Calif. woman pleads guilty in Sandra Cantu murder
By TERRY COLLINS and MARCUS WOHLSEN (AP)
May 11, 2010
TRACY, Calif. — A local Sunday school teacher's guilty plea in the killing of an 8-year-old girl has brought relief to residents of this small California city, even as disturbing questions remained — including how, where and why the girl was murdered.
Hours after 29-year-old Melissa Huckaby admitted on Monday to killing Sandra Cantu, police stood guard at the entrance to the mobile home park where both the victim and the defendant lived.
Evelyn McClelland, 61, a neighborhood resident for 26 years, believed the plea in last year's killing will bring some measure of peace to the victim's family and to a Northern California community striving to overcome the mistrust that descended after the girl's disappearance.
"The children are back outside playing again. This all closes a very painful chapter in Tracy," McClelland said.
A 10-day search after Sandra — a playmate of Huckaby's daughter — went missing in March 2009 ended when her body was found stuffed in a black suitcase pulled from an irrigation pond a few miles from the mobile home park.
Huckaby was arrested less than a week later after telling a reporter that the suitcase that contained Sandra's body was hers, but it had been stolen out of her driveway the day Sandra disappeared.
Her guilty plea in San Joaquin County Superior Court to first-degree murder with a special circumstance of kidnapping came in a deal with prosecutors.
All other charges — including two involving rape and lewd or lascivious conduct with a child under 14 — were dropped under the agreement, according to court spokeswoman Sharon Morris. Huckaby would have been eligible for the death penalty if convicted in a jury trial.
Morris said Huckaby now faces 25 years to life in prison without the possibility of parole when she is sentenced next month.
READ MORE ABOUT MELISSA HUCKABY'S GUILTY PLEA ...
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hTgIBQMy%20R5y2qNQNgf0qhvaroXQQD9FKGDS00
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
SEATTLE: JIM SANDER'S WIDOW FORGIVES CRAIGSLIST KILLERS
Widow of murder victim forgives his killers
by LORI MATSUKAWA
KING 5 News / KING5.com
Posted on May 6, 2010
PUYALLUP, Wash. - Charlene Sanders is a woman of great faith who says she will carry on the mission of her late husband, Jim Sanders.
"That is my mission now," she says from Bethany Baptist Church where she worships. "To finish what my husband started with witnessing (for Christ). He wanted to see people come to Christ, even murderers."
Jim Sanders was shot and killed April 28 in front of Charlene and their two sons during a robbery in their home. Four people are in custody in what's being called the Craigslist robbery because the suspects pretended to be interested in buying a diamond ring Sanders advertised on Craigslist.
When Charlene saw the female suspect, Amanda Knight, during her arraignment Wednesday, she said it was "chilling."
"I remember thinking, 'Your phone call to my husband, the female voice, is what probably made him let his guard down,'" said Sanders.
She says she'll never forget the look on her husband's face.
READ AND WATCH VIDEO: JIM SANDER'S WIFE CHARLENE SANDERS...
http://www.king5.com/video/featured-videos/1-on-1-with-Charlene-Sanders-93033134.html
by LORI MATSUKAWA
KING 5 News / KING5.com
Posted on May 6, 2010
PUYALLUP, Wash. - Charlene Sanders is a woman of great faith who says she will carry on the mission of her late husband, Jim Sanders.
"That is my mission now," she says from Bethany Baptist Church where she worships. "To finish what my husband started with witnessing (for Christ). He wanted to see people come to Christ, even murderers."
Jim Sanders was shot and killed April 28 in front of Charlene and their two sons during a robbery in their home. Four people are in custody in what's being called the Craigslist robbery because the suspects pretended to be interested in buying a diamond ring Sanders advertised on Craigslist.
When Charlene saw the female suspect, Amanda Knight, during her arraignment Wednesday, she said it was "chilling."
"I remember thinking, 'Your phone call to my husband, the female voice, is what probably made him let his guard down,'" said Sanders.
She says she'll never forget the look on her husband's face.
READ AND WATCH VIDEO: JIM SANDER'S WIFE CHARLENE SANDERS...
http://www.king5.com/video/featured-videos/1-on-1-with-Charlene-Sanders-93033134.html
SEATTLE: CRAIGSLIST SUSPECT AMANDA KNIGHT SOBS IN COURT
Female suspect in Craigslist murder cries in court
by DREW MIKKELSEN
KING 5 News and KING5.com / Posted on May 5, 2010
TACOMA, Wash. - Twenty-one-year-old Amanda Knight cried as she made her first court appearance Wednesday, pleading not guilty to murder, assault and robbery charges in a deadly Craigslist home invasion robbery.
Bail was set at $2 million.
Knight is charged along with 22-year-old Kiyoshi A. Higashi, 20-year-old Joshua N. Reese and 23-year-old Clabon T. Berniard in the killing of Jim Sanders, who had offered a ring for sale on Craigslist.
Members of the Sanders family were in court for Knight's arraignment.
