Sunday, September 27, 2009

Atlanta, GA: Former DeKalb deputy accused of wife's murder back in Atlanta

By Mashaun D. Simon
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

8:22 p.m. Saturday, September 26, 2009
A former DeKalb County deputy charged with killing his wife and a day laborer is back on American soil.

Around 6 p.m. Saturday, the plane carrying Derrick Yancey from Belize landed at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Yancey is accused of the 2008 shootings of Linda Yancey, 44, and Marcial Cax Puluc, a 20-year-old Guatemalan immigrant he hired to work at his Stone Mountain home. Initially, Yancey told investigators that Puluc had killed his wife before he killed Puluc in self-defense.

Dressed in all black, with his hands and legs shackled, Yancey was escorted through customs and then transported to the lower level of North Terminal entrance.

He said nothing as officers moved him from the backseat of a truck, patted him down and placed him into the backseat of a DeKalb County Sheriff's vehicle.

Yancey disappeared in April while awaiting trial for the killings. He cut off the monitoring bracelet on his ankle, boarded a Greyhound bus headed west and disappeared.

A tipster told officials Yancey was in Punta Gorda, Belize. That tipster, whom authorities refused to identify, stands to collect a $20,000 reward, officials said.

DeKalb deputies, working with the U.S. Marshals Service, located Yancey a week ago in a bar in Punta Gorda, a town of about 6,000 in southern Belize. He admitted he was the fugitive and was taken into custody.

Yancey will be held at the DeKalb jail, said Jeffrey Mann, chief deputy for the DeKalb Sheriff's Office.

When he will face a judge and what additional charges he may face are unknown, said Mann. "I will leave that up to the district attorney."

Coteau, LA: Murder suspect killed

BY JIM MUSTIAN
THE DAILY IBERIAN
The hunt for an alleged killer ended violently late Friday after lawmen gunned down 34-year-old Jonathan Scott Latham in Breaux Bridge. Latham, wanted for rape and murder in Iberia Parish and attempted murder in Vermilion Parish, reportedly sought to hide from the law in a crackhouse on Alva Drive near downtown.

Officials from several law enforcement agencies blocked off the road about 11:30 p.m. after investigators confirmed Latham’s whereabouts through confidential informants. After entering the house, officials “heard what appeared to be a gun shot and returned gun fire,” said Trooper David Anderson, a spokesman for the Louisiana State Police, which is investigating the shooting.

Anderson said it was not clear which agency was responsible for the shooting or how many shots were fired. St. Martin Parish Sheriff Ronnie Theriot declined to comment on the shooting.

The hunt for Latham, a convicted felon with an extensive criminal record, began late Thursday after he reportedly cut the throat of his girlfriend’s 17-year-old son at their mobile home in Erath. The victim of that attack was treated for his injuries and released Friday from a local hospital.

Several hours later in Coteau, Latham reportedly killed his girlfriend’s grandfather, 78-year-old Oscar E. Figueroa Sr., and raped and beat the man’s 11-year-old great-granddaughter in their house on Fremin Road.

The girl survived the attack and telephoned authorities, running out into the driveway when deputies arrived before 7 a.m., said Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal. She was taken to a Lafayette hospital with serious injuries. Ackal said Saturday the girl was on a ventilator.

Latham, meanwhile, fled the scene in Figueroa’s car, trading it for the vehicle he reportedly stole in Vermilion Parish the night before.

The motive for Latham’s alleged rampage remained unclear, but authorities, as well as the man’s neighbors in Erath, said he had been under the influence of drugs since Thursday. Latham also was laid off from his offshore job recently and behind on rent, said his landlord, Keith Hebert.

The bloodshed in Coteau shocked many residents who looked on nervously Friday morning as officials investigated the crime scene at the pink house on Fremin Road. Neighbor David Guidry said the area has experienced a rash of criminal activity of late, including at least one break-in earlier in the week.

“I don’t even want to go outside at night anymore,” Guidry said. “This is too close to home for me.”

Family members stood outside crying in disbelief.

“I just lost my mother a year ago,” said Figueroa’s oldest daughter Josie. “He was one of the best people I’ve ever known. You won’t find anyone who won’t say that about him.”

Euless, TX: Kansas man gets life sentence for killing estranged wife in Euless

Posted Friday, Sep. 25, 2009
BY MARTHA DELLER
mdeller@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH — A Kansas man was sentenced Thursday to life in prison after a Tarrant County jury convicted him of the rape-slaying of his estranged wife nearly two years ago.

Jerome Overstreet, 52, was tried on charges of capital murder in the death of Vicki Overstreet, 51. She was killed about a month after she fled to Euless to escape her abusive husband.

Jurors deliberated nearly six hours before returning a guilty verdict about 9 p.m. in the 213th District Court, prosecutor Robert Foran said. State District Judge Louis Sturns sentenced Overstreet to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the only sentence possible because prosecutors waived the death penalty.

After the verdict, Vicki Overstreet’s weeping son, Lamont Webb, recounted the loss to her family, including her elderly parents, who came from Kansas for the trial, Foran said.

Vicki Overstreet was found dead in her Euless apartment Nov. 12, 2007, three days after she was last seen alive, leaving her job at Hawker Beechcraft in Grapevine. Concerned that he hadn’t heard from his mother in days, her son asked officers to check on her.

The medical examiner ruled that Vicki Overstreet was smothered, said Foran, co-counsel with lead prosecutor Alan Levy. Because of decomposition, it could not be determined whether she was strangled, he said.

Jerome Overstreet was not arrested until June 2008 because authorities were awaiting test results, including from DNA.

During the trial, witnesses testified that Vicki Overstreet left Wichita, Kan., to get away from her husband, whom she met while doing ministry in the prison where he was an inmate, Foran said.

Although witnesses testified that Jerome Overstreet physically abused his wife during their 11-year marriage, he had visited her several times in Euless and had made another trip there to reconcile with her the weekend she died. Authorities believe that Jerome Overstreet killed her because she changed her mind about reconciling.

Questioned about his wife’s murder, Jerome Overstreet denied even being in Euless the weekend she died, Foran said.

But investigators obtained cellphone records, a Kroger surveillance tape and store receipts placing the defendant within a mile of his wife’s apartment shortly after she was last seen, Foran said.

Forensic experts also matched carpet fibers, glitter and beads found in a vacuum canister in Jerome Overstreet’s Wichita home to carpet from his wife’s apartment and glitter and beads from her clothing, he said.

And DNA experts matched Jerome Overstreet’s semen to that found on the carpet in his wife’s apartment, Foran said.

Defense attorney Steven King did not return phone calls seeking comment about the trial.

Foran said King did not challenge the validity of the scientific tests. King has said the fact that the couple were trying to reconcile could explain the evidence found in Vicki Overstreet’s apartment.

King has said that Jerome Overstreet did not murder his wife and that someone else might have come in after he left the apartment.

Mount Airy, MD: Mount Airy Man Kills Wife, 2 Children, Himself in Home

MOUNT AIRY, Md. -A home-improvement worker and school janitor who apparently was struggling to survive the recession killed his sleeping wife and two children before turning the 12-gauge shotgun on himself, Maryland State Police said Saturday.
Charles L. Dalton, 38, left no suicide note and police haven't clearly identified a motive for the murders, spokesman Greg Shipley said.
"It is possible that financial difficulties were part of the motive," he said.
Police announced the findings one day after the bodies of Dalton, his wife Jennifer, 37, and their children Charles Jr., 14, and Emmaline, 7, were found in their home in Mount Airy, a Fredrick County town of 8,800 about 30 miles west of Baltimore.
Shipley said the bodies of Jennifer Dalton and the children were found in their beds. Charles Dalton's body was lying in the master bedroom next to the bed, he said.
Dalton also fatally shot the family's beagle in a crate inside the home's front door, he said.
Investigators believe the deaths occurred Thursday night or Friday morning. Shipley said Jennifer Dalton failed to report to her part-time job at a veterinary hospital in Damascus, prompting co-workers to try to contact her starting at 8:30 a.m. Friday. No one answered their calls or came to the door.
A family friend called 911 at about 5:30 p.m. Friday after spotting a body through a rear window of the split-level house, Shipley said.
Charles Dalton was a self-employed cabinet installer who ran his business, Imagine Millwork, out of his home. He also worked the night shift as a maintenance worker for Montgomery County schools, Shipley said.
The house, on a corner lot in a modest, middle-class neighborhood, had a "for sale" sign out front. It had been on the market for at least a year, neighbors said.
Kenneth Matthews, a security worker who also runs a carpet-cleaning business out of his home a few doors down, said Dalton had been scraping by in the weak economy.
"He was struggling, just like me," Matthews said. "We're probably running about 40 percent of where we were last year."
Matthews said the Daltons were quiet, churchgoing people who kept largely to themselves. A whitewashed rock in front of the house bore two Bible verses: "We will serve the Lord" and "God is our rock."
Neighbors and others placed stuffed animals and flowers on the front porch, near the children's bicycles and a scooter, to remember the family.
"We're just showing our respect," said Erica Mason, who had walked over with her husband and two young daughters to place a white teddy bear on the property. She said the deaths hit "pretty close to home — we're a family of four."
Tanya Miller came from her house a half-mile away. "I just wanted to walk around and say a prayer for them," she said.
There have been at least four other family murder-suicides in Maryland in the last 2 1/2 years — three involving Frederick County residents.
In April, a Middletown man killed his wife and their three children before shooting himself.
On Thanksgiving 2007, a Frederick man fatally shot his ex-wife and their three children during a custody hand-off in a Montgomery County park.
In April 2007, a Montgomery County father hanged his two young children before committing suicide in rural Boyds.
In March 2007, a Frederick man killed his wife and four children before hanging himself in the family's town house.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Lancaster, PA: Pa. man gets life for wife's murder in swim pool

The Associated Press

LANCASTER, Pa. - A central Pennsylvania funeral director has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering his wife.

Michael Roseboro was sentenced Friday in Lancaster County Court for killing his wife in the swimming pool behind their Reinholds home in July 2008.

The 42-year-old Roseboro had been director of his family's funeral business. He was convicted of first-degree murder two months ago.

Authorities say he wanted to be with his mistress without a messy divorce.

Before Judge James Cullen imposed the mandatory life sentence, Roseboro said he disagreed with the jury's verdict.

District Attorney Craig Stedman described the murder of Jan Roseboro, a 45-year-old mother of four children, as "selfish and senseless."

