Thursday, July 30, 2009

Deltona, FL: Deltona deaths ruled murder-suicide Murder-suicide suspected in death of Deltona couple



The deaths of a Volusia County crossing guard supervisor and the father of her four children in a Deltona home were the result of a murder-suicide, officials confirmed Thursday.

Julyann Rivera, 37, and her estranged boyfriend Jesus Negron, 34, were found shortly before 1 p.m. Wednesday in Negron's home. The Volusia County Medical Examiner's Office conducted autopsies Thursday morning and confirmed the couple died of gunshot wounds in a murder-suicide, Volusia County sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said in a written report.

Investigators found Rivera's body on the living room floor and Negron's body in the master bedroom with a handgun in his lap, Davidson said.

Friends told investigators that Rivera and Negron were in the process of splitting up, and that she left with the children about two months ago to live with a relative in Deltona, Davidson said. Rivera reported to work Wednesday morning and when she left for lunch, fellow employees thought she was going to check on her children.

Investigators don't know why she ended up at the home on Alexander Avenue, Davidson said.

A relative of Negron told one of Rivera's co-workers that Negron had called his father and said he had done "something stupid" and was going to kill himself, the report states. That co-worker notified the sheriff's dispatch center and deputies were sent to 678 Alexander Ave. when Rivera failed to answer her phone.

-- Julie Murphy


DELTONA -- A Volusia County school crossing guard supervisor and her boyfriend were found dead in the woman's home Wednesday afternoon, an apparent murder suicide, a Volusia County sheriff's spokesman said.

Julyann Rivera, 37, and Jesus Negron, 34, were found inside Negron's house at 678 Alexander Ave. about 12:40 p.m. when deputies stopped to make a well-being check, spokesman Brandon Haught said. Sheriff's investigators recovered a handgun at the scene and the preliminary investigation points to murder-suicide.

Neighbors from across the street, Ron Campbell and Virginia Boso, didn't hear anything Wednesday morning or early afternoon and were shocked to see crime-scene tape go up around their home after deputies got no response at the front door. There was no immediate indication on why deputies were called to the house.

"One officer drew his weapon and went around the side of the house," Campbell said. "It wasn't long after that the crime scene tape went up."

Haught said Rivera and Negron have four children together ranging from elementary to high school-age, and none of them were home when their parents were found. Rivera worked for the Sheriff's Office as a school crossing guard supervisor since September 2008 -- a full-time position -- anad was promoted after working about three years as a part-time crossing guard.

One neighbor, Arlene Myrick, said, "My (9-year-old) son played with the kids. I'm just amazed to hear this is going on."

Myrick said her older children were playing in the street when deputies rolled up. "They're the ones who told me there was some kind of shooting there," she said.

Rivera and Negron's children told Myrick they were going to Tampa for awhile when she last saw them about two weeks ago. A sheriff's spokesman said the couple had recently separated.

"I guess they're there," she said. "I'm glad they aren't here right now."

Teenagers Lydia Nives and Samantha Moore both said they hadn't seen their friend, the eldest daughter, since the last day of school. Samantha's mother, Lorrie Moore, was distraught.

"My kids have been going to school with them since elementary school," she said. "The mom is a sweet lady, but I only met him once a long time ago. She was a great lady, though."

Lorrie Moore said a neighbor a couple of doors down worked with Rivera as a crossing guard. Two women emerged from the house she pointed out, but both declined to comment saying only "she was a good friend."

Sheriff Ben Johnson said it is a difficult time for all of those in his office who worked with Rivera.

"She will be fondly remembered as a wonderful employee who positively impacted many lives in the community," he said. "Our hearts and prayers go out to all who were touched by this horrible and senseless tragedy."

The Volusia Medical Examiner's Officer removed the two bodies at 5:38 p.m. Wednesday, and sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said autopsies are scheduled for Thursday morning.

Dover, TX: Girlfriend charged in Dover man's killing

Girlfriend charged in Dover man's killing

DOVER — The girlfriend of a city man killed last summer has been arrested and charged in connection with his murder.

Dianna Saunders, 41, formerly of Dover, was arrested Tuesday in Fort Worth, Texas, on a warrant charging her with accomplice to first-degree murder. Saunders moved to Texas shortly after her boyfriend, David A. King, was murdered on August 29, 2008, at the 81 Old Dover Point Road home they shared.