"I'm thinking, 'she's crying,' what do you think you put my family through," said Jim Sanders' wife, Charlene. "I mean, really, you guys made that choice to come to my house."
"There's consequences to every sin. You took my husband, you think I don’t cry?"
"I was supposed to be in the Dominican Republic on a beautiful vacation with some of my family and instead my vacation time turned into bereavement time," she said.
According to amended charging documents on Knight, Reese told Pierce County detectives that "he was involved in the events at the Sanders residence."
Knight also "confirmed that she was involved in the events at the Sanders residence."
Investigators also say they have linked Knight to a similar home invasion in Lake Stevens.
READ ABOUT AMANDA KNIGHT...
http://www.king5.com/news/local/Police-Edgewood-suspect-pawned-ring-taken-from-Lake-Stevens-home-92891024.html
by DREW MIKKELSEN
KING 5 News and KING5.com / Posted on May 5, 2010
TACOMA, Wash. - Twenty-one-year-old Amanda Knight cried as she made her first court appearance Wednesday, pleading not guilty to murder, assault and robbery charges in a deadly Craigslist home invasion robbery.
Bail was set at $2 million.
Knight is charged along with 22-year-old Kiyoshi A. Higashi, 20-year-old Joshua N. Reese and 23-year-old Clabon T. Berniard in the killing of Jim Sanders, who had offered a ring for sale on Craigslist.
Members of the Sanders family were in court for Knight's arraignment.
"I'm thinking, 'she's crying,' what do you think you put my family through," said Jim Sanders' wife, Charlene. "I mean, really, you guys made that choice to come to my house."
"There's consequences to every sin. You took my husband, you think I don’t cry?"
"I was supposed to be in the Dominican Republic on a beautiful vacation with some of my family and instead my vacation time turned into bereavement time," she said.
According to amended charging documents on Knight, Reese told Pierce County detectives that "he was involved in the events at the Sanders residence."
Knight also "confirmed that she was involved in the events at the Sanders residence."
Investigators also say they have linked Knight to a similar home invasion in Lake Stevens.
READ ABOUT AMANDA KNIGHT...
http://www.king5.com/news/local/Police-Edgewood-suspect-pawned-ring-taken-from-Lake-Stevens-home-92891024.html
Saturday, May 1, 2010
CRAIGSLIST MURDER AGAIN: 4 INVADE EDGEWOOD, WA HOME, $1000 REWARD
Reward offered in Edgewood home invasion murder
by DREW MIKKELSEN / KING 5 News
NWCN.com / Posted on April 30, 2010
EDGEWOOD, Wash. - A $1,000 reward is now being offered in the murder of an Edgewood man who was shot while protecting his family during a home invasion robbery Wednesday.
Pierce County detectives say the robbery that ended in the death of Jim Sanders has genterated a lot of tips from the public, but none of the tips have helped them find the killers. Detectives say a tip from the public will be the only way to catch those responsible.
Sanders, 43, was selling a diamond ring on Craigslist. A woman contacted the family, saying she wanted to buy it for a Mother's Day gift. The woman came to the home with three armed men wearing bandannas. The house was ransacked. The family was tied up and beaten up. Sanders was killed after he tried to defend his family, said police.
Investigators believe the same group of robbers hit a home in Lake Stevens last weekend. In that case, the homeowner was tied up and robbed after posting an ad on Craigslist for a big screen TV.
Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and charges filed in the case. All callers can remain anonymous. Call (253) 591-5959.
EDGEWOOD, WA: SEE SKETCHES OF CRAIGSLIST KILLERS...
http://www.nwcn.com/news/washington/911-tapes-released-in-Craigslist-home-homicide-92506054.html
by DREW MIKKELSEN / KING 5 News
NWCN.com / Posted on April 30, 2010
EDGEWOOD, Wash. - A $1,000 reward is now being offered in the murder of an Edgewood man who was shot while protecting his family during a home invasion robbery Wednesday.
Pierce County detectives say the robbery that ended in the death of Jim Sanders has genterated a lot of tips from the public, but none of the tips have helped them find the killers. Detectives say a tip from the public will be the only way to catch those responsible.
Sanders, 43, was selling a diamond ring on Craigslist. A woman contacted the family, saying she wanted to buy it for a Mother's Day gift. The woman came to the home with three armed men wearing bandannas. The house was ransacked. The family was tied up and beaten up. Sanders was killed after he tried to defend his family, said police.
Investigators believe the same group of robbers hit a home in Lake Stevens last weekend. In that case, the homeowner was tied up and robbed after posting an ad on Craigslist for a big screen TV.
Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and charges filed in the case. All callers can remain anonymous. Call (253) 591-5959.
EDGEWOOD, WA: SEE SKETCHES OF CRAIGSLIST KILLERS...
http://www.nwcn.com/news/washington/911-tapes-released-in-Craigslist-home-homicide-92506054.html
LAURA GARZA REMAINS ID'd: SEX OFFENDER MICHAEL MELE IN JAIL
Laura Garza's Remains Found: Michael Mele Seen Leaving Club Marquee With Aspiring Dancer Night Of Disappearance
JIM FITZGERALD / 04/26/10 / HUFFINGTONPOST.COM
MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. — Remains found two weeks ago in Pennsylvania have been identified as those of an aspiring dancer from Texas who disappeared after leaving a New York City night club in 2008 with a registered sex offender, state police said Monday.
