GREELEY: KAYLEAH WILSON, 12, "WE HAVE TO ASSUME THE WORST."

Investigators question drivers in case of missing 12-year-old
Matt Clough written by: Jeffrey Wolf
COLORADO 9NEWS.COM / KUSATV / April 2,2010

GREELEY - While making a plea to the public for help on Friday afternoon, the FBI and Greeley Police Department say they do have some leads in the disappearance of a missing 12-year-old girl.

"We have to assume the worst. That's our job. We assume the worst and hope for the best. And that's the way we're proceeding with this investigation," FBI Special Agent in Charge Jim Davis said during a news conference.

Kayleah Wilson has not been since Sunday around 3:40 p.m. when she left her house to walk to a birthday party. The walk was supposed to only be eight to 10 blocks, but Kayleah never arrived at the party. Friday night, 9NEWS spoke with April Wilson, Kayleah's mother, who says several of her friends were out posting fliers, although she would not say where.

Investigators say they do not believe this is a runaway situation, but have also found no signs of foul play.

Greeley Police Chief Jerry Garner says they are going through "foot-slogging police work" to try and find the girl.

"We've been working this case pretty much around the clock since Sunday night," Garner said. "We have a huge amount of leads in this case. Every single one of them has to be tracked down."

(snip)

Kayleah is described as 5-foot, 1-inch tall, 145 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair. She was last seen wearing a white and pink shirt over a white tank top, blue jeans and white and red shoes. She is a student at Brentwood Middle School.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact

the Greeley Police Department at 970-350-9600.

Or you can call 1-800-CALL-FBI.

READ DETAILS OF KAYLEAH WILSON'S DISAPPEARANCE...
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=135843&catid=339

SF TECHNICIAN STEALS DRUGS FROM EVIDENCE LAB

SF crime lab scandal strains justice system
AP / FOXNEWS / April 2, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO — The first hint of scandal at the San Francisco crime lab came in December when officials received a tip that a technician might be stealing cocaine used as evidence.

An investigation soon revealed that small amounts of cocaine were missing, and the scandal has just snowballed from there.

Hundreds of narcotics cases may have to be thrown out, the drug-testing lab has been closed indefinitely, and outside reviews have unmasked even deeper concerns with how evidence is handled at the facility. The scandal has served as an embarrassment to the police department and raised questions about why officials weren't more proactive in dealing with the problems.

"Anybody who doesn't see the magnitude of this problem is either blind or stupid," San Francisco Police Chief George Gascon said after a review cited bad management at the lab has led to poor practices.

The district attorney's office has already thrown out or not charged 550 cases because of possible evidence tampering, and is reviewing about 1,400 more for possible dismissal.

A final decision hasn't been made on how many ultimately will be tossed, but may come Friday. Authorities are trying to salvage some cases by having drugs retested at other labs; they also may refile some of the dropped cases.

The woman accused of skimming drugs from the lab for her own use, Deborah Madden, has not been charged. Madden took a leave of absence from the lab in December following an audit that found cocaine was missing from the lab, then retired last month. She was a criminalist for 29 years.

LOST EVIDENCE, LOST CONVICTIONS, GUILTY GO FREE...
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/04/02/sf-crime-lab-scandal-strains-justice/

SEATTLE: SHANTINA SMILEY, WHERE ARE YOU?

Autopsy Confirms Body is Azriel Carver; Cause of Death, Drowning
by Susan Marie Kovalinsky March 19, 2010

Update: Autopsy confirms body is Azriel Carver; cause of death was drowning
Police believe a body that washed to shore is that of missing 8 year old boy Azriel Carver. Carver had been missing since Saturday night, when he and his mother, Shantina “Kat” Smiley, 29, last were seen north of Olympia.

The body was found yesterday afternoon on the southern tip of Fox Island of Puget Sound. Sheriff’s officials received a call just before 2 p.m. that a body was found by a woman walking along Pebble Beach, below a steep bluff off Paiute Trail road.

County officials had to comfort the boy's father, who had come from New York state to help in the search.

"I know there’s a lot of crazy questions that are going to be coming, from why it happened, how it happened and what had happened,” Carver said. 'They ended up in the water, and the tidal pattern was really high and really fast, and it just ended very tragic. It’s a crazy series of events that unfolded and ended so tragically,' he said."

MORE ABOUT SHANTINA AND AZRIEL...
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/autopsy-confirms-body-azriel-carver-cause-death-drowning

RODNEY ALCALA, DEATH SENTENCE: "I'M WAITING FOR THE DAY HE DIES."

'Dating Game' Killer, Rodney Alcala, Sentenced to Death
This is the third time Alcala has been sentenced to death row for killing Robin Samsoe.
Watch Brandon Rudat's Report
KTLA News / 5:11 PM PDT, March 30, 2010

SANTA ANA -- Convicted serial killer Rodney Alcala has been sentenced to death for killing a 12-year-old Huntington Beach girl and four Los Angeles County women in the 1970s.

Tuesday's sentencing marked the third time Rodney Alcala has been sent to death row for killing 12-year-old Robin Samsoe.

His two previous convictions for the killing were overturned on appeal.

Marianne Connelly, the mother of Robin Samsoe read this statement to the court before Alcala's sentence was announced:

"He is a cold blooded evil mass murdering monster that should have died years ago. Losing my precious Robin was the worst tragedy of my life and knowing the defendant tortured his victims makes it even harder to accept. I'm waiting for the day he dies. I only wish I could be the one to administer the (lethal) injection."

(snip)

Alcala was also convicted of killing four other women: Jill Barcomb, an 18-year-old runaway who was killed in the Hollywood Hills on Nov. 10, 1977; Georgia Wixted, a 27-year-old registered nurse killed on Dec. 16, 1978; Charlotte Lamb, 32, slain on June 24, 1978; and Jill Parenteau, 21, who was killed June 14, 1979.

READ...RODNEY ALCALA SENTENCED TO DEATH...AGAIN
http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-alcala-trial,0,2151331.story

SOMER THOMPSON: WHY WAS JARRED HARRELL ARRESTED FOR MURDER

Somer Thompson's Mom's Message to Accused Murderer: 'We Got You'
Cops: Jarred Harrell's Brutal Killing of Somer Thompson Was Likely 'Crime of Opportunity'
By LEE FERRAN / ABC NEWS
March 26, 2010

Praising the murder charges against the suspect in the death of 7-year-old daughter Somer, Diena Thompson today addressed the accused killer to say, "We got you."

"I stood here ... and said, 'We're coming to get you, we will get you,'" an emotional Thompson told a Florida news conference of her previous statements. "And I'd like to take this opportunity to say to you, Jarred Harrell, we got you."

Clay County police chief Rick Beseler was applauded earlier today when he announced the first-degree murder charge against Harrell from under a banner that read "Justice for Somer." He was also charged with sexual battery and lewd or lascivious molestation of a child younger than 12.

Calling Harrell a monster, Thompson said she was glad "some one is finally going to pay for this horrific crime."

Police said they believe Harrell, 24, encountered Somer as she walked by his house on her way home from school. Beseler said police have evidence that Harrell then assaulted Somer, killed her and disposed of her body. Two days after her death, Somer's body was found in a landfill in Georgia. She died, police said, by asphyxiation.

(snip)

Neighbors described Harrell as antisocial and withdrawn, and said they saw Thompson occasionally stop to pet a little white dog near his former home.

READ ABOUT SOMER THOMPSON CASE...
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/sources-suspect-jarred-harrell-charged-connection-somer-thompson/story?id=10208882

SOMER THOMPSON: HOW THEY CAUGHT JARRED HARRELL

Ex-Roommate of Jarred Harrell Left Town Before Somer Thompson Announcement
Taren Reed / FIRSTCOASTNEWS.COM
3/26/2010

ORANGE PARK, Fla. -- The stepfather of one of Jarred Harrell's ex-roommates who turned Harrell's computer over to police after finding child pornography on it said the ex-roommates left town when they heard about the charges.

Harrell was arrested and charged with premeditated murder in the death of Somer Thompson today.

MORE ABOUT HARRELL'S ARREST, CHARGES

Rod Buchanan's stepdaughter lived with her fiance and Harrell in an apartment on Wells Road in Orange Park. In August 2009, Buchanan said Harrell's computer was turned over to police.

