NORTH CAROLINA: NANCY COOPER'S BODY FOUND

Nancy Cooper, a former Edmontonian woman who was found murdered in North Carolina. Here she is with Bella (left) and Katie her daughters.
Supplied/Jill Dean

NANCY COOPER AND ONE OF HER DAUGHTERS

Nancy Cooper: A family lost a loving mother, daughter, wife, friend

Cary police officer M. VanHouten wraps Brad and Nancy Cooper's house with police tape after an autopsy report came back identifying her body, which was discovered Monday night in a pond in Cary. Cooper had been reported missing since Saturday morning when she left her Lochmere home to run.
Staff Photo by Shawn Rocco

Search Warrant Executed for North Carolina Mom's House, Vehicles
FOX NEWS / Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Detectives on Wednesday searched the house and vehicles belonging to a slain North Carolina mother and her husband.

Six bags of evidence were taken from the home on Wednesday afternoon.

Click here for Jonathan Serrie's on-the-scene blog.

Authorities launched a murder investigation a day earlier, after the body of 34-year-old Nancy Cooper was found in a Wake County, N.C. cul-de-sac, near where her husband said she'd gone jogging.

The search warrant includes the house that Nancy and Brad Cooper shared, their two vehicles and forensic evidence from Brad Cooper himself.

(snip)

Nancy Cooper's parents Garry and Donna Rentz traveled from Canada over the weekend to assist in the search for the missing jogger, as did Cooper's twin sister Khrista Lister, her brother Jeff Rentz and her brother-in-law Jim Lister. Both Cooper and her husband are originally from Canada.

Though the family attended Wednesday's press conference, Bazemore said they are not ready to speak to the media.

Brad Cooper, who is staying with friends and taking care of the couple's two daughters, Bella, 4, and Katie, 1 1/2, did not attend the conference, and Bazemore said that "he's been given an open invitation, as the rest of the family has. I do not know why he's not here."

(snip)

The mother of two small girls went for a routine run early Saturday morning but did not come home to meet friends as planned, her husband said.

Bazemore said Tuesday that medical examiners confirmed the identity of the body found the previous evening by a man walking his dog miles from Cooper’s home.

"The search for our Nancy is over," Bazemore said Tuesday. "Nancy was murdered and our investigation is now a homicide."

WHO WILL BE THE 'PERSON OF INTEREST' FOR THIS HOMICIDE?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,383502,00.html

'THE FIRST 48 HOURS': JESSIE DOTSON INTERVIEW HARMFUL TO SURVIVORS

An A&E crew films police in March in the front yard at 722 Lester where six people were found slain. "They wanted Memphis because Memphis has the greatest homicide division in America," said Police Director Larry Godwin. Members of the local news media were kept behind crime scene tape.

Mike Maple / The Commercial Appeal

'First 48' airs confession, draws criticism from Lester guardian
By Trevor Aaronson (Contact),
Memphis Commercial Appeal / Wednesday, July 16, 2008

In an interrogation aired on national television Tuesday night, Lt. Toney Armstrong of the Memphis Police Department drew a confession from 33-year-old Jessie Dotson for the Lester Street mass murder.

The confession came at the end of an hourlong episode of "The First 48," an A&E Television reality show that follows homicide detectives in several cities, including Memphis.

(snip)

The day of the killings, Dotson told Armstrong, he and his brother, Cecil Dotson, were together.

"We got to arguing," Dotson told him. "We argued all the way to the house. Then we got out and went in the house. He was still shooting off."

Soon, Cecil reached for a 12-gauge shotgun behind the couch, Dotson said.

"I just started shooting," Dotson explained.

"How many times did you shoot him?" Armstrong asked.

"I don't know."

"Then what?"

"The kids saw me."

"Then what happened?"

"I tried to get rid of the kids. ... I stuck them."

After the confession, Dotson crossed his arms and looked down.

"I wanna talk to my momma," he said.

CHILLING WORDS FROM THE KILLER...
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/jul/16/first-48-airs-confession-draws-criticism-from/

MEMPHIS: JESSIE DOTSON, LESTER STREET KILLER

Jesssie Dotson, Lester Street killer, slaughtered his brother, and the kids and . . .

Mike Maple / The Commercial Appeal
Stuffed animals around a telephone pole at Lester and Faxon Saturday memorialize the victims of the Lester Street massacre. This view is looking north on Lester.

Sibling argument led to Lester Street mass murder, police say
By Trevor Aaronson (Contact) and Kristina Goetz (Contact),
Memphis Commercial Appeal / Saturday, March 8, 2008

In a mass murder so gruesome it garnered international attention and caused police to consider gang conflict, a child witness led investigators to a family member who confessed to the brutal killings.

Jessie Dotson, 33, was charged Saturday with six counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder. Dist. Atty. Gen. Bill Gibbons said he would announce in the coming days whether his office will seek the death penalty.