A DNA analysis confirmed the identity of 25-year-old Laura Garza of Brooklyn. She had moved to New York from McAllen, Texas, five months before she disappeared.
A group of ATV riders found the remains April 11 in Mount Cobb, Pa., several miles outside of Scranton, said Capt. Wayne Olson.
A watch described as one Garza was wearing when she disappeared was found on the remains, Olson said. Forensic experts will be brought in to examine the skeleton and determine how Garza died, he said.
"We've been in mourning since Friday, when the police told us," said a cousin, Isela Villalobos of McAllen, Texas. "It has been very difficult for the family. Laura's mother was expecting for her daughter to come in the door until that dream was shattered Friday afternoon.
"All we do is think of Laura. We have moments when we cry. We have moments when we laugh," Villalobos said in a phone interview from her restaurant in Mission, Texas. "Nothing has changed in her home in McAllen."
Garza left the bar on Dec. 3, 2008, with registered sex offender Michael Mele. He has been investigated but not charged in the case.
Mele is being held at Midstate state prison in Marcy, N.Y., for an unrelated offense. A board denied him parole in March, citing his "history of sexually deviant behavior."
READ MORE: LAURA GARZA FOUND, WILL MICHAEL MELE BE CHARGED?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/27/laura-garzas-remains-foun_n_552626.html
JIM FITZGERALD / 04/26/10 / HUFFINGTONPOST.COM
MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. — Remains found two weeks ago in Pennsylvania have been identified as those of an aspiring dancer from Texas who disappeared after leaving a New York City night club in 2008 with a registered sex offender, state police said Monday.
A DNA analysis confirmed the identity of 25-year-old Laura Garza of Brooklyn. She had moved to New York from McAllen, Texas, five months before she disappeared.
A group of ATV riders found the remains April 11 in Mount Cobb, Pa., several miles outside of Scranton, said Capt. Wayne Olson.
A watch described as one Garza was wearing when she disappeared was found on the remains, Olson said. Forensic experts will be brought in to examine the skeleton and determine how Garza died, he said.
"We've been in mourning since Friday, when the police told us," said a cousin, Isela Villalobos of McAllen, Texas. "It has been very difficult for the family. Laura's mother was expecting for her daughter to come in the door until that dream was shattered Friday afternoon.
"All we do is think of Laura. We have moments when we cry. We have moments when we laugh," Villalobos said in a phone interview from her restaurant in Mission, Texas. "Nothing has changed in her home in McAllen."
Garza left the bar on Dec. 3, 2008, with registered sex offender Michael Mele. He has been investigated but not charged in the case.
Mele is being held at Midstate state prison in Marcy, N.Y., for an unrelated offense. A board denied him parole in March, citing his "history of sexually deviant behavior."
READ MORE: LAURA GARZA FOUND, WILL MICHAEL MELE BE CHARGED?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/27/laura-garzas-remains-foun_n_552626.html
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
LAURA GARZA: BODY IDENTIFIED, MICHAEL MELE STILL SUSPECT
Body of a Brooklyn Woman Who Vanished in 2008 Is Found
By RAY RIVERA
New York Times / Published: April 26, 2010
The authorities have identified skeletal remains found this month in a remote area of Pennsylvania as those of a 25-year-old Brooklyn woman who vanished in December 2008 after leaving a nightclub in Manhattan.
A man riding an all-terrain vehicle spotted the remains on April 11 in a wooded area near Mount Cobb, outside of Scranton.
The New York State crime lab in Albany positively identified the remains as those of Laura Garza and notified her family late last week.
The discovery has renewed focus on the police’s main suspect in the case, a convicted sex offender, Michael Mele, 24. Mr. Mele is serving a sentence of one to three years at Mid-State Correctional Facility in Oneida County for violating parole in an unrelated case.
Investigators are searching for anyone who may have seen Mr. Mele in the Scranton area around the time of the disappearance.
A forensic pathologist is expected to examine the remains to try to determine the cause of death, said Capt. Wayne Olson of the New York State Police.
Ms. Garza, an aspiring dancer who was the youngest of three children, was last seen leaving a Chelsea nightclub with Mr. Mele about 4 a.m. on Dec. 3, 2008. They were spotted later that morning in Mr. Mele’s silver Infiniti S.U.V. in Newburgh, N.Y., about 60 miles north of Manhattan, the authorities said.
WHAT'S THE CONNECTION? LAURA GARZA, MICHAEL MELE...
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/nyregion/27laura.html
By RAY RIVERA
New York Times / Published: April 26, 2010
The authorities have identified skeletal remains found this month in a remote area of Pennsylvania as those of a 25-year-old Brooklyn woman who vanished in December 2008 after leaving a nightclub in Manhattan.