According to the State Attorney General's office, Harrell's computer arrived at its cyber crime unit on Sept. 25, 2009. The unit wasn't able to start taking the computer apart to do forensic testing until Oct. 9, when an official search warrant was received. The testing was completed Nov. 10, nearly a month after Somer was killed.

JARRED HARRELL'S COMPUTER PROCESSING TIMELINE

Buchanan didn't give his stepdaughter's name, but said she knew an arrest and announcement would be made today so she packed up and left Orange Park. Buchanan said the roommates won't be speaking with the media.

When Somer Thompson disappeared in October 2009, he and his wife saw how close Harrell lived to Somer and reminded police about his computer that was turned over in August. Buchanan said they pointed detectives in the right direction.

READ ABOUT SOMER THOMPSON AND KILLER JARRED HARRELL...
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/topstories/news-article.aspx?storyid=153882&catid=3

CHICAGO: GUNS, DRUGS, RAPE KITS ROTTING IN CLOSED POLICE HQ

Evidence Found Rotting in Closed Ill. Police HQ
AP / March 20, 2010
Nearly 200 guns, narcotics and rape kits rotting in an unplugged refrigerator were left behind by a police department that shut down two years ago.

CHICAGO - A sheriff's department in suburban Chicago has been shocked to find a roomful of evidence left behind by a village police department that shut down two years ago -- including a moldy sexual assault kit that authorities said linked a man to the 2006 rape of a 13-year-old girl, nearly 200 guns and hundreds of bags of narcotics, officials said Friday.

In all, seven rape kits had been left rotting in an unplugged refrigerator in the former Ford Heights Police Department, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said. The guns had not been registered with the state as having been seized by police, and Dart's spokesman Steve Patterson said none of the DNA evidence found matches anyone in the state's database.

"You're not talking about ineptness, neglect, you're talking about outrageous conduct of a police department that didn't care about the residents out there," Dart said.

(snip)

That was when deputies opened the door to the evidence room.

Detectives were stunned by what they learned about the sexual assault of the girl -- and the apparent lack of any meaningful investigation of a case in which there was a great deal of evidence against one man.

"What happened to this girl is unconscionable," said Dart, whose office
arrested 27-year-old Marquis Deering this week. "She thought nothing was going to happen to him."

READ ABOUT NEGLECTED DNA EVIDENCE AGAINST MARQUIS DEERING...
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/03/20/evidence-rotting-closed-ill-police-hq/?test=latestnews

ARUBA: UNDERWATER PHOTO OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY DISAPPEARS!

Couple Believes They Have Underwater Photo of Natalee Holloway's Remains
FOXNews.com / Updated March 18, 2010

The photo taken by John and Patti Muldowney of Manheim last fall was turned over to the FBI, because John says he has a gut feeling it may be the missing Alabama honor student who disappeared in Aruba nearly five years ago.

A Pennsylvania couple believes an underwater snapshot they took off the coast of Aruba reveals human remains on the ocean floor that could be those of Natalee Holloway, Lancasteronline.com reported.

The photo taken by John and Patti Muldowney of Manheim last fall was turned over to the FBI, because John Muldowney says he has a gut feeling it's the missing Alabama honor student who disappeared in Aruba nearly five years ago.

"We did receive the photo, and it was sent to the lead agent down in Miami who handles that area in the Caribbean," Special Agent Frank Burton Jr., a spokesman for the FBI's field office in Philadelphia, told the newspaper.

However, it's a mystery as to what happened to the photo after that.

The Miami office and the FBI's legal attache in Barbados, which has control over the Aruba area, both told the newspaper they have no record of getting it.

WHY DID PHOTO OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY VANISH?
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/03/18/couple-believes-underwater-photo-natalee-holloway-remains/

SHANTINA AND AZRIEL: DID ALCOHOL CAUSE TRAGIC END?

Medical Examiner Confirms Body Is That Of Missing Boy
KIROTV.COM / March 18,2010

FOX ISLAND, Wash. -- The body of a boy that washed ashore on a Fox Island beach Thursday is that of a missing 8-year-old child who disappeared with his mother over the weekend, the medical examiner says.

The father of 8-year-old Azriel Carver has been told his son is dead, authorities told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News.

Azriel disappeared on Saturday with his mother, 29-year-old Shantina Smiley.
The child's body was discovered about 12 miles from an Olympia beach, where Smiley's van was found partially submerged on Sunday.

The discovery caused authorities to focus their search for Smiley near Fox Island, where a Coast Guard helicopter hovered overhead Thursday afternoon.

KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Kevin McCarty said the body of the 8-year-old was first discovered on the beach by a child and then an adult, in a remote area near Paiute Trail at 11th Avenue on the southwestern corner of the island.

UNCUT: Beach Where Body Found

Police said there was a T-shirt around the boy's head.

Due to the remote location, a Tacoma police boat took officers to the scene. The body is being recovered by the Pierce County sheriff's boat Reliance, McCarty said.

On Saturday, Smiley had been driving with Azriel in a van from their home in Silverdale to visit relatives in Castle Rock, where she grew up, police said. Since then, they have been the subjects of an intense search.

READ TRAGIC ENDING OF SHANTINA SMILEY AND AZRIEL CARVER...
http://www.kirotv.com/news/22881089/detail.html

RODNEY ALCALA: DATING GAME SERIAL KILLER PHOTOS FOUND

Could photos from Seattle storage locker provide clues in serial killings?
Authorities in California wonder if thousands of photographs of women found in a Shoreline storage locker more than 30 years ago could point to additional victims of a notorious serial killer facing the death penalty.
By Christine Clarridge / Seattle Times staff reporter / March 11, 2010

Authorities wonder if thousands of photographs found in a Shoreline storage locker more than 30 years ago could point to additional victims of a notorious serial killer facing the death penalty in California for the murders of four women and a 12-year-old girl.

Police and prosecutors released the decades-old photos on Wednesday after amateur photographer and serial killer Rodney James Alcala, 66, was convicted by a California jury, which recommended the death penalty.

Authorities said they hope the release of the photographs will lead to the identification of the subjects and possibly reveal whether Alcala may have had additional victims.

Huntington Beach, Calif., police Detective Patrick Ellis said Thursday that he has already heard from one person who claims to know one of the subjects of Alcala's photos, a woman who has been listed as a missing person for decades.

Alcala was arrested in connection with the slaying of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe of Orange County about a month after the girl's body was found in 1979.

On Tuesday, a jury recommended death for Alcala for the murders of Samsoe and four women who were killed between 1977 and 1979.

(snip)

Jurors took just an hour to return the death recommendation after a six-week trial in which Alcala represented himself and took the stand in his own defense. Alcala also relied on a 1978 clip of himself as a winning contestant on "The Dating Game" in his rambling, and sometimes incoherent defense.

READ ABOUT DEMENTED SERIAL KILLER RODNEY ALCALA...
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011322181_serialkiller12m.html

HELP IDENTIFY THE PHOTOS OF MISSING GIRLS...
Authorities in California ask that if anyone has information about the people in the photos to please contact Huntington Beach police Detective Patrick Ellis at 714-375-5066, or e-mail pellis@hbpd.org.

HOLMDEL, NJ: EX-MODEL CARINA SCHLESINGER KILLS DANIEL CRESCI, SELF

Former model kills boyfriend and herself in Holmdel tragedy
By Sue Epstein / Julie O’Connor and David Giambusso contributed to this report.
March 06, 2010, 10:00PM

No one had heard from Daniel Cresci for days — not his mother, his father or his friends. By Wednesday evening, they were worried.

In their search to find him, his younger brother and a friend said they drove to the house of his girlfriend, former model Carina Schlesinger.

As they approached her cottage in a rural section of Holmdel, they were overwhelmed by the smell of gasoline. In the darkness, Jonathan Cresci and Scott Broschart saw what looked like a candle flickering in a back window — and then flames.

It was only later they learned that the loud explosion that followed was former model Carina Schlesinger shooting herself in the head, Broschart, a longtime friend of Cresci, said in an interview yesterday.