During an argument with his brother at 722 Lester, Jessie Dotson pulled out a semi-automatic handgun and shot Cecil Dewayne Dotson, police allege. He then slaughtered the others in the house, including children, in an attempt to cover up the shooting.

Cecil Dotson, 30; Marissa Rene Williams, 27; Hollis Seals, 33; and Shindri Roberson, 22, were shot and killed.

Jessie Dotson also stabbed and killed two of his nephews, Cemario Dotson, 4, and Cecil Dotson II, 2, both sons of Cecil, police say.

"It is our belief that when Jessie left the home, he believed everyone in the home was dead," Police Director Larry Godwin said during a Saturday press conference. "But as we all know, by the grace of God, three children survived."

Cecil Dotson Jr., about 9; Cedric Dotson, about 6; and Ceniyah Dotson, about 2 months old, survived being attacked with a knife and are in treatment under protective custody at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center.

(snip)

For Dotson, the gruesome killings on Lester Street made for an end to what was at times a hostile relationship with his family, arrest records show. His teenage home at 600 S. Lauderdale was a volatile place, where he regularly fought with neighbors and siblings.

In 1990, at age 15, Dotson was charged with disorderly conduct for making threats against his mother as she tried to discipline him.

Editor's note
Share your thoughts and prayers with the families of the Lester Street victims. We've set up a story on which you can leave your comments.

AND THE VIOLENCE NEVER STOPPED...

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/mar/08/press-conference-scheduled-lester-street-murders-t/

HOLLEY WIMUNC: MARINE HUSBAND, JOHN WIMUNC CHARGED WITH MURDER

Holley Wimunc, from Dubuque, Iowa, was in the process of divorcing her husband when she disappeared.

Cumberland County Sheriff's Office
Cpl. John Patrick Wimunc, estranged husband, was charged with murder and arson.

Cumberland County Sheriff's Office
Lance Cpl. Kyle Alden, 22, arrested on arson charges, and is also accused of being an accessory

after the fact to murder.

Husband Charged With Murder After Burned Remains of Missing Army Nurse Found
Monday, July 14, 2008

FOXNEWS.COM

The estranged husband of a Fort Bragg Army nurse whose charred remains were found near Camp Lejeune was charged with murder and arson in a possible cover-up of the woman's death.

Marine Cpl. John Patrick Wimunc, 23, was arrested and charged Monday with first-degree murder and felony conspiracy to commit arson. A fellow marine, Lance Cpl. Kyle Alden, 22, was arrested on arson charges and is also accused of being an accessory after the fact to murder.

The burned body of Army 2nd Lt. Holley Wimunc, 24, was found late Sunday in the Sneads Ferry area by police as they were investigating a brush fire there. She had been missing since Thursday after a fire was set at her Fayetteville apartment.

"It is with profound sadness that our family just received the news from authorities that our beloved daughter Holley is dead," Wimunc's father Jesse James said in a statement. "Since last Thursday's shocking news about Holley's burned apartment and her missing person status, our family through the country has nonetheless been holding on to a thin thread of hope that she would be found alive. Today, that thread of hope broke as her body was discovered."

SUCH A SAD ENDING TO A BEAUTIFUL LIFE...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,381581,00.html

CARY, N.C.: NANCY COOPER IS MISSING. WHERE IS SHE?

Search Underway for Missing N.C. Woman
Sunday, July 13, 2008
FOXNEWS

CARY, N.C. — A search was launched on Sunday to find a missing North Carolina woman last seen when she left her home to go running, WRAL.com reported.

Nancy Cooper, 34, reportedly went for a routine jog early Saturday morning, but never returned home to meet friends as planned.

Volunteers and police mobilized a search team with the help of the National Guard and police canines.

(snip)

Authorities described Cooper — an avid runner who was training for a half-marathon — as a caucasian woman, approximately 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing about 120 pounds. She has hazel eyes and brown hair, and was last seen wearing a T-shirt, running shorts and light blue running shoes, according to WRAL.com.

STAY TUNED. WE NEED TO FIND THIS WOMAN...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,381421,00.html

FT. BRAGG: HOLLEY WIMUNC, THIRD FEMALE SOLDIER MISSING

Holley Wimunc, 2nd Lieutenant Charlie Company, was reported missing after a fire burned her apartment near Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

After Holley Wimunc 's disappearance and apartment fire, attention turned to her Marine husband John Patrick Wimunc. Holley Wimunc issued charges of domestic violence against John Patrick just two months ago, May 19, 2008.

A car is towed from the complex where police are investigating Wimunc's disappearance and a fire.

Female soldier missing, home burned

(CNN) -- Authorities are searching for a female soldier, missing after a fire at her apartment near Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

Investigators Thursday morning found evidence of arson at the Fayetteville apartment of 2nd Lt. Holley Wimunc, 24.