A man riding an all-terrain vehicle spotted the remains on April 11 in a wooded area near Mount Cobb, outside of Scranton.
The New York State crime lab in Albany positively identified the remains as those of Laura Garza and notified her family late last week.
The discovery has renewed focus on the police’s main suspect in the case, a convicted sex offender, Michael Mele, 24. Mr. Mele is serving a sentence of one to three years at Mid-State Correctional Facility in Oneida County for violating parole in an unrelated case.
Investigators are searching for anyone who may have seen Mr. Mele in the Scranton area around the time of the disappearance.
A forensic pathologist is expected to examine the remains to try to determine the cause of death, said Capt. Wayne Olson of the New York State Police.
Ms. Garza, an aspiring dancer who was the youngest of three children, was last seen leaving a Chelsea nightclub with Mr. Mele about 4 a.m. on Dec. 3, 2008. They were spotted later that morning in Mr. Mele’s silver Infiniti S.U.V. in Newburgh, N.Y., about 60 miles north of Manhattan, the authorities said.
WHAT'S THE CONNECTION? LAURA GARZA, MICHAEL MELE...
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/nyregion/27laura.html
Monday, April 26, 2010
LAURA GARZA BODY FOUND: DNA POSITIVE!
Garza family gets grim confirmation of Laura's fate
By Oliver Mackson
Times Herald-Record - 04/26/10
TOWN OF WALLKILL — Nicolas Garza got the call about two weeks ago. A state police investigator from New York asked if Garza's sister, Laura, was wearing a Michael Kors watch when she disappeared in December 2008.
“I told him I didn't know if that watch was hers,” Nicolas Garza said Monday from his home in McAllen, Texas. “We looked started looking in Laura's things, and we found the case for the watch, and the watch wasn't there.”
At that point, Garza thought the chances were about “5 0-50” that the remains found in outside Scranton, Pa., were those of his sister, the youngest of Elizabeth Esquivel's three children.
By Monday, DNA test results made him 100 percent sure.
Now, said Nicolas Garza, ““We just have to gather enough strength for everybody that is with us. We know it's going to be a long time before we get what we want. I don't know how we're going to hold up. We've just got to be together.”
READ ABOUT THE FAMILY SEARCH FOR LAURA GARZA...
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100426/NEWS/100429707
By Oliver Mackson
Times Herald-Record - 04/26/10
TOWN OF WALLKILL — Nicolas Garza got the call about two weeks ago. A state police investigator from New York asked if Garza's sister, Laura, was wearing a Michael Kors watch when she disappeared in December 2008.
“I told him I didn't know if that watch was hers,” Nicolas Garza said Monday from his home in McAllen, Texas. “We looked started looking in Laura's things, and we found the case for the watch, and the watch wasn't there.”
At that point, Garza thought the chances were about “5 0-50” that the remains found in outside Scranton, Pa., were those of his sister, the youngest of Elizabeth Esquivel's three children.
By Monday, DNA test results made him 100 percent sure.
Now, said Nicolas Garza, ““We just have to gather enough strength for everybody that is with us. We know it's going to be a long time before we get what we want. I don't know how we're going to hold up. We've just got to be together.”
READ ABOUT THE FAMILY SEARCH FOR LAURA GARZA...
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100426/NEWS/100429707
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
OHIO: TIFFANY TEHAN, TRE HUTCHERSON, DEAD OR RUNAWAYS
Cops Seek Missing Man in Missing Mom Case
Ohio Mother Tiffany Tehan Seen in Store Surveillance Video with Tre Hutcherson, Who's Unknown to Tehan's Family
CBSnews.com / April 21,2010
(CBS) Police in Ohio are searching for a man spotted in convenience store video with a mother who vanished Saturday.
Tiffany Tehan, 31, of Xenia, the mother of a year-old daughter, was seen several times in the convenience store this month and last with Tre B. Hutcherson, 42, of Dayton, according to the Dayton Daily News.
Authorities have dubbed him a person of interest in her disappearance.
The video is two-weeks old.
"They're in the same place and it is on more than one occasion," Xenia Police Lt. Scott Anger told reporters. " And, it appears that they know each other. This individual may have information that may be helpful to us."
On "The Early Show" Wednesday, Anger told co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez, "We've been able to make a connection (between Tehan and Hutcherson). "It's not certain that they're together, but we believe there's a likelihood they're together."
Tehan was last seen withdrawing cash from n ATM, at the start of what family members say was to be a day of shopping.
When she didn't return home, her husband, David Tehan, called police.
Her family members say they don't know Hutcherson or why Tiffany she would be with him.
Police say her SUV was found Sunday at a park in the Dayton suburb of Kettering, with a flat tire and the keys locked inside.
A woman who answered the door at Hutcherson's residence and identified herself as his wife said he took $2,000 from their bank account. "Obviously they are together," she told the Dayton Daily News. "(Hutcherson) wouldn't hurt Tiffany."