Before committing suicide on Wednesday evening, Schlesinger, 36, had shot 29-year-old Daniel Cresci to death in her one-bedroom home on Red Hill Road. Then, she set the house on fire and shot herself, authorities said.

(snip)

Schlesinger had previously made headlines in 2004, when she was the victim of an attempted rape in New York City’s Central Park. She had been walking her Shepherd mix, Cookie, when assailant Tito Rodriguez grabbed her by the hair and ordered her to perform a sex act on him, police said.

Schlesinger and her dog fought back. The DNA tests conducted on the blood drawn by Cookie’s bites eventually led investigators to Rodriguez, who was ultimately sentenced to 125 years in prison.

READ STUNNING STORY OF CARINA SCHLESINGER MURDER-SUICIDE...
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/holmdel_woman.html

AMBER DUBOIS: FAMILY GRIEF, MOURNING, PUBLIC MEMORIAL

ESCONDIDO: Family, community mourn Amber Dubois
By SARAH GORDON - sgordon@nctimes.com
Posted: March 7, 2010 10:25 pm
Staff writers Teri Figueroa and Mark Walker contributed to this report.

After more than a year of rallying the public to bring 14-year-old Amber Dubois home alive, her family on Sunday retreated in grief at the news the missing girl was found dead. The community began its mourning, too.

Amber's skeletal remains were found north of the Pala Indian Reservation Saturday morning by police and sheriff's detectives following a tip, Escondido police Chief Jim Maher said Sunday at a news conference.

Amber's father Maurice Dubois and mother Carrie McGonigle learned the news Saturday evening, Maher said. They attended Sunday's press conference, but appeared too aggrieved to speak at length.

With wet eyes and a faraway look, a hunched Maurice Dubois briefly thanked volunteers who had helped search for his daughter. McGonigle stood by his side, also tearful.

Ever since Amber, a bookish freshman, disappeared without a trace on her way to school at Escondido High on Feb. 13, 2009, her parents have said they believed she was alive, most probably abducted by someone who was keeping her against her will.

Only last week, when 30-year-old registered sex offender John Albert Gardner was arrested on suspicion of killing 17-year-old Chelsea King near Lake Hodges, did they begin speaking openly about the possibility that Gardner, who lived in Escondido from 2008 until early 2010, might have killed their daughter.

READ STORY OF AMBER DUBOIS. STILL NEED TO FIND KILLER...
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/escondido/article_f498c3d9-201e-525d-821a-6c4a7472e43d.html

SAN DIEGO: AMBER DUBOIS BODY FOUND NEAR PALA RESERVATION

Remains of Amber Dubois found in Pala
By Kristina Davis, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
updated March 7, 2010 at 4:41 p.m

The skeletal remains of missing Escondido teenager Amber Dubois have been found more than a year after she vanished while walking to school one morning, authorities announced Sunday.

“The discovery was made in the early morning hours Saturday in a very rugged and remote area of Pala,” said Escondido Police Chief Jim Maher. “Escondido police and sheriff’s homicide detectives were following a lead in the case when they made the discovery.”

The remains, found north of the Pala reservation, were positively identified through dental records Saturday afternoon.

Maher, flanked by Sheriff Bill Gore and FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Keith Slotter, declined to answer any questions at the 5-minute news conference at the Escondido Police Department, citing the ongoing murder investigation. He said the investigation would be a joint effort between the three agencies.

“Any details, no matter how slight, would be inappropriate to reveal at this time,” Maher said.

Amber’s parents, Moe Dubois and Carrie McGonigle, expressed their thanks for the immense search effort.

READ THE UPDATE ON AMBER DUBOIS DISCOVERY...
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/07/bn07amberpresser/?imw=Y

KRISTINA KUPKA: MISSING 1998, NEW EVIDENCE, POLICE SEARCH AGAIN

Deal might be break in student's disappearance
Friday, March 05, 2010
Stacey Sager / WABC-TV/DT / Eyewitness News

QUEENS (WABC) -- There may be a big break in the search for a pregnant college student who has been missing for 12 years.

Police say they have new clues in the disappearance of Kristina Kupka.

"When they called me, I have to say I was in shock," the victim's sister, Kathy Kupka said. "It was shocking, just a call out of the blue. I've been waiting for it for years."

Kupka's been waiting since 1998 for news on whoever killed her sister. And this week, police are hoping they're closer to finding an answer, searching beneath the cement floor of a business on Liberty Avenue in Jamaica.

Kristina Kupka was a 28-year-old student at Baruch College who was 5 months pregnant when she disappeared in October of 1998. Her family and friends last saw her with Darshanand "Rudy" Persaud, her professor at the time, who was married but believed to be the father of her unborn child. Gil Alba is a private investigator who has interviewed hundreds of people about the case.

WHAT DO THE POLICE KNOW? READ MORE...
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=7312449


"WHAT HAPPENED TO KRISTINE KUPKA?"
Official family website for search of Kristine Kupka.
http://www.kristinekupka.org/

CHELSEA KING, AMBER DUBOIS: WHICH MISSING BECOME "FAMOUS"?

Two Missing Teen Cases in California Show Not All Cases Treated Same
Saturday, March 06, 2010 / Associated Press

SAN DIEGO — The disappearances of 14-year-old Amber Dubois and 17-year-old Chelsea King illustrate a sad fact: not all missing children cases are treated the same.

Chelsea disappeared Feb. 25, last seen in a park with running clothes. The case sparked a search involving about 1,500 law enforcement officials and thousands of volunteers. It ended five days later when a body was found in a shallow lakeside grave.

Amber was walking to school when she vanished a year ago just 10 miles north of the site where Chelsea was last seen. Leads went nowhere. The news media showed little interest.

After prosecutors charged a convicted sex offender in Chelsea's death, a search for Amber has intensified. On Saturday, police drained a pond for a second day at Kit Carson Park in Escondido to search for evidence of Amber, Lt. Craig Carter said.

Perhaps the biggest determinant in getting the attention of law enforcement and reporters is whether there are signs of foul play that may put other children at risk. The skill of a victim's family at working with the media and mobilizing supporters also helps decide which cases capture public interest.

There are 115 non-family child abductions a year in the United States — an average of more than two a week, according to the latest Department of Justice figures from 1999. But only a handful get anywhere near the attention that followed the disappearance of Chelsea King.

READ MORE...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,588256,00.html

SAN DIEGO: CHELSEA KING MISSING, JOHN GARDNER ARRESTED; ATTACKED OTHER GIRL IN DECEMBER

December attack on jogger linked to Chelsea King
By Kristina Davis, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
John Wilkens, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Staff writer Angela Lau contributed to this report
Monday, March 1, 2010

SAN DIEGO — The 22-year-old college student usually runs with her pit bull and a can of mace when she is back home in Colorado Springs.

But Candice was on her own the morning of Dec. 27 as she set off for an eight- to 10-mile jog in Rancho Bernardo Community Park — an outing that quickly turned violent when she was attacked by a man in jeans.

Her mother, Lorie, talked publicly for the first time Monday about the assault on her daughter and news that the same man has been arrested in connection with the disappearance of 17-year-old Chelsea King.

King, a Poway High School senior, went jogging in the same area Thursday but never came home.

“I really feel for the mother. That could’ve been my daughter,” said Candice’s mother. She agreed to be interviewed by The San Diego Union-Tribune only if her family's last name was not used.

Investigators have positively linked the Dec. 27 attack to John Albert Gardner III, a 30-year-old registered sex offender arrested Sunday on suspicion of murder and rape in connection with Chelsea’s disappearance, San Diego police Capt. Jim Collins confirmed Monday.

He declined to say how the link was made, citing the ongoing sheriff’s investigation, but said local authorities are working with police in Colorado Springs.

READ MORE ON CHELSEA KING INVESTIGATION IN SAN DIEGO...
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/01/december-attack-jogger-linked-chelsea-king/

SOMER THOMPSON: JARRED HARRELL PERSON OF INTEREST

Person of interest in Somer Thompson case
Updated: Friday, 12 Feb 2010, 8:16 PM
Associated Press Writers Lisa Orkin Emmanuel and Suzette Laboy
in Miami also contributed to this report.

Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler announced on Thursday evening that a person of interest is being questioned in the 2009 abduction and murder of an Orange Park girl. Jarred Mitchell Harrell, 24, lived in the area where Somer Thompson is believed to have been abducted on Oct. 19 as she was walking home from school. Harrell was arrested by U.S. Marshals Thursday morning in Meridian, Mississippi, where he faces 29 counts of possession of child pornorgraphy.

Authorities are searching two homes in Lauderdale County, Mississippi and in Calahan, Florida, respectively. A search conducted on Thursday morning at 1152 Gano Avenue in Orange Park, where Harrell formerly resided, has already yielded evidence which led authorities to name him as a person of interest in the case. Harrell is being held on a $1 million bond.

"We have been very careful to protect the integrity of our investigation by not releasing details that could be detrimental to the successful prosecution of our case," Sheriff Beseler during a news conference on Thursday.

Thompson was last spotted in front of 1080 Gano Avenue, just a few blocks from her home ... The 7-year-old Somer disappeared and her body was later discovered in a Georgia landfill 50 miles away, where trash from her neighborhood was dumped.

READ: SOMER THOMPSON AND CONNECTION TO JARRED HARRELL, SEE MAP...
http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/local/021110-somer-case

JAYCEE DUGARD: PRISONER FOR 18 YRS, DIARY "IT FEELS LIKE I AM SINKING..."

Jaycee's Emotional Diary: 'I Want to Be Free'
Friday, February 12, 2010
Associated Press / FoxNews

SAN FRANCISCO — Jaycee Dugard, the Northern California woman who was kidnapped as a child and held prisoner for 18 years, kept a diary in which she wrote of longing for freedom and feeling both emotionally trapped and protective of the man charged with raping her, court documents filed Thursday show.

"It feels like I'm sinking. ... this is supposed to be my life to do with what I like ... but once again he has taken it away," Dugard wrote in an entry dated July 5, 2004, almost five years before she surfaced last summer with the two daughters fathered by her alleged captor Phillip Garrido.

"How many times is he allowed to take it away from me?" she wrote. "I am afraid he doesn't see how the things he says makes me a prisoner."

El Dorado County prosecutors quoted three portions of Dugard's diary in the court papers seeking a protective order barring Garrido and his wife Nancy from trying to contact Dugard or her children, now 12 and 15.

The motion came in response to papers filed last week by the Garridos' defense lawyers trying to force prosecutors to tell them where Dugard is living and if she has a lawyer. A hearing is set for Feb. 26.

District Attorney Vern Pierson said Dugard's writings show that Phillip Garrido controlled her in the past and was trying to exert continued psychological pressure on her from jail.

JAYCEE DUGARD WANTS NO CONTACT WITH HER CAPTOR, PHILLIP GARRIDO...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,585560,00.html?sPage=fnc/us/crime

NEW YORK: SOCIALITE GIGI JORDAN MURDERS AUTISTIC SON, AGE 8

Gigi Jordan, Socialite Who Allegedly Killed Son,
Thought Devil Cult Was Abusing Him, Say Cops
February 8, 2010 / Posted by Kealan Oliver
48-HOURS MYSTERY / CBS NEWS' CRIMESIDER

NEW YORK (CBS/AP) Gigi Jordan, a 49-year-old socialite, who police say murdered her 8-year-old son and attempted to take her own life in a posh New York hotel, wrote a series of disturbing letters claiming her son was sexually abused by a devil worshipping cult, according to a Wyoming detective who investigated the case.

On Friday, Jordan's young boy, Jude Michael Mirra, was found dead from a drug overdose at the Peninsula Hotel in New York. Jordan was slumped on the floor nearby. She has since been charged with his death.

But Jordan's disturbing tale stretches back at least two years, according to Tom Hood, a Cheyenne, Wyo., detective who met with Jordan after she wrote letters to Flint Waters, a now-retired sex crimes investigator who passed the case to Hood.

Hood told CBS News' Crimesider that the letters claimed her autistic son was being violently and sexually abused by a cult. But the investigator said "it was apparent she was mentally ill" and her statements were outlandish.

READ HORRIFIC, SAD STORY OF GIGI JORDAN AND SON JUDE MIRRA...
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/02/08/crimesider/entry6186158.shtml

MYRTLE BEACH & BRITTANEE DREXEL: HUMAN TRAFFICKING REAL THREAT

Human trafficking threat real in Myrtle Beach area
Officials attend awareness event
By Claudia Lauer - clauer@thesunnews.com / Contact CLAUDIA LAUER at 626-0301.
Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010

The Grand Strand has several qualities that make it susceptible to human trafficking, according to speakers at an event Monday to commemorate International Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

The event at the Myrtle Beach International Airport was hosted by the Eastern Carolina Coalition Against Human Trafficking and featured several members of law enforcement, as well as S.C. Rep. Nelson Hardwick. He plans to introduce a resolution this week recognizing Human Trafficking Awareness Day and file legislation to strengthen laws against trafficking. .

"Human trafficking is the fastest growing global crime industry in the world. It generated $31 billion last year," said Kelly O'Neill-Bagwell, president of ECCHAT, which was formed in Conway in 2008. "An estimated 1 million people are trafficked each year across international borders. When you include those who are trafficked within national borders, that number can rise to up to four times that amount."

Trafficking, the holding and transport of a person against their will by use of fear or other coercion or control, is often tied to other crimes such as drug trade or prostitution. It can also be tied to the service industry or to agricultural work. About 80 percent of people who are trafficked are women and children, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice.

O'Neill-Bagwell said she was looking at a map of instances of alleged trafficking and was struck by how few cases appeared in South Carolina. After talking to law enforcement officials, she said she found out that wasn't because it didn't happen here, but that no one was reporting them and victims weren't coming forward.

MUST READ: HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN MYRTLE BEACH.
IS BRITANEE DREXEL A VICTIM?
http://www.thesunnews.com/news/local/story/1256077.html?storylink=mirelated

BRITTANEE DREXEL, 2010 UPDATE: DETECTIVE AGENCY LOOKS FOR BRITTANEE

Private eyes to aid in search for missing girl
By Janelle Frost - jfrost@thesunnews.com / Contact JANELLE FROST at 443-2404.
Tuesday, Feb. 09, 2010

An organization that helps parents and law enforcement search for missing children has hired a private detective agency to aid in the search for Brittanee Drexel, a New York teen who disappeared while vacationing in Myrtle Beach last April.

Frank Del Vecchio, chief executive of AMBER Ready in Rockaway, N.J., said Monday that Benson Agency Investigations can bring a "fresh set of eyes" to the case. He said it is the first case the organization has hired a detective to assist with.

"Our hope is for additional leads and for them to assist law enforcement and the Drexel family," Del Vecchio said. "They can provide additional resources to follow up leads that may be outside of South Carolina."

Family members of Brittanee Drexel, as well as law enforcement and search groups from North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Maine, searched in January through the wooded areas near Powell Road in Georgetown County and Seven Mile Road in Charleston County.

(snip)

"We want to take all the action we can to help locate and find her," said Drexel's mother, Dawn Drexel, who said she was happy that AMBER Ready has hired a detective. "We appreciate all the hard work the law enforcement has done there. We can use an extra set of eyes and an extra set of thoughts in the search for Brittanee. It means the world to me."

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO FIND BRITTANEE DREXEL...
http://www.thesunnews.com/news/local/story/1305175.html

MEBANE, N.C.: HELP ARTIST FRANK BENDER SOLVE CASE OF MISSING BOY

Terminally Ill Artist Hopes to Help Solve Missing Boy Case in North Carolina
Sunday, February 07, 2010
FoxNews.com / Associated Press

MEBANE, N.C. — A terminally ill artist says he has produced his last painting in hopes that it will help authorities in North Carolina solve the 10-year-old case of a missing boy.

The News & Record of Greensboro reported that officials unveiled a facial reconstruction by renowned Philadelphia artist Frank Bender.

"This is the last one," Bender said in a telephone interview from his home. "Most people with terminal cancer and eight months to live might not have even attempted this. But I didn't want to turn this down if I could help identify him."

On Sept. 25, 1998, a groundskeeper for a billboard company was mowing along the Interstate 85/ Buckhorn Road exit and discovered something in the long summer grass at the edge of the woods.

