By Gwen Filosa, The Times-Picayune
May 15, 2010, 11:28PM
Rusty Costanza / The Times-Picayune
Pallbearers carry one of four coffins to a waiting hearse after the funeral of four family members shot to death in April. A family memebr is charged in the deaths.
Alfred Andrews and Damian Jordan had a track record of abusing the women in their lives. But it barely registered on the court system's radar until their names became synonymous with murder.
Andrews, 78, is accused of gunning down his 31-year-old wife, her mother and her sister in Treme before shooting himself in the face. Two days earlier, Andrews was acquitted of misdemeanor battery after pushing his wife to the floor when she tried to leave their bedroom.
Jordan, 22, allegedly took out his rage on his uncle's girlfriend, her two children and her sister. Police say Jordan entered a relative's house in the Upper 9th Ward and shot them all: the adults in the bedrooms, the children in the bathroom. He was on probation at the time for hitting his girlfriend in the face with the butt of a rifle.
The massacres coincided with the one-year anniversary of a seismic shift in the way domestic violence cases are prosecuted. Last March, District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro asked New Orleans police to bring domestic arrests to his office for review, rather than to the city attorney at Municipal Court.
Cannizzaro's goal: to charge more abusers under a state domestic violence statute, and put more of them behind bars.
Before that time, most domestic violence arrests landed in Municipal Court, where they shared the docket with petty offenses like public urination. In the years before the shift, an average of 93 percent of domestic violence cases, including many involving serious injury, were booked as municipal violations.
"The DA before Leon ignored these cases, because we just didn't take domestic violence seriously enough, and that's just true," said retired judge Calvin Johnson, who spent 17 years on the bench at Tulane and Broad. "The fact that men were brutalizing women, on some level, our male-dominated justice system thought it was OK. It was part of our sexism."
'Not treated as a crime'
Tania Tetlow, director of the Tulane Law School Domestic Violence Clinic and a former federal prosecutor, hails the move to state court.
"Until very recently, domestic violence was not treated as a crime in this community," Tetlow said. "My clients, until last year, had never seen their batterers spend a day in jail, unless they failed to pay a traffic ticket."
But it's still not clear how much harder state prosecution makes life for accused batterers. On the one hand, state court allows for the possibility of stiffer penalties and creates more of a permanent record. For repeat offenders, in particular, the consequences are real.
But the punishments don't always prevent abusers from striking again. In fact, both Andrews and Jordan faced state domestic-violence charges in the months before they allegedly committed murder, but both remained free to abuse.
Taking over domestic violence has substantially increased the size of Cannizzaro's docket.
In 2009, he reviewed 1,923 domestic violence arrests, more than five times the number brought before former District Attorney Eddie Jordan in an average year, records show. Cannizzaro agreed to prosecute 80 percent of the cases.
In the cases from last year that have been litigated thus far, Cannizzaro reports an 85 percent conviction rate.
By comparison, nearly all of the roughly 3,000 domestic-violence arrests made by New Orleans police annually in years past were sent to Municipal Court, and when they got there, more than half the cases were dismissed. In those that weren't, the city attorney's office often sent offenders to a 26-week anger management program in lieu of trial. Though data is spotty, there were few if any trials.
To handle the cases, Municipal Court had a domestic-violence coordinator, plus a probation officer and four city attorneys.
Cannizzaro's domestic violence unit, by comparison, has six prosecutors, four witness and victim advocates, and one investigator.
Rusty Costanza / The Times-Picayune
The Treme home where Alfred Andrews killed his wife, sister and mother before shooting himself in April.
Cannizzaro's witness and victim assistance program also is more robust than that of his predecessors in the DA's office. It includes counselors with master's degrees, and the office practices "vertical prosecution," meaning one lawyer stays with a case from inception through trial.
Hold back nothing
Cannizzaro said he has told his prosecutors to hold back nothing at trial. Present the 911 tapes, the photographs, the witnesses, he said.
"Children can testify," said Cannizzaro, who served 22 years as a judge. "These sorts of things destroy a family and disrupt what is the normal and healthy growth of a child. That child may grow up believing it's OK to strike a household member. He or she may think it's OK to be the victim; that it's OK to live like that or take that to the streets."
Mary Claire Landry, director of domestic violence services for Catholic Charities and director of the Family Justice Center, says batterers now face swifter consequences -- namely higher bonds and supervision by the court, including drug testing.
The state courts can convert a third misdemeanor charge into an instant felony, Landry said, giving judges the ability to hand down harsher penalties. On the second offense, batterers now must spend 30 days behind bars, and a third offense means one year in prison. Offenders are also now monitored by Louisiana probation officers
"This is not possible in Municipal Court," said Landry, who credits the DA with making huge strides in victim safety.
Landry heads the Family Justice Center, the city's domestic abuse headquarters, which opened in 2007 with a $3 million federal grant. Cannizzaro's unit is based, there, along with three New Orleans police detectives.
Since it opened, the center has served almost 2,000 people swept up in domestic violence, working alongside the Tulane Law Clinic, New Orleans Legal Aid Corp. and programs that offer temporary housing, counseling, GED courses and employment assistance.
Victim no longer can elect to drop charges
On a recent morning, a woman who stopped by the center, getting buzzed in through the front door, asked to speak to a "screener." She wanted to drop the charges against her boyfriend.
That's no longer possible, she was told.
At Municipal Court, victims could simply sign an affidavit indicating that they wanted nothing to do with prosecution and the cases went away. Not so in state court.
Word of that change is still getting out, however.
In April, Magistrate Commissioner Anthony Russo made a blanket announcement to the audience at Tulane and Broad: "It's up to the DA's office," he said. "It's no longer up to the victim to determine whether he or she will pursue it."
Not everyone is a fan of the new system. Some state judges, in particular, thought the old system was preferable.
"They were experts in doing it," said Criminal District Court Chief Judge Arthur Hunter, who, like the court's senior jurist, Judge Frank Marullo, is skeptical of the shift. "They had a whole support team. It's the same sentence whether it's Municipal Court or here. Just a change of venue."
Deante Brumfield, center, sucker-punches his estranged girlfriend on an RTA streetcar in January in this photo taken from RTA surveillance video.
Marullo recently acquitted Deante Brumfield, 24, of domestic violence battery. Brumfield was captured on videotape sucker-punching his ex-girlfriend in the face on a streetcar ride.
During the brief trial, Marullo criticized the district attorney's office for bringing such a penny-ante case before him.
"We have taken these domestic-violence cases from Municipal Court and we're sitting here with all these cases when we have cases where people get shot and things like that," Marullo said. "And we're sitting here with this case."
The DA, however, is sticking to his guns, saying all cases involving physical violence belong in state court.
'There is some confusion'
While Former Judge Johnson said he generally supports the venue change imposed by Cannizzaro, he isn't sure every single domestic violence battery should end up at Tulane and Broad.
"They should be triaged out," said Johnson. "There is some confusion. A couple got into a fight and the woman hit the man and the man hit the woman. They both ended up arrested and in state court. That kind of incident shouldn't have gone into the state system."
In fact, about 1,000 cases a year that meet the layman's definition of domestic violence are still being funneled to Municipal Court, said Michael Groetsch, a senior probation officer who is also an author and researcher in the field of predatory batterers.
Those cases may be so minor as to not warrant a state charge, or they may involve fights between two people whose relationship does not meet the state definition of domestic.
For instance, the state domestic abuse battery law applies only to opposite-sex couples, leaving gay couples protected only under the city ordinance. The city ordinance also generally makes pushes, shoves and threats illegal acts for which police can issue a municipal summons.
Groetsch said he would have preferred what he calls a hybrid court system that shares the cases between the Municipal and Criminal District Courts based on the seriousness of the crime and repeat offenders. "Unless we're vigilant, that might get by us."
Far from perfect
While an improvement, recent experience shows that the new system is far from perfect.
On March 29, a magistrate commissioner at Criminal District Court -- not an elected judge -- freed Andrews of a domestic abuse battery charge. In explaining her decision, Commissioner Marie Bookman said: "I get the impression from the testimony of the defendant, and given his age, that he has a certain way he does things and that he is set in his ways."
Two days later, police say, Andrews gunned down his wife, her mother and her sister at the house the four shared in Treme.
It's up to judges at Tulane and Broad to choose whether they want to hear misdemeanor battery cases. Chief Judge Arthur Hunter, among other judges, sends his to Magistrate Commissioner Gerard Hansen, who runs a "domestic violence court" that includes a specialized probation office.
One such convict was Todd Fussell, 47, who pleaded guilty in March to domestic battery for punching his ex-girlfriend in the eye two months earlier.
Fussell received a suspended six-month jail term from Judge Keva Landrum-Johnson; she also ordered him monitored by Hansen's court and signed another stay-away order.
Thirteen days later, police say, Fussell returned to his ex-girlfriend's home with a knife, forcing himself through the front door and stabbing her repeatedly.
Fussell is now accused of attempted murder. On April 14, Landrum-Johnson revoked his probation, meaning he'll have to serve the six-month sentence for the earlier battery.
Rusty Costanza / The Times-Picayune
Joseph Ross, right, is comforted during the funeral for his girlfriend and their two children in April. A relative of Ross' has been arrested in the murders of the three and the woman's sister.
And then there is Jordan. In July 2009, Landrum-Johnson sentenced Jordan to five years in prison -- all suspended -- for burglary and battery of his girlfriend. Jordan agreed to plead guilty to reduced charges. He had originally been charged with home invasion, for taking the butt of a rifle to his girlfriend's face after using it to break down her front door on North Tonti Street.
That case revealed other systemic flaws. Notably, Municipal Court and state court don't share a computer database, even though the two courthouses are only blocks apart.
So Landrum-Johnson viewed Jordan as a first-time offender, when he in fact had a May 2008 conviction from Municipal Court for punching his sister. He also had a pending domestic battery charge in Municipal Court for allegedly hurting the same girlfriend.
For the two convictions, Jordan spent a grand total of 21 days behind bars.
On March 25, police say Jordan shot to death his uncle's girlfriend, her two children, and her sister. Police believe Jordan, a cousin of the two children, was in search of money.
An important first step
Despite those high-profile lapses, observers say the shift to state court is an important first step in treating domestic violence with the severity it demands.
"At the end of the day, cases of physical violence belong at state court," said Rafael Goyeneche, president of the watchdog Metropolitan Crime Commission. "Domestic violence qualifies for that. Yes, they are nasty; they are sometimes he said-she said; they are sometimes hard to prove. But the potential for serious violence is there. I think we've learned that the hard way over the past weeks."
Landry, of the Family Justice Center, said the recent domestic murders overshadow tremendous progress in the system.
"While we have focused recently on several high-profile cases where we were unable to prevent violent acts, during this time we were also able to assist hundreds of survivors with support, life-saving strategies and effective prosecution and batterer accountability that never becomes public or is known by anyone other than those of us involved in the case," she said.
Gwen Filosa can be reached at gfilosa@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3304.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Houston, TX: HPD releases details, identities in a murder-suicideHP
By CINDY GEORGE
Houston Chronicle
May 15, 2010, 10:47AM
Houston police have released the names of the deceased in one of at least two apparent murder-suicides in the metro area this week, along with details of the west Houston episode.
Thomas Robert Tarver, a 43-year-old Houston insurance agent, was shot dead early Friday at his home in the 14000 block of Britoak Lane by a man described by police as a longtime friend.
Police say 50-year-old Kelly Edward Allen forced his way into the house around 4 a.m.
“Allen went to Tarver’s residence and kicked the door in,” Houston Police Department spokeswoman Jodi Silva said. “Allen shot Tarver and then turned the gun on himself.”
Previous reports that the men had a landlord-tenant relationship were incorrect, she added.
“At this time, we don’t know what led up to that incident. We’re still investigating that,” Silva said.
Deer Park police are trying to unravel what appears to be another murder-suicide. Those shootings happened at 4:45 p.m. Thursday in the 300 block of Ninth Street.
A 22-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man were found dead inside a home with a gun nearby. Police believe they were acquaintances.
Houston Chronicle
May 15, 2010, 10:47AM
Houston police have released the names of the deceased in one of at least two apparent murder-suicides in the metro area this week, along with details of the west Houston episode.
Thomas Robert Tarver, a 43-year-old Houston insurance agent, was shot dead early Friday at his home in the 14000 block of Britoak Lane by a man described by police as a longtime friend.
Police say 50-year-old Kelly Edward Allen forced his way into the house around 4 a.m.
“Allen went to Tarver’s residence and kicked the door in,” Houston Police Department spokeswoman Jodi Silva said. “Allen shot Tarver and then turned the gun on himself.”
Previous reports that the men had a landlord-tenant relationship were incorrect, she added.
“At this time, we don’t know what led up to that incident. We’re still investigating that,” Silva said.
Deer Park police are trying to unravel what appears to be another murder-suicide. Those shootings happened at 4:45 p.m. Thursday in the 300 block of Ninth Street.
A 22-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man were found dead inside a home with a gun nearby. Police believe they were acquaintances.
Macomb County, MI: Mother, 4-Year-Old Killed
(WXYZ) - A suspect is in custody after a woman and her 4-year-old son were killed in a violent confrontation in Clinton Township on Saturday night.
The woman's 6-year-old daughter was taken to Children's Hospital. Her condition is unknown.
A fourth person, was also hurt. He is possibly the uncle of the young victims. He is expected to survive.
It's not clear if the injuries were caused by gunfire, a knife, or both.
The man accused of committing the horrific crime may have been dating the mother.
The unidentified suspect was arrested several hours after the killings about nine miles from the crime scene in Macomb Township. He was hiding out in a family member's condo near the intersection of 22 mile and Romeo Plank.
The Macomb County Sheriff brought in the Swat Team to force him out of the home. The Sheriff says the man resisted arrest, but eventually surrendered. Weapons were found inside the home.
The suspect's family members told Action News the accused killer has been troubled since being released from jail back on Christmas Day.
He spent several months behind bars on an assault charge filed by a different ex-girlfriend.
The suspect's mother says her son has been unstable since being released.
The suspect's family is cooperating with police.
The woman's 6-year-old daughter was taken to Children's Hospital. Her condition is unknown.
A fourth person, was also hurt. He is possibly the uncle of the young victims. He is expected to survive.
It's not clear if the injuries were caused by gunfire, a knife, or both.
The man accused of committing the horrific crime may have been dating the mother.
The unidentified suspect was arrested several hours after the killings about nine miles from the crime scene in Macomb Township. He was hiding out in a family member's condo near the intersection of 22 mile and Romeo Plank.
The Macomb County Sheriff brought in the Swat Team to force him out of the home. The Sheriff says the man resisted arrest, but eventually surrendered. Weapons were found inside the home.
The suspect's family members told Action News the accused killer has been troubled since being released from jail back on Christmas Day.
He spent several months behind bars on an assault charge filed by a different ex-girlfriend.
The suspect's mother says her son has been unstable since being released.
The suspect's family is cooperating with police.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Atlanta, GA: Atlanta man convicted for fatally stabbing girlfriend
By Marcus K. Garner
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
3:24 p.m. Friday, May 14, 2010
A Fulton County jury found an Atlanta man guilty Friday in the 2009 stabbing death of his girlfriend.
Lester Waller, 35, was convicted Friday on murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and weapons possessions charges for repeatedly stabbing 26-year-old Sheena Martin to death, court officials said.
Martin's naked body was discovered on May 30 in the bedroom of her Dolphin Drive home with a knife lodged in her neck, and stab wounds in her chest and back.
Court authorities said the investigation showed that Waller, Martin's live-in boyfriend, had a history of abusing the young woman.
Reports of Martin being seen tied to a chair, and incidents like one in which she was beaten with a glass ashtray, were among the allegations levied against Waller by witnesses.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Doris Downs sentenced Waller to life in prison.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
3:24 p.m. Friday, May 14, 2010
A Fulton County jury found an Atlanta man guilty Friday in the 2009 stabbing death of his girlfriend.
Lester Waller, 35, was convicted Friday on murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and weapons possessions charges for repeatedly stabbing 26-year-old Sheena Martin to death, court officials said.
Martin's naked body was discovered on May 30 in the bedroom of her Dolphin Drive home with a knife lodged in her neck, and stab wounds in her chest and back.
Court authorities said the investigation showed that Waller, Martin's live-in boyfriend, had a history of abusing the young woman.
Reports of Martin being seen tied to a chair, and incidents like one in which she was beaten with a glass ashtray, were among the allegations levied against Waller by witnesses.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Doris Downs sentenced Waller to life in prison.
Miami, FL: German on death row in Florida gets sentence commuted
(AFP) – 19 hours ago
MIAMI — A German national on death row for 22 years in the murder of his girlfriend in Florida has had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment, judicial officials said Friday.
Officials said an appeals court revised the sentence of Dieter Riechmann, in a case that had prompted the German government to request a review of the matter.
Riechmann was convicted in 1988 by a Florida court and sentenced to death for the murder of his girlfriend, Kersten Kischnick, killed by a bullet to the head while driving with him in a car in Miami Beach earlier that year.