READ TIFFANY TEHAN AND TRE HUTCHERSON MYSTERIOUS MISSING...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/04/21/earlyshow/main6417389.shtml
Ohio Mother Tiffany Tehan Seen in Store Surveillance Video with Tre Hutcherson, Who's Unknown to Tehan's Family
CBSnews.com / April 21,2010
(CBS) Police in Ohio are searching for a man spotted in convenience store video with a mother who vanished Saturday.
Tiffany Tehan, 31, of Xenia, the mother of a year-old daughter, was seen several times in the convenience store this month and last with Tre B. Hutcherson, 42, of Dayton, according to the Dayton Daily News.
Authorities have dubbed him a person of interest in her disappearance.
The video is two-weeks old.
"They're in the same place and it is on more than one occasion," Xenia Police Lt. Scott Anger told reporters. " And, it appears that they know each other. This individual may have information that may be helpful to us."
On "The Early Show" Wednesday, Anger told co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez, "We've been able to make a connection (between Tehan and Hutcherson). "It's not certain that they're together, but we believe there's a likelihood they're together."
Tehan was last seen withdrawing cash from n ATM, at the start of what family members say was to be a day of shopping.
When she didn't return home, her husband, David Tehan, called police.
Her family members say they don't know Hutcherson or why Tiffany she would be with him.
Police say her SUV was found Sunday at a park in the Dayton suburb of Kettering, with a flat tire and the keys locked inside.
A woman who answered the door at Hutcherson's residence and identified herself as his wife said he took $2,000 from their bank account. "Obviously they are together," she told the Dayton Daily News. "(Hutcherson) wouldn't hurt Tiffany."
READ TIFFANY TEHAN AND TRE HUTCHERSON MYSTERIOUS MISSING...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/04/21/earlyshow/main6417389.shtml
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
CASEY ANTHONY: JUDGE STAN STRICKLAND BIASED, LEAVES CASE
Judge takes himself off Anthony case
By Mayra Cuevas-Nazario and Beth Karas, In Session
CNN Justice / April 19, 2010
(CNN) -- The judge in Casey Anthony's murder trial took himself off the case Monday after the defense contended he was biased against her.
"Over the past 20-plus months, in between media interviews, guest appearances on television shows and press conferences, defense counsel has filed a litany of motions," Ninth Circuit Court Judge Stan Strickland observed in an order recusing himself from the high-profile murder trial.
"At its core," the judge continued, "defense counsel's motion accuses the undersigned of being a 'self-aggrandizing media hound.' Indeed. The irony is rich."
The case has been reassigned to Judge Belvin Perry Jr.
Read Judge Strickland's order
"Judge Perry is a good judge; he knows the law," Cindy and George Anthony's attorney, Brad Conway, told CNN. "Stan Strickland is just as good and knowledgeable. He's also extremely patient. He lets you say what you have to say, then he rules."
Anthony is awaiting trial in Orange County, Florida, on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee, who was 2 when she disappeared in June 2008. The little girl's remains were found near the Anthony home in December 2008.
Casey Anthony has pleaded not guilty, and her murder trial has been set for May 2011.
In a motion filed 12 minutes before the court closed on Friday, Baez accused Strickland of forming a "personal relationship" with blogger Dave Knechel, who writes under the pseudonym "Marinade Dave."
Knechel's blog includes made-up legal motions with titles such as "Casey Anthony must die!" "Caylee's murder: Premeditated and pretty stupid too" and "Guilty as charged."
READ CASEY ANTHONY /CAYLEE ANTHONY UPDATE...
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/19/casey.anthony.judge.quits/
By Mayra Cuevas-Nazario and Beth Karas, In Session
CNN Justice / April 19, 2010
(CNN) -- The judge in Casey Anthony's murder trial took himself off the case Monday after the defense contended he was biased against her.
"Over the past 20-plus months, in between media interviews, guest appearances on television shows and press conferences, defense counsel has filed a litany of motions," Ninth Circuit Court Judge Stan Strickland observed in an order recusing himself from the high-profile murder trial.
"At its core," the judge continued, "defense counsel's motion accuses the undersigned of being a 'self-aggrandizing media hound.' Indeed. The irony is rich."
The case has been reassigned to Judge Belvin Perry Jr.
Read Judge Strickland's order
"Judge Perry is a good judge; he knows the law," Cindy and George Anthony's attorney, Brad Conway, told CNN. "Stan Strickland is just as good and knowledgeable. He's also extremely patient. He lets you say what you have to say, then he rules."
Anthony is awaiting trial in Orange County, Florida, on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee, who was 2 when she disappeared in June 2008. The little girl's remains were found near the Anthony home in December 2008.
Casey Anthony has pleaded not guilty, and her murder trial has been set for May 2011.
In a motion filed 12 minutes before the court closed on Friday, Baez accused Strickland of forming a "personal relationship" with blogger Dave Knechel, who writes under the pseudonym "Marinade Dave."
Knechel's blog includes made-up legal motions with titles such as "Casey Anthony must die!" "Caylee's murder: Premeditated and pretty stupid too" and "Guilty as charged."