It was the scattered remains of a skeleton, a 10-year-old child, with tube socks and new boy's sneakers still on the child's feet. Folded neatly in the pocket of a pair of khaki shorts was $50 — two $20s, one $10.

Before Bender's painting, detectives had no picture to help identify the boy.
Not only was there no clue to John Doe's real name, but detectives couldn't even describe his face until a North Carolina child advocacy group commissioned Bender to create the reconstruction.

(snip)

Bender, 68, is credited with solving dozens of murders and disappearances for the FBI, Scotland Yard and America's Most Wanted.

MORE ABOUT FRANK BENDER, FAMOUS CRIME-SOLVING ARTIST...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,585045,00.html?test=latestnews

VIRGINIA: MORGAN HARRINGTON REMAINS FOUND ON REMOTE FARM

Police 'Fairly Confident' Remains Found Are Missing Virginia Tech Student
Tuesday, January 26, 2010 / Fox News

Virginia state police say they are "fairly confident" human remains discovered on a southern Albermarle County farm are of missing Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington.

The skeletal remains were discovered Tuesday morning on the Anchorage Farm by owner David Bass.

Harrington, a 20-year-old junior at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, hasn't been seen since October when she was separated from her friends at a Metallica concert in Charlottesville.


State Police Superintendent Steve Flaherty said an autopsy will be conducted to confirm that the remains are of Harrington.

Flaherty also said there is no readily available access to the area where the remains were found.
The family learned this morning that remains of a female body had been found in Virginia, the family's representative, Leslie Valenza, told Fox News.

SLIDESHOW: Morgan Harrington Vanishes at Concert

Dan Harrington, Morgan's father, told WTVR.com that "this is a horrible day" for him and his family.


MORE DETAILS OF MORGAN HARRINGTON'S DISAPPEARANCE...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583961,00.html?test=latestnews

CHINO: BETTY BRODERICK DENIED PAROLE, ANGRY

Socialite Betty Broderick seeks parole in murders
By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent
Thu Jan 21, 2010 / Associated Press

CHINO, Calif. – Betty Broderick, the one-time San Diego socialite convicted of murdering her ex-husband and his wife, has told a parole board she didn't intend to kill anyone.

In a long, rambling commentary Thursday at a hearing in Chino, Broderick says she doesn't remember what happened the day she shot the couple in their bed in 1989. However, she said she felt she had no other choice but to kill them or herself. She says she "couldn't let them win."

The hearing, which was continuing through the afternoon, is Broderick's first date with a parole board in her quest for freedom.

The 62-year-old was convicted in 1991 of second-degree murder and sentenced to 32 years to life in prison. Her story became the subject of a book and two TV movies.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

CHINO, Calif. (AP) — Two decades after Betty Broderick drew national attention for fatally shooting her ex-husband and his new wife in their bed, the former San Diego socialite has her first date with a parole board Thursday in her quest for freedom.

The hearing is likely to examine her claims that years of emotional abuse by her lawyer husband drove her to kill.

Broderick, 62, was convicted in 1991 of second-degree murder and sentenced to 32 years to life in prison. Her story became the subject of a book and two TV movies. She has maintained she was a victim of battered-wife syndrome and was driven to kill by a bitter and prolonged divorce and custody battle.

BETTY BRODERICK DENIED PAROLE. NO REMORSE FOR MURDERS...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100121/ap_on_re_us/us_broderick_parole

FLORIDA: RONALD CUMMINGS, MISTY CROSLIN DEALING DRUGS, ARRESTED

Haleigh Cummings family members arrested
Charged with trafficking prescription medications
Updated Friday, 22 Jan 2010 / By NICK FOKIANOS FOX 35 News
My Fox Orlando.com

The father of missing Putnam County girl Haleigh Cummings along with his ex-wife are behind bars. Misty Croslin, 18, and her ex-husband Ronald Cummings, 26, were arrested on Wednesday, along with Misty's older brother, Ronald's cousin and a friend of theirs. They face charges of trafficking prescription drugs

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office , along with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, have been investigating the couple for the last month. They say over the course of that investigation, the crew either bought prescription drugs from undercover agents or sold painkillers to those agents.

Investigators said Misty took part in all seven transactions and Ronald helped in three. Hope Sykes, Donna Broch and Tommy Croslin, Jr. each took part in one sale.

Misty has been living with her brother, Hank, Jr., and his wife Lindsay since she divorced Ronald Cummings. "Did you have any strange traffic coming to the house?" FOX 35 asked Lindsay Croslin. "No. Nothing, just regular friends came over," said Lindsay Croslin.

Investigators said they arrested Misty and Ronald Cummings together when they went to purchase a large amount of Oxycodone and Hydrocodone from an undercover officer. Ronald has been living with his grandmother, Annette Sykes, in Welaka, since his daughter was reported missing in February of last year.

(snip)

Misty Croslin's bail is set at $950,000. Cummings bail is set at $500,000. Investigators said charges are still pending on a seventh incident where Misty Croslin participated in a prescription transaction with an undercover drug agent.

HALEIGH CUMMINGS' DAD AND STEP-MOM: WHAT WERE RONALD CUMMINGS AND MISTY CROSLIN THINKING??????
http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/cummings_case/012110-haleigh-cummings-family

APPOMATTOX: CHRISTOPHER SPEIGHT KILLED RELATIVES, PLANTED BOMBS

Va. Rampage Suspect's Relatives Among the Dead
Thursday, January 21, 2010 / Associated Press

APPOMATTOX, Virginia — The security guard accused of unleashing a bloodbath that killed eight people and planting bombs on his shared, quiet Virginia homestead had complained to a friend that he feared being turned out of the house by his sister and brother-in-law.

The couple was among the dead identified late Wednesday by police, shortly after they charged 39-year-old Christopher Bryan Speight with first-degree murder. The other victims of Tuesday morning's rampage were two adults, three teenagers and a 4-year-old boy.

Authorities have refused to offer a motive for the slayings, but Speight told a friend and former employer he was worried about being kicked out of the house.

Speight never wanted to talk about it, but he "constantly paced the floor," said David Anderson, co-owner of the Sunshine Market grocery store in Lynchburg where Speight sometimes worked. "I thought he was going to wear a trench in it."

The house was where police found most of the bodies. Speight gave himself up to police early Wednesday after leading investigators on an 18-hour manhunt. A bomb squad discovered a multitude of explosives the home, and crews were detonating the devices into the night.

(snip)

After Speight's surrender, Bomb squads discovered what police called "a multitude" of explosive devices planted in the house and outdoors. They began methodically detonating them, blowing up seven until rain forced them to stop. The detonations were expected to resume Thursday.

UPDATE ON CHRISTOPHER SPEIGHT'S RAMPAGE AND EXPLOSIVES...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583512,00.html?test=latestnews

TEMPE, AZ: BABY GABRIEL JOHNSON, 8 MONTHS, MISSING OR DEAD?

Photographs Taken on Last Day Arizona Baby Seen Concern Police
Tuesday, January 19, 2010 /Associated Press

TEMPE, Ariz. — Newly released photographs taken the last day a missing Arizona baby was seen show the boy as lethargic and holding what appears to be a medicine bottle.

Tempe police Sgt. Steve Carbajal says the photos are from the camera of the baby's mother, 23-year-old Elizabeth Johnson.

Police have had the photos for weeks, and Carbajal says he doesn't know why the department is releasing them now.

He says the pictures raise questions about Johnson's treatment of 8-month-old Gabriel Johnson.

TEMPE, ARIZONA: WHERE IS BABY GABRIEL JOHNSON? IS ELIZABETH JOHNSON LYING? BABY GABRIEL LOOKS SICK, DIRTY IS LAST PHOTOS...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583392,00.html

APPOMATTOX, VA: CHRISTOPHER SPEIGHT KILLS 8, SHOOTS HELICOPTER

Shooter Kills 8 in Virginia, Cops Corner Suspect
Wednesday, January 20, 2010 / Associated Press

APPOMATTOX, Va. — Schools were shutdown in a rural Virginia county as police searched for a gunman Wednesday who they believe killed eight people at a nearby home and forced down a police helicopter after shooting its fuel tank.