Riechmann, who was visiting Florida as a tourist with the woman, said an unknown man had shot his girlfriend when they stopped to ask for directions.
Prosecutors argued that Riechmann killed the woman when she said she would stop working as a prostitute, and that he wanted to collect life insurance on the woman.
After a series of appeals, the man's sentence was commuted to life in prison by a circuit court on March 19, according to the Florida Commission on Capital Cases, a state entity that tracks death row cases.
The German consulate in Miami declined to comment on the case.
MIAMI — A German national on death row for 22 years in the murder of his girlfriend in Florida has had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment, judicial officials said Friday.
Officials said an appeals court revised the sentence of Dieter Riechmann, in a case that had prompted the German government to request a review of the matter.
Riechmann was convicted in 1988 by a Florida court and sentenced to death for the murder of his girlfriend, Kersten Kischnick, killed by a bullet to the head while driving with him in a car in Miami Beach earlier that year.
Riechmann, who was visiting Florida as a tourist with the woman, said an unknown man had shot his girlfriend when they stopped to ask for directions.
Prosecutors argued that Riechmann killed the woman when she said she would stop working as a prostitute, and that he wanted to collect life insurance on the woman.
After a series of appeals, the man's sentence was commuted to life in prison by a circuit court on March 19, according to the Florida Commission on Capital Cases, a state entity that tracks death row cases.
The German consulate in Miami declined to comment on the case.
Pine Bluff, AR: Pine Bluff man charged with capital murder in girlfriend’s shooting death
Posted on 14 May 2010
By Ray King
PINE BLUFF — A Pine Bluff man faces a capital murder charge in the shooting death of his girlfriend.
Prosecutor Steve Dalrymple charged Curtis C. Hampton III, 45, in the March 6 death of Lashonda Price, 29.
Price was shot while sitting in a car at the Speedway at 101 N. Walnut St. and died while in surgery at Jefferson Regional Medical Center.
During a probable cause hearing for Hampton on March 8, Detective Barry Saffold told Deputy Prosecutor Jill Reed he was on his way to the shooting after being contacted by police dispatchers when he was told that a retired Arkansas State Trooper was following a suspect vehicle, reporting its location and license plate number.
That license plate returned to Hampton’s residence in the 4000 block of West 17th Avenue.
Saffold said Sgt. Rowland Dorman went to the house, arrested Hampton, and located a gun in the vehicle.
At the scene of the shooting, Saffold said he found Price’s vehicle on the parking lot with “blood on the seat and two bullet holes in the seat.”
“I talked with a clerk at the store and he said that a lady ran into the store and collapsed,” Saffold said.
The retired trooper, Steve King, told Saffold he heard the shots, turned around to try and locate the source, and saw only Hampton and Price’s vehicles on the store’s parking lot.
Saffold said he had talked to relatives of Price who told him that she was “supposed to meet Hampton to pick up their child.”
The relatives said Hampton and Price were “boyfriend and girlfriend and he was the father of a 16-month old child.”
Medical personnel at the hospital reported that Price had been shot four times.
In addition to the murder charge, Hampton, who is currently on probation stemming from a 2005 incident that involved him shooting another girlfriend in the leg, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm because of that conviction.
Prosecutors have also filed motions seeking to revoke that probation.
Hampton will be held without bond, and the case was assigned to 5th Division Circuit Judge Jodi Dennis.
By Ray King
PINE BLUFF — A Pine Bluff man faces a capital murder charge in the shooting death of his girlfriend.
Prosecutor Steve Dalrymple charged Curtis C. Hampton III, 45, in the March 6 death of Lashonda Price, 29.
Price was shot while sitting in a car at the Speedway at 101 N. Walnut St. and died while in surgery at Jefferson Regional Medical Center.
During a probable cause hearing for Hampton on March 8, Detective Barry Saffold told Deputy Prosecutor Jill Reed he was on his way to the shooting after being contacted by police dispatchers when he was told that a retired Arkansas State Trooper was following a suspect vehicle, reporting its location and license plate number.
That license plate returned to Hampton’s residence in the 4000 block of West 17th Avenue.
Saffold said Sgt. Rowland Dorman went to the house, arrested Hampton, and located a gun in the vehicle.
At the scene of the shooting, Saffold said he found Price’s vehicle on the parking lot with “blood on the seat and two bullet holes in the seat.”
“I talked with a clerk at the store and he said that a lady ran into the store and collapsed,” Saffold said.
The retired trooper, Steve King, told Saffold he heard the shots, turned around to try and locate the source, and saw only Hampton and Price’s vehicles on the store’s parking lot.
Saffold said he had talked to relatives of Price who told him that she was “supposed to meet Hampton to pick up their child.”
The relatives said Hampton and Price were “boyfriend and girlfriend and he was the father of a 16-month old child.”
Medical personnel at the hospital reported that Price had been shot four times.
In addition to the murder charge, Hampton, who is currently on probation stemming from a 2005 incident that involved him shooting another girlfriend in the leg, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm because of that conviction.
Prosecutors have also filed motions seeking to revoke that probation.
Hampton will be held without bond, and the case was assigned to 5th Division Circuit Judge Jodi Dennis.
Mountain View, CA: Two people found shot to death at Mountain View dry cleaning business
By Diana Samuels
Daily News Staff Writer
Posted: 05/14/2010 08:40:41 PM PDT
Updated: 05/15/2010 03:53:27 AM PDT
Two people were found shot to death inside a Mountain View dry cleaning business Friday morning, police said.
Police released few details about the crime and said it was unclear whether it was a double homicide or a murder-suicide. People at nearby businesses, though, said they had heard reports that the deceased were the divorced owners of the dry cleaning shop, and that the man had shot his ex-wife before turning the gun on himself.
Authorities were called to Vogue Cleaners at 595 Escuela Ave. about 6:45 a.m. Friday, according to police spokeswoman Liz Wylie. An employee found a Korean man in his 70s and a Korean woman in her 60s dead inside the store just after arriving at work. Both appeared to have died from gunshot wounds, Wylie said, and a handgun was recovered from the scene.
"Definitely we're developing some evidence that it could be a murder-suicide," Wylie said.
At the scene, police cordoned off a stretch of Latham Street next to the dry cleaning shop. Police tape blocked the front of the business, a small corner storefront with a maroon banner reading "VOGUE CLEANERS" and fluorescent signs in the window advertising "Dry Cleaning, Same Day Service."
As authorities collected evidence, customers stopped at neighboring businesses to ask about the activity.
People at the businesses said a couple they knew as Joe and In had owned the dry cleaning shop for years, as well as Calderon Cleaners on Calderon Avenue. They
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said each had two adult children from previous marriages, and had been married for roughly a decade before divorcing about two years ago.
The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner's office said the shooting victims would not be officially identified until Monday. Business records confirm the owner of Vogue Cleaners was In Ku Lee, and a local newspaper article posted on the wall of the Calderon business indicated Joe's name was Chang Yung Cho.
Emily Salciccia, whose family owns the nearby restaurant Tony & Alba's Pizza and Pasta, said her family had been friends with Cho and Lee since their businesses opened around the same time, nearly 30 years ago.
Salciccia said people at the local stores called Cho "Mayor Joe," because he was such a constant presence in the area. She said she was "in shock" when she heard about the deaths.
"He was really a friendly guy," she said. "A lot of people loved him around here."
Salciccia said Lee mostly stayed in the shop and she didn't know her well.
"(Cho) didn't really talk about it, but there was conflict between them," Salciccia said.
She remembered seeing Cho the evening before. He greeted her and asked how her car was running.
"He said 'I'll see you later angel, bye!' " Salciccia said. "And that was it."
There has not been a homicide in Mountain View since siblings Omar Aquino and Teresa Sanchez-Aquino were shot and killed in their home on Plymouth Street in June 2008.
Anyone with information about Friday's deaths is asked to call the police department at 650-903-6344.
Daily News Staff Writer
Posted: 05/14/2010 08:40:41 PM PDT
Updated: 05/15/2010 03:53:27 AM PDT
Two people were found shot to death inside a Mountain View dry cleaning business Friday morning, police said.
Police released few details about the crime and said it was unclear whether it was a double homicide or a murder-suicide. People at nearby businesses, though, said they had heard reports that the deceased were the divorced owners of the dry cleaning shop, and that the man had shot his ex-wife before turning the gun on himself.
Authorities were called to Vogue Cleaners at 595 Escuela Ave. about 6:45 a.m. Friday, according to police spokeswoman Liz Wylie. An employee found a Korean man in his 70s and a Korean woman in her 60s dead inside the store just after arriving at work. Both appeared to have died from gunshot wounds, Wylie said, and a handgun was recovered from the scene.
"Definitely we're developing some evidence that it could be a murder-suicide," Wylie said.
At the scene, police cordoned off a stretch of Latham Street next to the dry cleaning shop. Police tape blocked the front of the business, a small corner storefront with a maroon banner reading "VOGUE CLEANERS" and fluorescent signs in the window advertising "Dry Cleaning, Same Day Service."
As authorities collected evidence, customers stopped at neighboring businesses to ask about the activity.
People at the businesses said a couple they knew as Joe and In had owned the dry cleaning shop for years, as well as Calderon Cleaners on Calderon Avenue. They
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said each had two adult children from previous marriages, and had been married for roughly a decade before divorcing about two years ago.
The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner's office said the shooting victims would not be officially identified until Monday. Business records confirm the owner of Vogue Cleaners was In Ku Lee, and a local newspaper article posted on the wall of the Calderon business indicated Joe's name was Chang Yung Cho.
Emily Salciccia, whose family owns the nearby restaurant Tony & Alba's Pizza and Pasta, said her family had been friends with Cho and Lee since their businesses opened around the same time, nearly 30 years ago.
Salciccia said people at the local stores called Cho "Mayor Joe," because he was such a constant presence in the area. She said she was "in shock" when she heard about the deaths.
"He was really a friendly guy," she said. "A lot of people loved him around here."
Salciccia said Lee mostly stayed in the shop and she didn't know her well.
"(Cho) didn't really talk about it, but there was conflict between them," Salciccia said.
She remembered seeing Cho the evening before. He greeted her and asked how her car was running.
"He said 'I'll see you later angel, bye!' " Salciccia said. "And that was it."
There has not been a homicide in Mountain View since siblings Omar Aquino and Teresa Sanchez-Aquino were shot and killed in their home on Plymouth Street in June 2008.
Anyone with information about Friday's deaths is asked to call the police department at 650-903-6344.
Wichita, KS: Killer's estate sued over murder-suicide
BY RON SYLVESTER
The Wichita Eagle
The family of a woman who was murdered earlier this year is suing the estate of the man who killed her.
Craig Shultz, the attorney representing the family of Poppilyn Delano-Moody, said he's rarely seen a lawsuit filed in a murder-suicide
"Most of the time, the murderer goes off to prison for the rest of their lives and have no assets," Shultz said. "That's not the case here."
Shultz said the hope is the estate of Michael D. Pierce will benefit Delano-Moody's surviving children.
Police found the bodies of Pierce, 57, and Delano-Moody, 36, on Jan. 29 at a house they shared in the 700 block of South Edwards.
Delano had been stabbed to death and Pierce had a gunshot wound to the head.
The couple had a history of domestic violence, police said. Police had been called to the house to check on Pierce.
Taylor Moody, the estranged husband of the woman, is bringing the lawsuit on behalf
of their children.
Pierce appears to have no immediate surviving family.
The administrators of Pierce's estate have 30 days to reply.
An initial case management conference is set for July before Sedgwick County District Judge William Woolley.
The Wichita Eagle
The family of a woman who was murdered earlier this year is suing the estate of the man who killed her.
Craig Shultz, the attorney representing the family of Poppilyn Delano-Moody, said he's rarely seen a lawsuit filed in a murder-suicide
"Most of the time, the murderer goes off to prison for the rest of their lives and have no assets," Shultz said. "That's not the case here."
Shultz said the hope is the estate of Michael D. Pierce will benefit Delano-Moody's surviving children.
Police found the bodies of Pierce, 57, and Delano-Moody, 36, on Jan. 29 at a house they shared in the 700 block of South Edwards.
Delano had been stabbed to death and Pierce had a gunshot wound to the head.
The couple had a history of domestic violence, police said. Police had been called to the house to check on Pierce.
Taylor Moody, the estranged husband of the woman, is bringing the lawsuit on behalf
of their children.
Pierce appears to have no immediate surviving family.
The administrators of Pierce's estate have 30 days to reply.
An initial case management conference is set for July before Sedgwick County District Judge William Woolley.
Pinole, CA: Appeals court upholds conviction of man who lit ex-girlfriend on fire in Pinole, killing her two young children
Bay City News
Posted: 05/14/2010 02:15:21 PM PDT
Updated: 05/14/2010 02:15:22 PM PDT
SAN FRANCISCO — A state appeals court has upheld the murder convictions and life sentence of a Vallejo man who doused his ex-girlfriend with gasoline and lit her on fire inside his car in Pinole, killing her two young children.
The Contra Costa County Superior Court convictions and sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole for Mark Fregia, 41, were unanimously upheld by a three-judge panel of the state Court of Appeal in San Francisco on Tuesday.
Devlin Weaver, 6, and Daelin Fregia, 2, were in the back of the car Fregia was driving in Pinole on Dec. 18, 2003. They died when the car ignited after Fregia poured gasoline on their mother, Erin Weaver, from a large soda bottle and set her on fire with a cigarette lighter.
Erin Weaver, 33, suffered burns to 85 percent of her body, but survived. She jumped out of the car and rolled on the ground to extinguish the flames but could not get back into the vehicle to rescue her children.
Witnesses said Fregia did not try to save the children and escaped by hijacking the car of a motorist who stopped to help. He was arrested in San Francisco the next day.
Daelin Fregia was the child of both Fregia and Weaver; Devlin Weaver was Erin Weaver's child from a previous relationship.
Weaver testified she had left Fregia in 2002 after he became abusive. She said that on the day of the murders, he had persuaded her to allow him to drive her and the children on a trip to
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buy toys as Christmas presents.
Fregia testified that he had meant to threaten Weaver with the gasoline and lighter but didn't intend to kill her or the children.
He was convicted of two counts of murder, the attempted voluntary manslaughter of Weaver, kidnapping, mayhem, arson and carjacking.
Prosecutors sought a death penalty, but the jury opted for a sentence of life in prison without parole.
On Tuesday, the appeals court rejected a claim by Fregia, who is African-American, that his trial was unfair because prosecutors excluded a 20-year-old African-American man from the jury.
The court said prosecutors provided a reasonable, non-racial explanation when they said they excluded the black jury candidate not because of his race but because of his age.
Posted: 05/14/2010 02:15:21 PM PDT
Updated: 05/14/2010 02:15:22 PM PDT
SAN FRANCISCO — A state appeals court has upheld the murder convictions and life sentence of a Vallejo man who doused his ex-girlfriend with gasoline and lit her on fire inside his car in Pinole, killing her two young children.
The Contra Costa County Superior Court convictions and sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole for Mark Fregia, 41, were unanimously upheld by a three-judge panel of the state Court of Appeal in San Francisco on Tuesday.
Devlin Weaver, 6, and Daelin Fregia, 2, were in the back of the car Fregia was driving in Pinole on Dec. 18, 2003. They died when the car ignited after Fregia poured gasoline on their mother, Erin Weaver, from a large soda bottle and set her on fire with a cigarette lighter.
Erin Weaver, 33, suffered burns to 85 percent of her body, but survived. She jumped out of the car and rolled on the ground to extinguish the flames but could not get back into the vehicle to rescue her children.
Witnesses said Fregia did not try to save the children and escaped by hijacking the car of a motorist who stopped to help. He was arrested in San Francisco the next day.
Daelin Fregia was the child of both Fregia and Weaver; Devlin Weaver was Erin Weaver's child from a previous relationship.
Weaver testified she had left Fregia in 2002 after he became abusive. She said that on the day of the murders, he had persuaded her to allow him to drive her and the children on a trip to
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buy toys as Christmas presents.
Fregia testified that he had meant to threaten Weaver with the gasoline and lighter but didn't intend to kill her or the children.
He was convicted of two counts of murder, the attempted voluntary manslaughter of Weaver, kidnapping, mayhem, arson and carjacking.
Prosecutors sought a death penalty, but the jury opted for a sentence of life in prison without parole.
On Tuesday, the appeals court rejected a claim by Fregia, who is African-American, that his trial was unfair because prosecutors excluded a 20-year-old African-American man from the jury.
The court said prosecutors provided a reasonable, non-racial explanation when they said they excluded the black jury candidate not because of his race but because of his age.
New York City, NY: Ex-con Robert Camarano, accused of murdering girlfriend, threatened to break her jaw, notes reveal
BY Melissa Grace
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Saturday, May 15th 2010, 4:00 AM
An ex-con accused of slaying his live-in girlfriend threatened to break her jaw and kill her a month before her death, prosecutors said Friday.