A neighbor, Roland Petty, told CNN affiliate WRAL-TV that he saw a man running from the area on Wednesday night and smelled smoke, although he didn't associate it with the building at the time.

In a court filing for a protective order, Wimunc said that in May her husband had knocked her down, held a loaded gun to her head and then threatened to commit suicide, WRAL reported.

Watch police at work at Wimunc's complex »

The court documents indicate that John Wimunc is a Marine stationed at Camp Lejeune, the station reported.

A Camp Lejeune spokesman told WRAL that police had spoken to John Wimunc on Thursday about his wife's disappearance.

"I haven't seen any violence. I know [Wimunc's husband] was not living here anymore, but that's all I know," a neighbor told WTVD-TV, another CNN affiliate.

Both stations reported that Holley Wimunc's car was still in the parking lot at the apartment.
Her disappearance is considered a missing person case.

IS THIS ANOTHER MURDER FEMALE SOLDIER?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/11/woman.soldier/index.html

HANS REISER: LET'S DEAL, AND I'LL TELL WHERE I HID MY WIFE'S BODY

Hans Reiser, right, and his attorney, William Du Bois, listen during a hearing in this March 9, 2007, file photo, in Oakland, Calif.(Laura A Oda, File, Pool/AP Photo)

This 1999 California DMV photo shows Nina Reiser. A California software programmer convicted of killing his estranged wife, Nina Riser, has led police to a corpse that is believed to be hers. An attorney for Hans Reiser said his client led police to a wooded area of Redwood Regional Park in the Oakland hills. (AP Photo/DMV photo via The Oakland Tribune) (AP)

Reiser takes plea deal for lesser sentence
By Chris Metinko and Harry Harris

Oakland Tribune / Article Launched: 07/08/2008 04:52:48 PM PDT

OAKLAND — The skeletal remains found Monday in the Oakland Hills were positively identified Tuesday as those of Nina Reiser, and her estrange husband and convicted killer could be looking at a lesser sentence after leading authorities to her body.

Authorities located the body of the missing woman late Monday afternoon after Hans Reiser agreed to a deal with the Alameda County's District Attorney's Office to give up the location of the body in exchange for a second-degree murder conviction.

In April, the 44-year-old software engineer was found guilty of first-degree murder, which carries a 25-years-to-life prison sentence. For second-degree murder, those convicted face a 15-years-to-life term.

(snip)

Hora said the decision to strike a deal was made in conjunction with Nina's family's wishes.

"This wouldn't have happened without the support and desire of Nina's family," Hora said.

At the news conference, police confirmed that the remains had been positively identified through dental records as those of Nina Reiser, 31, who was last seen alive September 2006.

Hora said it was important to Nina's family that her remains be located, so they could choose her final resting place, not her killer. Since the body has been located, he said the family, who lives in St. Petersburg, Russia, won't have to go through a lengthy appeal process or hear rumors about sightings of Nina Reiser.

NOT A SPOONFUL OF JUSTICE HERE! THOUGH I UNDERSTAND THE DESIRE TO HAVE SOMEONE YOU LOVE RETURNED.

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime/ci_9820424

INGRID BETANCOURT: AMAZING RESCUE FOOTAGE AND VIDEOS

How Colombia freed the hostages

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7486896.stm#top

* Around midday two army helicopters painted white arrived at rebel site near Ininda River, a second waited at nearby clearing as back-up.
* Undercover soldiers said hostages would be taken to another rebel leader, somewhere between La Paz and Tomachipan.
* Once on board helicopters, two rebels were overpowered, 15 hostages freed and Ingrid Betancourt eventually flown to capital Bogota.

BETANCOURT RESCUE FOOTAGE (VIDEO FROM BBC NEWS)
Page last updated at 20:53 GMT, Friday, 4 July 2008 21:53 UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7490989.stm

INGRID BETANCOURT DESCRIBES AMAZING RESCUE

15 HOSTAGES HELD BY COLOMBIAN REBELS ARE RESCUED, JULY 2, 2008

BETANCOURT, 3 AMERICAN HOSTAGES FREED FROM FARC CAPTORS

DONAL'S MESSAGE: 4TH OF JULY REMEMBERED, A COUNTRY LOVED

"America is the greatest nation on earth--by God's mandate and our own honorable actions. Our military is the finest in the world, and they deserve every single one of us to honor them to the end of time. I am profoundly grateful we have them, and that I was blessed to be born and raised here.

NOTHING will ever change my mind.

God Bless America ALWAYS! "

Quote from our favorite blogger on the Internet, DONAL.
Visit Donal' site, and enjoy news, repartee, and friendship at

http://dudratreview.blogspot.com/

WHY DID UNCLE MICHAEL JACQUES KILL BROOKE BENNETT?