READ CASEY ANTHONY /CAYLEE ANTHONY UPDATE...
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/19/casey.anthony.judge.quits/
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
SATSUMA: COPS SEARCH RIVER FOR HALEIGH CUMMINGS, FIND BOX
Tip In Haleigh Case Prompts River Search
Girl Missing 14 Months Would Now Be 6-Years-Old
UPDATED: 3:18 pm EDT April 13, 2010
NEWS4JAX.COM
SATSUMA, Fla. -- Deputies from four counties and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement were searching the St. Johns River south of Satsuma Tuesday, and authorities confirmed the search is connected to the Haleigh Cummings investigation.
Putnam County Sheriff's Office Lt. Johnny Greenwood said the search was prompted by one of over 5,000 leads received by the Putnam County Sheriff's Office since the then-5-year-old girl disappeared from her bed in her father's mobile home 14 months ago.
Video: New Search For Haleigh
The sheriff's office was not releasing the exact location of the search effort in an attempt to prevent congestion from onlookers. Channel 4's Tarik Minor said the search of an area less than 5 miles south of where Haleigh disappeared in February 2008 was prompted by a "credible tip."
"Although various resources are being utilized to conduct this search, it is just one of many operations conducted during this investigation," Greenwood said in a media release Tuesday morning. "Due to the sensitivity of this investigation, the name of the person providing the tip and the physical evidence alleged to be in this area, will not be released."
WILL HALEIGH CUMMINGS BE FOUND IN THE RIVER?
http://www.news4jax.com/news/23135405/detail.html
Girl Missing 14 Months Would Now Be 6-Years-Old
UPDATED: 3:18 pm EDT April 13, 2010
NEWS4JAX.COM
SATSUMA, Fla. -- Deputies from four counties and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement were searching the St. Johns River south of Satsuma Tuesday, and authorities confirmed the search is connected to the Haleigh Cummings investigation.
Putnam County Sheriff's Office Lt. Johnny Greenwood said the search was prompted by one of over 5,000 leads received by the Putnam County Sheriff's Office since the then-5-year-old girl disappeared from her bed in her father's mobile home 14 months ago.
Video: New Search For Haleigh
The sheriff's office was not releasing the exact location of the search effort in an attempt to prevent congestion from onlookers. Channel 4's Tarik Minor said the search of an area less than 5 miles south of where Haleigh disappeared in February 2008 was prompted by a "credible tip."
"Although various resources are being utilized to conduct this search, it is just one of many operations conducted during this investigation," Greenwood said in a media release Tuesday morning. "Due to the sensitivity of this investigation, the name of the person providing the tip and the physical evidence alleged to be in this area, will not be released."
WILL HALEIGH CUMMINGS BE FOUND IN THE RIVER?
http://www.news4jax.com/news/23135405/detail.html
BRITTANEE DREXEL: CELL SIGNAL STOPS NEAR S. SANTEE RIVER
GPS tracking aids investigators in Drexel case
Apr 12, 2010
By Kyle Grainger / WMBF News.com
GEORGETOWN COUNTY, SC (WMBF) - Investigators in Georgetown County say that for months, they've been interviewing persons of interest regarding the disappearance of a missing teen from New York.
Lt. Neil Johnson, spokesman for the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office, says a cell phone signal is what originally led the search for 18-year-old Brittanee Drexel out of Myrtle Beach and into the Santee area of Georgetown County.
Myrtle Beach Police say the Rochester, NY, teen disappeared after she was last seen in the area of 11th Avenue South and 20th Avenue South in Myrtle Beach. Drexel, who was 17 at the time of her disappearance, was in the area against the will of her mother.
Contact was lost between Drexel and her family in New York on April 25, 2009, the same night authorities say she disappeared. The last signal from her cell phone came the next night near the South Santee River.
Johnson says because Drexel was a heavy user of her cell phone, and in the hours after her disappearance, her cell phone signal stopped in Georgetown County. That's the exact reason why investigators believe whatever happened to Drexel occurred within Georgetown County.
READ INVESTIGATION LEADS FOR BRITTANEE DREXEL...
http://www.wmbfnews.com/Global/story.asp?S=12298443
Apr 12, 2010
By Kyle Grainger / WMBF News.com
GEORGETOWN COUNTY, SC (WMBF) - Investigators in Georgetown County say that for months, they've been interviewing persons of interest regarding the disappearance of a missing teen from New York.
Lt. Neil Johnson, spokesman for the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office, says a cell phone signal is what originally led the search for 18-year-old Brittanee Drexel out of Myrtle Beach and into the Santee area of Georgetown County.
Myrtle Beach Police say the Rochester, NY, teen disappeared after she was last seen in the area of 11th Avenue South and 20th Avenue South in Myrtle Beach. Drexel, who was 17 at the time of her disappearance, was in the area against the will of her mother.
Contact was lost between Drexel and her family in New York on April 25, 2009, the same night authorities say she disappeared. The last signal from her cell phone came the next night near the South Santee River.