Michele Hyams kept track of the abuses Robert Camarano, 62, flung at her in notes investigators found on her computer and on a table in the couple's Chelsea apartment.
"She had reason to fear she [would] be killed by him," said Assistant District Attorney Amir Vonsover. "I want to break your f---ing jaw," Vonsover said, quoting one of Hyams' notes. In another, Hyams, 60, wrote, "Bobby, it's over."
Prosecutors asked a judge for permission to use the notes at the murder trial of Camarano - the heroin-addled criminal who is acting as his own lawyer - when testimony begins Monday.
They say the notes show Camarano's deadly rage when he allegedly killed Hyams in June 2008.
Camarano, who haplessly stumbled through jury selection Friday, tried desperately to have the notes excluded, claiming they were planted by Hyams' sister - who is expected to testify against him.
The judge did not immediately rule.
Meanwhile, a friend of Hyams, a successful Wall Street trading desk manager, said Hyams made a fatal mistake when she reconnected with Camarano, who has been in and out of jail over the past 30 years, through the Web site Classmates.com.
Beth Kraimer said Camarano and Hyams knew each other while growing up in Valley Stream, L.I., but didn't get together until the fateful meeting through the Web site.
"It's funny," Kraimer said, "he's trying to defend himself, and he's so guilty."
mgrace@nydailynews.com
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DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Saturday, May 15th 2010, 4:00 AM
An ex-con accused of slaying his live-in girlfriend threatened to break her jaw and kill her a month before her death, prosecutors said Friday.
Michele Hyams kept track of the abuses Robert Camarano, 62, flung at her in notes investigators found on her computer and on a table in the couple's Chelsea apartment.
"She had reason to fear she [would] be killed by him," said Assistant District Attorney Amir Vonsover. "I want to break your f---ing jaw," Vonsover said, quoting one of Hyams' notes. In another, Hyams, 60, wrote, "Bobby, it's over."
Prosecutors asked a judge for permission to use the notes at the murder trial of Camarano - the heroin-addled criminal who is acting as his own lawyer - when testimony begins Monday.
They say the notes show Camarano's deadly rage when he allegedly killed Hyams in June 2008.
Camarano, who haplessly stumbled through jury selection Friday, tried desperately to have the notes excluded, claiming they were planted by Hyams' sister - who is expected to testify against him.
The judge did not immediately rule.
Meanwhile, a friend of Hyams, a successful Wall Street trading desk manager, said Hyams made a fatal mistake when she reconnected with Camarano, who has been in and out of jail over the past 30 years, through the Web site Classmates.com.
Beth Kraimer said Camarano and Hyams knew each other while growing up in Valley Stream, L.I., but didn't get together until the fateful meeting through the Web site.
"It's funny," Kraimer said, "he's trying to defend himself, and he's so guilty."
mgrace@nydailynews.com
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Gig Harbor, WA: Police: Sheriff's deputy in WA shoots in-laws
GIG HARBOR, Wash. – A sheriff's deputy accused of fatally shooting his wife's parents was found dead in his Gig Harbor, Wash., home early Saturday, after an hourslong standoff, police said.
SWAT team members reported that 49-year-old Allen Myron was dead after they entered the house more than six hours after the standoff began, Tacoma police Detective Gretchen Aguirre said.
"The team clearing the house found the deputy deceased," Aguirre told The Associated Press.
She said that she didn't know how the Pierce County deputy died or what prompted the SWAT team to enter the home when it did.
Two of Myron's children had been trapped in the house but managed to safely leave during the early part of the siege.
It also wasn't immediate clear what touched off the violence, but the mother-in-law called 911 at 6:48 p.m. Friday, then crawled out of the house and into nearby woods, Tacoma's News Tribune reported. She had been wounded and died after being flown by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Police negotiators rushed to the scene, about 25 miles southwest of Seattle, along with the SWAT team and other law enforcement personnel.
Troyer said the body of the father-in-law was in the house. Neither of the in-laws was immediately identified. Police did not provide information on the whereabouts of the Myron's wife.
Myron, an 11-year sheriff's department veteran, had been on medical light duty for a year and a half and was cleared to come back to work three months ago, Troyer said, adding he did not have more details.
Tacoma police were handling the investigation because it involves a Pierce County officer. The house is located in a quiet, wooded neighborhood near the entrance to Kopachuck State Park.
Dana Malich, who lives behind the deputy's family, told The Seattle Times that she "heard a loud bang from the house behind" before 7 p.m. Friday but "didn't think anything of it."
She called Myron "a good person."
Neighbor Weldon Wilson, a retired state trooper, said whenever he saw Myron, the two would talk about law-enforcement issues. "He seemed like a pretty squared-away guy," Wilson told the Times
SWAT team members reported that 49-year-old Allen Myron was dead after they entered the house more than six hours after the standoff began, Tacoma police Detective Gretchen Aguirre said.
"The team clearing the house found the deputy deceased," Aguirre told The Associated Press.
She said that she didn't know how the Pierce County deputy died or what prompted the SWAT team to enter the home when it did.
Two of Myron's children had been trapped in the house but managed to safely leave during the early part of the siege.
It also wasn't immediate clear what touched off the violence, but the mother-in-law called 911 at 6:48 p.m. Friday, then crawled out of the house and into nearby woods, Tacoma's News Tribune reported. She had been wounded and died after being flown by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Police negotiators rushed to the scene, about 25 miles southwest of Seattle, along with the SWAT team and other law enforcement personnel.
Troyer said the body of the father-in-law was in the house. Neither of the in-laws was immediately identified. Police did not provide information on the whereabouts of the Myron's wife.
Myron, an 11-year sheriff's department veteran, had been on medical light duty for a year and a half and was cleared to come back to work three months ago, Troyer said, adding he did not have more details.
Tacoma police were handling the investigation because it involves a Pierce County officer. The house is located in a quiet, wooded neighborhood near the entrance to Kopachuck State Park.
Dana Malich, who lives behind the deputy's family, told The Seattle Times that she "heard a loud bang from the house behind" before 7 p.m. Friday but "didn't think anything of it."
She called Myron "a good person."
Neighbor Weldon Wilson, a retired state trooper, said whenever he saw Myron, the two would talk about law-enforcement issues. "He seemed like a pretty squared-away guy," Wilson told the Times
Friday, May 14, 2010
Lebanon, OH: Ohio man retried in wife's tub drowning death
Updated 6:15 PM Wednesday, May 12, 2010
LEBANON, Ohio — The prosecutor in a man's retrial on charges of drowning his wife in the bathtub recounted circumstances he says point to the defendant's guilt.
Assistant Warren County Prosecutor Travis Vieux told jurors in opening statements Wednesday that witnesses will testify about alleged contradictions in 29-year-old Ryan Widmer's statements to authorities.
Vieux also said emergency rescuers found 24-year-old Sarah Widmer's body dry only minutes after the 911 call.
Defense attorney Jay Clark told jurors in the Lebanon trial that no one knows what happened. He suggested authorities rushed to judgment in labeling the death a homicide.
Widmer was convicted last year of killing his wife in their home near Mason in 2008. A judge set aside the conviction after allegations of juror misconduct during deliberations.
LEBANON, Ohio — The prosecutor in a man's retrial on charges of drowning his wife in the bathtub recounted circumstances he says point to the defendant's guilt.
Assistant Warren County Prosecutor Travis Vieux told jurors in opening statements Wednesday that witnesses will testify about alleged contradictions in 29-year-old Ryan Widmer's statements to authorities.
Vieux also said emergency rescuers found 24-year-old Sarah Widmer's body dry only minutes after the 911 call.
Defense attorney Jay Clark told jurors in the Lebanon trial that no one knows what happened. He suggested authorities rushed to judgment in labeling the death a homicide.
Widmer was convicted last year of killing his wife in their home near Mason in 2008. A judge set aside the conviction after allegations of juror misconduct during deliberations.
Lehigh Acres, FL: Husband charged in wife's death
Lehigh Acres woman found shot, tied to car
BY GABRIELLA SOUZA • GSOUZA@NEWS-PRESS.COM • MAY 14, 2010
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A Lehigh Acres man has been charged in the death of his wife, who was found shot Wednesday, her body tied to a car in a vacant lot across from her home.
Zacarius Izquierdo, 68, was being held in the Lee County Jail on Thursday night without bond. Izquierdo was booked into custody after spending much of the past two days hospitalized for an undisclosed medical issue.
The medical examiner will conduct an autopsy on his wife, Maria Bauza, 49.
On Thursday, crime scene unit vehicles and yellow tape still surrounded the home at 3405 21st St. SW.
Tire tracks and a trail of what appeared to be blood led from the driveway to the vacant lot across the street. On Wednesday, deputies discovered the body behind a blue Toyota parked in the lot.
Neighbors say Bauza and Izquierdo moved into the one-story home about three months ago. According to records, the couple moved back and forth from Miami and Lehigh Acres in the last year.
Up until January, they lived in a house on 36th Street Southwest and records show Maria Bauza recently occupied a home in Miami. They also own a home on 10th Avenue Northeast in Naples, where relative Lourdes Bauza lives.
Cinthia Cano, who lives down the street on 36th Street Southwest, described them as a quiet couple she occasionally chatted with.
Izquierdo worked as a trucker, she said, and Bauza stayed at home. The couple had a teenage girl staying with them. It wasn't known if the girl was related to the couple.
"We never heard any screaming," Cano said. "They were peaceful people."
Izquierdo has one previous arrest in Lee County for driving with a suspended license in 2001.
The sheriff's office has not released a motive in Bauza's death.
BY GABRIELLA SOUZA • GSOUZA@NEWS-PRESS.COM • MAY 14, 2010
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Type Size A A A
A Lehigh Acres man has been charged in the death of his wife, who was found shot Wednesday, her body tied to a car in a vacant lot across from her home.
Zacarius Izquierdo, 68, was being held in the Lee County Jail on Thursday night without bond. Izquierdo was booked into custody after spending much of the past two days hospitalized for an undisclosed medical issue.
The medical examiner will conduct an autopsy on his wife, Maria Bauza, 49.
On Thursday, crime scene unit vehicles and yellow tape still surrounded the home at 3405 21st St. SW.
Tire tracks and a trail of what appeared to be blood led from the driveway to the vacant lot across the street. On Wednesday, deputies discovered the body behind a blue Toyota parked in the lot.
Neighbors say Bauza and Izquierdo moved into the one-story home about three months ago. According to records, the couple moved back and forth from Miami and Lehigh Acres in the last year.
Up until January, they lived in a house on 36th Street Southwest and records show Maria Bauza recently occupied a home in Miami. They also own a home on 10th Avenue Northeast in Naples, where relative Lourdes Bauza lives.
Cinthia Cano, who lives down the street on 36th Street Southwest, described them as a quiet couple she occasionally chatted with.
Izquierdo worked as a trucker, she said, and Bauza stayed at home. The couple had a teenage girl staying with them. It wasn't known if the girl was related to the couple.
"We never heard any screaming," Cano said. "They were peaceful people."
Izquierdo has one previous arrest in Lee County for driving with a suspended license in 2001.
The sheriff's office has not released a motive in Bauza's death.
Needles, CA: Man, 71, arrested in death of girlfriend in 1982
Stacia Glenn, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/13/2010 07:06:35 PM PDT
A 71-year-old man is behind bars for allegedly dismembering his live-in girlfriend nearly three decades ago.
Jimmy Joe Cox was arrested Wednesday at the Needles sheriff's station and is expected to be charged with murder today.
He has always been a suspect in the Dec. 23, 1982, disappearance of 24-year-old Carole Spearman. Witnesses saw the couple arguing at a Bermuda City tavern that night and the victim's severed hand was found the next day wrapped in a plastic bag along the Colorado River near the Topock Bridge.
A week later, Cox contacted sheriff's investigators to ask about the hand, expressing concern that it could belong to Spearman because he had not seen her in a week. He then filed a missing persons report.
It was another year before Spearman's head was found near the Topock Marine. Her body remains missing.
A motive has not been released but records show that Cox was abusive to his girlfriend. He was arrested months before Spearman's disappearance for burning her with a road flare.
Spearman's family, who lives in New York, said they had no idea Cox was abusing her but they are grateful that someone has been arrested.
"It's 28 years waiting for that news, that someone is going to be held responsible," said Spearman's younger sister, Catherine Axberg.
She was 11 when her sister went missing but she remembers the letters that Spearman always signed "I love you immensely and profusely" and the hand-made
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doll furniture that Spearman mailed her.
Axberg described her sister as a voracious reader, an honest and thoughtful woman who never forgot a birthday and a talented craftswoman who also made jewelry.
Sheriff's investigators took over the case in 1989 from the Mohave County Sheriff's Department. The county's cold case team reopened Spearman's case last year and began re-interviewing witnesses.
"We're always out there hunting and searching and we want to bring people to justice no matter how long it takes," said Sgt. Frank Montanez. "Cox killed somebody so young and stepped right back into society doing his thing. This is justice delayed."
Cox has no prior criminal record. He is being held at Central Detention Center in San Bernardino.
Anyone with information is asked to call Montanez or Detective Ryan Ford at 909 387-3598. Anonymous tipsters may call 800-78-CRIME.
stacia.glenn@inlandnewspapers.com, 909-386-3887
Read more: http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_15082045#ixzz0ntwOzwS1
Posted: 05/13/2010 07:06:35 PM PDT
A 71-year-old man is behind bars for allegedly dismembering his live-in girlfriend nearly three decades ago.
Jimmy Joe Cox was arrested Wednesday at the Needles sheriff's station and is expected to be charged with murder today.
He has always been a suspect in the Dec. 23, 1982, disappearance of 24-year-old Carole Spearman. Witnesses saw the couple arguing at a Bermuda City tavern that night and the victim's severed hand was found the next day wrapped in a plastic bag along the Colorado River near the Topock Bridge.
A week later, Cox contacted sheriff's investigators to ask about the hand, expressing concern that it could belong to Spearman because he had not seen her in a week. He then filed a missing persons report.
It was another year before Spearman's head was found near the Topock Marine. Her body remains missing.
A motive has not been released but records show that Cox was abusive to his girlfriend. He was arrested months before Spearman's disappearance for burning her with a road flare.
Spearman's family, who lives in New York, said they had no idea Cox was abusing her but they are grateful that someone has been arrested.
"It's 28 years waiting for that news, that someone is going to be held responsible," said Spearman's younger sister, Catherine Axberg.
She was 11 when her sister went missing but she remembers the letters that Spearman always signed "I love you immensely and profusely" and the hand-made
Advertisement
doll furniture that Spearman mailed her.
Axberg described her sister as a voracious reader, an honest and thoughtful woman who never forgot a birthday and a talented craftswoman who also made jewelry.
Sheriff's investigators took over the case in 1989 from the Mohave County Sheriff's Department. The county's cold case team reopened Spearman's case last year and began re-interviewing witnesses.
"We're always out there hunting and searching and we want to bring people to justice no matter how long it takes," said Sgt. Frank Montanez. "Cox killed somebody so young and stepped right back into society doing his thing. This is justice delayed."
Cox has no prior criminal record. He is being held at Central Detention Center in San Bernardino.
Anyone with information is asked to call Montanez or Detective Ryan Ford at 909 387-3598. Anonymous tipsters may call 800-78-CRIME.
stacia.glenn@inlandnewspapers.com, 909-386-3887
Read more: http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_15082045#ixzz0ntwOzwS1
Phoenix, AZ: Police: Shootout Suspect Killed Sister's Abuser
Updated: Thursday, 13 May 2010, 10:41 PM MDT
Published : Thursday, 13 May 2010, 10:41 PM MDT
PHOENIX - A shootout between police and a murder suspect last week brought I-10 in west Phoenix to a standstill. And now, details are emerging on what happened.
Police were after 36-year-old Genaro Mercado. He was suspected of killing his sister's boyfriend -- and an order of protection is shedding some light on what led to that domestic fight.
In the period before the shooting, police say he shot and killed his sister's boyfriend, Jose Mancilla.
According to an order of protection, Mancilla had been beating Mercado's sister. One day before the shooting, the victim told a judge that Mancilla hit her everyday repeatedly, every time she tried to break up with him.
She says he also threatened to kill her with a kitchen knife, and whipped her back with a stick, leaving a large lash mark and bruises.
Officers were on their way to serve Mancilla with that restraining order at the home at 87th Ave and Lower Buckeye when Mercado shot him.
Neighbors took down his license plate, and when police caught up with him, the shootout sharted. His family is still left wondering why Mercado didn't surrender to police.
Mercado's mother Ana says, "My son was a loving son, father, and husband. He was not a violent person. All of our family is in mourning."
No police officers were hurt in the shootout.
Published : Thursday, 13 May 2010, 10:41 PM MDT
PHOENIX - A shootout between police and a murder suspect last week brought I-10 in west Phoenix to a standstill. And now, details are emerging on what happened.