Michael Stephen Jacques, 42, faces federal kidnapping charges in connection with the disappearance of his niece, 12-year-old Brooke Bennett. The girl's body was recovered Wednesday night. Her case triggered the first Amber Alert in Vermont history and may have involved an organized sex ring and premeditated attack. (Stefan Hard, Times Argus/AP Photo)

A State Trooper stands guard at the end of Crocker Road in Randolph, N.H., Wednesday, July 2, 2008. Police have moved their command post from the home of Michael Jacques to a sugar house on Crocker Road as they search for a missing 12-year-old girl who has been missing since June 25, 2008. Federal officials say in court papers that Jacques, the girl's uncle, brought her home and took her upstairs to have sex her and she has not been seen since. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

Vermont State Police Col. James Baker announces they have found a body they believe is 12-year-old Brooke Bennett who has been missing since June 25, 2008 in Bethel, N.H., Wednesday, July 2, 2008. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

E-mails Reveal Suspect's Perverted Plot
Uncle of Missing Vermont Girl Found Dead Allegedly Enlisted Teen Lover as Accomplice
By DAVID SCHOETZJuly 3, 2008

The man suspected in the death of Brooke Bennett and his teenage lover plotted together for weeks to abduct the 12-year-old Vermont girl so that she could be initiated into an organized sex ring, according to shocking federal court documents released today.

Court papers also suggest that Michael Jacques, Bennett's 42-year-old uncle who is charged with her kidnapping, may have been preparing for the likelihood that the girl would never return home.

Jacques allegedly took steps before Bennett's abduction to lure police into thinking that she had gone to meet someone she had been corresponding with online. And before Bennett's disappearance, Jacques instructed his 14-year-old female accomplice to collect semen from her boyfriend, which was later planted near Bennett's torn underwear.

The revelations, outlined in a federal criminal complaint, came a day after Vermont State Police discovered Bennett's body in a shallow grave near Jacques' Vermont home. Her disappearance had triggered the state's first Amber Alert.

Federal prosecutors allege that Jacques used a pair of online identities to manipulate his young accomplice into thinking she was working with several men who were planning to initiate Bennett into a secret sex training program called "Breckenridge."

The unnamed girl, who is a minor, repeatedly expressed her willingness to help lure Bennett into Jacques' clutches and to help subdue Bennett if necessary, according to a stream of e-mails released by investigators.

SINISTER PLOT REVEALED...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=5300619&page=1

BROOKE BENNETT MISSING: UNCLE, MICHAEL JACQUES "PERSON OF INTEREST"

BROOKE BENNETT, AGE 12, MISSING

AP
This photo, supplied by the Vermont State Police, shows Michael Jacques, 42, the uncle of Brooke Bennett, who was arrested on unrelated sex charges.

FOX44 / This image is from a surveillance video that, police say, briefly shows Brooke Bennett with her uncle before she disappeared.

Missing Girl's Uncle Named 'Person of Interest' in Her Disappearance
FOXNEWS.COM / Associated Press / Monday, June 30, 2008

CHELSEA, Vt. — A probe into the disappearance of a 12-year-old girl zeroed in Monday on her uncle's alleged involvement in a child sex ring, with police searching his home while he was being arraigned on sex charges in a case authorities said was unrelated to the missing girl.

Michael Jacques, 42, of Randolph, a registered sex offender who was one of the last people to see Brooke Bennett before she vanished, pleaded not guilty to aggravated sexual assault and was being held on $250,000 bail.

The alleged victim of the sex assaults, a relative of Jacques, told police Jacques assaulted her during a five-year period, beginning when she was 9 years old and ending a few weeks ago, Orange County State's Attorney Will Porter said.

Meanwhile, Jacques, pronounced "Jakes," was being described as "a person of interest" in last Wednesday's disappearance of Bennett. Col. James Baker, commander of the Vermont State Police, said investigators narrowed their probe and began focusing on Jacques based on information developed late Saturday and early Sunday through computer forensics.

WHERE IS BROOKE BENNETT? LAST SEEN WITH MICHAEL JACQUES...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,373903,00.html

EVE CARSON SHOT FIVE TIMES, AUTOPSY REVEALED

Autopsy: Eve Carson was shot five times
Associated Press / Posted on Mon, Jun. 30, 2008

CHAPEL HILL/RALEIGH --A slain North Carolina student body president was shot five times, according to the report from the Office of the State Medical Examiner that lists her cause of death as “multiple gunshot wounds.”

The 22-year-old from Athens, Ga., was found March 5 lying on a street not far from the UNC Chapel Hill campus.

Prosecutors have charged two Durham men, Laurence Lovette, 17, and Demario Atwater, 22, with first-degree murder in her death.

Lovette’s attorney didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment Monday. Atwater’s attorney, Jonathan Broun, declined to comment on the specifics of the autopsy results.