,,,

Tallahassee, FL: Man Charged With Killing Ex-Girlfriend Gets Life in Prison Terrell Robinson was sentenced to life without parole.

Posted: 11:33 AM Dec 7, 2009
Reporter: Heather Biance
Email Address: heather.biance@wctv.tv
Robinson Sentenced to Life without Parole

Updated 10:30 pm. 12.7.09

It's a tragic love story filled with lies, manipulation and eventually murder.

And Monday, the man who admitted to killing 25-year-old Elisabeth Killam just weeks after they broke up, will be behind bars for the rest of his life.

It's been just seventy-five days since Elisabeth Killam was found strangled to death by a man she knew and trusted, her ex-boyfriend Terrell Robinson.

The 36-year-old broke down just days after he admitted to strangling a pregnant Killam for at least five solid minutes and asking for the swiftest and harshest punishment possible.

On Monday, Robinson forfeited his right to a trial, saying he didn't want to prolong the inevitable.

I don't want to drag anybody through any more further torment through this situation. I'm hurting because of it, her family's hurting because of it, my family, everybody involved in this is hurting. There's just no need to be drug on."

With tears in their eyes, Killam's mother: "Our loss and our grief are still so fresh," her father: "I feel a physical pain like a huge part of my heart has been ripped out of my chest" and sister spoke to the courtroom expressing the grief they've experienced since they learned of her gruesome death.

"I will always imagine the terror, panic, betrayal, desperation and pain as she struggled to take one last breath," says Elisabeth's sister, Allison Killam.

Robinson held his head in his hands at several points throughout the afternoon, offering his verbal apologies to the Killam family, but knowing it will never be enough.

The state did not pursue charges in the death of Killam's unborn baby.

Killam's parents say they will accept their daughter's diploma at this weekend's FSU graduation ceremony.

--------------------------------------------
Updated 3:10p.m 12-7

36-year-old Terrell Robinson was sentenced to life without parole Monday afternoon.

Robinson will now be behind bars for life for the murder of 25-year-old Elisabeth Killam which happened on September 23rd.

It was an emotional hearing as Elizabeth's mom,father and sister spoke to the courtroom about their lost loved one.

Since being arrested, Robinson has tried to make this as quick of a process as possible, accepting the sentencing without going to trial.

Robinson expressed his apologies to Elizabeth's family and says that he doesn't want to drag this on for them or for himself and will accept punishment for what he did.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A man who pleaded guilty to first degree murder in the strangulation of his girlfriend is expected to be sentenced Monday afternoon.

Terrell Robinson says he murdered her in her Chartre Oaks apartment on September 25th.

The 36-year-old told the judge at his plea hearing, he was "completely and absolutely guilty" of the murder of his girlfriend, 25-year-old Elisabeth Killam.

Arrest papers say Robinson strangled Killam after confronting her about her involvement with an ex-boyfriend.

We'll have the outcome of his sentencing tonight on Eyewitness News and WCTV.TV.



By David Sáez
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

10:20 A.M.

Terrell Lee Robinson, 36, has been arrested on charges of murder and robbery in connection with the death of Florida State University junior Elisabeth Killam, 25, said Tallahassee Police Department spokesman David McCranie.

TPD officers found Killam dead Wednesday afternoon at Chartre Oaks apartments, 2001 Belle Vue Way.

A TPD report said Robinson admitted to choking Killam because he was jealous of a relationship she had with another man. Robinson and Killam lived together and were romantically involved, according to the report.

When officers arrived at the apartment Wednesday in response to reports of a possible murder, they knocked on the apartment door but did not receive an answer. They forced the front door open and found Killam dead in her bedroom, McCranie said.

Robinson was also in the apartment semiconscious. He was taken to a local hospital, and officers believe he may have attempted suicide by ingesting medication.

Investigators from TPD's violent-crimes unit gathered physical evidence and interviewed neighbors. They found that Robinson had been living with Killam in her apartment and the two were romantically involved.

Investigator Angie Boothe interviewed Robinson, and he said he was jealous of Killam's relationship with another man and choked her to death during a confrontation, according to a TPD report.

Robinson is being held in the Leon County Jail without bond on charges of murder, robbery and two outstanding violation of probation warrants issued by the Bay County Sheriff's Office.

6:44 a.m.

Terrell Lee Robinson, 36, has been arrested on charges of murder and robbery and was booked into the Leon County Jail Thursday night, according jail records.

Robinson was being held by the Tallahassee Police Department in connection with the murder of Florida State University junior Elisabeth Killam.

TPD found Killam dead Wednesday afternoon at the Chartre Oaks apartments.

Robinson was also on the scene and had been taken to a local hospital for injuries.

Robinson was arrested by TPD and booked into jail at 8:17 p.m. on Thursday. He has been charged with murder and robbery without a firearm or weapon.

Return to Tallahassee.com for more on this story.

Man held in death of FSU student

Local authorities are pursuing murder charges and have taken a man into custody as part of an investigation into the death of Florida State University student Elisabeth Killam.

Killam, 25, of Venice, was identified Thursday as the woman who Tallahassee police found dead Wednesday afternoon at the Chartre Oaks apartments, 2001 Belle Vue Way.

An autopsy established that Killam's injuries pointed to homicide as the cause of death, TPD spokesman Officer David McCranie said. He declined to provide further information about how the student was killed because the case remains under investigation.

Police have taken Terrell Lee Robinson, 36, into custody, McCranie said. Robinson was the man who police found injured in the apartment with Killam. Robinson was treated at a local hospital and released, McCranie said. He and Killam lived in the apartment and had a relationship, McCranie said.

Robinson is listed as a wanted person on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Web site.

McCranie said that investigators believe only Killam and Robinson were involved in the incident. Charges are pending, McCranie said. Investigators are consulting with the State Attorney's Office on the investigation.

Robinson was listed as an absconder and fugitive in the Department of Corrections' offender database. He was sentenced in Bay County to five years of community supervision in January for charges of forged checks and grand theft. The database also indicates that Robinson received a six-year sentence for aggravated battery intended to harm in an offense that occurred in 1994. He was also sentenced to two years for burglary and grand theft.

The database shows he had been incarcerated from March 9, 1995 until August 1, 1996, and then again from Nov. 13, 1997, to Oct. 6, 2000.

Joe Blackwood was visiting a friend at the apartments and met Robinson and Killam at the pool on Tuesday.

"It was the first time I met them," he said. "I would've not even known they were together. There was no arguing; everything was cool."

Killam was a junior at FSU enrolled in the College of Visual Arts, Theatre and Dance.

According to her My-Space page, the last person to post a message on her site was someone identified as Terrell Robinson. It was posted on Tuesday morning.

The site lists Killam's interests, among them pottery, drawing, music from artists such as Ben Harper and Ani DiFranco, movies "The Notebook" and "The Wedding Singer," television shows "South Park" and "Family Guy," and books by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

In an area titled "Heroes," Killam lists her mother: "(She) is the strongest woman I have ever known, always looking out for her own happiness. She takes crap from no one. I try to have this strength in myself."

Killam's parents were reached in Venice by telephone, but they declined to say anything except that they were still waiting to hear more information about what authorities think led to their daughter's death.

High Falls, GA: Bodies identified in Monroe County apparent murder-suicide

By Phillip Ramati - pramati@macon.com


Two bodies from an apparent murder-suicide found Wednesday in north Monroe County were identified by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation late Thursday afternoon, officials from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said.
According to GBI fingerprint analysis, the bodies were identified as Tim George Maza, 55, and Christina Mae Reeves, 42.

They were found in their mobile home in High Falls by a neighbor. Allison Willis, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office, said they were a common-law couple who had previous domestic issues.
Preliminary results of the investigation suggest that Reeves died from a gunshot wound to the head while Maza died from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. There was no suicide note found at the crime scene, Willis said.
Based on the decomposition of the bodies, the shootings could have taken place last weekend, she said.
Willis said there was an open domestic violence case involving the couple that was being investigated.

Cameron County, TX: Jury deliberates sentence of Harlingen man found guilty of killing ex-wife

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September 24, 2009 8:48 PM
By LAURA B. MARTINEZ, The Brownsville Herald


Hours after a Cameron County jury found a Harlingen man guilty of murdering his ex-wife, they continued to deliberate his sentence.

The jury deliberated for about six hours Wednesday and Thursday before finding Pascual de la Rosa, 41, guilty in the August 2008 stabbing death of Norma de la Rosa, 38. Jurors were scheduled to resume deliberations today.

The Cameron County District Attorney’s Office is asking that Pascual de la Rosa be sentenced to no less than 75 years in prison. The defense requested the jury look at the range of punishment and assess what jurors think is best.

Pascual de la Rosa showed no emotion as state District Judge David Sanchez read the jury’s decision finding him guilty of murder. However, as the attorneys began the punishment phase of de la Rosa‘s murder trial, he was visibly shaken, wiping away tears.

Authorities said Pascual de la Rosa stabbed his ex-wife multiple times outside a friend’s house at 3505 W. Bowie Ave. in rural Cameron County.

The two had been arguing prior to the deadly attack.

Neighbors, before the trial, described Pascual de la Rosa as a "harmless drunk" and said his actions were out of character.

Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio previously said a witness described how he saw Pascual de la Rosa stab Norma de la Rosa multiple times outside the home.

Norma de la Rosa, who authorities said was partially blind, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Pascual de la Rosa was apprehended in a wooded area, soon after the killing.

On Thursday defense attorney Peter Gilman said Pascual de la Rosa killed his ex-wife in "sudden passion," after learning that a family member had been sexually assaulted by a man living with Norma de la Rosa and that she did nothing about it.

"Norma was playing with his heart and mind. She didn’t handle this situation very well," Gilman said.

"Something exploded in him (Pascual de la Rosa) to do this act, that is sudden passion," Gilman said. "This was someone he cared for very fondly."

A pathologist on Wednesday testified that Norma de la Rosa had been stabbed 19 times and that many of the stab wounds were in her upper-chest area.

According to court testimony, she was stabbed in the face, her chest and in the back of her head. She also had three defense wounds to her arms and hands.

State prosecutor Ismael Hinojosa described Pascual de la Rosa as a "coward and a cold-blooded killer," who wasn’t concerned about his relative’s rape.

Hinojosa said Pascual de la Rosa was told about the rape three to four months prior to killing his ex-wife, which indicates that murdering her was not a crime of passion.