Saunders is currently being held without bail in Texas on a fugitive from justice charge. She was arraigned on the charge Wednesday and authorities in Texas are expected to take up his extradition today, according to N.H. Associate Attorney General Ann Rice.

Authorities provided few details Wednesday night about Saunders' involvement in the killing.

"I'm not going to comment about the specific allegations until she is back up here," Rice said.

She also declined to comment on motive.

Dover Police Chief Anthony Colarusso was also unable to comment about the case. He did say that local police filed Saunders' arrest affidavit at Dover District Court last week but it was under seal by request of the state Attorney General's Office.

Dover police were down in Texas to make the arrest and assisted by the Parker County, Texas, Sheriff's Office, he added. He wouldn't comment on whether local police had made past trips to Texas to speak with Saunders

In May, her former stepson, Derek Saunders, 26, and his roommate, Scott Mazzone, 41, both of Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to charges related to King's murder after striking a deal with the Attorney General's Office.

Mazzone pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for shooting King in the head and was sentenced to 33 years to life in prison. Saunders pleaded guilty to accomplice to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.

Rice said both men received less severe charges than Dianna Saunders because they cooperated with the investigation.

"Certainly when someone agrees to plead guilty and cooperate we will give a lesser charge for that cooperation," she said.

Dianna Saunders' ex-husband, Roy Saunders, also faced charges in connection with the homicide but killed himself in Massachusetts before he was scheduled to turn himself into police in April.

Rice declined to comment on what charges Roy Saunders was facing and how he was involved in the killing.

Before her arrest, Dianna Saunders was involved in a civil suit where a man from Cape Neddick, Maine, claimed she used $380,000 he had deposited into a real estate company she formerly owned in order to fund her move to Texas.

When she didn't show up in court this month, a judge ruled in that man's favor.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Huntington, WV: Girlfriend stabbed, body hidden


July 29, 2009 @ 08:48 AM

HUNTINGTON — Court documents state a 23-year-old man fatally stabbed his girlfriend in the throat and hid her body in a crawl space.

Jessie Aaron Blevins of Huntington was arrested and arraigned late Tuesday. He was incarcerated at 1:20 a.m. Wednesday in the Western Regional Jail.

The victim was identified as Elizabeth Grace Cotton, 23, of Huntington, according to a criminal complaint filed in Cabell County Magistrate Court and a press release issued by Huntington Police Capt. Rick Eplin.

The complaint charges that Blevins stabbed Cotton in the throat and then place her body into the crawl space. The crime scene was located at 728 Jackson Ave.

The complaint says investigators filed the first-degree murder charge based upon Blevins’ confession, a statement from a cooperating witness and corroborating evidence collected at the scene.

Police tape and strobing cruiser lights surrounded the home Tuesday night at 728 Jackson Ave. Investigators were called to the scene to check the welfare of a resident. They found a deceased woman and her suspicious death quickly became the city’s second homicide investigation for this year.

Eplin said investigators developed information a crime had taken place. Interviews will continue as police determine a possible motive.

An autopsy will be performed at the state Medical Examiner’s Office in Kanawha County.

WILKES-BARRE, PA: Pa. man faces death penalty in wife's death


- Prosecutors in northeastern Pennsylvania will seek the death penalty for a man accused of killing his wife in front of her children.

Prosecutors say Donnell Buckner killed his wife, Kewaii Rogers-Buckner, in March as two of her three children were in the room at their Wilkes-Barre home. Authorities say the couple were arguing over a protection from abuse order against Buckner when Rogers-Buckner was killed.

Buckner's 12-year-old stepdaughter described the shooting when she testified at his preliminary hearing in April. She said she was just feet away when her 34-year-old father fired the last two of four gunshots to kill her mother.

Buckner pleaded not guilty Wednesday morning and is being held without bail.

A phone message left Wednesday with Buckner's attorney was not immediately returned.

Dallas, TX:3-time murderer gets 50 years in 2008 Lake Highlands slaying of ex


08:13 AM CDT on Wednesday, July 29, 2009

By JENNIFER EMILY / The Dallas Morning News
jemily@dallasnews.com

A man who killed his ex-girlfriend while on parole for two murders pleaded guilty to her slaying Tuesday in exchange for 50 years in prison.

Darrell Bernard Billingslea met Jessica Rae Lewalling on a telephone chat line after he was released from prison in June 2007. They struck up a friendship and became romantically involved.