State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said investigators used dogs and heat-sensing equipment to search overnight for Christopher Speight, 39, in a wooded area in Appomattox County, about 100 miles southwest of Richmond. Authorities believe he is armed with a high-powered rifle.

Local officials agreed to close four schools that serve about 2,000 students as a precaution, said Sheriff O. Wilson Staples.

Police found three bodies inside a rural home Tuesday and four other victims lying outside. Another man found injured along a nearby roadway later died.

Geller said state, local and federal authorities rotated shifts to maintain a constant security presence in the area overnight, and expected "to put forth more aggressive efforts, both on the ground and in the air" during the day.

"Our focus is on locating this individual and apprehending him," she said during a morning news conference.

The drama began around noon Tuesday when a victim was spotted barely alive along the side of a narrow, undivided country road.

WHY SO MANY KILLERS? READ STORY...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583389,00.html?sPage=fnc/us/crime

BRITTANEE DREXEL: FAMILY WEBSITE 'TRY IT ONE MORE TIME'

HELP FIND BRITTANEE DREXEL

Missing: 04/25/09Missing from: Myrtle Beach, SC
Classification: Missing Endangered
Age at disappearance: 17
Date of Birth:10/07/91
White Female
Hair: BrownEyes: Blue
Height:5'0" Weight:103 lbs

Her ears and nose are pierced. Brittanee has blonde highlights in her hair. She was last seen wearing a white, black, teal, and gray top, along with black shorts, similar to the outfit pictured below. Brittanee was also wearing white flip flops.

Help Support The Search For Brittanee Drexel

Brittanee's family request that all donations be submitted to:
CUE Center For Missing PersonsPO Box 12714 Wilmington, NC 28405
(910) 343-1131 / (910) 232-1687

http://www.ncmissingpersons.org/

Investigating Agency

If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Myrtle Beach Police Department

(843) 918-1963

PLEASE, VISIT THE OFFICIAL FAMILY WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT MISSING BRITTANEE DREXEL, AND WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP!
http://www.helpfindbrittaneedrexel.com/Home_Page.html

SEATTLE: WALTER KENT MUNDELL, 6TH POLICEMAN TO DIE SINCE OCT 31

Pierce County deputy pronounced dead
Monday, December 28, 2009
By CASEY MCNERTHNEY / SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF


A Pierce County Sheriff's deputy who was shot last week while responding to a domestic violence dispute in Eatonville died Monday at Harborview Medical Center.

Walter Kent Mundell Jr. died at 5:04 p.m., about an hour after being taken off life support, sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said. Mundell was 44.

Troyer said Mundell died with his wife Lisa at his side. His children, a 16-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son, had spent time with him during the afternoon, and were being consoled by family and friends.

"Obviously everybody was waiting for a miracle, and it didn't come," Troyer said. "The fact that he survived as long as he did is amazing, and that's why, I think, people were hoping for a miracle. But it just wasn't meant to be. The wounds were too severe, and he has passed on."

His death is Washington's seventh law enforcement line-of-duty death this year, and sixth fatal shooting since Oct. 31.

Troyer said a memorial for Mundell was tentatively scheduled for Jan. 5 in the Tacoma Dome.

"Though his life was cut far too short by this act of violence, his memory will live on in the many people he protected and served," Gov. Chris Gregoire said in a statement. "I stand with law enforcement from across the state as we honor this fallen hero."

Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor said the whole department has been shaken by the loss.

READ MORE ABOUT THE TRAGIC LOSS OF OFFICER KENT MUNDELL, JR http://www.seattlepi.com/local/413634_deputy26.html

SEATTLE: NAVEED HAQ JURY DELIBERATE SHOOTING OF 6 WOMEN

Haq jury goes home without reaching a verdict
Posted by Jennifer Sullivan / SEATTLE TIMES / THE BLOTTER
December 14, 2009

King County jurors will return to the Seattle courthouse at 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday to resume their deliberations in the murder trial of Naveed Haq. The jury went home a short time ago without reaching a verdict.

Haq shot six women at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle in July 2006. Haq's defense team has never denied his responsibility, they are asking jurors to find him not guilty by reason of insanity. Prosecutors say Haq understood what he was doing when he opened fire.

Jurors began deliberating on Thursday and continued on Friday. On Friday, the jury requested audio equipment to help them listen to recordings of a 911 call placed from the federation during the attack. They also wanted to listen to recordings of telephone calls Haq placed to his family after he was booked into the King County Jail, authorities said.

In the recordings Haq called himself "a martyr" who will go to heaven for what he did inside the federation, according to trial testimony.

Haq forced his way into the federation on July 28, 2006, and randomly shot the employees he encountered. Pam Waechter, the federation's 58-year-old campaign director, was killed and employees Cheryl Stumbo, Carol Goldman, Dayna Klein, Christina Rexroad and Layla Bush were wounded.

READ MORE OF JENNIFER SULLIVAN'S COVERAGE OF NAVEED HAQ'S TRIAL...
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/theblotter/2010508718%20_haq_jury_concludes_for_the_day.html

TACOMA, WA: 20,000 PEOPLE PAY RESPECTS TO FOUR POLICE OFFICERS

Thousands turn out for Lakewood police officers' memorial
Associated Press / KING5 NEWS
Posted on December 8, 2009

TACOMA, Wash. - About 20,000 mourners, mostly members of law enforcement from Washington state and across the country, honored four slain officers who were remembered Tuesday as heroes and loving family members.


A procession of 2,000 cars followed the flag-draped caskets of Sgt. Mark Renninger and Officers Ronald Owens, Tina Griswold, and Greg Richards to the Tacoma Dome, where the memorial service was held. Several candlelight vigils have been held for the officers since the shooting on Nov. 29, but Tuesday's memorial service and procession are believed to be the largest in state history.

READ THIS LINK FOR MORE INFO ABOUT THE OFFICERS AND PICS OF OUR 'FALLEN HEROS'...
http://www.king5.com/news/local/Huge-procession-delays-Lakewood-police-memorial-78817502.html

'LINE OF DUTY' DEATHS AND MEMORIAM
AT THE SEATTLE POLICE DEPARTMENT...
http://www.king5.com/news/local/Huge-procession-delays-Lakewood-police-memorial-78817502.html

HUNDREDS OF 'ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE' PAY RESPECTS...
http://bc.rcmp.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=50&contentId=12559

AMANDA KNOX: QUESTIONS TO MURDER, NO ANSWERS?

Amanda Knox trial: the unanswered questions
Despite the convictions of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito,
a string of questions about the murder of Meredith Kercher remain unanswered.
By Nick Squires in Perugia / 05 Dec 2009 /Telegraph.CO.UK

What was the motive for the killing?
Prosecutors said it was the result of a four-way sex game in which Knox, Sollecito and Guede forced Miss Kercher to submit to sex, pushing her on to her knees and threatening her, then killing her, with a knife. But Knox knew Guede only casually, and Sollecito did not know him at all. Sollecito had only known Knox for six days. Is it really credible to suggest that three people who were virtual strangers to each other got together to commit a brutal sexually-motivated murder?

Could there have been another motive?
(snip)

How reliable was the DNA evidence?
(snip)

Did police get the right murder weapon?
(snip)

Why did Rudy Guede tell a friend that Knox was not in the house on the night of the murder?
(snip)

AMANDA KNOX TRIAL LEAVES MONUMENTAL GAPS IN EVIDENCE... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/%20italy/6727242/Amanda-Knox-trial-the-unanswered-questions.html

PERUGIA, ITALY: AMANDA KNOX GUILTY, GETS 26 YEARS

Victim's family satisfied with Amanda Knox guilty verdict
December 5, 2009 / CNN

Perugia, Italy (CNN) -- Family members of Meredith Kercher said Saturday that they were satisfied with the verdict that found American Amanda Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, guilty in the brutal knifing of their loved one.

"Ultimately we are pleased with the decision," said Lyle Kercher, Meredith's brother. "But it was not a moment of celebration. We are here because our sister was brutally murdered."

Knox was given a 26-year sentence; Sollecito was sentenced to 25 years Friday for the murder of Kercher. Both will appeal, attorneys said.

