Stephen McCartney said. The assailant fled when the victim's husband returned to the room.

Earlier this week, a woman who advertised massage services on Craigslist was shot and killed at a luxury hotel in Boston.

McCartney said that after Thursday's attack in Warwick, "the victim apparently made a statement to police that in her opinion, this situation mirror-imaged what happened up in Boston. I think at the point in time our police responded, nobody was thinking about that."

McCartney said he didn't know specifics of the woman's Craigslist ad, but earlier in the day said he had been told she was advertising massage services.

The description of the suspect in Thursday's attack also matches that of a "person of interest" wanted for questioning in the fatal shooting of 26-year-old Julissa Brisman of New York City at the Marriott Copley Place in Boston on Tuesday night. And the same person may have been involved in the robbery last week of another Las Vegas woman at the Westin Copley Hotel, Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis said.

The 29-year-old woman had also advertised massage services on Craigslist, the online classified service.

Police in Warwick, which is about 60 miles south of Boston, describe the suspect as a clean-cut white male, approximately 6-feet tall, 200-pounds, with blond hair, wearing a black coat and blue jeans.

SOMEONE KNOWS THIS BLOND-HAIRED MAN. DO YOU KNOWS HIM? http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,516928,00.html?sPage=fnc/us/crime

SANDRA CANTU: MELISSA HUCKABY CHARGED - KIDNAP, RAPE, MURDER

FNC / April 14: Melissa Huckaby, a volunteer Sunday school teacher, cries as she hears the charges of murder against her in the death of little Sandra Cantu.

YOUTUBE.COM / Melissa Huckaby, 28, arrested in the murder of Sandra Cantu, age 8


Police search the shed at Clover Road Baptist Church in Tracy, California

California Sunday School Teacher Charged With Murder, Rape, Kidnapping of Sandra Cantu, 8
FOX NEWS / Tuesday, April 14, 2009

A female Sunday school teacher kidnapped, raped and murdered an 8-year-old girl who was the close friend of her 5-year-old daughter, then stuffed her body in a suitcase and dumped it into a pond, prosecutors contended Tuesday.

Charges were filed against Melissa Huckaby, 28, in the killing of little Sandra Cantu ahead of her afternoon arraignment, which was held about 4 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. PDT).

Huckaby, led into the San Joaquin County courtroom in a red jumpsuit and shackles, did not enter a plea.

She cried as a judge read the charge: one count of murder with the special circumstances of rape with a foreign object, lewd or lascivious conduct with a child under 14 and murder in the course of a kidnapping.

Authorities have not said how or where Sandra was killed, nor discussed a possible motive.
They say they don't expect other arrests and believe she acted alone.

The gruesome crime has shocked and terrified residents in Tracy, a city of about 78,000 people, 60 miles east of San Francisco.

Huckaby, a volunteer Sunday school teacher at her grandfather's Clover Road Baptist Church in Tracy, was arrested Friday after hours of interrogation by police after a 10-day-long search for Sandra and a suspect in her killing.

The special circumstances of rape with a foreign object, lewd acts with a child under 14 and a murder during a kidnapping mean that Huckaby, if convicted, could face life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.

WHAT OTHER SECRETS WILL WE HEAR?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,515675,00.html

CAYLEE ANTHONY: GOTCHA! DEATH PENALTY FOR CASEY

CAYLEE ANTHONY (left) CASEY ANTHONY (right)

Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against Casey Anthony, shown in this July 22, 2008 file photo, right, a Florida woman accused of murdering her daughter, Caylee Anthony, shown in this file photo, left, a spokeswoman for the State Attorney's Office said Monday. (Pool Photo/AP)

Prosecutors to Seek Death Penalty in Casey Anthony Case
In Reversal, Prosecutors to Seek Death Penalty for Death of Caylee Anthony
By SCOTT MICHELSApril 13, 2009

Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty for Casesy Anthony, a Florida woman accused of murdering her daughter, a spokeswoman for the state attorney's office said today.