Then, in January 2008, Billingslea killed Lewalling – possibly out of jealousy – at her Lake Highlands apartment when the 23-year-old woman and her new boyfriend allowed him to spend the night because he had nowhere else to go.

Lewalling's aunt, Tracy Bewley, said after a court hearing that it was "gratifying" to hear Billingslea, now 38, admit the crime. But Lewalling's relatives said they don't understand why a man with Billingslea's violent past was paroled.

"I'm just at a loss as to why another life was lost," said Lewalling's grandfather, John Lewalling. "One murder isn't excusable. But after two, why would you ever get out?"

Billingslea was sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing a 16-year-old Oak Cliff pizzeria employee, Derrick Lamar Mathis, during a 1990 robbery.

At that trial, Billingslea rushed toward a witness and kicked a bailiff. His relatives and officers from nearby courts joined in the skirmish. After the courtroom drama, Billingslea pleaded guilty to two charges of aggravated assault of a peace officer. He received two 10-year sentences to serve at the same time as the one for killing Mathis. Then, while Billingslea was in prison, police in Ellis County linked him to the slaying of Don Bass, 43, who was killed in October 1989, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in prison to be served concurrently with the other sentences.

Billingslea shot and killed Bass, who played professional football for five seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals and the New Orleans Saints, after Bass told police to search Billingslea's motel room for drugs.

Dallas County prosecutor Jennifer Bennett said Billingslea must serve the remaining 11 years of his original murder sentence before he begins the 50-year sentence.

He is unlikely to be paroled.

"I'm glad he'll never get out again," Bennett said.

Prosecutors could not seek the death penalty because the slaying did not meet the standards for capital murder – a murder that happens while committing another felony. But that does not include aggravated assault.

Billingslea's attorney, Kobby Warren, said his client sufferers from schizophrenia, which runs in his family. Warren said he sees a correlation between the illness and violent tendencies.

"He's sick, but he's not sick enough. There's no place to put him but prison," Warren said. "Unfortunately, some are caught in that middle range where they're not sick enough to be sent to a hospital or excuse their behavior because they do know right from wrong."

Lewalling, who worked at a Dave and Buster's restaurant, was ready to start classes at El Centro College. She wanted to study social work, her family said, and possibly become a probation officer. They said she had been involved in prison ministry work since junior high and always wanted to help others.

The night Billingslea killed Lewalling, he called her asking for a place to stay. Billingslea and her boyfriend, Demetrius Cooksey, at first said no but then agreed.

Not long after he arrived at Lewalling's apartment near Skillman Street and Royal Lane, Billingslea attacked Cooksey with what may have been a screwdriver. He suffered minor puncture wounds.

Billingslea then chased Lewalling, and Cooksey ran outside for help. Someone outside called 911.

Billingslea then walked outside, put on his jacket and walked away.

Cooksey went inside and found Lewalling on the floor, dead.

A kitchen knife was by her side. She had dialed 911 on her phone but never hit send.

Atlanta, GA: New Boyfriend Kills Ex-Boyfriend


By
Jon Lewis
@ July 28, 2009 6:46 AM
Permalink | Comments (6)

(WSB Radio) Atlanta police call it a case of self-defense.

Investigators say 24 year old Matthew Hunt had gone to his ex-girlfriend's apartment on Lenox Road Monday afternoon and, upon arriving, confronted her new boyfriend when he arrived.

They struggled, then the new boyfriend went into the apartment, got a gun and shot Hunt.

Hunt died later at Grady Hospital.

Charges are not expected against the current boyfriend.

Villa Park, IL Woman who killed female lover sentenced to 50 years



July 28, 2009

A Villa Park woman who suffocated her longtime lover, then hid her body and went on a date with another girlfriend, was sentenced today to 50 years in prison.

The prison term imposed on 28-year-old Nicole Abusharif for the 2007 slaying of Rebecca Klein likely will keep her behind bars until she is in her 70s.

Klein, 32, vanished on March 15, 2007 from the Villa Park home she shared with Abusharif, her partner of six years. Klein was reported missing the next day — and her body was discovered a day later stuffed in the trunk of Abusharif’s prized 1966 Ford Mustang parked in the couple’s garage. Her hands had been bound with duct tape and a plastic bag was taped around her head, causing her to suffocate.

DuPage County prosecutors convinced jurors that Abusharif had committed the killing so she would be free to pursue the other woman she was romancing and also so she could collect at least $250,000 in life insurance benefits from Klein’s death.