Police were after 36-year-old Genaro Mercado. He was suspected of killing his sister's boyfriend -- and an order of protection is shedding some light on what led to that domestic fight.
In the period before the shooting, police say he shot and killed his sister's boyfriend, Jose Mancilla.
According to an order of protection, Mancilla had been beating Mercado's sister. One day before the shooting, the victim told a judge that Mancilla hit her everyday repeatedly, every time she tried to break up with him.
She says he also threatened to kill her with a kitchen knife, and whipped her back with a stick, leaving a large lash mark and bruises.
Officers were on their way to serve Mancilla with that restraining order at the home at 87th Ave and Lower Buckeye when Mercado shot him.
Neighbors took down his license plate, and when police caught up with him, the shootout sharted. His family is still left wondering why Mercado didn't surrender to police.
Mercado's mother Ana says, "My son was a loving son, father, and husband. He was not a violent person. All of our family is in mourning."
No police officers were hurt in the shootout.
Mobile, AL: Mother killed in front of children tried to protect herself from estranged husband
By Mark R. Kent
May 12, 2010, 6:24PM
MOBILE, Ala. -- A 43-year-old rural postal carrier wanted in connection with the Tuesday evening shooting death of his estranged wife had been due in court Wednesday to answer charges that he violated her protection order, the woman's attorney said.
Michael Kenneth Berry remained at large as of Wednesday, Mobile police said. He is wanted in connection with the shooting death of 36-year-old Wendy Stevens inside her sport utility vehicle.
Stevens' attorney, Michael Murphy, said Stevens' four children -- three boys and a girl -- saw their mother killed up close. They were sitting inside the Expedition with her.
The shooting took place about 6:45 p.m. Tuesday near an automated teller machine at the RBC Bank branch at 7849 Cottage Hill Road.
Mobile County Juvenile Court Judge Edmond Naman said a request for protection had been filed on Stevens' behalf Jan. 11, and the temporary ruling remained in place while divorce proceedings were under way before Mobile County Circuit Court Judge Donald Banks.
"Here is a woman who did everything she was supposed to do, go to Penelope House, get the protection order, and she was even trying to get surveillance cameras put up at her house," Murphy said. "And it wasn't enough."
May 12, 2010, 6:24PM
MOBILE, Ala. -- A 43-year-old rural postal carrier wanted in connection with the Tuesday evening shooting death of his estranged wife had been due in court Wednesday to answer charges that he violated her protection order, the woman's attorney said.
Michael Kenneth Berry remained at large as of Wednesday, Mobile police said. He is wanted in connection with the shooting death of 36-year-old Wendy Stevens inside her sport utility vehicle.
Stevens' attorney, Michael Murphy, said Stevens' four children -- three boys and a girl -- saw their mother killed up close. They were sitting inside the Expedition with her.
The shooting took place about 6:45 p.m. Tuesday near an automated teller machine at the RBC Bank branch at 7849 Cottage Hill Road.
Mobile County Juvenile Court Judge Edmond Naman said a request for protection had been filed on Stevens' behalf Jan. 11, and the temporary ruling remained in place while divorce proceedings were under way before Mobile County Circuit Court Judge Donald Banks.
"Here is a woman who did everything she was supposed to do, go to Penelope House, get the protection order, and she was even trying to get surveillance cameras put up at her house," Murphy said. "And it wasn't enough."
Article: Mother of woman killed in murder-suicide speaks out
Updated: May 13, 2010 2:21 AM EDT
Natalie Gilkerson
Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) - The mother of woman killed in a murder-suicide is speaking out as alarming trend sweeps through the valley.
Metro says domestic violence homicides are up so far this year, and if current patterns stay on cue, they could potentially respond to almost 60,000 domestic violence calls in 2010.
38-year-old Natalie Gilkerson may have not had a chance to call for help when she was attacked this past Saturday near Sandhill and Twain. Her mother says this wasn't the first time her daughter's life was on the line.
"He had physically abused her. She did express to me that she was afraid to be at the house by herself. I told her to make sure to lock the doors and the windows and don't let anyone in," said Rena Velez, Gilkerson's mother.
Gilkerson's body was found inside the house in 3800 block of Catamaran Circle. She died as a result of a gunshot wound to the stomach.
Police closed in on her ex-boyfriend, 47-year-old Nestor Santos Pineda, in the garage of the home. Police say he shot himself in the head right in right of them, taking his own life.
"If he wanted to leave this earth, why didn't he just take himself. He didn't have to take my daughter with him," Velez went on to say.
Velez believes her daughter was too afraid to ever report any physical abuse to the authorities, fearing an outcome that happened anyway.
Now she has a message to other women who might feel cornered in that same position.
"You don't give them second chances. You call the cops on them. If they put their hands on you, you put them in jail, and you keep doing it until they get the message that they're not going to get away with it," said Velez.
Funeral services for Natalie Gilkerson are set for Thursday morning at Desert Memorial.
Her death marks the 14th domestic related homicide so far this year. Metro says that number means that domestic murders are accounting for 25 percent of homicides in their jurisdiction.
Police emphasize that if domestic violence victims are not willing to prosecute, there's only so much they can do. Victim advocates say fear and financial dependency are two of the biggest reasons that victims don't take a legal stand.
There are a number of community resources available across the valley for victims of domestic violence. Here are some listed on Las Vegas Metro Police's web site. Click on the links to visit their site.
Domestic Violence Handbook
Family Violence Prevention Fund
National Coalition on Domestic Violence
Violence Against Women Act
Safe Nest
Shade Tree
Natalie Gilkerson
Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) - The mother of woman killed in a murder-suicide is speaking out as alarming trend sweeps through the valley.
Metro says domestic violence homicides are up so far this year, and if current patterns stay on cue, they could potentially respond to almost 60,000 domestic violence calls in 2010.
38-year-old Natalie Gilkerson may have not had a chance to call for help when she was attacked this past Saturday near Sandhill and Twain. Her mother says this wasn't the first time her daughter's life was on the line.
"He had physically abused her. She did express to me that she was afraid to be at the house by herself. I told her to make sure to lock the doors and the windows and don't let anyone in," said Rena Velez, Gilkerson's mother.
Gilkerson's body was found inside the house in 3800 block of Catamaran Circle. She died as a result of a gunshot wound to the stomach.
Police closed in on her ex-boyfriend, 47-year-old Nestor Santos Pineda, in the garage of the home. Police say he shot himself in the head right in right of them, taking his own life.
"If he wanted to leave this earth, why didn't he just take himself. He didn't have to take my daughter with him," Velez went on to say.
Velez believes her daughter was too afraid to ever report any physical abuse to the authorities, fearing an outcome that happened anyway.
Now she has a message to other women who might feel cornered in that same position.
"You don't give them second chances. You call the cops on them. If they put their hands on you, you put them in jail, and you keep doing it until they get the message that they're not going to get away with it," said Velez.
Funeral services for Natalie Gilkerson are set for Thursday morning at Desert Memorial.
Her death marks the 14th domestic related homicide so far this year. Metro says that number means that domestic murders are accounting for 25 percent of homicides in their jurisdiction.
Police emphasize that if domestic violence victims are not willing to prosecute, there's only so much they can do. Victim advocates say fear and financial dependency are two of the biggest reasons that victims don't take a legal stand.
There are a number of community resources available across the valley for victims of domestic violence. Here are some listed on Las Vegas Metro Police's web site. Click on the links to visit their site.
Domestic Violence Handbook
Family Violence Prevention Fund
National Coalition on Domestic Violence
Violence Against Women Act
Safe Nest
Shade Tree
Ceres, CA: Ceres man sentenced for domestic violence, killing dog
last updated: May 12, 2010 10:32:02 PM
A Ceres man convicted of assaulting his girlfriend and killing her young daughter's dog was sentenced to nearly three years in state prison, authorities said.
Roy Allen Guice Jr., 32, was convicted of felony domestic violence and animal cruelty after the March 10 attack, according to Carol Shipley, Stanislaus County assistant district attorney.
Guice killed the dog after throwing it against a parked car, prosecutors said.
When his girlfriend tried to intervene, he pushed her to the ground and hit and kicked her in the arms, legs and face.
She sustained several bruises as a result of the attack.
Guice reportedly entered a no-contest plea, and Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge John Whiteside sentenced him to two years and eight months.
A Ceres man convicted of assaulting his girlfriend and killing her young daughter's dog was sentenced to nearly three years in state prison, authorities said.
Roy Allen Guice Jr., 32, was convicted of felony domestic violence and animal cruelty after the March 10 attack, according to Carol Shipley, Stanislaus County assistant district attorney.
Guice killed the dog after throwing it against a parked car, prosecutors said.
When his girlfriend tried to intervene, he pushed her to the ground and hit and kicked her in the arms, legs and face.
She sustained several bruises as a result of the attack.
Guice reportedly entered a no-contest plea, and Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge John Whiteside sentenced him to two years and eight months.
Wilmington, DE: Delaware courts: Prosecutor says mentor killed over woman
Trial begins in shooting of community leader Hoey
By SEAN O'SULLIVAN
The News Journal
WILMINGTON -- In opening statements this week, prosecutors charged that D'Andre Rogers shot and killed community mentor Derrick "Rick" Hoey on Jan. 4, 2009, to end a fight that didn't involve him.
Deputy Attorney General Cynthia L. Faraone told a Superior Court jury that Rogers, 25, went with a friend to a home in the 200 block of West 35th Street around 5 a.m. that day. The friend wanted to check up on a girlfriend -- or ex-girlfriend -- and got upset when Hoey, who was dating the woman, came to the door.
Hoey and the man then began a lengthy argument that moved outside, then back inside and then was set to be "settled" in the kitchen.
At that point, Faraone said, Rogers, who had been outside listening, ran into the home and into the kitchen. Witnesses reported hearing shots, Faraone said, and one said she saw Rogers with the gun in his hand.
Rogers and the other man fled, according to prosecutors, and after people at the home emerged from cover, they found 41-year-old Hoey on the front steps, bleeding. Thirty minutes later, Faraone said, he died.
Faraone said Rogers fled the state. He was arrested in North Carolina in May 2009. Faraone told the jury he confessed in North Carolina when police interviewed him.
Defense attorney Ralph D. Wilkinson IV, in his opening, raised questions about who fired the gun and the motivation of the shooter, arguing that if the intent was not to kill, then a first-degree murder charge could not be sustained.
If convicted, Rogers faces up to life in prison. The trial is expected to last at least a week.
By SEAN O'SULLIVAN
The News Journal
WILMINGTON -- In opening statements this week, prosecutors charged that D'Andre Rogers shot and killed community mentor Derrick "Rick" Hoey on Jan. 4, 2009, to end a fight that didn't involve him.
Deputy Attorney General Cynthia L. Faraone told a Superior Court jury that Rogers, 25, went with a friend to a home in the 200 block of West 35th Street around 5 a.m. that day. The friend wanted to check up on a girlfriend -- or ex-girlfriend -- and got upset when Hoey, who was dating the woman, came to the door.
Hoey and the man then began a lengthy argument that moved outside, then back inside and then was set to be "settled" in the kitchen.
At that point, Faraone said, Rogers, who had been outside listening, ran into the home and into the kitchen. Witnesses reported hearing shots, Faraone said, and one said she saw Rogers with the gun in his hand.
Rogers and the other man fled, according to prosecutors, and after people at the home emerged from cover, they found 41-year-old Hoey on the front steps, bleeding. Thirty minutes later, Faraone said, he died.
Faraone said Rogers fled the state. He was arrested in North Carolina in May 2009. Faraone told the jury he confessed in North Carolina when police interviewed him.
Defense attorney Ralph D. Wilkinson IV, in his opening, raised questions about who fired the gun and the motivation of the shooter, arguing that if the intent was not to kill, then a first-degree murder charge could not be sustained.
If convicted, Rogers faces up to life in prison. The trial is expected to last at least a week.
Chesterfield, VA: Chesterfield woman fatally shot; police suspect ex-boyfriend
By MARK BOWES
Published: May 14, 2010
A woman was shot to death yesterday and a man seriously wounded in what Chesterfield County police are calling a domestic-related shooting between a former couple.
Chrystal D. Snipes, 27, a mother of two, was shot and killed outside her family's home in the 10200 block of Reams Road, police said.
At 3:36 p.m., police received a call for shots fired at a home off Reams Road, near Mistywood Road and across from Reams Elementary School. When officers arrived, they found a woman dead with gunshot wounds outside the front door and a still-conscious man, who also had been shot, said Chesterfield police Capt. Terry Patterson.
Both victims apparently lived at the address with as many as five other people, including several children, Patterson said. The two victims had at one time been romantically involved, police believe.
The investigation is ongoing, but Patterson said it appears the man fatally shot his former girlfriend and then turned the gun on himself.
The man was taken to VCU Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. He was able to speak briefly with officers before being rushed to the hospital.
Published: May 14, 2010
A woman was shot to death yesterday and a man seriously wounded in what Chesterfield County police are calling a domestic-related shooting between a former couple.
Chrystal D. Snipes, 27, a mother of two, was shot and killed outside her family's home in the 10200 block of Reams Road, police said.
At 3:36 p.m., police received a call for shots fired at a home off Reams Road, near Mistywood Road and across from Reams Elementary School. When officers arrived, they found a woman dead with gunshot wounds outside the front door and a still-conscious man, who also had been shot, said Chesterfield police Capt. Terry Patterson.
Both victims apparently lived at the address with as many as five other people, including several children, Patterson said. The two victims had at one time been romantically involved, police believe.
The investigation is ongoing, but Patterson said it appears the man fatally shot his former girlfriend and then turned the gun on himself.
The man was taken to VCU Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. He was able to speak briefly with officers before being rushed to the hospital.
Belchertown, MA: Retired police lt. found dead after search of Quabbin
Posted: May 13, 2010 09:02 AM
By WGGB Staff
BELCHERTOWN, Mass. (WGGB) -- A retired Belchertown Police Department lieutenant is dead after his body was pulled from a wooded area in Ware near the Quabbin Reservoir following a domestic altercation with his estranged wife.
William C. Zobka, 64, has been found dead with a gunshot wound to his head Wednesday night after state police launched a massive search for him and blocked off access to the Quabbin Reservoir, according to Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel's office.
Zobka had allegedly called the woman, who the district attorney identified as having had a previous domestic relationship, and asked her to meet him before 6 p.m. at a Lookout Tower, where he pleaded with her to reconcile their differences.
"When the female rejected Mr. Zobka's pleas to reconcile, he grabbed her by the head, pulled out a handgun and threatened to kill her and him," said Scheibel in a statement sent to the media Thursday afternoon.
The woman had been able to call 911 on her cell phone, talk Zobka into leaving and left in her car while he followed in his, according to the district attorney. However, Belchertown police met the couple as they moved toward the exit and Zobka allegedly turned around and went back into the forest, while the woman was taken to a safe location.
A massive search was launched involving state police from various units, including hostage negotiators and the Special Tactics and Operations Team. Police blocked access to the Quabbin Reservoir for several hours during the search for the armed officer.
According to the district attorney, a state police helicopter spotted Zobka's body and ground searchers responded to find him dead.
An autopsy had been scheduled with the State Medical Examiner's office, according to Scheibel.
By WGGB Staff
BELCHERTOWN, Mass. (WGGB) -- A retired Belchertown Police Department lieutenant is dead after his body was pulled from a wooded area in Ware near the Quabbin Reservoir following a domestic altercation with his estranged wife.
William C. Zobka, 64, has been found dead with a gunshot wound to his head Wednesday night after state police launched a massive search for him and blocked off access to the Quabbin Reservoir, according to Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel's office.
Zobka had allegedly called the woman, who the district attorney identified as having had a previous domestic relationship, and asked her to meet him before 6 p.m. at a Lookout Tower, where he pleaded with her to reconcile their differences.
"When the female rejected Mr. Zobka's pleas to reconcile, he grabbed her by the head, pulled out a handgun and threatened to kill her and him," said Scheibel in a statement sent to the media Thursday afternoon.
The woman had been able to call 911 on her cell phone, talk Zobka into leaving and left in her car while he followed in his, according to the district attorney. However, Belchertown police met the couple as they moved toward the exit and Zobka allegedly turned around and went back into the forest, while the woman was taken to a safe location.
A massive search was launched involving state police from various units, including hostage negotiators and the Special Tactics and Operations Team. Police blocked access to the Quabbin Reservoir for several hours during the search for the armed officer.
According to the district attorney, a state police helicopter spotted Zobka's body and ground searchers responded to find him dead.
An autopsy had been scheduled with the State Medical Examiner's office, according to Scheibel.
Kalamazoo, MI: Tire marks where Venus Stewart disappeared appear to match tires on estranged husband's truck, police say
By Rex Hall Jr. | Kalamazoo Gazette
May 13, 2010, 11:44PM
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Tire marks found at the scene of Venus Rose Stewart’s disappearance appear to match the tire treads from her estranged husband’s pickup truck, documents show.