"What did she do to deserve this?"Hinojosa asked. "There is no good way to die. Can you think of any way worse than to watch yourself bleed to death?"

"There is no excuse for murder. This was cold and calculated, not sudden passion," Hinojosa said.

Testifying Thursday was Norma de la Rosa’s daughter, who said the last words her mother told her were to take care of the other children and tell her parents that she loved them.

"She was a really good mom. She was my hero," Linda Lee de la Rosa said.

Tucson, AZ: Sheriff's: Man kills wife then turns gun on himself on northwest side

ARIZONA DAILY STAR
A man and his wife were found dead in their northwest-side home Thursday night after an apparent murder-suicide, authorities said.
Margaret Ann McCormick, 49, and Gary Joseph McCormick, 57, were found dead from gunshot wounds at a home in the 5500 block of North Cumberland Drive, said Deputy Dawn Barkman, a Pima County sheriff’s spokeswoman.
Deputies went to the home, near North La Cañada Drive and West River Road, just before 9 p.m. on a report of a shooting, Barkman said.
She said it appears Gary McCormick shot his wife during an argument before killing himself. The couple’s adult daughter was present at the time of the shooting and ran from the home and called 911.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Las Vegas, NV: Police: Man, 86, Kills Wife Then Shoots Himself

Woods In Critical Condition At Sunrise Hospital
POSTED: 3:43 pm PDT September 24, 2009
UPDATED: 4:29 pm PDT September 24, 2009
LAS VEGAS -- There has been yet another murder-attempted suicide in the Las Vegas Valley.
This time, the victim was an elderly woman, and police said the shooter was her own husband. Police have identified him as Joseph Woods, 86.
Neighbors on South 10th Street said they were shocked because they said they were a sweet couple.
“A family member had entered and discovered their elderly parents in bed," said Metro homicide Sgt. Russ Shoemaker.
Police said Woods shot his 80-year-old wife and then tried to kill himself.
“The mother appeared to have suffered a gunshot wound to her torso and was deceased when paramedics arrived, and the father had sustained a gunshot wound as well," Shoemaker said.
Police said the shootings occurred sometime between Wednesday evening and just before 7 a.m. Thursday in the 1800 block of South 10th Street. Police said they arrived to find the couple in the bed bleeding -- with a gun nearby.
An arrest report said the couple was found by family members who had come to the residence to care for them. The woman had a gunshot wound to her back, and Woods had what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his torso.
Woods was still breathing when paramedics arrived. Police said he is being treated at Sunrise Hospital and was in critical condition on Thursday afternoon.
“His prognosis is unknown. We don't know if he's going to survive or not," Shoemaker said.
Woods was arrested and booked in absentia at the Clark County Detention Center on a charge of murder with a deadly weapon, the report said.
Neighbors said the couple was Joe and Kay Woods. They said she was quiet, yet friendly, and he was jovial guy and did not seem violent.
“That's not him. From what I know, that's not him, so something happened. I have no idea," said neighbor Jeffery Felton.
Felton said the incident is now making him wonder about everyone -- especially his own neighbors.
“You don’t really know. Things happen. You don’t really know your friends,” Felton said.
This was the fifth murder-suicide or attempted murder-suicide just this month, and they have all involved couples. Police said the couple's son lived with them, but it's not clear whether he was home during the shooting.
Police said they are withholding the identity of the victim pending positive identification and notification of next of kin.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555 or Metro’s Homicide Section at 702-828-3521.

Burnsville, NC: Two dead, one wounded in Yancey murder-suicide

Dale Neal

A Yancey County man fatally shot himself in the head in front of deputies after killing his neighbor and seriously wounding his estranged wife at a home off Bearwallow Road late Wednesday.

Yancey sheriff deputies responded to 286 Bearwallow Road around 9:35 p.m. Wednesday after a 911 call from a woman who said she had been shot.

Deputies found Thomas Marion Griffith 52, lying in the driveway leading to a garage near his house. Griffith was dead from gunshot wounds to his head and upper torso, according to Lt. Thomas Farmer of the Yancey County Sheriff’s Department.

In the woods, officers found Richard Lee Buchanan, 61, armed with several handguns. "They begged him to drop the weapons,” Farmer said. But Buchanan refused and instead raised a gun to his head and shot himself in front of the deputies.

Buchanan was flown to Memorial Mission Hospital where died at 4:10 a.m. today.

Other officers made their way to Griffin’s home where they found Monalisa Phillips 37, suffering from at least two gunshot wounds to her chest area. Also inside the house was her 7 year old son who was not harmed during the incident.

Phillips and her son had barricaded themselves in the bathroom when several shots were fired into the house, Farmer said.

Phillips had been married to Buchanan for 18 months, but had recently separated, moving out of the house at 145 Bearwallow Road. She taken out a restraining order on Buchanan on Aug. 31, Farmer said.

“Richard and Tom had known each other and had been friends. They all knew each other,” Farmer said.

Phillips was transported by air ambulance to Johnson City Medical Center in Johnson City, Tennessee where she underwent surgery for multiple gunshot wounds. Preliminary reports indicate that Phillips is expected to recover.

Farmer said the investigation is continuing with the assistance of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the North Carolina Highway Patrol in the investigation.

Belle Glade, FL: Couple's Children Inside Apartment At Time Of Shooting

POSTED: 9:09 pm EDT September 23, 2009
UPDATED: 4:54 pm EDT September 24, 2009
BELLE GLADE, Fla. -- Palm Beach County sheriff's deputies said a man shot his girlfriend before killing himself while their two young children were inside their Belle Glade apartment.
Deputies were called to a shooting in the 2300 block of Palm Glade Drive shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday.
When deputies arrived, they found the man dead and the woman wounded. She was airlifted to Delray Medical Center in critical condition.
The couple's two boys, ages 1 and 3, were inside the apartment at the time of the shooting but were not injured.
Detectives said the shooting was the result of a domestic dispute.
"The female had returned from grocery shopping," sheriff's office spokeswoman Teri Barbera said. "When she got home, there was an altercation (and) shots were fired."
Deputies had been called to the residence on a number of occasions because of past domestic disputes. The latest call came Tuesday night.
"They've been arguing back and forth for like a week and a half," a neighbor told WPBF 25 News.

I.B. Robertson says his son was "under a great deal of pressure" and "wasn't able to deal with it."
Deputies said the children are staying with relatives.
The names of the victims have not been released, but WPBF 25 News reporter Jim Abath spoke to a man who claimed to be the father of the gunman.
I.B. Robertson said his son, Isaac, had been in "a rocky relationship" with his girlfriend. Robertson said his son was "under a great deal of pressure" and "wasn't able to deal with it."
"He was doing everything he could to try to make it work and sometimes, you know, you can do everything you can and then that's still not enough," Robertson said.

University Park, TX: University Park police investigate apparent murder-suicide

01:06 PM CDT on Thursday, September 24, 2009

By JORDAN HOFEDITZ / The Dallas Morning News
University Park police are investigating an apparent murder-suicide this morning.

4000 block of Purdue Street in University Park
The bodies of Roscoe Halcomb, 66, and Mary Halcomb, 59, were discovered Wednesday evening after a relative had not heard from the couple in a few days and went to check on them, police said.

Their bodies were discovered in a home in the 4000 block of Purdue Street about 10 p.m. Both suffered gunshot wounds, police said.

Neighbor Mikee Smythe said the couple had brought her a pie when she and her family first moved into the neighborhood two years ago.

Smythe said Roscoe Halcomb went by the name "Spud" and that he dealt in antiquities and traveled frequently. She said Mary Halcomb worked in the jewelry business.

Smythe said she heard Roscoe Halcomb last night and that her young daughter later saw flashing lights outside their home as police and medical crews arrived.

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Olympia, WA: Man kills ex-girlfriend, shoots self at Olympia

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The Thurston County sheriff's office says a man walked into a farm market near Olympia and killed his ex-girlfriend who worked there before turning the shotgun on himself.

Deputy Dave Pearsall says the woman died at the scene Thursday morning at Lattin's Country Cider Mill and Farm.

The man was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle in critical condition.

The Country Cider Mill Web site says it's a family owned farm that sells apple cider, eggs, pies and seasonal fruit and produce.

Chula Vista, CA: Estranged husband held after stabbing attack

By Karen Kucher
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
9:25 a.m. September 24, 2009

CHULA VISTA – The estranged husband of a woman staying with relatives is accused of entering the family home and stabbing two people in an early morning attack Thursday, leaving one victim in critical condition, police said.

Police responding to a report of an intruder at a home on Pineridge Court near Cumbre View around 1:45 a.m. found a man and a woman suffering from stab wounds and a man being detained by family members, said police Lt. Gary Ficacci.

The intruder turned out to be the estranged husband of a woman who was temporarily staying at the home.

Police said the man entered through an unlocked back door and either was confronted by or attacked his brother-in-law inside the home. The victim suffered critical knife wounds and is being treated at a trauma center, Ficacci said. The intruder's sister-in-law also fought with the man and was wounded, although not as seriously, Ficacci said.

The rest of the family fought with the man, finally subduing him before officers arrived. The man was injured and is being treated at a hospital.

“I think they hit him with everything they could find,” Ficacci said.

He will be arrested on several charges, including suspicion of burglary and assault with a deadly weapon, the lieutenant said.

The man's estranged wife was in the home with her 2-year-old child. They were not injured.

Chula Vista police requested a Vietnamese translator from the San Diego Police Department to assist with interviews in the case

Richmond, VA: Man says girlfriend’s slaying fueled by jealousy

By BILL MCKELWAY

Published: September 24, 2009

Rice Jamerson

A runaway killer arrested by state police last year told a Henrico County judge this week that he killed his live-in girlfriend in a jealous rage.

But the wounds suffered by 22-year-old Melissa Jamerson spoke to more brutal violence. Forensics evidence showed that she suffered from 25 stab wounds to the neck.

Jamerson's body was discovered Nov. 2 in an upstairs bedroom of the couple's apartment at 9001 Patterson Ave. after state police arrested Justin L. Rice, now 23, near Interstate 64 in Goochland County.

Drivers whose cars had been rammed by Rice, who was bleeding and barely conscious, followed him and called authorities.

Rice towered over Jamerson and outweighed her by more than 140 pounds. He told Circuit Judge Catherine C. Hammond on Tuesday that Jamerson threatened to leave him and planned to live with a former boyfriend, the father of her two young children.