Abusharif was convicted May 5 of the killing, despite taking the witness stand to insist she didn’t kill Klein, who had worked with disabled adults.

“She was everything to me,’’ Abusharif claimed during the trial. “I couldn’t remember a time in my life when I didn't love her.’’

But authorities located a fingerprint from Abusharif on the tape around Klein’s neck and also found other prints on the plastic bag.

Key testimony came from Rose Sodaro, a woman with whom Abusharif had become romantically involved while she lived with Klein.

Sodaro testified that she met with Abusharif at a suburban restaurant the night Klein vanished — and that Abusharif gave her a key to the Mustang to show how strongly she felt about her. Later that night, Abusharif brought Sodaro back to the Villa Park home she had shared with Klein, Sodaro testified.

While Sodaro said she knew Abusharif and Klein lived together, she testified that Abusharif had told her the two women were only friends and roommates.

Abusharif, who faced a maximum 60-year prison term for the slaying, repeatedly said during her testimony that she had an open relationship with Klein that allowed her to date other women.

Phoenix, AZ Phoenix PD: Man kills girlfriend before turning gun on self


Reported by: Katrina Wessman
Email: kwessman@abc15.com
Last Update: 8:39 am
PHOENIX – A woman was shot to death and a man is fighting for life after a domestic dispute turned deadly on Wednesday morning.

Officers responded to a home near 27th and Myrtle avenues after receiving a call reporting shots fired just after 3 a.m.

Police arrived at the apartment to find a man who had shot his girlfriend and then shot himself, according to an officer on scene.

The man was transported to a local hospital with life threatening injuries.

Police say two children, ages 1 and 4, were in the apartment at the time the shooting occurred.

The children are reportedly ok and are with family members.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Seminole County, OK: Two deputies killed in Seminole County ambush


July 27, 7:32 AM · Patricia Phillips - Oklahoma Crime Examiner
Ezekiel Holbert mug shot
Ezekiel Holbert/booking photo

Two deputies lost their lives when they tried to serve a warrant on Ezekiel Holbert at his mother's house in Seminole late Sunday.

When the deputies, whose names have not yet been released, knocked on the door, Holbert came out shooting, a police spokeswoman said. One deputy died on the scene and the second died after being airlifted to OU Medical Center.

A woman walking along the street was also hit by stray gunfire. She was treated at a local hospital for an arm injury.

After theshooting, Holbert locked himself in a house with at least two weapons in hand. That led to a standoff between Holbert and more than 100 law enforcement officers.

Officers secured the neighborhood, set up checkpoints, and staged a manhunt. Holbert was finally contained in a house, where he surrendered. Holbert is now in custody charged with two counts of murder.

Not all details are yet known. Early reports said that Holbert was at his mother's house against her wishes. When she found out that he was in her home, she called 911. Deputies came with warrants again Holbert for prior domestic violence, including strangulation.

Montrose, CO: Alleged Montrose cop shooter killed self; Montrose officer killed in shooting

Wife of man who killed cop says he threatened her life


Monday, August 03, 2009

Ten days after Dennis Gurney shot to death Montrose Police Department Sgt. David Kinterknecht and injured two other officers before turning a gun on himself, his family will lay to rest today the 52-year-old Montrose man.

Gurney, who was badly disfigured by a fire while working on an oil rig in Texas nearly 30 years ago, changed for the worse in the past few months, said his wife, Pamela Gurney.

“That wasn’t Dennis in the last hours,” Pamela Gurney said during a visitation in advance of her husband’s burial on Monday. “He really believed he had lost me.”

Pamela Gurney believes that her husband, who had assaulted her in the past when he had been drinking, may have intended to kill her the night of July 25. A week before she had told him she had had an affair. She said her husband’s doctor had taken him off antidepressants a few weeks earlier. After coming home from a granddaughter’s birthday party, Pamela arrived to find her husband drunk and angry. She ran from him when he threatened her life and slammed the door on her hand. She was able to run outside where she dialed 911.

“Coming off the medication and adding alcohol to the mix was the last straw,” she said.

When police officers responded to a domestic violence call at the couple’s affluent southwest Montrose home, Dennis Gurney had locked himself in the garage.