A Michigan State Police crime lab technician who compared photos of tire impressions found near Stewart’s parents’ home in Colon Township and photos of the tires on Douglas Harrie Stewart’s silver 2005 four-door Dodge pickup truck said the photos “showed general tread pattern agreement,” according to a search warrant affidavit obtained Thursday by the Kalamazoo Gazette from Newport News, Va., Circuit Court.
Courtesy Photo
Venus Stewart
The search warrant affidavits also show troopers found signs of a struggle and clear plastic packaging for a tarp after they responded April 26 to the 55000 block of Driftwood Drive on a report that Venus Stewart, 32, was missing. Investigators have said they believe the mother of two, who was last seen wearing pajamas, was abducted between 7:10 and 8:30 a.m.
A neighbor told police that at about 7 a.m. April 26, she spotted a “light gray colored” pickup truck with four doors parked in a field near her residence and that a white male was “crouched behind” the vehicle. Five minutes later, the truck was gone, the search warrant affidavit says.
Police have identified Douglas Stewart, 29, of Newport News, as the sole person of interest in his wife’s apparent abduction and they disclosed earlier this week that a search of his Dodge pickup truck turned up suspected blood and a receipt for a tarp, gloves, shovel and a hat purchased April 25 from a Walmart in Ohio.
A search warrant executed May 5 shows that the suspected blood was found on the inside of the truck’s driver-side door above the handle.
Another search warrant shows that police also found suspected blood during a search of a 1998 Mercury Sable that belongs to Douglas Stewart and that former neighbors of the Stewarts in Schoolcraft reported seeing what was believed to be the Stewarts’ Sable “cruising the neighborhood” April 25.
State Police Lt. Mike Risko said Thursday that police were still awaiting results of crime-lab analysis on the suspected blood found in both vehicles. The search warrants show that investigators also took fingerprints, palm prints and DNA swabs from Douglas Stewart on May 5.
Courtesy photo
Douglas H. Stewart
As their investigation continues, Risko said, police are trying to transport Douglas Stewart’s pickup truck back to Michigan for further analysis and to get a closer look at the tires. The crime lab technician who compared the photos of the tire impressions found near the scene of Venus Stewart’s disappearance and photos of Douglas Stewart’s truck tires “indicated she would need the actual tires from the Stewart pickup for more thorough, further analysis,” according to the search warrant affidavit.
Risko said the pickup truck and Mercury Sable were still in the possession of Newport News police, as of Thursday.
Meanwhile, a group of volunteers led by Denny Olson, of Vicksburg, was to search for Venus Stewart this morning in Colon and north to Leonidas and Fulton. They also planned to search areas to the east of Colon to Interstate 69.
Olson said Thursday he did not know how many volunteers might take part in today’s search but that members of Venus Stewart’s family, including her mother and father, Therese and Larry McComb, were expected to participate.
Police ask anyone who may have information about Venus Stewart to call the Michigan State Police post in White Pigeon at 269-483-7611 or its Regional Dispatch Center in Rockford at 616-866-6666.
May 13, 2010, 11:44PM
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Tire marks found at the scene of Venus Rose Stewart’s disappearance appear to match the tire treads from her estranged husband’s pickup truck, documents show.
A Michigan State Police crime lab technician who compared photos of tire impressions found near Stewart’s parents’ home in Colon Township and photos of the tires on Douglas Harrie Stewart’s silver 2005 four-door Dodge pickup truck said the photos “showed general tread pattern agreement,” according to a search warrant affidavit obtained Thursday by the Kalamazoo Gazette from Newport News, Va., Circuit Court.
Courtesy Photo
Venus Stewart
The search warrant affidavits also show troopers found signs of a struggle and clear plastic packaging for a tarp after they responded April 26 to the 55000 block of Driftwood Drive on a report that Venus Stewart, 32, was missing. Investigators have said they believe the mother of two, who was last seen wearing pajamas, was abducted between 7:10 and 8:30 a.m.
A neighbor told police that at about 7 a.m. April 26, she spotted a “light gray colored” pickup truck with four doors parked in a field near her residence and that a white male was “crouched behind” the vehicle. Five minutes later, the truck was gone, the search warrant affidavit says.
Police have identified Douglas Stewart, 29, of Newport News, as the sole person of interest in his wife’s apparent abduction and they disclosed earlier this week that a search of his Dodge pickup truck turned up suspected blood and a receipt for a tarp, gloves, shovel and a hat purchased April 25 from a Walmart in Ohio.
A search warrant executed May 5 shows that the suspected blood was found on the inside of the truck’s driver-side door above the handle.
Another search warrant shows that police also found suspected blood during a search of a 1998 Mercury Sable that belongs to Douglas Stewart and that former neighbors of the Stewarts in Schoolcraft reported seeing what was believed to be the Stewarts’ Sable “cruising the neighborhood” April 25.
State Police Lt. Mike Risko said Thursday that police were still awaiting results of crime-lab analysis on the suspected blood found in both vehicles. The search warrants show that investigators also took fingerprints, palm prints and DNA swabs from Douglas Stewart on May 5.
Courtesy photo
Douglas H. Stewart
As their investigation continues, Risko said, police are trying to transport Douglas Stewart’s pickup truck back to Michigan for further analysis and to get a closer look at the tires. The crime lab technician who compared the photos of the tire impressions found near the scene of Venus Stewart’s disappearance and photos of Douglas Stewart’s truck tires “indicated she would need the actual tires from the Stewart pickup for more thorough, further analysis,” according to the search warrant affidavit.
Risko said the pickup truck and Mercury Sable were still in the possession of Newport News police, as of Thursday.
Meanwhile, a group of volunteers led by Denny Olson, of Vicksburg, was to search for Venus Stewart this morning in Colon and north to Leonidas and Fulton. They also planned to search areas to the east of Colon to Interstate 69.
Olson said Thursday he did not know how many volunteers might take part in today’s search but that members of Venus Stewart’s family, including her mother and father, Therese and Larry McComb, were expected to participate.
Police ask anyone who may have information about Venus Stewart to call the Michigan State Police post in White Pigeon at 269-483-7611 or its Regional Dispatch Center in Rockford at 616-866-6666.
Fallowfield Township, PA: Man Charged In Double Homicide After Bodies Found On Rural Road
2 Bodies Found In Car Along Rural Road
POSTED: 11:22 am EDT May 13, 2010
UPDATED: 6:21 am EDT May 14, 2010
FALLOWFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- State Police in Washington County arrested a man early Friday in connection to a double homicide in Fallowfield Township, Washington County.
Police said Terrance Graham, 33, shot and killed his ex-girlfriend, Lynna Ronnell Flippen, 25, of Ellsworth and Ernest Yarbough Junior, 31, of Pittsburgh.
Flippen is the mother of Graham’s 4-year-old son.
Channel 4 Action News' Amber Nicotra reported that Graham had three protection from abuse orders filed against him by Flippen, the latest one filed in February of this year. Graham was denied visitation rights at that time. Nicotra also reported that Flippen recently withdrew the PFA.
The bodies were found in a car along a back road in Fallowfield Township just a couple of hours after state police responded to a 911 call at Flippen’s home in Ellsworth.
Witness Vincent Varrone told Channel 4 Action News that he was on his usual morning walk when he saw the a white Pontiac Grand Am parked on the side of Butsko road at about 7:20 a.m.
Terrance Graham
"There was blood all around the car, so I looked inside and there was a naked woman laying in the back seat, all bloody," Varrone said.
When state troopers got to the scene they further inspected the car and found Yarbough’s body in the trunk.
Police said they believe the incident started earlier in the morning at Flippen’s home on Spruce Street in the borough of Ellsworth.
Trooper Joe Christy said Flippen called 911 shortly before 5 a.m. And said she needed police because there was trouble at her home. Nobody answered the door when police arrived, Christy said.
"They kept knocking. They ultimately then went to the side door, found that it was open, and once they made their way inside, they found some blood inside the residence, which caused them some concern," Christy said.
Slideshow - Photos From Both Crime Scenes
Flippen's relatives said her call for help indicated that someone was breaking in.
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A cousin, Kimberly Kirksey, said Flippen had been on a date with a man from Pittsburgh the night before her death.
Facebook
Lynna Flippen, as seen in a Facebook photo
Flippen's family said she was involved in a custody dispute over her 4-year-old son, who spent Wednesday night with a relative.
Graham has been charged with two county of criminal homicide as well as abuse of a corpse and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.
Graham’s attorney Jon Maknoon said Graham did not admit to anything and that the case is entirely circumstantial.
POSTED: 11:22 am EDT May 13, 2010
UPDATED: 6:21 am EDT May 14, 2010
FALLOWFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- State Police in Washington County arrested a man early Friday in connection to a double homicide in Fallowfield Township, Washington County.
Police said Terrance Graham, 33, shot and killed his ex-girlfriend, Lynna Ronnell Flippen, 25, of Ellsworth and Ernest Yarbough Junior, 31, of Pittsburgh.
Flippen is the mother of Graham’s 4-year-old son.
Channel 4 Action News' Amber Nicotra reported that Graham had three protection from abuse orders filed against him by Flippen, the latest one filed in February of this year. Graham was denied visitation rights at that time. Nicotra also reported that Flippen recently withdrew the PFA.
The bodies were found in a car along a back road in Fallowfield Township just a couple of hours after state police responded to a 911 call at Flippen’s home in Ellsworth.
Witness Vincent Varrone told Channel 4 Action News that he was on his usual morning walk when he saw the a white Pontiac Grand Am parked on the side of Butsko road at about 7:20 a.m.
Terrance Graham
"There was blood all around the car, so I looked inside and there was a naked woman laying in the back seat, all bloody," Varrone said.
When state troopers got to the scene they further inspected the car and found Yarbough’s body in the trunk.
Police said they believe the incident started earlier in the morning at Flippen’s home on Spruce Street in the borough of Ellsworth.
Trooper Joe Christy said Flippen called 911 shortly before 5 a.m. And said she needed police because there was trouble at her home. Nobody answered the door when police arrived, Christy said.
"They kept knocking. They ultimately then went to the side door, found that it was open, and once they made their way inside, they found some blood inside the residence, which caused them some concern," Christy said.
Slideshow - Photos From Both Crime Scenes
Flippen's relatives said her call for help indicated that someone was breaking in.
2.5 miles2.5 miles© 2010 Microsoft Corporation © 2010 NAVTEQ © AND © 2010 Microsoft Corporation © 2010 NAVTEQ © AND
2D3DRoadAerialLabels
A cousin, Kimberly Kirksey, said Flippen had been on a date with a man from Pittsburgh the night before her death.
Lynna Flippen, as seen in a Facebook photo
Flippen's family said she was involved in a custody dispute over her 4-year-old son, who spent Wednesday night with a relative.
Graham has been charged with two county of criminal homicide as well as abuse of a corpse and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.
Graham’s attorney Jon Maknoon said Graham did not admit to anything and that the case is entirely circumstantial.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Baton Rouge, LA: Man on trial in girlfriend’s death
By JOE GYAN JR.
Advocate staff writer
Published: May 12, 2010 - Page: 5B
Comments (0)
A prosecutor on Tuesday portrayed a Donaldsonville man as a “chameleon’’ who charmed Evindra Simon in 2003, hit her with his fists for the first time just six weeks later, and fatally shot her in 2006 in the parking lot of the Belle of Baton Rouge Casino.
Assistant Attorney General Paul Knight painted that picture of 38-year-old Patrick Wilson on the opening day of his second-degree murder trial in the slaying of the 28-year-old Simon, also of Donaldsonville.
John McLindon, one of Wilson’s attorneys, acknowledged to the East Baton Rouge Parish jury that Wilson and Simon were known to fight, but argued Simon was “not trapped in an abusive relationship.’’
McLindon also claimed Simon’s death was accidental, not intentional as Knight contends.
“This weren’t no suicide. This weren’t no accident,’’ Knight told the jury, adding that Simon suffered a “close-contact wound.’’
The prosecutor said Wilson intentionally shot Simon in the head with a .40-caliber pistol as they sat in a rented Jeep Liberty in a dimly lit parking lot of the casino in the pre-dawn hours of Sept. 24, 2006.
Knight called Wilson a “player’’ who was not a “one-woman man.’’
McLindon called it a case of “accidental discharge of a firearm.’’
“There’s no criminal intent here,’’ he told the jury.
Abigail Moonaission testified Tuesday she was sitting in a car with Simon, her friend, in the casino parking lot when Wilson pulled up behind them in the Jeep. Simon got into the front passenger seat of Wilson’s vehicle, and seconds later a single shot rang out, she said.
“He said she tried to grab the gun and it went off,’’ Moonaission testified Wilson told her after she got into the back seat of the Jeep.
Wilson dropped her and Simon off at Baton Rouge General Medical Center-Mid City and then drove off, Moonaission said.
McLindon said Wilson left with the intention of telling Simon’s mother, but never made it to her house.
Simon later died at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center.
The trial resumes today in state District Judge Tony Marabella’s courtroom.
Second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
There are four possible verdicts in the case: guilty of second-degree murder, guilty of manslaughter, guilty of negligent homicide, or not guilty.
An East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury indicted Wilson on the second-degree murder charge in December 2006. Wilson was charged last December with obstruction of justice.
That charge says that on Sept. 24, 2006, Wilson tampered with the vehicle, which he “moved or removed along with all evidentiary contents, including … a gun and cell phone.’’
Knight said Wilson surrendered to Baton Rouge police two days after the shooting but did not turn over the gun, bullet casing or Simon’s cell phone.
The prosecutor said one of Wilson’s attorneys turned the gun in seven months later. It was registered in Simon’s name.
McLindon said Simon bought the gun during the serial-killer probe that eventually led to the arrest and conviction of Derrick Todd Lee.
Advocate staff writer
Published: May 12, 2010 - Page: 5B
Comments (0)
A prosecutor on Tuesday portrayed a Donaldsonville man as a “chameleon’’ who charmed Evindra Simon in 2003, hit her with his fists for the first time just six weeks later, and fatally shot her in 2006 in the parking lot of the Belle of Baton Rouge Casino.
Assistant Attorney General Paul Knight painted that picture of 38-year-old Patrick Wilson on the opening day of his second-degree murder trial in the slaying of the 28-year-old Simon, also of Donaldsonville.
John McLindon, one of Wilson’s attorneys, acknowledged to the East Baton Rouge Parish jury that Wilson and Simon were known to fight, but argued Simon was “not trapped in an abusive relationship.’’
McLindon also claimed Simon’s death was accidental, not intentional as Knight contends.
“This weren’t no suicide. This weren’t no accident,’’ Knight told the jury, adding that Simon suffered a “close-contact wound.’’
The prosecutor said Wilson intentionally shot Simon in the head with a .40-caliber pistol as they sat in a rented Jeep Liberty in a dimly lit parking lot of the casino in the pre-dawn hours of Sept. 24, 2006.
Knight called Wilson a “player’’ who was not a “one-woman man.’’
McLindon called it a case of “accidental discharge of a firearm.’’
“There’s no criminal intent here,’’ he told the jury.
Abigail Moonaission testified Tuesday she was sitting in a car with Simon, her friend, in the casino parking lot when Wilson pulled up behind them in the Jeep. Simon got into the front passenger seat of Wilson’s vehicle, and seconds later a single shot rang out, she said.
“He said she tried to grab the gun and it went off,’’ Moonaission testified Wilson told her after she got into the back seat of the Jeep.
Wilson dropped her and Simon off at Baton Rouge General Medical Center-Mid City and then drove off, Moonaission said.
McLindon said Wilson left with the intention of telling Simon’s mother, but never made it to her house.
Simon later died at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center.
The trial resumes today in state District Judge Tony Marabella’s courtroom.
Second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
There are four possible verdicts in the case: guilty of second-degree murder, guilty of manslaughter, guilty of negligent homicide, or not guilty.
An East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury indicted Wilson on the second-degree murder charge in December 2006. Wilson was charged last December with obstruction of justice.
That charge says that on Sept. 24, 2006, Wilson tampered with the vehicle, which he “moved or removed along with all evidentiary contents, including … a gun and cell phone.’’
Knight said Wilson surrendered to Baton Rouge police two days after the shooting but did not turn over the gun, bullet casing or Simon’s cell phone.
The prosecutor said one of Wilson’s attorneys turned the gun in seven months later. It was registered in Simon’s name.
McLindon said Simon bought the gun during the serial-killer probe that eventually led to the arrest and conviction of Derrick Todd Lee.
Article: Parents of man who killed wife have right to seek adoption, court rules
Parents of slain wife also want to adopt 9-year-old
By Sheila Burke
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Tennessee Supreme Court on Monday said the parents of a man who murdered his estranged wife and two others should be able to adopt the couple's 9-year-old daughter, as opposed to the slain woman's parents.
The decision involves a custody battle and adoption fight over the child of a man who opened fire at the Tennessee Department of Transportation headquarters in Jackson in 2005. David Lynn Jordan was sentenced to death for the murders of his estranged wife, Donna Renee Jordan, 31, and two others.