"We don't have any reason to believe that was true," said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney David Stock.

Hammond convicted Rice of second-degree murder and set sentencing for Dec. 8. He faces up to 40 years in prison.

Prosecutors argued that Rice exploded after learning that Jamerson was meeting with the former boyfriend and simply assumed the worst. Testimony showed that the meeting was to arrange child-support payments, Stock said.

Rice attacked Jamerson sometime the evening of Nov. 1, repeatedly stabbing her in the apartment they'd shared since August. He was arrested the next day.

Authorities believe Jamerson was probably on her back during the attack. Rice fled and cut himself repeatedly on the arms, telling officers and a Henrico detective that he wanted to bleed to death.

But he had also bandaged his wounds and became incoherent when being questioned in a hospital.

Pittsburgh, PA: Pa. man kills self after police standoff

The Associated Press

PITTSBURGH - Police in the Pittsburgh suburb of Mount Lebanon say a man who barricaded himself inside his home has killed himself.

Police say officers were trying to serve a protection from abuse order on the 51-year-old man Wednesday afternoon but he had a gun and officers backed off and requested backup. Police attempted to negotiate with the man but he broke off contact at around 6:15 p.m.

When police entered his home, they found him dead.

Several nearby schools went into lockdown during the standoff.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

New Rochelle, NY: Cops: New Rochelle man, 78, kills ailing wife

Leslie Korngold, Aman Ali and Will David
wdavid@lohud.com

NEW ROCHELLE - A 78-year-old New Rochelle man killed his ill wife this morning after promising to not put her in a nursing home, New Rochelle police Commissioner Patrick Carroll said today.

Paul Weinstein, a 12th-floor resident of a senior citizen building at 35 Maple Ave., calmly with no anger shot his wife, Helena, in the head in their bedroom around 11:15 a.m., Carroll said.

The woman, also in her 70s, had a list of illnesses that were long term, Carroll explained but did not detail.

They had agreed she would not go into a nursing home, he said.

Police talked the man out of killing himself through the couple's barricaded apartment door. Police spoke with him for about 15 minutes.

Weinstein was taken into custody shortly after 11:30 a.m.

He will be charged with at least manslaughter, Carroll said.

"They are always together. They never seemed to have any problems," said Mike Rush, a 10-year resident of the building who said he knew the couple well.

"As a matter of fact," he said, "they were so quiet you sometmes never knew they lived there."

San Antonio, TX: Husband kills wife, but not self; police dispute suicide pact rumors

Police said an elderly man's claims he failed to follow through in a murder-suicide pact with his wife are false. The man talked to KENS 5's Marvin Hurst.

John Philip Benzing told police that he and his 79-year-old wife had a murder-suicide pact but after he killed her, he wasn't able to go through with killing himself. Investigators said they do not believe any sort of pact was in place. They think Benzing just snapped under the pressures of caring for a wife who had schizophrenia.

"They could say I was temporarily insanity (insane) or flipped out or whatever," said Benzing. "I don't exactly remember what happened."

Police tell KENS 5 that the woman was stabbed multiple times and that a hammer was also used to kill the woman; Benzing did not appear to have any injuries. According to a warrant filed in this case, both weapons were found in the room where the elderly woman lay beaten and stabbed in the couple's bed.

"Yes, I'm sorry about what happened to my wife," the murder suspect said.

According to police, the woman had been sick for a lengthy period of time. In fact, they said she was schizophrenic. Her husband claimed she'd been a victim of abuse from a former husband and from other family members.

Benzing has been arrested and charged with murder. His bond is set at $250,000. He claimed he was a victim of his wife's abuse. But the 59-year-old said his wife's murder was not an act of revenge.

"Even though all the abuse I got all those years I love her," he said. "I still love her."

Officers said they have been called to this particular home on a number of occasions. During one search, two dozen cats were also found inside the home.

Gretna, LA: Man kills wife, self in Gretna murder-suicide

Last Update: 10:52 am
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Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office (FOX 8 News)
Gretna – A woman is dead after her husband shot her in the head before turning the gun on himself, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand said.

Police were called to the 500 block of Wall Boulevard around 8 a.m. on Tuesday to investigate a possible double shooting.

Deputies discovered a 38-year-old woman lying near the breezeway suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. A short distance away, deputies found a 42-year-old man also with a gunshot wound to the head. The man and the woman were pronounced dead on the scene.

Detectives determined that the man shot the woman and then turned the gun on himself. A 9mm handgun was found near the man’s body, Normand said.

Deputies say the suspect and victim were married, but recently separated. The suspect had recently been served with a protective custody order, Normand said.

The identities of the man and woman are being withheld until next of kin has been notified.

Kermit, WV: Estranged Husband Charged in Mingo Co.Woman's Death

A Mingo County woman is dead and how her estranged husband is charged with her murder.

The body of Michelle Stroud was found by a family member Tuesday afternoon in a wooded area on Newsome Ridge between Dingess and Kermit. The body was concealed in an old refrigerator. The location is about five miles from Stroud’s home.

The 29-year old mother of one was reported missing by her family back on Monday when she failed to return from dropping off her son at school.

Tuesday night, Mingo County authorities arrested her husband, Roger Stroud in connection with her murder. Relatives say the two were in the process of getting a divorce.

Epping, NH: 14 years later, man's attack may be murder State: '05 death is result of injuries

By Margot Sanger-Katz
Monitor staff
September 23, 2009


TRENT SPINER / Pool photo
Walter Hutchinson
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A Rockingham County jury is considering whether a brutal attack can constitute a murder if it takes more than a decade for the inflicted injuries to result in death.

Prosecutors argue that Walter Hutchinson murdered Kimberly Ernest during a prolonged assault in 1991, even though Ernest lived in a near-vegetative state for 14 years before she died from complications.

Hutchinson's lawyers say that Ernest, while disabled by her injuries, was killed by an intervening illness, and Hutchinson isn't responsible.

"Is there a connection between Walter and his brutal acts and her death?" public defender Caroline Smith asked in an opening statement yesterday. "Absolutely. But that does not answer the question. The question is did he cause, directly and substantially, her death."

Hutchinson has already been convicted of attempted murder, after acknowledging that he beat and choked his ex-girlfriend at his Epping home.

Ernest died in 2005, and prosecutors brought new charges, alleging that Hutchinson is guilty of first- or second-degree murder for his violent attack. In the state's opening statement, Assistant Attorney General Lucy Carrillo told jurors that Ernest's injuries were essentially terminal and that the victim died from predictable complications.
"There was no other cause of death," Carrillo said. "She didn't die of cancer. She didn't die of any other disease. There was no other cause. She died as a direct result of the defendant's attack."

Hutchinson's lawyers had already raised legal objections to the prosecution. They argued before the state Supreme Court that the new charges violate Hutchinson's constitutional rights because they amount to a retrying of the same crime. At the time of his indictment on the murder charge, Hutchinson had been scheduled for release after serving 15 years of a 15- to 30-year sentence for attempted murder. The high court ruled against Hutchinson, saying that Ernest's death made a second prosecution permissible.

The murder trial will focus largely on medical testimony about the nature of Ernest's disability and the cascade of events that ultimately caused her death. The details of the attack are virtually undisputed by the defense. In lengthy testimony during his previous trial, Hutchinson described how, enraged, he beat, tied, chased and choked Ernest.

The central question laid out by the lawyers yesterday is whether Ernest's death was the predictable consequence of the attack, or whether she was medically stable before succumbing to a new health crisis.

Hutchinson's lawyers are also disputing the state's contention that Hutchinson planned to kill Ernest. According to Carrillo's opening statement, Hutchinson told several friends that he hoped to rape and murder Ernest in retaliation for alleged infidelity during their relationship.

One of those friends testified yesterday. Michael Miller told jurors how Hutchinson vented anger in the days before the assault.

"He said that he basically was so angry with her that he would like to tie her up to the bed, and rape her, and kill her, and bury her in the swamp," said Miller, a friend of Hutchinson's who lived down the street. Miller testified about how he visited the house the day of the attack and saw Ernest lying in Hutchinson's yard, bruised and gasping for air.

Miller said he was shocked.

"I just thought it was someone who was angry with someone," he said. "I didn't think he was the kind of person who would pull it off."

Smith told jurors that Hutchinson never planned to harm Ernest, but he became overwhelmed by emotion during an encounter the day of the attack. Smith said that friends had been telling Hutchinson that Ernest had betrayed him and was spreading vicious rumors about him.

"What he did was acting in pure emotion, grief, anger, anguish and rage, and that emotion fueled a frenzy that he just could not stop," Smith said.

In her opening statement, Carrillo pointed to objects found in Hutchinson's room as evidence that the murder was premeditated. She said that investigators found lengths of rope, telephone wire and a roll of duct tape. During the attack, she said, Hutchinson tied Ernest to the bed. But she escaped and climbed out of the bedroom window.

Hutchinson followed her outside, where he strangled her until she stopped struggling, Carrillo said.

"Only because Kimberly escaped out the window, did he have to change his plan," Carrillo said.

Several friends testified that they'd stopped by the house that afternoon, apparently during the attack. They said Hutchinson appeared angry and ordered them to leave. They did.

Family members knew that Ernest was going to Hutchinson's home that afternoon and became concerned when she didn't meet them afterwards. During tearful testimony, Ernest's sister, Bonnie Grenier, described what she saw when she and her husband eventually approached the house.

"There was an ambulance," Grenier said. "There was cops everywhere, and I just lost it. I started screaming. I got out of the car - I didn't even wait to park. I just got out, and I fell to the ground. And then I saw my mother, and they were bringing my sister out on a stretcher. It looked like she was dead."

The first days after the attack were devastating, Grenier said. But she said that she'd been able to maintain a relationship with her sister, despite her profound disabilities. According to Grenier, Ernest never spoke or walked again. Over the years, she learned to indicate yes and no answers by blinking her eyes, she regained some control over one arm, and she would laugh at jokes. Grenier said.

"We had fun," she said. "It was hard, but it was good."

During frequent visits, Grenier would tell her sister stories and celebrate holidays. Family members brought Ernest specially altered clothes so she wasn't dressed in hospital gowns. Nurses braided Ernest's hair and did her makeup every morning, Grenier said.

Then, after every visit, Grenier would cry in her car because she couldn't bring her sister home, she said.