Prohibited from drinking alcohol and using firearms, he had pried open a locked gun chest earlier that day, Pamela Gurney said. With two of the couple’s children outside talking on a cell phone to their dad, Dennis Gurney fired at officers with a shotgun when they broke down the door. He then killed himself with a pistol.

Pamela said her son, Kevin Gurney, pulled police officer Rodney Ragsdale out of the line of fire after he had been shot. Ragsdale and Officer Larry Witte are recovering from gunshot wounds to their legs.

Dennis Gurney had been in trouble with the law before for assaulting Pamela, violating the protection orders, drinking and failing to appear for court. Police had been out at the home before but, “he always gave himself up easily,” Pamela said.

Dennis Gurney was active on a local bowling team and was fond of going on hunting trips with his friends and children. He doted on his grandchildren.

Dennis Gurney had been sober for four months but started drinking eight days before the fatal shooting, Pamela Gurney said. Over the years he had enrolled in alcohol treatment centers three times. She had made a deal with him — that she would stay married to him if he would quit drinking.

He would quit drinking for a time and start up again. For years, he hid his drinking from her. Now, Pamela said she feels a sense of guilt for looking to someone else for solace when she was afraid to turn to her husband.

“He always told friends I was the reason he was alive,” she said. “They could have been having a service for both of us.”

Pamela Gurney has written letters thanking the Montrose Police Department for coming to her aid when her husband turned violent and offering her condolences on their loss. She framed a letter written after her husband’s death and is in the process of writing a letter to the family of fallen Sgt. Kinterknecht.

“It wasn’t your plan to take another life with you, leaving not one, but two families in mourning and a brotherhood of officers behind to deal with the horror of that night,” she wrote in a letter addressed “Dear Dennis.”


The suspect, a father of three, is accused of killing a Montrose officer and wounding two others before committing suicide.

The Dennis Gurney whom Tisha Slater knew was a horribly scarred but gentle soul who made great milkshakes, listened patiently to a young woman's problems and deeply loved his wife.

Last Saturday, that same man allegedly shot and killed a Montrose police officer and wounded two others who arrived at his house to protect his wife from him.

Gurney, 52, the father of three grown children, ended his battle with police by putting a gun to his head and committing suicide, Montrose County Coroner Thomas Canfield said Tuesday.

Nearby lay the body of Sgt. David Kinterknecht, 42, a popular officer who called his teenage daughters after every volleyball or basketball game he missed. A single shotgun round to the chest killed Kinter- knecht.

Montrose officers Rodney Ragsdale and Larry Witte were wounded in the shootout.

Slater, 31, was once engaged to Gurney's son. During her high school years, she spent most of her free time with the Gurney family, she said Tuesday.

Dennis Gurney had been badly burned while still in his 20s when an oil rig he was working on exploded. The explosion left him disabled, his face a grim mask of scar tissue.

"I can't dismiss what he did, but you can't live through that and not have scars that nobody else can understand," Slater said. "The fact is when you are angry, you take it out on the people closest to you."

Since Sunday, when news of the incident broke, Slater said she has been trying to come to terms with the picture of Gurney that has emerged.

The man whom she remembers as a devoted husband had a well-documented record of spousal abuse and had been in and out of jail over the past year for violating restraining and protective orders.

Neighbors remembered police coming to the house several times over the past year after his wife Pamela, 50, called for help.

Pamela Gurney couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday. Lydia Gurney, her daughter-in-law, said Pamela Gurney didn't want to talk to the media.

In an arrest affidavit obtained by the Daily Sentinel newspaper in Grand Junction, his wife, whose name is blacked out in the document, described him as "an alcoholic (who) becomes violent when he drinks."

The affidavit, filed Sept. 9, 2008, said Gurney slapped her twice and grabbed a phone from her when she tried to call her daughter. Then he slapped her again.

"She fell to the ground and he got on top of her and started to choke her with both hands. She was able to kick him off and she grabbed the house phone and called police," the affidavit said.

In the years between 1995 and 2000, when Slater was close to Gurney, she never knew him to drink even a beer, she said.

Neighbors and others described Gurney as depressed in the months before he snapped.

In the early spring this year, Gurney checked into the Country Lodge, a hotel outside Montrose. He spent his time there writing letters to his wife urging reconciliation, innkeeper Jeff Anderson told a reporter Monday.

"Whatever happened in the past couple of years, that was not the man I knew," Slater said. "I know at one time he loved her and he loved his family. He was like a father to me; if I had a problem, I could always talk to him."