The unanimous decision, written by Chief Justice Janice M. Holder, held that people who don't have physical custody of a child can still win the right to adopt.
"It's going to be pretty devastating for them," Jeff Mueller, an attorney who represented the slain woman's parents, said of the grandparents who had custody of the girl for 3½ years.
The decision was about what's in the best interests of this child, said one of the attorneys who represented David Jordan's parents.
"The father's parents, the paternal grandparents, shouldn't be criticized and held accountable for something he did independent of them," said David Camp, an attorney in Jackson.
Both sides tried to adopt
A juvenile court put the little girl in the custody of her mother's parents a week after the shootings and ordered her to visit the other set of grandparents one weekend per month.
The maternal grandparents filed for adoption after David Jordan was convicted of the murders and condemned to death. The other set of parents filed an intervening adoption request in the Chancery Court of Madison County.
A Madison County judge decided the girl would be better off with her paternal grandparents because they were younger, had more financial and social resources, and were better equipped to help her deal with her mother's death.
The slain woman's mother admitted to calling David Jordan "evil" in front of the girl. The grandmother reportedly described to the child the murders and what would happen to her father.
Holder, in her opinion, said the girl "should not be burdened any more than necessary with the details of her mother's death and the surrounding events."
By Sheila Burke
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Tennessee Supreme Court on Monday said the parents of a man who murdered his estranged wife and two others should be able to adopt the couple's 9-year-old daughter, as opposed to the slain woman's parents.
The decision involves a custody battle and adoption fight over the child of a man who opened fire at the Tennessee Department of Transportation headquarters in Jackson in 2005. David Lynn Jordan was sentenced to death for the murders of his estranged wife, Donna Renee Jordan, 31, and two others.
The unanimous decision, written by Chief Justice Janice M. Holder, held that people who don't have physical custody of a child can still win the right to adopt.
"It's going to be pretty devastating for them," Jeff Mueller, an attorney who represented the slain woman's parents, said of the grandparents who had custody of the girl for 3½ years.
The decision was about what's in the best interests of this child, said one of the attorneys who represented David Jordan's parents.
"The father's parents, the paternal grandparents, shouldn't be criticized and held accountable for something he did independent of them," said David Camp, an attorney in Jackson.
Both sides tried to adopt
A juvenile court put the little girl in the custody of her mother's parents a week after the shootings and ordered her to visit the other set of grandparents one weekend per month.
The maternal grandparents filed for adoption after David Jordan was convicted of the murders and condemned to death. The other set of parents filed an intervening adoption request in the Chancery Court of Madison County.
A Madison County judge decided the girl would be better off with her paternal grandparents because they were younger, had more financial and social resources, and were better equipped to help her deal with her mother's death.
The slain woman's mother admitted to calling David Jordan "evil" in front of the girl. The grandmother reportedly described to the child the murders and what would happen to her father.
Holder, in her opinion, said the girl "should not be burdened any more than necessary with the details of her mother's death and the surrounding events."
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
El Reno, OK: New Venue Sought For Okla. Man's Murder Trial
l posted 12:37 pm Tue May 11, 2010 - Oklahoma
Attorneys for an El Reno man charged with killing his girlfriend and her four children want his first-degree murder trial moved.
Attorneys for 27-year-old Joshua Steven Durcho say he can't get a fair trial in Canadian County because of widespread publicity about the case. They say potential jurors could be exposed to information such as comments on one website that says men like Durcho need to die.
Durcho is charged with strangling 25-year-old Summer Rust; 7-year-old Kirsten Rust; 7-year-old Autumn Rust; 4-year-old Teagin Rust; and 3-year-old Evynn Garas in January 2009.
A May 24 hearing is scheduled on the request. The trial is to begin Sept. 13. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Attorneys for an El Reno man charged with killing his girlfriend and her four children want his first-degree murder trial moved.
Attorneys for 27-year-old Joshua Steven Durcho say he can't get a fair trial in Canadian County because of widespread publicity about the case. They say potential jurors could be exposed to information such as comments on one website that says men like Durcho need to die.
Durcho is charged with strangling 25-year-old Summer Rust; 7-year-old Kirsten Rust; 7-year-old Autumn Rust; 4-year-old Teagin Rust; and 3-year-old Evynn Garas in January 2009.
A May 24 hearing is scheduled on the request. The trial is to begin Sept. 13. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Houston, TX: Man Charged in Wife's SWAT Scene Death
Updated: Monday, 10 May 2010, 6:58 AM CDT
Published : Monday, 10 May 2010, 6:58 AM CDT
FORD ATKINSON
Reporter
HOUSTON - A man who held Houston police at bay for several hours will face a murder charged in the death of his wife.
Police say that the woman died during a standoff with officers on Saturday night.
During the standoff as the Special Weapons and Tactics unit waited outside, one officer used a loudspeaker to say, "Ken McAfee, this is the Houston Police Department."
The Houston police SWAT team tried for hours to communicate with McAfee after they were called to his West University-area house. The standoff began shortly after officers arrived.
"Officers first responded to an alarm call. There was a male inside the residence, slammed the door in their faces, would not initiate any contact with them," said Sgt. C. Howard.
Police quickly realized that there was a woman inside the house. She was later identified as the suspect's wife, Janet McAfee.
"The first responding officers did make verbal contact with the female. She said she was not okay when asked," said Sgt. Howard.
At some point, police say Ken McAfee shot his wife, but it is unclear whether the officers heard the gunfire as they tried to communicate with him.
"We need for you to pick up the phone. No one wants to hurt you. We are trying to help you," said an officer using the loudspeaker to address Ken McAfee.
Eventually, SWAT officers tried to enter the home.
Officers say that McAfee responded to their entry by shooting himself in the face. He was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital and is expected to survive.
Janet McAfee, who investigators say was divorcing the suspect, was found in a back room shot to death.
Neighbors say that there had been many police calls to the house before.
"That couple has been kind of, I don't know, there's always that one neighbor on the block. They call the cops, always crying wolf about things. They're kind of on the edge," said neighbor Grayson Brewer.
Ken McAfee is scheduled to appear in court on Monday, but it is not certain if his gunshot wound will prevent him from appearing.
Published : Monday, 10 May 2010, 6:58 AM CDT
FORD ATKINSON
Reporter
HOUSTON - A man who held Houston police at bay for several hours will face a murder charged in the death of his wife.
Police say that the woman died during a standoff with officers on Saturday night.
During the standoff as the Special Weapons and Tactics unit waited outside, one officer used a loudspeaker to say, "Ken McAfee, this is the Houston Police Department."
The Houston police SWAT team tried for hours to communicate with McAfee after they were called to his West University-area house. The standoff began shortly after officers arrived.
"Officers first responded to an alarm call. There was a male inside the residence, slammed the door in their faces, would not initiate any contact with them," said Sgt. C. Howard.
Police quickly realized that there was a woman inside the house. She was later identified as the suspect's wife, Janet McAfee.
"The first responding officers did make verbal contact with the female. She said she was not okay when asked," said Sgt. Howard.
At some point, police say Ken McAfee shot his wife, but it is unclear whether the officers heard the gunfire as they tried to communicate with him.
"We need for you to pick up the phone. No one wants to hurt you. We are trying to help you," said an officer using the loudspeaker to address Ken McAfee.
Eventually, SWAT officers tried to enter the home.
Officers say that McAfee responded to their entry by shooting himself in the face. He was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital and is expected to survive.
Janet McAfee, who investigators say was divorcing the suspect, was found in a back room shot to death.
Neighbors say that there had been many police calls to the house before.
"That couple has been kind of, I don't know, there's always that one neighbor on the block. They call the cops, always crying wolf about things. They're kind of on the edge," said neighbor Grayson Brewer.
Ken McAfee is scheduled to appear in court on Monday, but it is not certain if his gunshot wound will prevent him from appearing.
Article: Mother of murdered woman speaks out on teen violence
By Andrea Thomas
Managing Editor
At age 20, Debbie Norris' daughter, Heather, was murdered by her estranged high school boyfriend in 2007 in Indianapolis.
Since that time, Norris has sought to educate students and parents about the reality of teen dating violence, using Heather's voice and story to raise awareness.
From 7-8 p.m. on Thursday, Norris will speak at Rock Point Church, 439 W. 150 S. in Crawfordsville, an event that coincides with Dating Violence Awareness Month. The talk, sponsored by the Family Crisis Shelter, Inc., will also acknowledge the 51 victims who were killed last year in Indiana due to domestic violence.
Norris said she believes there is a stereotype that domestic violence is something that happens only to adults.
"But it starts some place," she said Monday. "If kids are educated early enough, it may not happen to them because they'll be aware of the signs."
Norris said several individuals have told her they did not know they were in abusive relationships prior to hearing her speak.
"Some think that when they're dating and they get hit, they hear 'I'm sorry' and 'It won't happen again,' and believe it's the truth," she said. "But it's not. It's going to happen again if you allow it the first time."
"It hurts me (to speak about Heather). It's very painful, emotional and it drains me to talk to these students, but when I leave and I see the response and how much they appreciate me coming in and opening their eyes, it's worth it."
It also gives her daughter's life, and death, meaning.
"At one point, Heather had walked into my living room and said, 'I believe I was put on this Earth to help people,'" Norris recalled. "That's never left me. This is Heather helping people. I know this is what Heather would want, not to have anyone else go through what she has gone through. I believe Heather made me a wiser person, by her wisdom, patience and understanding, and I'm nothing more than Heather's voice."
A food and toiletry donation drive will also be collected at the door. Proceeds will go to the Family Crisis Shelter.
Managing Editor
At age 20, Debbie Norris' daughter, Heather, was murdered by her estranged high school boyfriend in 2007 in Indianapolis.
Since that time, Norris has sought to educate students and parents about the reality of teen dating violence, using Heather's voice and story to raise awareness.
From 7-8 p.m. on Thursday, Norris will speak at Rock Point Church, 439 W. 150 S. in Crawfordsville, an event that coincides with Dating Violence Awareness Month. The talk, sponsored by the Family Crisis Shelter, Inc., will also acknowledge the 51 victims who were killed last year in Indiana due to domestic violence.
Norris said she believes there is a stereotype that domestic violence is something that happens only to adults.
"But it starts some place," she said Monday. "If kids are educated early enough, it may not happen to them because they'll be aware of the signs."
Norris said several individuals have told her they did not know they were in abusive relationships prior to hearing her speak.
"Some think that when they're dating and they get hit, they hear 'I'm sorry' and 'It won't happen again,' and believe it's the truth," she said. "But it's not. It's going to happen again if you allow it the first time."
"It hurts me (to speak about Heather). It's very painful, emotional and it drains me to talk to these students, but when I leave and I see the response and how much they appreciate me coming in and opening their eyes, it's worth it."
It also gives her daughter's life, and death, meaning.
"At one point, Heather had walked into my living room and said, 'I believe I was put on this Earth to help people,'" Norris recalled. "That's never left me. This is Heather helping people. I know this is what Heather would want, not to have anyone else go through what she has gone through. I believe Heather made me a wiser person, by her wisdom, patience and understanding, and I'm nothing more than Heather's voice."
A food and toiletry donation drive will also be collected at the door. Proceeds will go to the Family Crisis Shelter.
Los Angeles, CA: C.A. Upholds Conviction of Man Who Strangled Wife With Necktie
Defendant’s Claim of Suicide Pact Did Not Require Special Instruction, Panel Says
By KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer
A defendant’s claim that he strangled his victim as part of a suicide pact does not require a trial judge to instruct a jury on aiding and abetting suicide, the Court of Appeal for this district ruled yesterday.
In affirming David Lam’s conviction for second degree murder, Div. Eight held that such an instruction is not appropriate where it is undisputed that the defendant committed the act that caused death.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Martinez sentenced Lam, who was charged with first degree murder but convicted of the lesser offense, to 15 years to life in state prison two years ago, after he strangled his wife with a necktie and buried her in the backyard of their Rowland Heights home. Lam, who was captured in Indonesia two years after the 2005 killing, testified that he and his wife were both depressed after he lost $20,000 while gambling and she learned that the money, which she had saved, was gone.
He claimed that after his wife said she wanted to kill herself, he told her he wanted to kill himself, so they agreed to strangle each other. When he regained consciousness, he said, Susan Lam was dead.
Contrary Testimony
Lam acknowledged that his testimony was contrary to what he told detectives, which was that he came home drunk, snuck up behind his wife the night he took the money, and killed her, out of shame. He said he planned to kill himself, but lost the nerve.
He explained to the jury that he lied to the police because he wanted to be sentenced to death.
Lam hired day laborers to dig holes in the backyard, where his wife’s body was found. The victim’s sister said Lam told her she had left him and gone to Chicago.
In imposing the sentence, according to a newspaper account, Martinez told the defendant:
“You are devoid of humanity, sir. It is the court’s belief you should spend the rest of your life in jail.”
The defense argued on appeal that the defendant’s trial attorney, Wayne Rozenberg, was ineffective because he failed to request an instruction on aiding and abetting suicide, a lesser offense.
But Justice Laurence Rubin, writing for the Court of Appeal, noted that an instruction on a lesser offense cannot be given over prosecution objection, and that even if the prosecutor consents, the court is not required to give an instruction not supported by substantial evidence.
In this case, the justice said, the prosecution had no reason to consent to such an instruction and the judge had no reason to give one.
A defendant is guilty of assisting suicide, rather than murder, Rubin explained, if he furnishes the means but does not participate in the actual killing.
Prior Case Differentiated
The jurist differentiated the case from In re Joseph G. (1983) 34 Cal.3d 429, in which the defendant and victim agreed to die by having the defendant drive his car over a cliff with the victim in the passenger seat. The defendant survived and was charged with murder, but the Supreme Court said he was guilty of nothing greater than assisting suicide because the defendant and the victim each assumed the same risk of death.
Rubin wrote:
“We find Joseph G. is distinguishable because appellant and his wife did not face an equal risk of death from a single instrumentality. The neckties they placed around their necks were separate instruments under their independent control. Appellant and Susan could to a greater or lesser degree choose to bear down on or release each other in their mutual strangulation, and that is apparently what happened. Thus appellant and Susan differed from the driver and passenger in Joseph G. whose plummet over the cliff in one car simultaneously hurled them beyond a point of no return to an equal risk of death.”
The justice went on to reject the argument that the judge should have instructed the jury on voluntary intoxication as possibly negating the intent required to commit second degree murder. The instructions that were given, to the effect that intoxication may negate the malice required for a first degree murder finding but has no bearing on whether the defendant committed second degree murder, were correct, Rubin said.
The case is People v. Lam, 10 S.O.S. 2469.
By KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer
A defendant’s claim that he strangled his victim as part of a suicide pact does not require a trial judge to instruct a jury on aiding and abetting suicide, the Court of Appeal for this district ruled yesterday.
In affirming David Lam’s conviction for second degree murder, Div. Eight held that such an instruction is not appropriate where it is undisputed that the defendant committed the act that caused death.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Martinez sentenced Lam, who was charged with first degree murder but convicted of the lesser offense, to 15 years to life in state prison two years ago, after he strangled his wife with a necktie and buried her in the backyard of their Rowland Heights home. Lam, who was captured in Indonesia two years after the 2005 killing, testified that he and his wife were both depressed after he lost $20,000 while gambling and she learned that the money, which she had saved, was gone.
He claimed that after his wife said she wanted to kill herself, he told her he wanted to kill himself, so they agreed to strangle each other. When he regained consciousness, he said, Susan Lam was dead.
Contrary Testimony
Lam acknowledged that his testimony was contrary to what he told detectives, which was that he came home drunk, snuck up behind his wife the night he took the money, and killed her, out of shame. He said he planned to kill himself, but lost the nerve.
He explained to the jury that he lied to the police because he wanted to be sentenced to death.
Lam hired day laborers to dig holes in the backyard, where his wife’s body was found. The victim’s sister said Lam told her she had left him and gone to Chicago.
In imposing the sentence, according to a newspaper account, Martinez told the defendant:
“You are devoid of humanity, sir. It is the court’s belief you should spend the rest of your life in jail.”
The defense argued on appeal that the defendant’s trial attorney, Wayne Rozenberg, was ineffective because he failed to request an instruction on aiding and abetting suicide, a lesser offense.
But Justice Laurence Rubin, writing for the Court of Appeal, noted that an instruction on a lesser offense cannot be given over prosecution objection, and that even if the prosecutor consents, the court is not required to give an instruction not supported by substantial evidence.
In this case, the justice said, the prosecution had no reason to consent to such an instruction and the judge had no reason to give one.
A defendant is guilty of assisting suicide, rather than murder, Rubin explained, if he furnishes the means but does not participate in the actual killing.
Prior Case Differentiated
The jurist differentiated the case from In re Joseph G. (1983) 34 Cal.3d 429, in which the defendant and victim agreed to die by having the defendant drive his car over a cliff with the victim in the passenger seat. The defendant survived and was charged with murder, but the Supreme Court said he was guilty of nothing greater than assisting suicide because the defendant and the victim each assumed the same risk of death.