Arline Kercher, Meredith's mother, said she believed the two were guilty.
"You have to go with the evidence," she said.

Knox and Sollecito were charged with murder and sexual violence in Kercher's death in November 2007. Knox and Kercher, both studying abroad, were roommates. A third suspect was found guilty in a separate trial.


The two were convicted on all charges except theft and together must pay 5 million euros ($7.4 million) to the victim's family. In addition, Knox must pay 40,000 euros ($60,000) to a man whom she falsely accused of the killing.

The jury reached its verdict after deliberating nearly 11 hours on the 11 counts.
Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of life in prison. Italy does not have the death penalty.

AMANDA KNOX, RAFFAELE SOLLECITO GET YEARS IN ITALIAN PRISON...
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/12/05/italy.kercher.react/

TACOMA, WA: 4 POLICE OFFICERS EXECUTED AT FORZA COFFEE SHOP

4 officers killed in brazen shooting near Tacoma
Gunman may have been injured by one victim
By William Yardley / New York Times / November 30, 2009

LAKEWOOD, Wash. - Four uniformed police officers were shot to death yesterday morning as they sat in a coffee shop preparing to begin patrol, prompting a widespread search for the gunman, who remained at large.

“Two of them were just flat executed, sitting writing reports,’’ Ed Troyer, a spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, said of the officers, who worked for the Lakewood Police Department. “One of them stood up and tried to go for the suspect and got shot. Then the fourth one fought his way out to the parking lot and fired off some rounds.’’

The suspect fled on foot, but Troyer said investigators had evidence that he may have been injured by the fourth officer, who fired at the suspect before dying from gunshot wounds.

“We hope that he hit him,’’ Troyer said. “If he’s hit, that means he’s injured somewhere with a gunshot wound. He’s going to have to get that taken care of some time, some place.’’

Late yesterday, the authorities said they were seeking a “person of interest’’ in the shootings whom they identified as Maurice Clemmons, 37. They described him as having an “extensive violent criminal history’’ in Arkansas and said he had recently been arrested in Pierce County and charged with assaulting a police officer and raping a child.

LAKEWOOD, WA.: FOUR POLICE SHOT HAVING MORNING COFFEE AT FORZA COFFEE COMPANY...
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/11/30/gunman_ ambushes_police_officers_killing_4/?page=2

Reward information
Authorities are offering a $120,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person involved in this morning's fatal shooting, described as a black man who is between 5-feet-7-inches and 5-feet-10-inches tall, and wearing a black coat and blue jeans in the Lakewood, Wash. area.

Anybody with information is asked to call 253-591-5959 or 866-977-2362.

OFFICER TIMOTHY BRENTON: HERO HONORED AT PUBLIC MEMORIAL

Thousands Honor Slain Seattle Police Officer
November 6, 2009
Copyright 2009 by KIROTV.com

SEATTLE -- Slain Seattle police Officer Timothy Brenton was remembered as a father, brother, husband, friend, teacher and hero at a public memorial service at KeyArena.

Thousands of officers from around the Northwest attended Friday's ceremony, which followed a procession of hundreds of cars with lights flashing through the city.

It took nearly two hours to complete the procession route from the University of Washington to Seattle Center. At one point, the procession traveled under an American flag hanging from an arch made from fire trucks' extended ladders.

Officials in attendance included Gov. Chris Gregoire, Sen. Patty Murray, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and former police Chief Gil Kerlikowske.

Honor guards with bagpipes, drums and flags took part in the ceremony.

Meanwhile, police continue to look for the killer who shot Brenton on Halloween night as he sat in a parked patrol car reviewing a traffic stop with rookie Officer Britt Sweeney who was wounded. Police are looking for the car from which the shots were fired. It's believed to be a white or beige 1980 to 1983 Datsun 210.

Officer Timothy Brenton...Read
http://www.kirotv.com/news/21541153/detail.html

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.: MARIO McNEILL CHARGED IN SHANIYA DAVIS MURDER

Man Charged With Murder in North Carolina Missing Girl Case
Thursday, November 19, 2009 / Associated Press

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A man already accused of kidnapping a 5-year-old North Carolina girl faces new charges that he raped and asphyxiated her, police said Thursday.

Mario McNeill is being charged with first-degree murder and first-degree rape of a child, Fayetteville Police Chief Tom Bergamine told reporters at a news conference.

McNeill, 29, was already accused of taking Shaniya Davis from her Fayetteville home. Her body was found Monday in thick underbrush off a rural North Carolina road after searchers spent nearly a week looking for her.

Bergamine declined to discuss further details of the investigation Thursday. But he did express hope that the girl's family could move forward.

"It is our sincere hope that the Davis family may now begin to put this horrific event behind them and begin the healing process," he said.

McNeill's lawyer, Allen Rogers, did not immediately respond to a message left at his office after hours.

A search warrant says McNeill picked the girl up in front of the home and drove her to a hotel where she was last seen alive.

READ STORY AND FIND LINKS TO MORE...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,575870,00.html?sPage=fnc/us/crime

SHANIYA DAVIS: MOM SELLS HER TO EXECUTIONER

Searchers Find Body of Missing Girl
By ALYSIA PATTERSON / AP / Monday 11/16/09

SANFORD, N.C. (Nov. 16) — A missing 5-year-old whose mother was accused of offering her for sex was found dead off a heavily wooded road in a rural area Monday, ending a weeklong search, police said.

Searchers found Shaniya Davis' body early Monday afternoon about 100 feet off a road southeast of Sanford, in central North Carolina, Fayetteville Police spokeswoman Theresa Chance said. She declined to comment on a cause of death or the condition of Shaniya's body.

"We've got a lot of people out at the scene right now that are torn up," Chance said. "Detectives have been running off adrenaline to find this little girl and to bring her home alive. You have a lot of people in shock right now."

Two people have been charged in her disappearance, one of them her mother, Antoinette Davis, 25. Police charged Davis with human trafficking and felony child abuse, saying Shaniya was offered for prostitution.

Davis was calm and quiet during a five-minute court appearance in Fayetteville on Monday afternoon. She provided one-word answers to the judge's questions and held her hands in front of her, without handcuffs. She requested a court-appointed attorney and did not enter a plea.

READ MORE ABOUT THIS TRAGIC STORY, AND SENSELESS LOSS...
http://news.aol.com/main/nc/article/body-of-missing-girl-shaniya-davis-found/764600

SHANIYA DAVIS: She was only five years old. So many hearts are crushed over Shaniya's death. My prayers are sent to the grieving family, and to the man who loved her so much, Shaniya's father.
...CHOMP

NORTH CAROLINA: SHANIYA DAVIS SEEN WITH CLARENCE COE

Police: Missing N.C. Girl Seen With Man at Hotel
Friday, November 13, 2009
ASSOCIATED PRESS

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A missing 5-year-old North Carolina girl was seen with a man at a hotel, but not the same person charged in her kidnapping, police said late Thursday.

Shaniya Davis was spotted in Sanford with a man identified as Mario Andrette McNeill, said Fayetteville Police spokeswoman Teresa Chance. She was seen with him Tuesday, about an hour after she disappeared from her home in Fayetteville, about 40 miles away.

Late Wednesday night, police arrested and charged 30-year-old Clarence Coe, who told a judge at his first court appearance that he is not guilty of kidnapping the girl. Police did not comment on any possible link between Coe and McNeill.

Chance said a hotel worker called police to report seeing a child matching Shaniya's description, but by the time police got there, McNeill had left. Authorities reviewed surveillance video and, after speaking with family members, confirmed the child's identity.

Chance said authorities are uncertain of the connection between McNeill and the child. Her father, Bradley Lockhart, made a tearful appeal for his daughter's safe return.

"We just ask that they bring her home safe. We all miss her and love her very much," Lockhart said. "Shaniya, if you're listening to daddy, I miss you so much, honey. I'm waiting for you. I'm not going to give up. You don't give up either, honey."

In court on Thursday, Cumberland County Judge Tal Baggett asked Coe if he understood why he was there.

"No, but I'm not guilty, sir," Coe said.