BY WYATT HAUPT JR.
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER,
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — A Montrose police officer was fatally wounded, and two of his colleagues were injured in a weekend shootout, authorities said Sunday.

Sgt. David Kinterknecht, a 10-year veteran of the Montrose Police Department, was killed in the incident that stemmed from a report of a domestic violence at a home in the 16900 block of 64.50 Road.

Officers Larry Witte and Rodney Ragsdale were also wounded in the Saturday evening shooting. All three officers were taken to area hospitals.

Ragsdale was taken to St. Mary's Hospital where he was listed in fair condition Sunday afternoon, a spokesman said.

Police Chief Tom Chinn said that after the officers arrived at the home about 8:30 p.m., they began speaking to the person who reported the domestic violence incident.

He said the suspect, who has not been identified, was barricaded in a garage behind the home. Shortly before 10 p.m. the suspect opened fire and struck each of the officers. It was not clear how many shots the gunman fired.

Chinn said that the suspect died at the scene. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation and other agencies are looking into the shooting.

The home is located near the Cobble Creek Golf Course in an upscale area of Montrose about 65 miles southeast of Grand Junction. The owners of the home are listed as Pam and Dennis Gurney, based on data from the Montrose County Assessor's Office.

Chinn did not release details about the domestic violence call that preceded the shooting. He said the department is expected to release more information about the incident today.

85-year-old man allegedly kills wife, 55, with hatchet


From wire service reports
Updated: 07/27/2009 11:37:23 AM PDT

PASADENA - An 85-year-old East Pasadena man was behind bars today on suspicion of murdering his 55-year-old wife with a hatchet, according to the Sheriff's Department.

James Che Ming Lu called the sheriff's Temple Station about 1:30 a.m. Sunday and said he had just killed his wife.

When deputies arrived at the couple's home in the 100 block of Rosemead Boulevard, near Colorado Boulevard, they found Michelle Lu dead with multiple stab wounds, according to sheriff's and coroner's officials.

Authorities said the couple's adult son was at home, found his parents fighting and grabbed a hatchet from his father.

The son said his father once worked as a carpenter, which is why he had the hatchet, according to Fox11.

Michelle Lu reportedly worked as a nanny six days a week and was only home on Sundays.

James Lu was arrested on suspicion of murder and is being held on $1 million bail.

Investigators believe the killing was the result of a domestic dispute, Lt. Dan Rosenberg told the Los Angeles Times.

3 dead in local murder, suicide


CHEYENNE (WTE) -- Cheyenne police found a couple and their 2-year-old son dead at their home on Saturday, victims of an apparent double homicide and suicide.

At 5 p.m. Saturday, relatives of Kelly J. and Joy M. Hofer of 4715 Hickory Place asked Cheyenne police to check on their welfare. Hickory Place is near the intersection of Dell Range Boulevard and Windmill Road.

Police say the incident occurred Friday.

Police walked in the back door of the couple's residence and found Hofer, 28, his 31-year-old wife and their 2-year-old son Gunnar dead.

They were in the bed in the master bedroom on the second floor.

The adults suffered single gunshot wounds to the head. Based on the initial investigation, police believe that Joy Hofer shot her husband and then herself, according to a news release.

As of 4:45 p.m. Sunday, police did not know the cause of death of Gunnar Hofer. There were no visible signs of trauma to the toddler.

Detectives were in Colorado on Sunday where autopsies were being done on the three victims.

Police suspect murder-suicide in St. Peter deaths


by Tim Nelson, Minnesota Public Radio
July 27, 2009

Authorities think the death of a young woman found in a Kasota cemetery early Saturday morning may be the result of a murder-suicide.

LeSeuer County Sheriff Dave Gliszinksi says his department is waiting for autopsy results on Michaela Widmer, 22, to help close the case.

Authorities believe she may have been killed by a neighbor, who was also found dead over the weekend. He has been identified as Ricardo Taber, 53.

Gliszinski says Widmer's abandoned daughter led them to start looking into the matter.

"The LeSeuer County law enforcement center received a call approximately 11:30 Friday evening, from an individual that happened to turn around at the public access at Lake Emily in Le Seuer County, rural St. Peter, stating that when they were down there, they saw this young female, turned out to be approximately 4 years old, sitting there by herself."

Glaszinski said the girl may have been abandoned at the boat ramp by Taber, in the course of her mother's killing