Testimony will resume today.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Article: Louisiana women get murdered at highest rate in the U.S.

By Ramon Antonio Vargas, The Times-Picayune
September 22, 2009, 12:00PM
More women get murdered by men in Louisiana than anywhere else in the United States, according to a new report by the Violence Policy Center.
While the national rate of women being murdered by men stands at 1.30 per 100,000, Louisiana’s rate in 2007 was 2.53 per 100,000, highest in the nation, the report says. In second was Alaska with a rate of 2.44 per 100,000, and in third place was Wyoming at 2.33 per 100,000.
The report drew its information from the FBI’s unpublished Supplementary Homicide report. The most recent data available is from 2007.
That year, men killed 57 women in Louisiana. Seven victims were less than 18 years old. Four victims were 65 years of age or older. The victims’ average age was 36, according to the report.
Thirty-four of the victims died from gunshot wounds. Six were stabbed or cut to death; two were clubbed to death; and six were beaten to death.
"These findings alarmingly demonstrate how domestic violence can escalate to homicide," the center’s Legislative Director Kristen Rand said in a news release. "More resources need to be made available to protect women and prevent such tragedies."

Canton, MI: Police ID victim, shooter in Canton murder-suicide

By Brad Kadrich and Darrell Clem
Observer Staff Writers

A 33-year-old Canton woman was shot and killed, apparently by her husband, who turned the gun on himself in an apparent murder-suicide at the Canton Public Library Tuesday morning.

Canton Police say they responded to numerous calls about shots being fired in the parking lot around 9:16 a.m. and arrived to find the woman and her 36-year-old husband suffering from gunshot wounds.

The woman, identified as Patricia Catherine Williams, was transported to Annapolis Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival. The man, identified as Edward Gordon Williams II, was taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Ypsilanti, where police said he was placed on life support pending organ harvesting.

Canton Police Sgt. Mark Gajeski said the Patricia Williams was “shot at least twice” with a revolver.

“She was shot at least once in the head,” Gajeski said. ““He apparently then turned the gun on himself and shot himself once in the head.”

Gajeski said it didn’t appear as though anyone else had been injured. The Canton Library, located directly across the street from the Canton Police Department, closed its doors following the incident.

The couple, who lived on Wall Street, were no strangers to the police. Gajeski said police had been called to their home before on domestic calls, once as recently as last weekend.

Witnesses told the police Patricia Williams “was trying to get away from him,” Gajeski said. She had reportedly been traveling to the Canton Police Department at the time of the shooting. Police did not know how she’d ended up in the library parking lot.

Patricia Williams’ BMW and Edward Williams’ Dodge Charger were both still in the parking lot at the library. Police were searching the Charger.

According to Gajeski, both Williamses were members of the Detroit Police Department. She had been with the department for 15 years, he said; he didn’t say how long the husband had been with the department.

Patricia Williams is survived by a 10-year-old son from a previous marriage.

Crandon, WI: Memorial for shooting victims nearly done

Associated Press

9:48 AM CDT, September 22, 2009

CRANDON, Wis.


Nearly 50 contractors and other volunteers are nearly done with a memorial to the six young people who lost their lives when an off-duty sheriff's deputy opened fire at a house in Crandon.

The project's coordinator, Gary Mueller, says the stone gazebo and walkway should be done by Oct. 7, the second anniversary of the day the victims were killed.

Mueller says families of the victims have visited the volunteers, brought soda and otherwise given their support to the effort.

Tyler Peterson killed his former girlfriend, Jordanne Murray, and five others during a party at her home in Crandon on Oct. 7, 2007. Charles Neitzel was shot and wounded before Peterson killed himself.

Isleworth, FL: Isleworth shooting: Isleworth Country Club resident accused of shooting his wife

James Robert Ward is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of his wife at their multimillion-dollar Isleworth estate.

Walter Pacheco

Sentinel Staff Writer

1:19 PM EDT, September 22, 2009


Investigators today charged Isleworth Country Club resident James Robert Ward with second-degree murder in the shooting death of his wife, Diane Elizabeth Ward, at their multimillion-dollar estate.

"I just shot my wife . . . she's dead . . . she's on the floor of the master bedroom," Ward told 911 dispatch operators at 8 p.m. Monday, according to the arrest affidavit from the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

Authorities said it was a case of domestic violence, though they didn't provide many details. He is being held without bail at the Orange County Jail.

When deputies arrived at Ward's house at 5277 Isleworth Country Club Drive, the 61-year-old developer told them her body was in the second-floor bedroom.

Sheriff's deputies found Diane Ward, 55, on the floor and in a pool of blood.

She had a gunshot wound to her head, reports show.

Deputies confiscated a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum from the nightstand next to the couple's bed. Investigators did not confirm if it was the weapon used in the slaying.

It is unclear if the couple had an argument before the shooting. Investigators said they found broken glass and a spilled liquid on the floor of a back patio.

The Orlando Sentinel is searching for people who knew Diane Ward. Click here if you have information about the family you would like us to know.

A video on WFTV.com shows a red stain on the back of Ward's white polo when deputies escorted him into a patrol car.

A deputy asked Ward if wine or blood caused the stain, but Ward replied that he wanted to talk to his attorney before saying anything else.

Despite his previous comments to dispatch operators, Ward later tried telling deputies a different story.

Investigators at Ward's house overheard him telling someone over the phone that his wife had killed herself. He also told a deputy that he had tried taking the weapon away from her.

Court records show Ward is a former chairman and founder of Land Resource, an Orlando-based community development company that filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2008.

The company closed six sales offices in five states and laid off 70 people.

Its $15.6 million in assets were auctioned off in January.

Court records show the house in the tony Isleworth Country Club neighborhood of multimillion dollar mansions and celebrity residents is in foreclosure.

Orange County Property Appraiser records show Ward purchased the home in February 2007 for $4.3 million.

The 8,858-square-foot mansion is valued at $3.5 million. A real estate agency's Web site shows the home is listed for $5.2 million.

As of July, Ward owed $3.6 million on his home. Wachovia Mortgage Corp. was in the process of foreclosing, according to court records.

He had not paid the monthly mortgage payment of $16,841 -- an amount that includes principal and interest -- since September 2008, records show.

The case is still pending in court.

A profile of Ward on Land Resource's old Web site says he has been a "leader in residential real estate development and mortgage banking" for 30 years.

"Prior to founding Land Resource, Bob was President of the Eastern Division of the Bluegreen Corporation, a major developer and operator of timeshare resorts,'' the Web site said. "Bob has also held the position of President and General Manager of Fairfield Communities, Inc.'s Pointe Alexis development in Florida."

Isleworth Country Club is one of Orange County's most expensive and prestigious gated neighborhoods.

Records also show golf legend Arnold Palmer owned Ward's home in the early 1990s.

Golf super star Tiger Woods, as well as sports stars Shaquille O'Neal and Grant Hill live in the lavish 300-home subdivision.

Former Hughes Supply Inc. CEO Tom Morgan and the estate of car dealer Bob Dance also have homes in Isleworth.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Rockhold, KY: Man allegedly beats girlfriend, kills himself

By Adam S. Sulfridge / Staff Writer

Glenna Woods opened her front door around 8:30 a.m. Sunday to a sight she won’t soon forget after 31-year-old Kenneth “Beak” Ingram Jr. allegedly beat 20-year-old Samantha Miller nearly to death.

“When you open your door and all you see is a bloody face looking at you and you aren’t sure what it is or what just happened outside, it’s a traumatic experience,” Woods explained.

Miller allegedly fled from her trailer near the Rockholds community, crossed Hwy. 779, and started “banging” on Woods’ front door. Woods, who was getting ready for church at the time, said she was stunned when she opened the door.

“She was just so bloody that I hardly recognized her.”

Ultimately, she realized the victim was Miller.

“I recognized her from her one eye,” Woods said.

Woods, still shaken from the early morning events, attempted to describe the horrific image, saying, “It looked like she had a hole above her left eye…it would make you think of a gunshot wound.” She continued, “Her whole left eye was all bulged…both her arms were broken.”

Police believe she also had a broken ankle and broken jaw.

With a sigh, she said, “You couldn’t hardly recognize this little girl.”

After the initial shock began wearing off, Woods said, “I sat her down and said, ‘Sam what happened to you?’”

According to Woods, Miller replied, “Beak did it with a stick.”

Woods also said Miller kept saying “get the babies” and “don’t let him hit me anymore.”

Neighbors said Miller is the mother of two children, one being 3 years old and the other only 15 months old.

“He left here on a bike,” Woods explained, referring to Kenneth Ingram.

Ingram reportedly rode from the scene to his parent’s house on Maple Creek Road. After entering their home, police said he killed himself.

The victim was treated by EMS and airlifted from Baptist Regional Medical Center. Media relations at UK’s Chandler Hospital said Miller is in critical condition but would not comment on the extent of her injuries.

“I just hate it for both sides of the family,” said Woods, who’s familiar with both Ingram and Miller. “All we can do is pray for them,” she added.

Thibodaux, LA: Thibodaux man receives life sentence for girlfriend's murder

Published: Monday, September 21, 2009 at 6:46 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, September 21, 2009 at 6:46 p.m.
THIBODAUX -- A 36-year-old Thibodaux man will spend the rest of his life in prison after pleading guilty today to the 2008 murder of his girlfriend.

The second-degree murder trial of Christopher Johnson was set to begin Tuesday in Judge Jerome Barbera's court.

However, Johnson decided to change his plea from not guilty to guilty today, Lafourche District Attorney Cam Morvant II said.

Johnson beat his girlfriend, 23-year-old Tameka Carter, to death in the area of Thompson Road and Ridgefield Road on Feb. 8, 2008, prosecutors said.

The couple dated two years before Carter's death, police said. Johnson was charged with domestic abuse battery against Carter on Oct. 4, 2007, just four months before her death.

There was no plea agreement brought up prior to Johnson's decision, Morvant said. Under state law, second-degree murder carries a mandatory penalty of life in prison.

New Milford, CT: New Milford man charged with strangling woman

Updated: 09/21/2009 05:13:23 PM EDT

NEW MILFORD -- Police arrested a 21-year-old man on charges he attacked and strangled his girlfriend during an argument at his home on Cherniske Road early Sunday morning.
Kyle McArdle was charged with second-degree strangulation, third-degree assault, disorderly conduct/simple assault, and violation of a protect order.