“We urge everybody not to have a rush to judgment and let the legal system play itself out,” Broun said.

The report on Carson’s death was unsealed and made public Monday, weeks after its completion. Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall had requested it remain shielded from public review so investigators could complete their work on the case.

BE WARNED THAT THE AUTOPSY RESULTS MAY BE GRAPHIC...

http://www.charlotte.com/115/story/692450.html

CRIME UPDATES AND TIP LINES

Thanks to everyone who drops by. Crime seems to happen so fast that I can't keep up with the news.

I have been searching for updates on many of the stories: Tinley Park Lane Bryant, the Boca Raton Mall, Florida, killing of Nancy Bochicchio and her 7-year-old daughter, and Randi Gorenberg, and many more.

Can we forget that Brianna Denison's killer is still out there?

And where is Jodi Huisentruit, KIMT-TV news anchor, who disappeared in June 27, 1995?

And who took the life of Jakeob McKnight, age 10, in Denver, July 21, 1991. This happened while I lived in Denver. I used to take my dog to the park where they found Jakeob. "Jakeob’s father, Gary, said 17 years later, it still hurts."

If you want to read about these stories, or if you have information about these crimes, please, read the links below.

Remember, you can always call America's Most Wanted Hot Line if you have information about any crime.
1 - 800 -CRIME - TV

TINLEY PARK LANE BRYANT
http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=52877

"We continue to investigate a large number of leads in this case. We continue to request the public to call the Tip Hotline at 708-444-5394 with any possible information they may have, regardless of how trivial it may at first seem.

Have you seen this suspect?














BRIANNA DENISON
http://bringbriback.blogspot.com/












JODI HUISENTRUIT
http://www.findjodi.com/

http://www.findjodi.com/case.htm

JAKEOB MCNIGHT
http://blogs.denverpost.com/coldcases/2008/01/15/new-profile-boy-stabbed-repeatedly-in-park/#comment-27

If you have information about this case, call the Lakewood Police Department’s Major Crime section at 303-987-7200. Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206.












BOCA RATON MALL KILLINGS
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Mar22/0,4670,MurderAtTheMall,00.html

http://www.myspace.com/brpsd (Nancy Bochicchio Family's search for killer)

MEGAN TOUMA: MYSTERY LETTER CLAIMS TO BE HER KILLER

Note: 'I'm killer' of Spc. Touma
By Nancy McCleary / Fayetteville Observer Staff writer
Published on Saturday, June 28, 2008

A person claiming to be the killer of the pregnant soldier found dead in a motel has written an anonymous letter calling the murder a “master piece” and threatening to kill again.

On Friday, sources requesting anonymity told The Fayetteville Observer that a symbol used in the letter is identical to one found written in lipstick on a mirror in the Fairfield Inn room where Spc. Megan Lynn Touma’s body was discovered June 21.

The letter, which was received by the Observer on Wednesday and immediately turned over to the police, was signed with a symbol resembling the one connected with the Zodiac killer, a notorious serial killer in the late 1960s.

(snip)

The letter, which appears to have been composed on a typewriter, is dated June 17, four days before Touma’s decomposed body was found in the bathtub of Room 143.

The letter was postmarked June 24, the day before it arrived at the paper, and carried a local postmark. The envelope was smeared and blackened with an unknown substance.

READ MORE ON THIS IMPORTANT UPDATE...
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=297965

FT. BRAGG: PREGNANT MEGAN TOUMA DEAD IN HOTEL TUB

Photo of Megan Touma posted on LOCAL12.COM
Army Specialist Megan Lynn Touma, 23, grew up as Megan Heine in Cold Spring, Ky. She was was found in tub at the Fairfield Inn on Morganton Road, Room 143. Touma, a dental specialist recently arrived in the United States after spending three years in Bamberg, Germany at an Army dental clinic. She was staying in the motel until proper military housing was found for her for her assignment with the 19th Replacement Company at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Officials say the 24-year-old was dead when they found her Sunday at the Fairfield Inn on Morganton Road.

The Fairfield Inn is close to Ft. Bragg/Pope AFB, and located inside the Fayetteville shopping and restaurant district. Relax with a splash in their refreshing swimming pool. At Fairfield Inn, you can always count on a friendly welcome at an affordable price.

Ex-Husband: Army Said Pregnant Soldier Found Dead in Hotel Was AWOL
AP / Thursday, June 26, 2008

A pregnant soldier was declared AWOL after failing to report back to the Army because she was dead, her ex-husband said on Wednesday.

The body of Spc. Megan Lynn Touma, 23, was identified Tuesday, three days after being found decomposing in a bathtub at the Fairfield Inn in Fayetteville, N.C., over the weekend. Police called the death suspicious but released few other details.

• Click here to read Jonathan Serrie's on-the-scene blog.