SO MANY QUESTIONS: WHERE IS SHANIYA DAVIS? WHY IS CLARENCE COE IN JAIL? WHO IS MARIO McNEILL? IS MOM, ANTOINETTE DAVIS, DATING CLARENCE COE?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,574827,00.html?test=latestnews

CAYLEE ANTHONY: CHLOROFORM, SYRINGE FOUND, EVIDENCE PILES UP

Casey Anthony case: Report says chloroform found in sports bottle near Caylee Anthony is miniscule
November 11, 4:18 PM
Crime Examiner / Cindy Adams

On Friday, more documents were released in the case against accused murderer, Casey Anthony. Among them was a report that indicated traces of chloroform were found inside a sports drink and a plastic syringe that were found near Caylee Anthony's remains.

Casey, 23, is charged with the first-degree murder of Caylee, 2.

To see a slideshow of photos of the syringe, Gatorade bottle, and other evidence, click here.

Dr. Michael Rickenbach with the FBI determined that the syringe contained testosterone, ethanol, chloroform, and water.

MORE LINKS TO CAYLEE ANTHONY MURDER...
To read the entomology report, click here.

To watch breaking news and events streamed live over the Net, click here

READ CASEY ANTHONY, CAYLEE ANTHONY RELATED NEWS
http://www.examiner.com/x-1168-Crime-Examiner~y2009m11d11-Casey-Anthony-case-Report-says-chloroform-found-in-bottle-near-Caylee-Anthony-is-miniscule

CURTIS VANCE: IS ANNE PRESSLY KILLER A SERIAL RAPIST?

Man accused in TV anchor death appears in 2nd case
Thursday, March 19, 2009
By JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press Writer

MARIANNA, Ark. — The man accused of killing an Arkansas television anchorwoman pleaded not guilty Thursday in a separate rape and burglary case in his hometown.

Curtis Lavelle Vance, 28, wore a bullet-resistant vest as he was escorted by six police officers into the Lee County Courthouse. In a brief hearing, Circuit Judge Ann B. Hudson accepted his plea and set trial for July 27.

Little Rock police detectives say a DNA sample from the crime scene of anchorwoman Anne Pressley's slaying last year linked Vance to her killing and an unsolved rape of a woman in Marianna, about 90 miles east of Little Rock.

When Vance arrived at the courthouse, he only shook his head and said "No" when asked whether he was worried about DNA evidence.

After the hearing, defense attorney Bill James told reporters that he would want separate DNA tests done on the sample that police say links Vance to the Marianna rape and Pressley's slaying.

James said it was too early to say whether he would need to ask for the trial to be moved to another county or whether Vance would be willing to accept a plea deal.

The woman who claimed Vance raped her sat in the front row during the hearing. She declined to speak to reporters.

READ: HOW MANY WOMEN HAS CURTIS VANCE ATTACKED, ABUSED, RAPED, BEATEN, MURDERED?
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2009Mar19/0,4670,TVAnchorAttacked,00.html

ANNE PRESSLY: CURTIS VANCE, IS LIFE ENOUGH FOR BRUTAL MURDER?

Man gets life without parole in Arkansas TV anchor's murder
CNN / November 12, 2009 (CNN's Carolina Sanchez contributed to this report.)

(CNN) -- A jury sentenced an Arkansas man to life in prison without parole for killing a television anchor, officials said Thursday.

The Pulaski County, Arkansas, jury on Wednesday convicted Curtis Lavelle Vance, 29, of capital murder, residential burglary, rape and theft of property in the October 2008 slaying of Anne Pressly, 26.

Pressly, the morning news anchor for CNN affiliate KATV, was found beaten and unconscious in her home. She died five days later.

Vance's sentencing phase began after he was convicted Wednesday of capital murder, rape and burglary.

Jurors were tasked with deciding whether the aggravating circumstances in favor of the death penalty outweighed the mitigating circumstances.

"Tonight, they have come back with a sentence, a sentence that they believe, and we share with them, is the harshest possible sentence for this gentleman going forward, where he will now spend the rest of his natural life in a 6-by-9 cell with nothing to think about but what he has done," said Guy Cannady, stepfather of the victim.

(snip)

Among the defense witnesses presented Thursday was Vance's mother, Jacqueline Vance Burnett, CNN affiliate KARK reported. Burnett cried on the stand as she spoke about her battle with crack addiction and admitted abusing her son when he was a child, including an incident when he was 7 years old and she slammed his head into a brick wall, the station said.

READ: CURTIS VANCE SENTENCED FOR KILLING ANCHORWOMAN ANNE PRESSLY
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/12/arkansas.anchor.slain/

SOMER THOMPSON: DIENA THOMPSON TO THE KILLER "WE'LL GET YOU."

Somer Thompson (Family Photo)
Somer's favorite song was "You Are My Sunshine." Seven-year-old Somer Thompson vanished on her walk home from school. Her tiny body was found under trash in a Georgia landfill.

AP Photo / Phil Coale

AP Photo
Jake Roth / AP
Neighbors continue to pay their respects to Somer Thompson's family by leaving stuffed animals, books, and signing large cards across the street from her home in Orange Park, Fla.

Mystery of Who Killed Florida Girl Baffles Detectives, as Hunt Turns Up No New Leads
Saturday, October 24, 2009 / Associated Press

ORANGE PARK, Fla. — Detectives searching for a 7-year-old's killer have interviewed more than 100 sex offenders living nearby, sifted through tons of garbage and combed the well-kept neighborhood where Somer Thompson disappeared.

Missing child posters featuring the slain girl's face, framed by her thick brown bangs, still plaster nearly every utility pole along the mile-long route from her elementary school to her suburban Jacksonville home.

Somer was last seen alive walking along the sidewalk in front of a vacant house, and authorities said Friday that they're searching for anyone who saw what happened to the 7-year-old after that. Investigators sifted through evidence from that vacant house and the Georgia landfill where her body was found Wednesday.

So far, no witnesses have come forward to say they saw Somer attacked or abducted, sheriff's spokeswoman Mary Justino said.

"What we've been trying to figure out is who frequents that area, because obviously it's more than just the people who live there," she said.

LIVESHOTS: Police ID Body as Missing Florida Girl

READ DETAILS AND PROGRESS ON FINDING SOMER THOMPSON'S KILLER...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,569398,00.html?test=latestnews

BRITTANEE DREXEL: STILL MISSING ON 18TH BIRTHDAY

BRITTANEE MARIE DREXEL ...MISSING, VANISHED, GONE
WHERE IS BRITTANEE DREXEL???

If you have information about Brittanee Drexel, please contact:

The Myrtle Beach Police Department (843)918-1000 or

The Polly Klaas® Foundation (800) 587-4357

Rachael Stein, friend of Brittanee Marie Drexel, hangs a missing poster across the street from the Bar Harbour Motel on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach. Drexel was staying at the Bar

Family braces for Brittanee Drexel's 18th birthday
Monday, October 5, 2009
By Kurt Knapek - kknapek@thesunnews.com

The pain and uncertainty of the last 163 days have been agonizing enough for the family and friends of Brittanee Drexel, the New York teen who has not been seen since leaving a Myrtle Beach hotel room in April.

But Wednesday - Drexel's 18th birthday - will likely be the most difficult of all, her mother said.

"Brittanee loved birthdays, and she loved a big deal being made about her birthday," Dawn Drexel said. "She couldn't wait until her 18th. We had a lot of plans ... a lot of things she really wanted to do."

Brittanee Drexel is still missing. She was last seen April 25 leaving the Blue Water Hotel on Ocean Boulevard, and investigators remain puzzled as to her whereabouts. Another search will take place later this month, according to the Community United Effort Center for Missing Persons in Wilmington, N.C.

Family members and investigators were encouraged to learn in late August that a missing California girl was found 18 years after she was abducted at a bus stop.

Drexel's family is planning a balloon launch next week in Rochester, N.Y., to coincide with her 18th birthday and the six-month anniversary of her disappearance.

While Drexel has missed several family holidays - Mother's Day, Father's Day and her brother's 6th birthday - along with her high school's homecoming this past weekend, Wednesday will be one of the toughest for family and friends, said Monica Caison, who has been the Community United Effort group director for 16 years.

BRITTANEE, COME HOME!
http://www.thesunnews.com/news/local/story/1101901.html