In December, the state's attorney's office filed court papers indicating that prosecutors would not seek the death penalty in connection with the first-degree murder case.

In a notice of intent filed today, prosecutors said additional information has become available. The filing says that "sufficient aggravating circumstances exist to justify the imposition of the death penalty," according to the Orlando Sentinel.

A spokeswoman for Jose Baez, Anthony's attorney, said in a statement, "This is not a death penalty case. We will do whatever is necessary to defend Casey Anthony from the state trying to take her life. We already have death-qualified defense lawyers on our team and are prepared for a vigorous defense."

Anthony, 22, has pleaded not guilty in the death of her daughter, Caylee. She is scheduled to go on trial in October.

Frustrating, Curious Investigation Into Caylee Anthony's Disappearance

The child's remains were found Dec. 11, less than a quarter-mile from the home she shared with her mother and grandparents.

START READING. THIS CASE WILL BE AROUND ALL SUMMER...
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=7328024&page=1

PHIL SPECTOR: JURY SAYS "GUILTY OF SHOOTING LANA CLARKSON"

Lana Clarkson

Over the course of the trial, which began in October, the prosecution portrayed Spector as a sadistic misogynist who had a three-decade "history of playing Russian roulette with the lives of women" when he was drunk. A prosecutor told jurors in her summation that "by the grace of God, five other women got the empty chamber and lived to tell. Lana just happened to be the sixth woman, who got the bullet."
By Harriet Ryan / LA TIMES /7:10 PM PDT, April 13, 2009

CITY OF ALHAMBRA, CALIFORNIA (EAST SIDE OF LOS ANGELES)
Phil Spector's Alhambra, California mansion

SEE THE DEATH SCENE LAYOUT AT
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-081207me-clue12-fl,0,7055058.flash

Source: Times reporting

Graphic by Matt Moody

Interactivity by Brady MacDonald

AP / Jurors found Phil Spector guilty of murder in the second-degree for the shooting death of 40-year-old actress Lana Clarkson. His first trial ended with a deadlocked jury, although the majority was convinced he was guilty.

Phil Spector Convicted of Second-Degree Murder
By JONATHAN LLOYD
Updated 6:07 PM PDT, Monday, Apr 13, 2009

Music producer Phil Spector was found guilty Monday of second-degree murder in the February 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson.

Jurors also found Spector personally used the firearm while committing the crime at his Alhambra mansion. Sentencing has been set for May 29.

Second-degree murder carries a penalty of 15 years to life in prison. The firearm enhancement adds three, four or 10 years in prison, according to the district attorney's office.

The judge denied bail and Spector, wearing a fire-engine red tie and pocket square, was taken into custody after the verdict was announced. He also wore a "Barack Obama Rocks" button on his left suit lapel.

Spector and his wife entered the courtroom at about 2 p.m., and the verdict was read at about 15 minutes later. His son and daughter were seated next to him at the counsel's table.

Spector's wife, Rachelle, cried as the decision was announced. Spector showed no reaction as his attorney rubbed his client's left shoulder.

Members of the Clarkson family, including her mother and sister, also were in the courtroom.

"This is why we do this job," said prosecutor Alan Jackson. "If there's a wrong, we can attempt to try to right it. Today is when the Clarkson family gets their justice."

As of Monday morning, the jury had spent about 30 hours discussing the case over eight days since March 26.

Spector, 69, was charged with murder in the Feb. 3, 2003, shooting death of the 40-year-old actress and House of Blues VIP hostess at his mansion in Alhambra. He claims she shot herself with his gun.

IT'S BEEN A LONG WAIT FOR THIS VERDICT...

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Jury-Reaches-Verdict-in-Spector-Case.html

SANDRA CANTU: MELISSA HUCKABY, IS LIFE A LIE?