Touma's ex-husband, El Sayed Touma, who lives in Charleston, S.C., told FOX affiliate WRAL that the Army failed to check on her before considering her absent without leave.

"She was left in the room for two days, and the Army said she was AWOL. They didn't even bother to go check on her in the motel where she stayed. I mean the Army knows that she stayed in that hotel," El Sayed Touma said.

The two met at Fort Drum, N.Y., when both were stationed there. They were married for three years but divorced when the stress of living in separate countries became too much for them, WRAL reported.

Meanwhile, Fort Bragg officials said Wednesday they were investigating why Megan Lynn Touma wasn't reported missing after she was absent from a formation.

(snip)

Touma is the second pregnant service member to die under suspicious circumstances in North Carolina in recent months. Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach was reported missing and later found dead near Camp Lejeune in January. A fellow Marine, Cpl. Cesar Laurean, has been charged in her death and is awaiting extradition from Mexico.

WHAT ARE THE ODDS OF THIS HAPPENING TWICE?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,371945,00.html

CHOMP LOOKS AT SOME CRIME SCENE DETAILS. LOOKS LIKE INVESTIGATORS HAVE FOUND IMPORTANT CLUES!

The bed in Touma’s room had been pushed slightly away from the wall, and both the lamp and nightstand were out of place.

No hotel employees had entered the room since June 17 because there was a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door.

According to check-in information Touma was supposed to check out by 11:25 a.m. June 21.

Hotel assistant maintenance supervisor Jim Cameron found the body.

The search warrant showed that authorities found a set of keys with an Enterprise Rent-A-Car key ring on the dresser in the room. A 2008 Chevrolet Trailblazer registered to Enterprise was parked outside the hotel room.

El Sayed Touma, Megan's ex-husband, says he is not the father of Megan's baby. Touma is an Egyptian native who served in the U.S military, and now lives in Charleston, N.C.

SHEILA LeBARRE: PEOPLE WHO KNEW HER TELL BIZZARE STORY

Louise and Daniel Harvey sold their farm to chiropractor Wilfred LaBarre several years ago, and remained friends with him until his death. (Michele McDonald/ Globe Staff)

A woman, her men, and a mystery
Inside the strange world of Sheila LaBarre, where charges of murder are only part of the story
By Sally Jacobs, Globe Staff
BOSTON GLOBE/ July 2, 2006

EPPING, N.H. -- The snow had just stopped falling when the young man came stumbling forlornly down the dirt road.

Bruce Allen, a dairy farmer, had been approached by other young men in need of help over the years, but this one was in the worst shape he'd ever seen. His name was Michael and his face was gashed and dripping blood into the snow. His ear was ripped and his skin was a mottled olive.

As he passed Allen's place that winter morning two years ago, the slight man whispered a single hoarse word, the farmer recalled. "Sheila," he said, glancing anxiously back up the road. "Sheila."

(snip)

Police got to know her well. In Hampton alone, LaBarre has been involved in more than a dozen complaints over the past 15 years. In 1995, she was granted a restraining order against Ennis, saying that he had attacked her and threatened to ``cut off my fingers and shoot me in the face." She got another order against him in 1997. The year after that, LaBarre and Brackett were both charged with second-degree assault in a lovers' quarrel involving a knife and a pair of scissors. The charges were dismissed.

READ MORE ABOUT THIS STRANGE WOMAN...
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2006/07/02/a_woman_her_men_and_a_mystery/

SHEILA LeBARRE CONVICTED: KILLED 2 BOYFRIENDS

AP /2008
Sheila LaBarre enters court today before the judge met briefly with the jurors to start the day of her insanity trial at Rockingham County Superior Court in Brentwood, N.H.

Kenneth Countie: Victim of Sheila LeBarre

Jurors take a walk around the outside of what was Sheila LaBarre's horse farm in Epping. Police would not allow them to view the inside of the house because it has been vandalized and is unsafe.
Ken Yuszkus / Staff photo



Carolynn Lodge, mother of Kenneth Countie, walks up the road to Sheila LaBarre�s farm in Epping. Lodge visits the farm daily to bring flowers to the site where her son's alleged murder took place.
Photo by Jackie Ricciardi


N.H. woman who killed 2 boyfriends sane, jury says
By CLARE TRAPASSO,
AP/ Posted: 2008-06-21

BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) — A woman who claimed she was an angel sent from God to punish pedophiles was convicted Friday of murdering two boyfriends by a jury that rejected her insanity defense.

Sheila LaBarre, 49, was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

In 2006, police found her burning trash that contained the bones of one of her victims, Kenneth Countie. The remains of Michael Deloge, killed in 2005, also were found on LaBarre's horse farm in Epping, about 50 miles north of Boston.