At 1:22 a.m., police were called to the home for a disturbance and found the female victim had been assaulted and strangled, police said.

McArdle was scheduled to appear Monday in Bantam Superior Court.

Hoover, AL: Hoover deaths ruled murder-suicide

By CORINNE ALCAZAR

Published: September 21, 2009

HOOVER-On September 9, 2009, the Hoover Police Department responded to the 2000 building of Wisteria Place apartments, to conduct a “welfare check”.

The purpose of a “welfare check” was to check on the occupants of a residence.

When officers arrived on the scene they discovered two bodies.

The bodies were identified as Deanna Camille Kelly, 39, and Tulio Nava Tenario, 24.

Investigation revealed that Deanna Kelly had been shot twice, once in the torso, and once in the head, and Tenario had been shot once in the head.

A pistol was recovered at the scene.

Kelly and Tenario had been involved in a domestic relationship.

The investigation revealed the incident was a murder-suicide.

Detectives of the Hoover Police Department and by the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office were involved in the investigation.

Oak Creek, AZ: Oak Creek Murder-Suicide

September 21st, 2009 by Danielle Wiyninger
FLAGSTAFF - 31 year-old Lisa Grondin and her husband, 32 year-old Jared Grondin, were found deceased at a home in the 100 block of Arrowhead Drive in the village of Oak Creek on September 20, 2009, at approximately 11:30 a.m. Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office deputies were responding to a reported welfare check request at the home. During a check of the home deputies found both deceased persons.

An initial investigation by YCSO detectives from the Criminal Investigations section has determined that Lisa’s death was caused by her husband Jared, who later killed himself. Jared’s apparent suicide occurred by use of a firearm. The exact cause of Lisa’s death is currently under investigation and pending results of an autopsy that is scheduled later this week. Detectives have determined that no other people were inside the home when the events took place.

Check back for further information as it becomes available.

Union, SC: Man gets life for killing teen girlfriend in SC

Associated Press - September 21, 2009 6:45 PM ET

UNION, S.C. (AP) - A man has been sentenced to life in prison after admitting he killed his 16-year-old girlfriend to prove to his wife he still loved her.

WYFF-TV reported that 21-year-old Pernell Thompson pleaded guilty Monday to murder to avoid a possible death sentence.

Prosecutors say Thompson stabbed Union High cheerleader Marisha Jeter to death in January 2008 while his wife held the teen down in a parking lot. Yolanda Thompson pleaded guilty to murder in March. She had agreed to testify against her husband and has not been sentenced.

Pernell Thompson was a football player at Wingate University when he was arrested.

He apologized to Jeter's family, but said he knows she is in heaven and has forgiven him.

Jeter's father told Thompson he will go straight to hell.

Maine Township, IL: Couple's death in Maine Township fire ruled murder-suicide

Comments
September 21, 2009
By JENNIFER JOHNSON jjohnson@pioneerlocal.com
A house fire that took the lives of a Maine Township couple Sept. 14 has been ruled a murder-suicide, investigators reported today (Sept. 21).
Lisa Gordon, spokeswoman for the Cook County Sheriff's Department, said investigators, citing physical evidence and interviews with family members, believe Aleykutty Yohannan, 65, intentionally started the fire that killed her and her husband, 69-year-old Philipose Yohannan, inside their duplex at 9396 Home Ave.

Gordon said gasoline had been poured in the first-floor dining room, which had been converted into the couple's bedroom. A gas can, which family members said was normally stored inside the garage, was found inside the kitchen, Gordon said.

The couple's daughter-in-law had been asleep upstairs at the time of the fire and woke up when she smelled smoke, Gordon said. She was able to exit the house and was not injured. A motive for the alleged murder-suicide remained unclear. The investigation report indicated that Philipose Yohannan was bedridden due to a stroke he suffered some time ago, and his wife had been dealing with a health issue, as well. Gordon said no suicide note was found in the house.

The adjoining duplex was not damaged by the fire, Gordon said. The fire investigation was conducted jointly by the Cook County Sheriff's Police, the North Maine Fire Department and the Illinois State Fire Marshal.

Philipose Yohannan was a retired Pentecostal minister, and he and his wife were most recently members of International Pentecostal Church of God in Des Plaines. Both had emigrated to the United States from Kerala, India, and had lived at 9396 Home Ave. with their son and daughter-in-law.

Their son was at work when the fire broke out, Gordon said. A funeral service for the couple was conducted Saturday at Ridegewood Memorial Park, 9900 N. Milwaukee Ave., Des Plaines.

Horn Lake, MS: Man charged in girlfriend's death

By CYNTHIA BULLION
Times-Tribune News Staff
Published: Monday, September 21, 2009 12:48 PM CDT
HORN LAKE - A 41-year-old man has been charged with killing his live-in girlfriend in Horn Lake.

Troney Delwon Johnson was arrested on Sunday in connection with the death of Wilma Johnson, who would have turned 55 years old on Wednesday.

The woman was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds on Saturday night after members of Troney Johnson's family reported being unable to reach the couple by telephone all week.

Horn Lake Police Lt. Scott Evans said police conducted a welfare check at the couple's home, in the 6000 block of Conrail Circle, around 3 p.m. Saturday but found nothing suspicious.

"The lights were off and the door was locked," he said, noting that Wilma Johnson's car was not there. "It looked like no one was home."

When family members returned later that day, shortly before 6 p.m., and forced their way inside the home, they found Wilma Johnson's lifeless body in her bedroom.

An autopsy on Wilma Johnson's body was scheduled for Monday morning to determine cause and time of death in the case, though Evans said initial evidence shows the woman was probably killed several days before being found.

Evans added that her death likely was the result of a domestic violence situation.

Troney Johnson currently is in Shelby County Jail with a $25,000 bond amount for domestic assault-bodily harm and two counts of aggravated burglary. He awaits extradition to DeSoto County, where he already has been charged with murder.

Wilma Johnson's murder is the first in Horn Lake yet fifth countywide this year.

Brendan Talley, 18, was shot and killed at his home in the Oak Hollow Apartments complex in Southaven last month. Benjamin Talbert of Hernando was charged with and, earlier this month, indicted for Talley's murder.

In Olive Branch in June, Cornelius Swopshire was charged with murdering Cordarrel Brown. Swopshire, who was indicted earlier this month, allegedly shot the 19-year-old following an argument.

In May, Southaven police charged John Henry Brown with depraved heart murder in connection with a crash along I-55 that killed a 6-year-old girl. Investigators said Brown was driving his tractor-trailer recklessly when he caused the accident. Brown is set to stand trial in December.

The county's first murder of the year was recorded in January. Kimberly Field, 34, was shot and killed during an argument between her mother and her mother's boyfriend, Andrew Stokes, who was later charged in the case.

Cynthia Bullion: 429-6397, cbullion@desototimestribune.com

Columbia, SC: SC man confesses to slayings of 4 family members

By JEFFREY COLLINS (AP) – 4 hours ago
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina man confessed Monday to methodically stalking and murdering four family members in their home, reloading his shotgun five times before firing the final shot into his father as the man said "I love you."
Nathan Dickson, 20, pleaded guilty to four counts of murder as part of a deal that will allow him to avoid the death penalty. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Dickson didn't say why he killed his father, stepmother, stepsister and younger brother at their Easley home in April 2008, and Prosecutor Chrissy Adams said the motive may never be known. Defense attorney Kurt Tavernier said not being able to figure out why he killed his family gnaws at Dickson every day.
Adams read Dickson's confession in court in Anderson County. He had been arrested hours after the killings — spending the time before police found him riding four-wheelers with a friend.
Dickson said he woke up that Saturday morning and saw a shotgun while looking for some of his clothes in his 14-year-old brother's closet. The killing began when he shot his stepmother, 41-year-old Maritza Dickson, while she was in bed talking to her daughter.
Dickson's stepsister, 19-year-old Jiliam Salazar, was killed after running into the kitchen screaming. He punched his brother, Taylor, in the head when he yelled at Dickson to stop, and shot him twice, going to his father's bedroom to get more ammunition each time. The final shot went into his brother's head as he was sprawled across a chair crying for help, according to the confession.
Dickson's father was out of the house when the killings began. Dickson said he shot him first in their back yard, then after going to the bedroom to get another shell, shot him again at the edge of the front yard. After firing the last shot at his brother and getting one final shell, Dickson said he went to the front yard and confronted his father, who had called 911.
"He rolled over and told me, 'I love you' right before I took my last shot at him," Dickson wrote in his confession, adding he then slammed the stock of the shotgun into his father's head like a club because he was still breathing.
Adams said she decided not to pursue the death penalty because the victims' relatives were strongly opposed, and because Dickson had no criminal record and was 18 at the time of the murders.
While Dickson vividly recounted the killings for nearly two weeks afterward, he can't remember them now, his attorneys said. But Adams said the confession matched physical evidence, right down to how many times the victims were shot.
Dickson had several problems just before the killings. The Marines rejected him, but he told people he had already served in the military. Money went missing from his house, and he had just broken up with his girlfriend, Adams said.
But Dickson called his father his hero on his MySpace page, and friends told investigators he appeared to get along well with his stepmother and stepsister. He was a decent student in high school and well-liked by teachers and friends. There also were no drugs or alcohol in his system, Adams said.
The confession gives no clues.
"I don't know why I killed all my family today. Once I loaded that shotgun and shot Maritza I couldn't stop and I did not stop until I had shot them all," Dickson wrote, adding he was concerned it would affect his chances of enlisting in the Marines.
The confession also includes what Dickson did after the killings. He threw the gun into the woods, put on sandals and drove to a nearby convenience store for water and smokeless tobacco. He then bought a chicken biscuit with his stepsister's debit card, but was so sick he only ate two bites. Then he rode four-wheelers with a friend.
Dickson apologized after pleading guilty.
"The question that will go unanswered — what was it that caused him to snap?" defense attorney Tavernier said. "We'll probably never know."

Pasadena, CA: Hearing continued for man charged with strangling ex-wife

Posted: 09/21/2009 11:51:53 AM PDT

PASADENA -- A 78-year-old man accused of strangling his ex-wife at a home in Pasadena appeared in court today for a preliminary hearing and was ordered to return Oct. 14.
William Manson has pleaded not guilty.

Police said Manson injected himself with an "unknown liquid" after allegedly choking his 74-year-old ex-wife in March. He recovered and was charged with murder.