Johnson says because Drexel was a heavy user of her cell phone, and in the hours after her disappearance, her cell phone signal stopped in Georgetown County. That's the exact reason why investigators believe whatever happened to Drexel occurred within Georgetown County.
READ INVESTIGATION LEADS FOR BRITTANEE DREXEL...
http://www.wmbfnews.com/Global/story.asp?S=12298443
Sunday, April 11, 2010
RODNEY ALCALA: HELP POLICE IDENTIFY ALCALA'S MURDER VICTIMS
Detectives identify some who posed for Alcala
By LARRY WELBORN / The Orange County Register
Published: April 9,2010 Updated: April 10, 2010
The photos show long-haired girls with flowers in their hair. Some are posing seductively in bikinis, bellbottoms or with bare midriffs. Others are dancing, drinking, smoking or listening to music.
The young women have one thing in common: they had their pictures taken in the 1970s by a photographer who dealt death.
The photos were recovered by Huntington Beach homicide detectives in July of 1979 from a storage locker in Seattle rented by Rodney James Alcala, a freelance cameraman who turned out to be a serial killer.
He was sentenced to death last month after he was convicted of five counts of first-degree murder for the sexual torture and strangulation murders of four women in Los Angeles County, and the kidnap and murder of a 12-year-old girl from Huntington Beach, during a 20-month killing spree in the late 1970s.
Huntington Beach Police released the photos to The Orange County Register one month ago after a jury voted to give Alcala the death penalty.
Detectives wanted to know: are the mostly smiling models in Alcala's photo gallery still alive? Or did they become murder victims?
They have been able to identify 21 young women in the photo catalogue after they were inundated with phone calls, e-mails and other contacts, but none matched up to a missing persons case or an unsolved homicide from the 1970s.
By LARRY WELBORN / The Orange County Register
Published: April 9,2010 Updated: April 10, 2010
The photos show long-haired girls with flowers in their hair. Some are posing seductively in bikinis, bellbottoms or with bare midriffs. Others are dancing, drinking, smoking or listening to music.
The young women have one thing in common: they had their pictures taken in the 1970s by a photographer who dealt death.
The photos were recovered by Huntington Beach homicide detectives in July of 1979 from a storage locker in Seattle rented by Rodney James Alcala, a freelance cameraman who turned out to be a serial killer.
He was sentenced to death last month after he was convicted of five counts of first-degree murder for the sexual torture and strangulation murders of four women in Los Angeles County, and the kidnap and murder of a 12-year-old girl from Huntington Beach, during a 20-month killing spree in the late 1970s.
Huntington Beach Police released the photos to The Orange County Register one month ago after a jury voted to give Alcala the death penalty.
Detectives wanted to know: are the mostly smiling models in Alcala's photo gallery still alive? Or did they become murder victims?
They have been able to identify 21 young women in the photo catalogue after they were inundated with phone calls, e-mails and other contacts, but none matched up to a missing persons case or an unsolved homicide from the 1970s.
If you know any of the people in Alcala's photos,
contact Huntington Beach Police Detective Patrick Ellis,
at 714-375-5066, or email him at pellis@hbpd.org
BRITTANEE DREXEL: POLICE SUSPECT KILLERS, NO ARRESTS...YET!
NEW LEADS IN MISSING TEEN CASE
Detectives have leads, persons of interest in Drexel disappearance
Detectives have leads, persons of interest in Drexel disappearance
WCSC TV/DT CHARLESTON, SC / Apr 10, 2010
MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WCSC) - Myrtle Beach Detective Vincent Dorio said Friday investigators have developed multiple persons of interest in the case of missing teen Brittanee Drexel.
MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WCSC) - Myrtle Beach Detective Vincent Dorio said Friday investigators have developed multiple persons of interest in the case of missing teen Brittanee Drexel.
He said this information developed from a tip and is confident this tip is leading them in a direction of finding who might be responsible. The search team is not releasing any information on the tips they received because they fear it might jeopardize the recently revitalized investigation.
According to Lt. Neil Johnson with the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office, the break in the case is the result of months of lead-tracking.
"At this time, there is no reason to believe these people, [the persons of interest], knew Drexel directly," said Johnson.
No arrest warrants have been served yet, he said, but lie detector tests have been conducted on two of the persons of interest.
While the new leads are positive news for the search for the missing Drexel, Johnson said the information they have compiled in recent months indicate she is no longer alive.
According to Lt. Neil Johnson with the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office, the break in the case is the result of months of lead-tracking.
"At this time, there is no reason to believe these people, [the persons of interest], knew Drexel directly," said Johnson.
No arrest warrants have been served yet, he said, but lie detector tests have been conducted on two of the persons of interest.
While the new leads are positive news for the search for the missing Drexel, Johnson said the information they have compiled in recent months indicate she is no longer alive.
"The police seem really confident, so there's a lot going through my head right now," said Brittanee's mother, Dawn Drexel. "You go through a lot of emotions. Where is she? Is she OK? Is she not OK?"