As the jury filed out after the verdict, relatives of the victims burst into applause.
"This is for my son," said Countie's mother, Carolynn Lodge. "(For) two years, my son could not rest. Now he can rest."

During the five-week trial, defense lawyers argued that LaBarre, 59, was a delusional woman who believed every man in her life was a pedophile and who saw herself as an avenging angel. The prosecution countered that she was a "crude, manipulative, cruel and vindictive" woman who violently lashed out at the men she dated.

READ UPDATE...
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gqzRNVrA3B-ruKgkMUth9bXSlvSgD91E2AD00

MACCLESFIELD, NC: McMILLANS TIE SON TO TREE, CHARGED WITH MURDER

Brice and Sandra McMillan tied their son to this tree until he died!


This undated police handout, shows 36-year-old Sandra Elizabeth McMillan, who along with Brice Brian McMillan, have been charged with murder and felony child abuse Friday, June 13, 2008, after the Macclesfield N.C., couple, allegedly tied their 13-year-old son to a tree for two nights as a punishment for disobedience.
AP Photo

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Couple Charged With Tying Son To Tree
N.C. Parents Charged With Murder For Leaving Son, 13, On Tree For 2 Nights
TARBORO, N.C., June 16, 2008

(AP) A couple accused of killing their 13-year-old son by tying him to a tree for two nights for punishment appeared in a North Carolina courtroom Monday to face charges of murder and felony child abuse.

Attorneys appeared Monday with Brice Brian McMillan, 41, and his wife Sandra Elizabeth McMillan, 36, of Macclesfield.

"It's a sad case," defense attorney Allen Powell, who represents Brice McMillian, said after the hearing. He declined any further comment, and the two did not enter a plea.

The county sheriff's office has said Brice McMillan told a deputy the teen was being disobedient and was forced to sleep outside last Tuesday while tied to a tree. The teen was released Wednesday morning, but again tied up that night for bad behavior.

Sheriff James Knight has said the boy was left tied to the tree until the following afternoon, when his stepmother found him unresponsive. Authorities believe the boy was bound to the tree with plastic ties and possibly other kinds of material.

WHERE DID THE McMILLAN'S LEARN THEIR PARENTING SKILL?
KEEP READING...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/16/national/main4184323.shtml

CHARLOTTE, NC: DID BETTY NEUMAR KILL 5 HUSBANDS?

Betty Johnson Neumar is shown at her booking. She is charged with hiring a hit man to kill her husband.

Police investigate wife for five dead husbands

CNN.com / July 16. 2008

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (AP) -- Police may have ignored a warning years ago that a woman with five dead spouses was trying to hire a hit man to kill one of the men, investigators in North Carolina said Monday.

Authorities charged 76-year-old Betty Neumar last month with one count of solicitation of murder in the July 1986 death of Harold Gentry. Gentry's brother had begged investigators for two decades to take another look at the case.

Stanly County sheriff's investigators believe Neumar tried to hire several people to kill Gentry. Lead detective Scott Williams said Monday his office is looking into the possibility that one of those would-be hit men went to authorities before Gentry's death, but no one took him seriously.

"That's another aspect we're looking into," Williams said, declining to elaborate.

Former Stanly County sheriff Ralph McSwain, who was in office when Gentry was killed, is recovering from a stroke and said he doesn't remember much about the case. He said the sheriff's detective who handled the investigation of the case is dead.

"This was a long time ago," McSwain said. "Could someone have come forward with information before it happened? Sure. I just don't know."

Neumar has been married five times since the 1950s, but each union ended with the death of her husband. Investigators want authorities elsewhere to look into the deaths. Williams said investigators have uncovered a common link among the victims: They all had military experience.

DID BETTY NEUMAR ONLY KILL HUSBANDS? READ ON...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/06/16/cold.cases.ap/index.html

WELEETKA, OK: PERSON-OF-INTEREST SKETCH IN TWO GIRLS' MURDER

AP
June 10, 2008: A memorial to Taylor Paschal-Placker and Skyla Whitaker at the spot along a rural road where they were found dead.

Police release witness sketch in girls' shootings

By Emanuella Grinberg/CNN/ June 13, 2008

(CNN) -- Authorities released a sketch Friday of a "person of interest" in the shooting deaths of two Oklahoma schoolgirls.

Several witnesses reported seeing a suspicious man on the same dirt road where Taylor Dawn Paschal-Placker, 13, and Skyla Jade Whitaker Taylor, 11, were shot Sunday, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said.

Jessica Brown said authorities believed that the man, "who didn't look like he should have been there," was on the road before the girls were shot multiple times in the head and chest and left in a ditch.

Witnesses described the man as an American Indian or possibly half-Caucasian with a black ponytail, about 6 feet tall and 35 years old. They said he was standing in front of a white single-cab pickup with chrome striping, possibly a Chevy or Ford model, with Oklahoma tags, Brown said in a press conference.