Investigators believe Manson used his bare hands to kill his ex-wife at her home in the 100 block of South Virginia Avenue.

Princeton, WV: Mercer Man Gets Life for Murder of Ex-Wife

Posted Monday, September 21, 2009 ; 04:14 PM | View Comments | Post Comment


Arthur Cox entered a guilty plea Monday.
PRINCETON -- Arthur Cox pleaded guilty to first degree murder today before Mercer County Circuit Court Judge William Sadler.
He was immediately sentenced to life in prison with mercy.

Police say Cox killed Blenda Marshall in October 2008.

She was shot to death in the Shear Perfection Hair Salon while a customer watched.

Marshall was killed a week after her divorce from Cox was final.

North Versailles, PA: Police kill woman, 71, who planned to ambush ex-boyfriend

Monday, September 21, 2009
By Jim McKinnon, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Police last night fatally wounded an elderly, armed North Versailles woman who, investigators said, had been preparing to ambush her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend.

"She parked her car away from the house, walked up to it, and was laying in wait for homeowner and his girlfriend to return from an engagement they had," North Versailles Police Chief James Comunale said this morning.


Elsa Seman
The woman, Elsa Seman, 71, was shot minutes after a resident on Shady Lane reported a prowler, dressed in black, crouching behind a home owned by her former boyfriend, Richard Ireland, 58, in the 3700 block of Shady Lane.

Police were summoned by a neighbor at 8:13 p.m. Within two minutes two veteran officers arrived and circled toward the rear of the residence.

One officer, an eight-year police veteran whose name has not been released, spotted Ms. Seman crouched behind the house.

She was dressed in black, wearing a latex glove on one hand in which she wielded a pistol, Chief Comunale said.

The officer ordered the woman to show her hands. As she did so, she pointed her pistol at the officer who immediately fired at her, the chief said.

Ms. Seman was taken to UPMC McKeesport where she was pronounced dead, Chief Comunale said.

Allegheny County homicide detectives are investigating the incident.

The officer who fired the fatal shot has been placed on paid administrative leave, pending further investigation.

Chief Comunale said his officers had been dispatched to Mr. Ireland's residence a few times in the past to quell nonviolent domestic disputes.

Earlier yesterday, police broke up an argument between Mr. Ireland and Ms. Seman.

No charges were filed in any of the previous incidents.

However, yesterday morning police advised Mr. Ireland about requirements to obtain a court restraining order against Ms. Seman.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
First published on September 21, 2009 at 9:31 am

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09264/999675-100.stm#ixzz0RnREDuGU

Clinton, MA: Family: Man who killed Clinton woman was 'a monster'

By Kathy Uek/Daily News staff
The MetroWest Daily News
Posted Sep 25, 2009 @ 01:00 AM
Trapped in a cycle of domestic violence, Giselle Rodriguez tried many times to escape the abusive relationship with the "monster" who eventually killed her, family members said.

Rodriguez, a former Marlborough resident, finally did leave her abuser, Alexander Skowran, three months ago. But Rodriguez's sister-in-law believes he became jealous of a MySpace posting about Rodriguez's new boyfriend, then waited in her apartment, where police say he killed her Monday.

Authorities tracked Skowran to a Virginia motel, where he shot and killed himself.

"(Skowran) beat her before strangling her with a wire from a cable he had taken from a bike downstairs from her apartment," said her brother, Luis Rodriguez of Marlborough.

About two years ago, after Rodriguez had lost a baby, gone through a divorce and lost her home, the 23-year-old began dating Skowran.

"When people are vulnerable, they are less likely to have their radar up," said Mary Gianakis, director of Voices Against Violence in Framingham and a board member and incoming president of Jane Doe Inc.

Voices Against Violence is one of the 60-member organizations of Jane Doe Inc., a statewide coalition against sexual abuse and domestic violence.

"She was blinded by him," said her sister-in-law Crystal Henning of Marlborough. "He was really good to her one minute and the next, he was horrible."

"In domestic abuse, there is a constant process of chipping away at their sense of self-worth," said Gianakis.

Skowran manipulated and controlled her, said her brother. "There were certain clothes he didn't want her to wear. He was a monster. He was sick."

After Rodriguez first attempted to leave seven months ago, Skowran poured bleach on her clothes, threw detergent on her walls and electronics and stole a prized memory box. Determined, Rodriguez took out a restraining order.

Again he charmed her. She dropped the restraining order and returned to him. During the vicious cycle, Skowran even complained about Rodriguez's pregnancy with her former husband. "That was way before she even met him."

Rodriguez, a 2004 Keefe Technical High School honors graduate, went to MassBay Community College. She dreamed of becoming a lawyer.

Graduating three months ago, she worked as a paralegal at Hologic, a health care company in Marlborough.

Henning believes it was the last entry Rodriguez made on MySpace.com that precipitated the murder. The message: She was watching the Patriots game with Kenny, her new boyfriend.

After entering her apartment the day of the murder with a key he promised to return, Skowran logged on to her computer.

"I think he saw that and waited for her at night," said Henning.

Now the family grieves. Josefina Rivera thinks of the daughter she called princess. "She was smart and wanted to be somebody," said Rivera.

"By the time she was 14, she already had a job," said her brother. "She was pretty much the best future in our family."

They think of the good changes in Rodriguez after she left Skowran.

"She was getting her happiness back," he said. "She was coming back to life and smiling a lot more. Before, she was always like in prison with him."

Luis Rodriguez learned a lesson from the tragedy. "Be aware of who family members are involved with."

Toni Troop, a spokeswoman for Jane Doe Inc., agreed. "We encourage family and friends to learn more about the issues and reach out in a non-judgmental, supportive way," said Troop.

For information on domestic violence, visit janedoe.org. For those in an abusive relationship, call Voices Against Violence's 24-hour hot line at 800-593-1125 or call the statewide 24-hour hotline at 877-785-2020.

Missing Ex-Boyfriend Suspect In Woman's Murder


A 23-year-old woman is dead and now police in Clinton are looking for the suspect – her ex-boyfriend.

Giselle Rodriguez, a former Fitchburg State College student, was found dead at 1 Coolidge Place shortly before 11 a.m. on Monday.

She was discovered by police after a family member asked them to perform a wellness check.

Now police are looking for her ex-boyfriend, Alexander Skowran, 22 – a senior at Fitchburg State.

It is not clear how Rodriguez died, but police say she did have an active restraining order out against Skowran.

Officials are now looking for Skowran. He is said to be driving a black 2003 Honda Accord with Maryland plate number 8DXX66.

Skowran is originally from Pasadena, Md.

Brooksville, FL: 25 years for murderous trip

By John Frank, Times Staff Writer

Published Monday, September 21, 2009

BROOKSVILLE — A Pasco County man who abducted and shot his estranged wife received 25 years in prison Monday, sparing him from a trial with blood-curdling 911 tapes and a possible life sentence.

Rudolph Mark Moats, 40, pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder, armed kidnapping and two counts of aggravated assault for the July 2008 abduction of Donna Sue Moats.

Attorneys came to court poised to begin jury selection ahead of a four-day trial but an unexpected month-long delay prompted the victim to accept the last-minute plea deal offered by Moats' attorney, Assistant Public Defender Andy Gonzalez.

Assistant State Attorney Don Barbee said the victim wanted to resolve the case rather than wait another month. "It was her decision to go ahead and accept that," he said.

Under an agreement, Moats will serve his entire sentence, the minimum mandatory term allowed under state codes.

The Lacoochee resident and Disney employee faced a life sentence if convicted at trial.

Authorities arrested him July 1, 2008, after a five-hour pursuit that started in Brooksville and ended in Flagler County, on the state's east coast, according to court documents detailing interviews with the Moats and his wife.

It began about 11 a.m. after the two had lunch together at Hardee's. He picked her up at Wal-Mart, where she works, and said he wanted to talk about the impending divorce. They married when he was 19 and she was 15 and pregnant.

Instead of driving her back after lunch, Moats began roaming the roads in a remote area northeast of Brooksville, the documents say. In previous conversations, he threatened to kill her, their daughter and himself if she didn't get together with him.

Near Cyrano Avenue, he reached for a small black BB gun. She grabbed it and threw it out the window, thinking it was a real handgun.

Donna Moats then opened the door and jumped while the SUV was still moving. He stopped and got out of the SUV with a shotgun he took from his father's house the day before.

Moats waved the gun at a passing car, telling the driver to keep on driving.

He then grabbed Donna Moats and pushed her into the car at gunpoint. On a 911 call, a woman who lived nearby said she heard a gunshot.

Donna Moats said she was sitting in the passenger seat when he pointed the 20-gauge shotgun at her as he drove. She said he pulled the trigger, hitting her in the chest with bird shot.

Rudolph Moats told authorities a different story, saying the shooting occurred outside the car. He said he told his wife he was going to kill himself and she grabbed the gun. In the struggle, it accidentally fired, he said.

He said he was scared and didn't know what to do, so he kept driving. He said he "lost it."

The prosecutor planned to focus specifically on 911 calls to describe what happened in the car during the hours-long ordeal while authorities tried unsuccessfully to find Donna Moats.

Bleeding and clutching her wound, she managed to reach her cell phone and make two 911 calls holding the phone by her side to hide it. On the tape, she screams: "Help me, I've been shot. I've been shot into the heart by a shotgun. I'm dying, sir. I'm dying. I'm dying, help me. I don't know where I'm at."

She pleads with Moats to take her to a hospital. He then took her phone, prosecutors said, and continued driving east toward Orlando.

About 45 minutes later, he gave Donna Moats the phone again to call their 19-year-old daughter to say goodbye. The daughter called 911 but her mother gave her no indication of her location. In a tearful phone call, the daughter said Moats had abused her mother previously and threatened to kill them if they told authorities.

A couple of hours later, Donna Moats' condition deteriorated and she began to vomit. Rudolph Moats took her to a hospital in St. Augustine and fled.

Hospital workers found her in critical condition and rushed her into emergency surgery. Authorities from St. John's County chased Moats down Interstate 95 at speeds topping 100 mph. In neighboring Flagler County at 3:15 p.m. he crashed into a tree.

Authorities arrested him and found an empty shotgun shell in his pocket.

Rudolph Moats' attorney labeled the case a "family tragedy."

"He's still able to be a father and a grandfather when he gets out," he said.

John Frank can be reached at jfrank@sptimes.com or (352) 754-6114.