Rubin wrote:
“We find Joseph G. is distinguishable because appellant and his wife did not face an equal risk of death from a single instrumentality. The neckties they placed around their necks were separate instruments under their independent control. Appellant and Susan could to a greater or lesser degree choose to bear down on or release each other in their mutual strangulation, and that is apparently what happened. Thus appellant and Susan differed from the driver and passenger in Joseph G. whose plummet over the cliff in one car simultaneously hurled them beyond a point of no return to an equal risk of death.”
The justice went on to reject the argument that the judge should have instructed the jury on voluntary intoxication as possibly negating the intent required to commit second degree murder. The instructions that were given, to the effect that intoxication may negate the malice required for a first degree murder finding but has no bearing on whether the defendant committed second degree murder, were correct, Rubin said.
The case is People v. Lam, 10 S.O.S. 2469.
Merced, CA: Atwater murder-suicide, victims identified
Monday, May 10, 2010
MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) -- Atwater Police are investigating a murder-suicide that happened less than two hours after the suspect bailed out of jail on domestic violence charges.
Police arrested Pedro Serna Wednesday night for spousal abuse, rape and false imprisonment. He bailed out on Friday at 9:00 p.m. By 11:00 p.m., he had tracked down his wife at their daughter's apartment. Neighbors heard an argument and called 911.
Neighbor: "Like 40 seconds after that, I heard a gunshot and then a minute after that, another gunshot. After that, it was just quiet, like eerie quiet."
Police got to the apartment within a minute, but both were already dead.
MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) -- Atwater Police are investigating a murder-suicide that happened less than two hours after the suspect bailed out of jail on domestic violence charges.
Police arrested Pedro Serna Wednesday night for spousal abuse, rape and false imprisonment. He bailed out on Friday at 9:00 p.m. By 11:00 p.m., he had tracked down his wife at their daughter's apartment. Neighbors heard an argument and called 911.
Neighbor: "Like 40 seconds after that, I heard a gunshot and then a minute after that, another gunshot. After that, it was just quiet, like eerie quiet."
Police got to the apartment within a minute, but both were already dead.
Walton, NY: 2 Dead In Murder-Suicide
Walton, NY (WBNG Binghamton) - A relationship takes a deadly turn in Walton.
65-year-old Daisy Schultz was shot to death in her apartment around 10 Sunday night.
74-year-old Richard Utter of Norwich is the only suspect.
Police say he shot and killed himself.
Action News reporter Natalie Jenereski explains how the murder-suicide is sending shock waves through the community.
Walton police say the two seniors had been dating since Fall of last year.
That's until Schultz and Utter were found dead inside her upstairs apartment at 32 Union Street.
The woman who lives directly below Schultz says twice, she heard her friend yell out "no."
Then, she heard gunshots and a loud pound on the floor.
That's when she called 9-1-1.
Neighbors watched as Police searched the crime scene for answers.
"I just have a scanner and I heard gun shots, they reported gunshots at 32 Union Street. I went out and watched it. Police came out, Sheriff, village cops, everything. A lot of people," said Arthur Furgerson, a neighbor of Schultz's.
"Walton is a pretty small town. Something like this doesn't happen here, it's pretty shocking to everyone including the police department," said Brian Laauser, Patrolman for the Walton Police Dept.
In a small town like Walton, where everyone knows their neighbor, it seems little was known about Utter.
"She was a nice-looking woman. Blonde, nice looking. This guy just came out of nowhere. She been alone there all along, you can ask anybody, and all of a sudden this guy appears out of nowhere," said Furgerson.
Schultz's husband died 5 years ago.
Police are investigating what could have caused the 74-year-old to kill his girlfriend of less than one year.
What they do know, is that Utter's wife died almost one year ago.
In Walton, Natalie Jenereski, WBNG-TV Action News.
The investigation is ongoing.
The Walton Police Department is being assisted by the Delaware County Sheriff's Department and by New York State Police.
65-year-old Daisy Schultz was shot to death in her apartment around 10 Sunday night.
74-year-old Richard Utter of Norwich is the only suspect.
Police say he shot and killed himself.
Action News reporter Natalie Jenereski explains how the murder-suicide is sending shock waves through the community.
Walton police say the two seniors had been dating since Fall of last year.
That's until Schultz and Utter were found dead inside her upstairs apartment at 32 Union Street.
The woman who lives directly below Schultz says twice, she heard her friend yell out "no."
Then, she heard gunshots and a loud pound on the floor.
That's when she called 9-1-1.
Neighbors watched as Police searched the crime scene for answers.
"I just have a scanner and I heard gun shots, they reported gunshots at 32 Union Street. I went out and watched it. Police came out, Sheriff, village cops, everything. A lot of people," said Arthur Furgerson, a neighbor of Schultz's.
"Walton is a pretty small town. Something like this doesn't happen here, it's pretty shocking to everyone including the police department," said Brian Laauser, Patrolman for the Walton Police Dept.
In a small town like Walton, where everyone knows their neighbor, it seems little was known about Utter.
"She was a nice-looking woman. Blonde, nice looking. This guy just came out of nowhere. She been alone there all along, you can ask anybody, and all of a sudden this guy appears out of nowhere," said Furgerson.
Schultz's husband died 5 years ago.
Police are investigating what could have caused the 74-year-old to kill his girlfriend of less than one year.
What they do know, is that Utter's wife died almost one year ago.
In Walton, Natalie Jenereski, WBNG-TV Action News.
The investigation is ongoing.
The Walton Police Department is being assisted by the Delaware County Sheriff's Department and by New York State Police.
Milwaukee, WI: Milwaukee Cops say Retirement Home Deaths are Murder-Suicide
Posted Tuesday May 11, 2010 10 hours, 21 minutes ago
MILWAUKEE, Wis. (WTAQ) - Milwaukee Police say the deaths of 2 people at a retirement home are a murder-suicide. It happened Monday at Alexian Village on Milwaukee’s northwest side.
Police said a 73-year-old man shot a 77-year-old woman to death, and then turned the gun on himself. Officials have not disclosed a possible motive.
MILWAUKEE, Wis. (WTAQ) - Milwaukee Police say the deaths of 2 people at a retirement home are a murder-suicide. It happened Monday at Alexian Village on Milwaukee’s northwest side.
Police said a 73-year-old man shot a 77-year-old woman to death, and then turned the gun on himself. Officials have not disclosed a possible motive.
Chicago, IL: Old Navy Store Opens After Murder-Suicide
Grief Counseling Available To Employees
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Man, Girlfriend Dead In Downtown Old Navy Shooting
(5/8/2010)
The Old Navy store at State and Washington streets downtown opened for business today, after a murder-suicide in the store last week.
On Friday, employee Tranesha Palms, 22, was shot to death by her boyfriend, Eugene Robertson, 27, who then turned the gun on himself.
The couple's bodies were found the basement of the store Friday morning. A source said Robinson shot Palms multiple times before shooting himself in an employee-only area of the store's basement.
See a slideshow of photos from the scene.
Autopsies performed Saturday reveal Palms died of multiple gunshot wounds and Robertson died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, the medical examiner's office said. Their deaths were ruled a homicide and suicide, respectively.
Chicago Police say there was an immediate response to the shooting. Sources say a Chicago police officer was patrolling in her squad car and was alerted by three people who ran out of the store.
The officer turned the corner in her squad car in traffic, getting out with her gun drawn, approaching the store, then re-holstering her gun and getting back in her squad car. She never went in. A sergeant had already gone into the store.
A police representative said detectives are looking at video from cameras in the area as part of their investigation. The representative added no one has claimed any wrongdoing on the part of the officer.
An Old Navy representative issued a statement on the shooting Friday afternoon:
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and family of the victims. We are fully cooperating with the police as they investigate. We are offering immediate and ongoing counseling to support them through this time."
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Man, Girlfriend Dead In Downtown Old Navy Shooting
(5/8/2010)
The Old Navy store at State and Washington streets downtown opened for business today, after a murder-suicide in the store last week.
On Friday, employee Tranesha Palms, 22, was shot to death by her boyfriend, Eugene Robertson, 27, who then turned the gun on himself.
The couple's bodies were found the basement of the store Friday morning. A source said Robinson shot Palms multiple times before shooting himself in an employee-only area of the store's basement.
See a slideshow of photos from the scene.
Autopsies performed Saturday reveal Palms died of multiple gunshot wounds and Robertson died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, the medical examiner's office said. Their deaths were ruled a homicide and suicide, respectively.
Chicago Police say there was an immediate response to the shooting. Sources say a Chicago police officer was patrolling in her squad car and was alerted by three people who ran out of the store.
The officer turned the corner in her squad car in traffic, getting out with her gun drawn, approaching the store, then re-holstering her gun and getting back in her squad car. She never went in. A sergeant had already gone into the store.
A police representative said detectives are looking at video from cameras in the area as part of their investigation. The representative added no one has claimed any wrongdoing on the part of the officer.
An Old Navy representative issued a statement on the shooting Friday afternoon:
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and family of the victims. We are fully cooperating with the police as they investigate. We are offering immediate and ongoing counseling to support them through this time."
Portsmouth, VA: Man shot in Portsmouth condo killed himself, autopsy shows
Man shot in Portsmouth condo killed himself, autopsy shows
PORTSMOUTH
A man shot in Admiral’s Landing was killed by a shot to the head in a suicide, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Lawrence R. Anderson, 36, was pronounced dead shortly after police arrived at Admiral’s Landing, 475 Water St., at 7:20 a.m. on Feb. 11. Anderson and his girlfriend were shot in a fourth floor unit, police said.
The girlfriend, whose name has not been released, was treated and survived.
Police have not made a final determination on how she was shot, a department spokesman said.
Police said the incident occurred during a domestic fight.
Patrick Wilson, (757) 222-3893, patrick.wilson@pilotonline.com
PORTSMOUTH
A man shot in Admiral’s Landing was killed by a shot to the head in a suicide, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Lawrence R. Anderson, 36, was pronounced dead shortly after police arrived at Admiral’s Landing, 475 Water St., at 7:20 a.m. on Feb. 11. Anderson and his girlfriend were shot in a fourth floor unit, police said.
The girlfriend, whose name has not been released, was treated and survived.
Police have not made a final determination on how she was shot, a department spokesman said.
Police said the incident occurred during a domestic fight.
Patrick Wilson, (757) 222-3893, patrick.wilson@pilotonline.com
North Haven, CT: Couple Who Lost Son In 9/11 Commits Murder-Suicide
By MIKE GRAHAMwpix.com
11:40 AM EDT, May 11, 2010
NORTH HAVEN, CT (WPIX) - They lost their youngest son on September 11, 2001 and now the eldery Connecticut couple's lives have also ended.
Thomas Vanacore, 73, and Joan Vanacore, 70, were found dead in their North Haven home Monday in what police say was a murder-suicide.
A visiting nurse, who was caring for the couple, found their bodies after returning from an errand, police said.
Thomas Vanacore shot and killed his wife and then turned the gun on himself, police said.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner did determine that both died of a single separate gunshot wound to the head.
Joan Vanacore's death was ruled a homicide and Thomas Vanacore's death was ruled a suicide, said North Haven Police Detective Captain James Merrithew.
A .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver was used in the killings, said Captain Merrithew
The Vanacores had been both suffering from serious illness, said police.
Their youngest of six children, Edward Vanacore, was 29-years-old when he died during the World Trade Center attacks.
11:40 AM EDT, May 11, 2010
NORTH HAVEN, CT (WPIX) - They lost their youngest son on September 11, 2001 and now the eldery Connecticut couple's lives have also ended.
Thomas Vanacore, 73, and Joan Vanacore, 70, were found dead in their North Haven home Monday in what police say was a murder-suicide.
A visiting nurse, who was caring for the couple, found their bodies after returning from an errand, police said.
Thomas Vanacore shot and killed his wife and then turned the gun on himself, police said.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner did determine that both died of a single separate gunshot wound to the head.
Joan Vanacore's death was ruled a homicide and Thomas Vanacore's death was ruled a suicide, said North Haven Police Detective Captain James Merrithew.
A .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver was used in the killings, said Captain Merrithew
The Vanacores had been both suffering from serious illness, said police.
Their youngest of six children, Edward Vanacore, was 29-years-old when he died during the World Trade Center attacks.
Long Beach, CA: Zeeland native killed by estranged husband begged him to leave child alone: 'Don't take my son, take me'
By Nate Reens | The Grand Rapids Press
May 11, 2010, 5:11PM
Brittany Murray | Press Telegram
These photos and supsect description were posted on the side of a Homeland Security truck on Monday.
As a gun was being held to Ivy Bodkins' head by her estranged husband, the Zeeland native's concern wasn't for her own life -- which was about to end -- but for that of their 2-year-old son.
"Don't take my son, take me," Bodkins pleaded with Donovan Morris, whom she was divorcing, outside her Long Beach, Calif., apartment Monday. "Don't hurt him."
Ivy Bodkins
Authorities say Morris granted Bodkins' wish, abducting her and forcing the 1999 Zeeland High School graduate to an underground parking structure, where he shot and killed the 29-year-old woman.
Later, her son, Kalin, said to his aunt, who swept the boy inside to safety: "That man hurt mommy." Both Kalin and Angelica Eyre, Bodkins' step-sister who lived with her, were unhurt.
Morris, hours after the homicide, was shot and killed by Los Angeles police outside an electronics store, ending a manhunt spurred by the domestic violence slaying.
It was a dramatic end to a story that unfolds all too often when women leave abusive spouses, said Brad Bodkins, the victim's father.
"She was so strong and she was over that situation. She was moving on to a better life for her and her son," Brad Bodkins said. "She had the nerve to get out and she didn't look back."
Morris didn't have as easy a time letting go, authorities said.
Court records in North Carolina show the 34-year-old was convicted of assaulting Bodkins last September, pleading guilty to the misdemeanor offense that landed him on probation.
He also admitted to threatening Bodkins, documents show.
The suspect was ordered to serve 105 days in jail for violating oversight terms, earning his release on April 6.
Ivy Bodkins obtained a restraining order on April 7.
Brad Bodkins said Morris tracked his daughter to California, where she had moved to resume a job as a consultant and life skills curriculum developer for the Los Angeles County Regional Occupational Program.
"He was a predator," he said.
Bodkins recalled his daughter as a positive, intelligent woman who earned academic and athletic honors at Zeeland High School. Ivy Bodkins claimed the most valuable player award as the starting goalie on the Chix soccer team and also played basketball.
She went on to graduate from Western Michigan University, where she was frequently on the dean's list.
Bodkins said his daughter was a doting mother -- she'd already taught Kalin to begin reading -- who also enjoyed cooking and cars.
She was excited to settle back into her life in California after being laid off and forced to move to North Carolina for work. Ivy Bodkins began her teaching career in Flint, left for California and briefly relocated to North Carolina, relatives said.
"She was where she wanted to be," said Brad Bodkins, a retired educator who flew to southern California Monday. "The weather, the lifestyle, her friends, she was elated to be back here.
"It's just tragic. It's hard to describe your child's life when she's gone."
Bodkins' family declined to discuss how long she had been married to Morris, or details of their relationship.
Ivy Bodkins chose a career in education as a way to affect children's lives. She wanted to help young people overcome obstacles and achieve, said her uncle, Mike Bodkins.
"It's a senseless tragedy," Mike Bodkins said. "She's going to be greatly missed by a lot of people. She made an impact on everyone's life when she encountered them."
Brad Bodkins said his daughter fought through the death of her mother, Kelly Lynn Greene, to brain cancer in 1997. Ivy Bodkins named her son Kalin by combining her mother's first and middle names.
"That was a way to memorialize her," Brad Bodkins said. "She helped me tremendously during her mother's illness and she was only a (high school) sophomore."
The boy's grandfather said he and his second wife, Linda Bodkins, hope to adopt Kalin this week. They intend to bring him back to Michigan, along with Eyre, his wife's daughter.
Eyre, whom Kalin calls "Tia" -- the Spanish word for aunt -- had been helping Bodkins raise the boy in California. Once here, they will all care for the toddler during the transition.
"We've got a lot of healing to do, all of us," he said. "We'll do it together as best as possible."
May 11, 2010, 5:11PM
Brittany Murray | Press Telegram
These photos and supsect description were posted on the side of a Homeland Security truck on Monday.
As a gun was being held to Ivy Bodkins' head by her estranged husband, the Zeeland native's concern wasn't for her own life -- which was about to end -- but for that of their 2-year-old son.
"Don't take my son, take me," Bodkins pleaded with Donovan Morris, whom she was divorcing, outside her Long Beach, Calif., apartment Monday. "Don't hurt him."
Ivy Bodkins
Authorities say Morris granted Bodkins' wish, abducting her and forcing the 1999 Zeeland High School graduate to an underground parking structure, where he shot and killed the 29-year-old woman.
Later, her son, Kalin, said to his aunt, who swept the boy inside to safety: "That man hurt mommy." Both Kalin and Angelica Eyre, Bodkins' step-sister who lived with her, were unhurt.