(snip)

Earlier Friday, members of the community mourned the two girls at separate funerals.

Watch the funeral »

Earlier in the week, Ofuskee Sheriff Jack Choate urged parents to keep a close eye on their children while authorities pursued the likelihood that a killer or killers were in their midst.

Since then, authorities have held daily press conferences in an effort to solicit leads from the public with reward money that had reached $40,000 by Friday.

SOMEONE KNOWS THIS "PERSON OF INTEREST"...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/06/13/okla.girls.shootings/index.html

NAVEED HAQ: TRU TV IN SEATTLE TO COVER TRIAL

Dan DeLong / P-I
Naveed Haq is led from the courtroom during a break in his trial at the King County Courthouse in Seattle on Wednesday. Haq is accused of entering the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle and opening fire, killing one woman, on July 28, 2006.

THOMAS JAMES HURST / THE SEATTLE TIMES
As Haq jurors deliberate, truTV producer Grace Wong monitors e-mails and news via her laptop and cellphone.

"In Session" TV crew puts Haq trial on national stage
By Natalie Singer
Seattle Times staff reporter

For six weeks they've been here every day. Starting at sunrise, leaving only to grab a soda or take a hurried bathroom break. Settling onto hard courtroom benches, they've heard every word of testimony and witnessed every objection and motion in Naveed Haq's trial.

They're not jurors. They're covering them.

They're allowed where local TV stations are not. The crew of television's "In Session," previously known as Court TV, has seen more than the jury. And because of them, the rest of the country has a front-row seat at one of King County's most high-profile criminal cases in years.

As the jury deliberates the fate of Haq, accused of the 2006 shootings at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, the people behind the "In Session" program — a cameraman on his feet six hours a day, the producer and the "booker" of interviews often glued to their cellphones, the expertly coifed and legally savvy correspondent — wait to bring the end of the story to their fans.

It's one of the few times the phenomenon, which boasts the slogan "Not Reality. Actuality," has broadcast a Seattle trial. It was most recently in Seattle to film the 2003 sentencing of Green River killer Gary L. Ridgway.

(snip)

The effort it takes to travel to courtrooms around the country — all with different systems, bureaucracy, facilities and attitudes toward television crews — is phenomenal, Sullivan said.

The program, which airs 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern time, has five field producers, five researchers or "trial trackers," four anchors, three correspondents, two satellite trucks, an assignment desk in Washington, D.C., and a slew of associate producers — including three working on the Haq case.

READ MORE OF NATALIE SINGER'S PROFILE OF COURTROOM TELEVISION...

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004452039_trutv02m.html

WELEETKA, OK: TWO GIRLS SHOT WITH 2 DIFFERENT GUNS

Weleetka is a amall town in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma. The name is derived from Creek Indians term for "running water." The latitude of Weleetka is 35.335N. The longitude is -96.136W. It is in the Central Standard time zone. Elevation is 725 feet. Estimated population in July 2006: approximately 947.

Taylor Dawn Paschal-Placker, 13, left, and Skyla Jade Whitaker, 11, were killed Sunday.

Police look for multiple suspects in girls' shootings
By Emanuella Grinberg/ CNN

June 10, 2008

(CNN) -- Two Oklahoma schoolgirls were killed with two guns, leading investigators to believe that more than one person was involved in their deaths, authorities said Wednesday.

Taylor Dawn Paschal-Placker, 13, of Weleetka and Skyla Jade Whitaker, 11, of Henryetta, were shot multiple times Sunday on a rural road about a quarter-mile from Taylor's home.

Investigators don't have any suspects or motives, but a forensic examination of the bodies indicated that two guns had been used, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations Agent Ben Rosser said Wednesday.

"This leads us to believe that we're probably looking for two shooters," Rosser said at a news conference Wednesday, where he also announced that authorities had raised the reward to $25,000.

Watch what officials are doing to solve the case »

With two shooters, Rosser said he was hopeful that one would turn on the other and come forward.

Rosser said investigators were considering a variety of motives as they searched for suspects, including the possibility of a "random thrill kill."

Because of the girls' ages, Rosser said investigators were looking at computer evidence and questioning young people in the area to develop possible leads.

Authorities said Tuesday that they believed the shooters were most likely from the area, considering the remote location where the bodies were found.

The two girls had planned a sleepover at Taylor's house the night they were killed. They left the house about 5 p.m.

Less than 30 minutes later, Taylor's grandfather discovered the girls' bodies in a ditch on the side of a road, near a bridge that is a popular gathering spot in the area.

CAN YOU HELP FIND THIS CHILD-KILLER...OR KILLERS?

Police are asking members of the public with more information about the case

to call (800) 522-8017.

________________________________________________

To make a donation to a burial fund for the victims' families,

the public can contact the Bank of Commerce in Weleetka, Rosser said.