LaMarque, TX: Family of murdered LaMarque woman asks for help

07:23 PM CDT on Sunday, September 20, 2009
By Alex Sanz / 11 News
LA MARQUE – The family of a woman allegedly killed by a former boyfriend said they needed the public’s help to find him.

Faith Worthey Guillory, 45, was found shot to death on Monday in front of an apartment complex in the 1200 block of Spruce.

Guillory had graduated from the University of Phoenix two days earlier.

“It’s the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life,” said Dana Landry, Guillory’s sister.

Police named 51-year-old Moises Perez Alvarez as the prime suspect. He and Guillory had been involved – on and off – for about a decade. Alvarez, who is also known as Adrian Delierro, had recently been released from jail, Landry said.

“She had fallen in love with someone else,” she said. “And when he came back he couldn’t accept it. We knew it was going to happen because he kept threatening [her].”

Police records showed Alvarez had a violent past.

He was convicted in 1993 for the aggravated sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl.

A murder warrant with a $250,000 bond has been issued for his arrest.

Police think Alvarez may be in Galveston County, or traveling by train trying to flee to Mexico.

They also think he may still be in possession of the murder weapon, a.380 caliber pistol.

“He’s taken my only sister,” Landry said, “I want him to turn himself in. I want somebody to find him. Because it’s not fair.”

Guillory was a single mother of three grown children.

She is survived by her immediate family.

Memorial services are planned for Tuesday at Rosewood Funeral Home in Pasadena.

Jacksonville, NC: Man Shot, Killed Following Hours Long Stand-Off

By Tiffany Griffith @ September 20, 2009 10:46 PM Permalink | Comments (0)
A man is killed after an hours' long standoff with the Jacksonville SWAT Team.
JSO Chief Rick Graham says the suspect, 31-year-old Christopher Reynoso was a veteran with an arsenal of high-powered rifles. He also had a history of violent behavior towards his wife.
Early Sunday morning, Jacksonville Police were called to his home at the Spinnaker Reach Apartments after a night of drinking and socializing reportedly lead to him injuring his wife. The wife and some other friends and family members were able to escape the apartment with two other young children before calling police for help.
Jacksonville Police say they attempted to end things peacefully when they arrived, but Reynoso kept telling them things would not end well. SWAT Team members then went door-to-door and evacuated a portion of the complex.
Sometime, around 11am, several rounds of tear gas were fired into the upstairs apartment and a gunshot was heard being fired from inside of the apartment. Officers then say Reynoso was then seen aiming a high-powered rifle during the stand-off. Graham says Detective J.R. Moore took defensive action and fired the single shot that killed Reynoso.

Reynoso's wife has minor injuries, and no other major injuries were reported. The SWAT standoff ended over six hours later and people were allowed back into their homes.
Moore is now on administrative leave as JSO investigates the shooting and stand-off.

Farmville, VA: Slain girl on Bay Area rapper's MySpace

Carolyn Said, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, September 21, 2009

(09-20) 20:28 PDT -- Richard McCroskey of Castro Valley called himself "Syko Sam" and rapped about the thrill of killing people.

But the 20-year-old's message board on MySpace.com was dominated by a different theme - a teen girl from Virginia, Emma Niederbrock, lavishing him with affection.

"You are my one and only everything," wrote Niederbrock, who counted down the days until McCroskey planned to visit her.

Police said Sunday that the visit turned into a nightmare. They believe McCroskey flew to Virginia on Sept. 6 to see the girl, attended a "horrorcore" concert with her, and then killed her and three others in her home.

He was arrested Saturday at Richmond International Airport, police said, one day after the bodies were found decomposing in a home in Farmville, Va., and one day before his scheduled flight back to the Bay Area.

Richard Alden Samuel McCroskey III is set to be arraigned today on charges including murder.

"It's a horrific crime. It's hard to imagine what these people must have gone through," said police Sgt. Andy Ellington in a telephone interview from Farmville, a town of 7,200 with little violent crime. "It's a close-knit community and everybody knows everybody. It's just devastating."

Ellington said none of the victims had been positively identified, pending autopsies being performed in Richmond. But he said investigators believe the victims include McCroskey's girlfriend as well as Mark Niederbrock, a pastor at a Presbyterian church in the area who is identified in published reports as the girl's father.

Asked about a possible motive in the slaying, Ellington said, "I wish I knew." He noted that the suspect, asked how he committed the crime by a reporter, responded, "Jesus told me to do it."

Efforts to reach McCroskey's family in Castro Valley were unsuccessful on Sunday. Neighbors of a modest, ranch-style home where McCroskey lived said they never noticed anything troubling about the young man, his parents or his older sister.

loner

McCroskey appeared to be a loner, they said, and always wore a hooded black sweatshirt.

On his MySpace page, the red-haired McCroskey posed with a skull-bedecked bandanna covering the lower part of his face. He described himself as a fan of the horrorcore genre, which glorifies violence with lyrics set to hip-hop beats.

McCroskey, saying he only recently began rapping, posted songs with lyrics such as "I've killed many people and I kill them real slow. It's the best feeling, watching their last breath."

A friend, Andres Shrim, a musician and the owner of Serial Killin Records in New Mexico, said he was shocked that McCroskey was accused of murder, calling him a "good kid."

egitimate art form

He said horrorcore is a legitimate art form that reflects reality in the world and had nothing to do with the slayings.

"There's no difference from what we do than going out on a Friday night to the newest horror movie that came out, or turning on the news and hearing about brutal bloodshed and violence," Shrim said. If McCroskey is guilty, he said, "It was some other sort of circumstance. The kid did not have it easy in his life."

Shrim, who first met McCroskey in January while performing at a concert in Apple Valley (San Bernardino County), said McCroskey "was brilliant at Web design, graphics and all that. I commissioned him to do our Web site and to do some graphics work for us."

Shrim said McCroskey had stayed in Farmville with Emma Niederbrock and her mother, Debra Kelley, an associate professor of sociology and criminal justice studies at Longwood University. Kelley's home was the site of the killings, but it was not clear whether she was among the dead.

Shrim said McCroskey, Niederbrock and her best friend took a road trip to a Sept. 12 horrorcore festival in Michigan called Strictly for the Wicked, with the girlfriend's parents acting as drivers.

Shrim said his girlfriend received an urgent call a few days later from the mother of Niederbrock's female friend, saying she hadn't heard from her daughter. Neither the two girls nor McCroskey responded to phone calls, text messages or e-mails, Shrim said.

"I got very concerned because it was definitely not in these girls' nature to not answer," he said.

ictims found

Shrim said he contacted police Friday, asking them to check at Kelley's house.

Ellington said the four victims were found Friday afternoon when a person asked officers to conduct a welfare check at the home.

"When officers arrived at the house, they noticed a distinct odor that they recognized as possibly being decaying bodies," Ellington said. "They made entry and observed three bodies on the floor."

The officers found the fourth body, Ellington said, after obtaining a search warrant.

McCroskey was arrested at about 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the airport. Ellington said he was sleeping in a chair in the baggage claim area.

On Sunday, someone apparently accessed McCroskey's MySpace page and deleted many messages, including those from Niederbrock.

"I know my mind works weird," she wrote, "cause I always expect the worst, but I'm trying sooo hard not to with you cause I know you'd never hurt me."

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Camden, NJ: 2 Camden shooting deaths ruled murder-suicide

The Associated Press

CAMDEN, N.J. - The shooting deaths of two Philadelphia residents found inside a Camden home have been ruled a murder-suicide.

Camden County Prosecutor Warren W. Faulk said 39-year-old Samuel Bey shot 25-year-old Takesha Pointer several times in an upstairs bedroom in his cousin's Liberty Street home Saturday afternoon, then shot himself. The murder-suicide determination was made Sunday, shortly after the county medical examiner completed autopsies on the pair.

Bey had been staying at the home and Pointer went there to visit him, Faulk said, adding that a motive for the shootings remains under investigation.

Faulk said Bey's cousin found the bodies around 1:30 p.m., a short time after the shootings apparently occurred.

Los Angelos, CA: UCI graduate charged in shooting death of ex-wife

September 15, 2009 | 3:23 pm
A graduate student at UC Irvine appeared in court this afternoon for a scheduled arraignment on charges of shooting and killing his ex-wife outside his campus apartment because of a custody dispute over their 4-year-old son.

Brian Hughes Benedict, 35, did not enter a plea during the hearing at the Newport Beach courthouse because his attorney is out of the country, said Michael Jacobs, who appeared on behalf of Benedict's lawyer, Ron Cordova. The arraignment was continued to Oct. 2.

Benedict is facing charges of one felony count of murder with a sentencing enhancement for personally discharging a firearm and causing death.

About 7 p.m. Sunday, Rebecca Benedict, 30, went to pick up her son from her ex-husband at his Verano Place apartment on the university campus. She had recently received primary custody of the boy, and Brian Benedict was ordered to pay more money in child support.

When she arrived at Benedict's apartment, he allegedly grew angry and attacked Rebecca Benedict by swinging a hammer at her as their son watched, authorities said.
She ran from the apartment, and prosecutors say Brian Benedict chased her down a nearby path with a firearm. He is accused of shooting at her several times, and striking her at least once.

Rebecca Benedict was pronounced dead at a hospital. It was the first homicide on the UC Irvine campus.

According to prosecutors, Brian Benedict went back to his apartment, got his son and put him in the car. Witnesses and neighbors physically restrained him until police arrived.

Brian Benedict, who lived alone except when his son came to visit, was working toward a doctorate in physics. He'd earned a master's from the school in 2004, the year he and Rebecca married, according to court records. Rebecca graduated from UC Irvine in 2004.

The couple, who separated in 2006, had been in and out of family court this year. The judge in the case ruled last week to more than double Brian Benedict's monthly child support payments to $920. He had argued that his payments should be based on his current salary as a research assistant -- about $26,000 a year -- not on the $85,000 a year he reportedly earned while employed for Northrop Grumman Corp.

Judge Nancy A. Pollard disagreed, ruling that "the care and maintenance of the child is more important than the care and maintenance of the father's schooling."

The records also appear to indicate that Brian Benedict had attempted suicide sometime during the prolonged court battle, stating that the court "further orders that if another incident of suicide or attempted suicide occurs," Rebecca Benedict could come to court alone.

If convicted, Benedict faces a maximum sentence of 50 years to life in state prison. The defendant is being held on $1 million bail.