Connie Lawless, from Tracy, hugs her grandson Phillip Hughes, from Whittier, after speaking to the media about her granddaughter Melissa Huckaby after church services at Clover Road Baptist Church on Sunday.(Jose Carlos Fajardo/Staff)

Sunday services are held at Clover Road Baptist Church on Sunday, April 12, 2009 in Tracy, Calif. Police believe that Melissa Huckaby, from Tracy, killed Sandra Cantu at the church. Huckaby is arrested in suspicion of kidnapping and killing of 8-year old Sandra Cantu. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Staff)

Huckaby's family: 28-year-old's arrest for killing Sandra Cantu is 'surreal'
By Malaika Fraley and Matthias Gafni / Contra Costa Times / 04/12/2009

TRACY — The family of Melissa Huckaby preached of strength during adversity as they led an Easter service in their tiny Tracy church Sunday, speaking for the first time about the 28-year-old murder suspect and the death of Sandra Cantu.

"People think we're going on business as usual," said Brett Lawless, Huckaby's uncle who delivered the sermon. "Nothing will be as usual after the events of the last 10 days. Not for the community, not for the church, not for our immediate family and certainly not for the family of Sandra Cantu."

After the services, Huckaby's grandmother, the wife of the church pastor, spoke to reporters.

"We're just as shocked," Connie Lawless said. "This is completely outside of what we know of Melissa.

"It's been difficult for all of us. It's surreal," she said.

A congregation of about 20, along with a throng of media, sat in Clover Baptist Church, a half-block from Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park, where Huckaby was arrested Friday night on suspicion of kidnapping and killing Sandra — a playmate of Huckaby's 5-year-old daughter.

(snip)

Huckaby was raised in Orange County and graduated from Brea Olinda High School in 1999. She moved to Tracy seven or eight months ago to help her grandparents, then decided to stay and enroll her daughter in kindergarten, family members said.

Her father said Huckaby's only known emotional issues stem from a divorce.

READ MORE...THERE WILL BE STUNNING UPDATES LATER THIS WEEK!

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12128530?source=most_viewed

MELISSA HUCKABY: SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER CHARGED WITH KILLING SANDRA CANTU

San Joaquin County Seriff's department shows the booking photo of Melissa Huckaby taken Saturday April 11, 2009. Huckaby, a Sunday school teacher, has been arrested and charged with kidnapping and killing a California girl whose body was found in a suitcase. Tracy Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman says 28-year-old Melissa Huckaby was arrested late Friday night after voluntarily going to police for questioning about the death of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu. (AP Photo/San Joaquin County Sheriff) (AP)

A girl places a stuffed animal at a memorial for Sandra Cantu in Tracy, Calif., Thursday, April 9, 2009, near the home of Cantu. The body of Cantu, 8, was discovered inside a suitcase in an irrigation pond on Monday, April 6, 2009 after she was last seen at her home on March 27, 2009. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma) (AP)

Calif. Sunday School Teacher Booked in Child Death
Police: Motive unknown as Sunday school teacher arrested in killing of girl found in suitcase
By TERRY COLLINS Associated Press WriterTRACY, Calif. April 11, 2009 (AP)

Police said Saturday they do not know what motivated the Sunday school teacher they arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and killing an 8-year-old girl whose body was found in a suitcase dumped in an irrigation pond.

Melissa Huckaby, 28, a local minister's granddaughter, was arrested late Friday about five hours after she drove herself to the local police station at the request of officers, said police Sgt. Tony Sheneman. She was being held without bail in connection with the death of Sandra Cantu, the San Joaquin County sheriff's office said.

Sandra disappeared on March 27 and hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement officials turned out to search for her. On April 6, farmworkers draining an irrigation pond found the suitcase.

Huckaby walked into the police station Friday and started a conversation with officers, Sheneman said at a news conference.

"She was calm, cool and collected, then she became very emotional .... She went back and forth from being calm to emotional."

READ MORE ABOUT THIS BIZARRE CASE OF SANDRA CANTU...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=7313247