(snip)
(snip)
CrimeStoppers of the Lowcountry
continues to offer a reward for any information on Drexel's whereabouts.
Anyone with information regarding the disappearance of Drexel is urged to contact the agency at 1-888-CRIME-SC.
WHAT CLUES DO POLICE HAVE ABOUT BRITTANEE DREXEL...
Saturday, April 3, 2010
MISSING IN GREELEY: KAYLEAH WILSON 2010, JONELLE MATTHEWS 1984
Kayleah Wilson case: Search evokes 25-year-old dashed hopes
Mike Peters / The GreeleyTibune / April 2, 2010
As days go by and the disappearance of 12-year-old Kayleah Wilson continues to be a mystery, it brings back haunting memories for the police officers involved in another child disappearance in Greeley 25 years ago.
On Dec. 20, 1984, Jonelle Matthews, a 12-year-old middle school student, disappeared from her west Greeley home. She has never been found.
The search for Jonelle became a national story. Numerous ground searches were organized to look for her, and her parents, Jim and Gloria Matthews, appeared on national television to plead for Jonelle's return. President Reagan mentioned Jonelle in his State of the Union speech.
While there is no connection to Wilson's disappearance, the ages of the girls and the mysterious circumstances remind police of what happened 25 years ago.
“There, of course, are similarities between the cases, primarily because of the ages of the girls,” said police spokesman Sgt. Joe Tymkowych. “Because of that, the case has crossed our minds in the past few days.”
In the early days of the Matthews investigation, police learned that Jonelle was brought home that night by family friends. She sang in the Franklin Middle School choir, which had performed Christmas carols at a nursing home.
Because of all family activities that night, Jonelle knew the house would be empty. Her father, an elementary school principal, was at Jonelle's older sister's basketball game, and her mother was visiting relatives out of the state.
Police determined Jonelle arrived home and went to the family room in the basement, where she set up a space heater to keep warm and sat on the floor to watch TV.
When her father came home about an hour later, he found the space heater and her shoes on the floor, but Jonelle was gone. Police were called and a search was launched, but she was never found. Police found scuffmarks and footprints in the snow outside the house.
http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20100402/ NEWS/100409918/1002&parentprofile=1001
HELP FIND THE MISSING. HELP FIND JONELLE MATTHEWS
http://www.helpfindthemissing.org/forum/showthread.php?p=704751
Mike Peters / The GreeleyTibune / April 2, 2010
As days go by and the disappearance of 12-year-old Kayleah Wilson continues to be a mystery, it brings back haunting memories for the police officers involved in another child disappearance in Greeley 25 years ago.
On Dec. 20, 1984, Jonelle Matthews, a 12-year-old middle school student, disappeared from her west Greeley home. She has never been found.
The search for Jonelle became a national story. Numerous ground searches were organized to look for her, and her parents, Jim and Gloria Matthews, appeared on national television to plead for Jonelle's return. President Reagan mentioned Jonelle in his State of the Union speech.
While there is no connection to Wilson's disappearance, the ages of the girls and the mysterious circumstances remind police of what happened 25 years ago.
“There, of course, are similarities between the cases, primarily because of the ages of the girls,” said police spokesman Sgt. Joe Tymkowych. “Because of that, the case has crossed our minds in the past few days.”
In the early days of the Matthews investigation, police learned that Jonelle was brought home that night by family friends. She sang in the Franklin Middle School choir, which had performed Christmas carols at a nursing home.
Because of all family activities that night, Jonelle knew the house would be empty. Her father, an elementary school principal, was at Jonelle's older sister's basketball game, and her mother was visiting relatives out of the state.
Police determined Jonelle arrived home and went to the family room in the basement, where she set up a space heater to keep warm and sat on the floor to watch TV.
When her father came home about an hour later, he found the space heater and her shoes on the floor, but Jonelle was gone. Police were called and a search was launched, but she was never found. Police found scuffmarks and footprints in the snow outside the house.
http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20100402/ NEWS/100409918/1002&parentprofile=1001
HELP FIND THE MISSING. HELP FIND JONELLE MATTHEWS
http://www.helpfindthemissing.org/forum/showthread.php?p=704751
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
READ DETAILS OF KAYLEAH WILSON'S DISAPPEARANCE...
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=135843&catid=339
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/
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/
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
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
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
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
Saturday, March 27, 2010
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
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
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
Saturday, March 20, 2010
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
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
Friday, March 19, 2010
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/
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
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
Friday, March 12, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
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
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
Monday, March 8, 2010
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
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
Sunday, March 7, 2010
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
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
Saturday, March 6, 2010
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/
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
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
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
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/
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/
Sunday, February 14, 2010
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
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
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
Monday, February 8, 2010
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
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
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
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
Sunday, February 7, 2010
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
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
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
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
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
Saturday, January 23, 2010
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
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
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
Thursday, January 21, 2010
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
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
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
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
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
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
Monday, January 11, 2010
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
Monday, December 28, 2009
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.
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
Monday, December 14, 2009
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
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
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