Morris, hours after the homicide, was shot and killed by Los Angeles police outside an electronics store, ending a manhunt spurred by the domestic violence slaying.
It was a dramatic end to a story that unfolds all too often when women leave abusive spouses, said Brad Bodkins, the victim's father.
"She was so strong and she was over that situation. She was moving on to a better life for her and her son," Brad Bodkins said. "She had the nerve to get out and she didn't look back."
Morris didn't have as easy a time letting go, authorities said.
Court records in North Carolina show the 34-year-old was convicted of assaulting Bodkins last September, pleading guilty to the misdemeanor offense that landed him on probation.
He also admitted to threatening Bodkins, documents show.
The suspect was ordered to serve 105 days in jail for violating oversight terms, earning his release on April 6.
Ivy Bodkins obtained a restraining order on April 7.
Brad Bodkins said Morris tracked his daughter to California, where she had moved to resume a job as a consultant and life skills curriculum developer for the Los Angeles County Regional Occupational Program.
"He was a predator," he said.
Bodkins recalled his daughter as a positive, intelligent woman who earned academic and athletic honors at Zeeland High School. Ivy Bodkins claimed the most valuable player award as the starting goalie on the Chix soccer team and also played basketball.
She went on to graduate from Western Michigan University, where she was frequently on the dean's list.
Bodkins said his daughter was a doting mother -- she'd already taught Kalin to begin reading -- who also enjoyed cooking and cars.
She was excited to settle back into her life in California after being laid off and forced to move to North Carolina for work. Ivy Bodkins began her teaching career in Flint, left for California and briefly relocated to North Carolina, relatives said.
"She was where she wanted to be," said Brad Bodkins, a retired educator who flew to southern California Monday. "The weather, the lifestyle, her friends, she was elated to be back here.
"It's just tragic. It's hard to describe your child's life when she's gone."
Bodkins' family declined to discuss how long she had been married to Morris, or details of their relationship.
Ivy Bodkins chose a career in education as a way to affect children's lives. She wanted to help young people overcome obstacles and achieve, said her uncle, Mike Bodkins.
"It's a senseless tragedy," Mike Bodkins said. "She's going to be greatly missed by a lot of people. She made an impact on everyone's life when she encountered them."
Brad Bodkins said his daughter fought through the death of her mother, Kelly Lynn Greene, to brain cancer in 1997. Ivy Bodkins named her son Kalin by combining her mother's first and middle names.
"That was a way to memorialize her," Brad Bodkins said. "She helped me tremendously during her mother's illness and she was only a (high school) sophomore."
The boy's grandfather said he and his second wife, Linda Bodkins, hope to adopt Kalin this week. They intend to bring him back to Michigan, along with Eyre, his wife's daughter.
Eyre, whom Kalin calls "Tia" -- the Spanish word for aunt -- had been helping Bodkins raise the boy in California. Once here, they will all care for the toddler during the transition.
"We've got a lot of healing to do, all of us," he said. "We'll do it together as best as possible."
Wichita, KS: Couple found shot to death in South Wichita home
May 10, 9:15 AM · Dan O'Neal - Wichita Headlines Examiner
A Wichita couple in their 60's were discovered in their South Wichita home by their daughter Sunday, dead of an apparent homicide-suicide. The daughter, along with several younger children, also relatives, was in the home during the time of the incident, but no one reported hearing gunfire.
Wichita Police were called at around 1:00 p.m. and found a gun inside the house in the 3400 block of S. Everett. Investigators say they believe the husband and wife were the only people involved. While they speculate it could be a murder/suicide, the official cause of death has not been determined.
A young woman walking away from the scene, identified herself as a grand daughter, but was too distraught to talk, only saying, “they are my grandparents.”
Police are also investigating how many shots were fired in the bedroom and say it's possible the initial shooting may have been accidental. More information from the investigation is expected to be released later Monday.
Update: Couple identified
Monday morning Wichita police identified the couple as Gene Whitmore, 70 and his Wife Betty Whitmore, 66.
Officials said Whitmore had been recently depressed since loosing his job a year ago. He was fully dressed, lying in bed beside his wife, when he shot himself around 4:00 a.m. Sunday morning.
The bullet from Whitmore’s handgun also struck his wife, who was sleeping next to him. The case is now being considered a suicide and accidental homicide. Investigators commented that it was unlike anything they had seen before.
Police say Betty Whitmore's daughter, her daughter's 11 year-old son, and her two young nieces were home at the time, but did not hear the gunshot. The daughter went to check on her mother and stepfather about 1:00p.m. Sunday afternoon and discovered the bodies.
Autopsy results are still pending
A Wichita couple in their 60's were discovered in their South Wichita home by their daughter Sunday, dead of an apparent homicide-suicide. The daughter, along with several younger children, also relatives, was in the home during the time of the incident, but no one reported hearing gunfire.
Wichita Police were called at around 1:00 p.m. and found a gun inside the house in the 3400 block of S. Everett. Investigators say they believe the husband and wife were the only people involved. While they speculate it could be a murder/suicide, the official cause of death has not been determined.
A young woman walking away from the scene, identified herself as a grand daughter, but was too distraught to talk, only saying, “they are my grandparents.”
Police are also investigating how many shots were fired in the bedroom and say it's possible the initial shooting may have been accidental. More information from the investigation is expected to be released later Monday.
Update: Couple identified
Monday morning Wichita police identified the couple as Gene Whitmore, 70 and his Wife Betty Whitmore, 66.
Officials said Whitmore had been recently depressed since loosing his job a year ago. He was fully dressed, lying in bed beside his wife, when he shot himself around 4:00 a.m. Sunday morning.
The bullet from Whitmore’s handgun also struck his wife, who was sleeping next to him. The case is now being considered a suicide and accidental homicide. Investigators commented that it was unlike anything they had seen before.
Police say Betty Whitmore's daughter, her daughter's 11 year-old son, and her two young nieces were home at the time, but did not hear the gunshot. The daughter went to check on her mother and stepfather about 1:00p.m. Sunday afternoon and discovered the bodies.
Autopsy results are still pending
Overton, NE: Overton man who killed girlfriend wants new trial
By The Associated Press | Posted: Monday, May 10, 2010 3:37 pm
KEARNEY - An Overton man who pleaded guilty to beating his girlfriend to death in 2000 is trying to get a new trial.
Timmy Timmens says he didn't have effective representation during his trial and two previous unsuccessful appeals.
The 37-year-old Timmens was sentenced to 45 years to life in prison for the second-degree murder of Tracy Giugler. Prosecutors said Giugler was beaten so severely that all her ribs were broken. Her body was found in the home she shared with Timmens.
Giugler had failed to appear at a family wedding in which Timmens took part. Timmens disappeared after the wedding and was found two days later hiding in an outbuilding in Kearney.
Defense lawyers said no physical evidence showed that Timmens intentionally caused Giugler's death.
KEARNEY - An Overton man who pleaded guilty to beating his girlfriend to death in 2000 is trying to get a new trial.
Timmy Timmens says he didn't have effective representation during his trial and two previous unsuccessful appeals.
The 37-year-old Timmens was sentenced to 45 years to life in prison for the second-degree murder of Tracy Giugler. Prosecutors said Giugler was beaten so severely that all her ribs were broken. Her body was found in the home she shared with Timmens.
Giugler had failed to appear at a family wedding in which Timmens took part. Timmens disappeared after the wedding and was found two days later hiding in an outbuilding in Kearney.
Defense lawyers said no physical evidence showed that Timmens intentionally caused Giugler's death.
Kritz Springs, LA: Man accused of killing new wife’s ex-husband
By JASON BROWN
Advocate Acadiana bureau
Published: May 11, 2010 - Page: 1BA
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A 25-year-old bridegroom serving in the U.S. Air Force is being held without bond in the Friday death of his bride’s ex-husband, a Krotz Springs firefighter shot and killed just hours after the couple married.
Jason Rolls, of Fort Dix, N.J., was booked into the St. Landry Parish Jail on one count of manslaughter in the death of 32-year-old Michael Hall, Krotz Springs Police Chief Susie Lacassin said.
Rolls appeared in court Monday but 27th Judicial District Court Judge James Doherty declined to set a bond, Lacassin said.
Investigators are still trying to make sense of the shooting, which occurred shortly before 5 p.m. Friday on North Levee Road in Krotz Springs, the police chief said.
Jason and Twaila Rolls had been married for only a few hours when Hall appeared at their home Friday, Lacassin said. Hall entered the home after knocking on a door that opened on its own, evidently having not been fully closed.
Hall then went into a room with Jason Rolls and a brief argument ensued. Lacassin said Twaila Halls was in the living room when the shot was fired.
“What happened there I’m not really sure right now,” Lacassin said.
Hall was shot in the chest with a bullet from a Glock .40-caliber revolver, Lacassin said. The gun was not Rolls’ service revolver.
“We don’t know why Michael was going over there,” she said. “We have no idea.
Hall and Twaila Rolls had only recently divorced, Lacassin said.
Krotz Springs Fire Chief Chris Vidrine said Hall had three children, two biological and one adopted. He had been with the department since December 2009 and had worked very hard to become a firefighter.
Vidrine described Hall as a hardworking man and a loving father.
“Always a smile on his face,” Vidrine said. “The man loved his children with all his heart.”
None of the children were home at the time, Lacassin said.
She confirmed that Air Force officials had been in Krotz Springs for most of Saturday conducting their own investigation into the shooting. She said the military investigators assisted the Police Department while in town.
Lacassin said the shooting has taken everyone by surprise.
“It’s just crazy that it happened,” she said. “It’s just a sad situation.”
Advocate Acadiana bureau
Published: May 11, 2010 - Page: 1BA
Comments (0)
A 25-year-old bridegroom serving in the U.S. Air Force is being held without bond in the Friday death of his bride’s ex-husband, a Krotz Springs firefighter shot and killed just hours after the couple married.
Jason Rolls, of Fort Dix, N.J., was booked into the St. Landry Parish Jail on one count of manslaughter in the death of 32-year-old Michael Hall, Krotz Springs Police Chief Susie Lacassin said.
Rolls appeared in court Monday but 27th Judicial District Court Judge James Doherty declined to set a bond, Lacassin said.
Investigators are still trying to make sense of the shooting, which occurred shortly before 5 p.m. Friday on North Levee Road in Krotz Springs, the police chief said.
Jason and Twaila Rolls had been married for only a few hours when Hall appeared at their home Friday, Lacassin said. Hall entered the home after knocking on a door that opened on its own, evidently having not been fully closed.
Hall then went into a room with Jason Rolls and a brief argument ensued. Lacassin said Twaila Halls was in the living room when the shot was fired.
“What happened there I’m not really sure right now,” Lacassin said.
Hall was shot in the chest with a bullet from a Glock .40-caliber revolver, Lacassin said. The gun was not Rolls’ service revolver.
“We don’t know why Michael was going over there,” she said. “We have no idea.
Hall and Twaila Rolls had only recently divorced, Lacassin said.
Krotz Springs Fire Chief Chris Vidrine said Hall had three children, two biological and one adopted. He had been with the department since December 2009 and had worked very hard to become a firefighter.
Vidrine described Hall as a hardworking man and a loving father.
“Always a smile on his face,” Vidrine said. “The man loved his children with all his heart.”
None of the children were home at the time, Lacassin said.
She confirmed that Air Force officials had been in Krotz Springs for most of Saturday conducting their own investigation into the shooting. She said the military investigators assisted the Police Department while in town.
Lacassin said the shooting has taken everyone by surprise.
“It’s just crazy that it happened,” she said. “It’s just a sad situation.”
Fort Meyers Beach, FL: Couple found dead in hospital room lived on Fort Myers Beach
Posted: May 10, 2010 10:55 PM EDT
Updated: May 10, 2010 11:03 PM EDT
FORT MYERS BEACH: An elderly man, visiting his sick wife at Winter Haven Hospital, reportedly shot her to death and then turned the gun on himself. That couple lived on Fort Myers Beach for more than a decade and NBC2 spoke to neighbors who knew them well.
Officials in Winter Haven said after hearing shots, hospital workers in the medical surgery unit arrived to find the couple dead.
A hospital administrator said they were on a floor where recovery rooms for surgeries are located and it's believed the wife had a stroke about a month ago.
The couple lived off San Carlos Blvd in Fort Myers beach for more than 10 years. Neighbors say they were always happy, laughing, and glad to be together.
"I thought that maybe it was some other Duckworth. Couldn't have been those two," said former Fort Myers Beach neighbor Betty Pryor.
Residents in Indian Creek say the Duckworths lived in three different homes in that community.
About a year ago, they moved away to be closer to their sons in winter haven. Since then, Pryor has kept in touch with the Duckworths on Facebook.
Recently, she says, the updates were about Patricia Duckworth's health.
"'Please keep her in your prayers.' 'Dad said she was doing better yesterday,'" Pryor said.
She was hospitalized in Winter Haven's medical surgery wing for a bad fever and fluid around her heart. And Ray Duckworth was constantly by her side at the hospital.
Pryor said the latest Facebook update from the Duckworth's son was Saturday and hinted that she was sounding better,
But Monday afternoon, the tragic scene unfolded when the elderly couple was found dead in Patricia's hospital room.
In an apparent murder suicide, it's believed Ray took Patricia's life then turned the gun on himself.
Winter Haven police are still investigating the shooting.
By Sarah Hollenbeck
Updated: May 10, 2010 11:03 PM EDT
FORT MYERS BEACH: An elderly man, visiting his sick wife at Winter Haven Hospital, reportedly shot her to death and then turned the gun on himself. That couple lived on Fort Myers Beach for more than a decade and NBC2 spoke to neighbors who knew them well.
Officials in Winter Haven said after hearing shots, hospital workers in the medical surgery unit arrived to find the couple dead.
A hospital administrator said they were on a floor where recovery rooms for surgeries are located and it's believed the wife had a stroke about a month ago.
The couple lived off San Carlos Blvd in Fort Myers beach for more than 10 years. Neighbors say they were always happy, laughing, and glad to be together.
"I thought that maybe it was some other Duckworth. Couldn't have been those two," said former Fort Myers Beach neighbor Betty Pryor.
Residents in Indian Creek say the Duckworths lived in three different homes in that community.
About a year ago, they moved away to be closer to their sons in winter haven. Since then, Pryor has kept in touch with the Duckworths on Facebook.
Recently, she says, the updates were about Patricia Duckworth's health.
"'Please keep her in your prayers.' 'Dad said she was doing better yesterday,'" Pryor said.
She was hospitalized in Winter Haven's medical surgery wing for a bad fever and fluid around her heart. And Ray Duckworth was constantly by her side at the hospital.
Pryor said the latest Facebook update from the Duckworth's son was Saturday and hinted that she was sounding better,
But Monday afternoon, the tragic scene unfolded when the elderly couple was found dead in Patricia's hospital room.
In an apparent murder suicide, it's believed Ray took Patricia's life then turned the gun on himself.
Winter Haven police are still investigating the shooting.
By Sarah Hollenbeck
Monday, May 10, 2010
Wolcott, CT: Police: Husband killed wife he reported missing
Police to resume search today for Wolcott woman's body
BY LAURESHA XHIHANI | REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
Police tape surrounds the Cannon home at 207 Spindle Hill Road in Wolcott on Sunday as Wolcott and state police investigate the disappearance of Cynthia Cannon, who police say was murdered by her husband, Patrick. Jim Shannon/RA
WOLCOTT -- Two days after he reported her missing, police late Sunday charged Patrick Cannon with his wife's murder.
Cannon, 44, was held overnight on a $3 million bond, and will be arraigned this morning at Waterbury Superior Court in the death of his wife, Cynthia.
Police believe the 35-year-old mother of two was murdered last week. Investigators spent all day Sunday looking for her body in a heavily wooded area behind a graveyard on Cemetery Road in Waterbury. They had not located her body as of early today.
Police early Sunday found Cynthia Cannon's Jeep Liberty on Cemetery Road, just a few miles from the family's 207 Spindle Hill Road.
Investigators also found a bloody sleeping bag on Woodtick Road next to the Scoville Reservoir. Acting Police Chief Neil O'Leary said friends identified the sleeping bag as the one Cynthia Cannon used during a recent Girl Scout camping trip. Police also found nylon rope and other evidence in the Cannon home, and in Cynthia Cannon's SUV.
"There is no doubt Cynthia Cannon has been the victim of a homicide. This is a very tragic incident. We all feel very badly," O'Leary said.
Cynthia Cannon, who originally is from the Danbury area, was reported missing by her husband Friday night. She had not been heard of or seen since Thursday evening, and there was no evidence that she used her cell phone.
Patrick Cannon told police his wife had gone to drop off clothes at a Goodwill box around 10:30 p.m. Thursday. When he woke up on Friday and she wasn't home he assumed she was at work, he told police.
Her friends and co-workers at Control Systems in West Hartford became worried because Cynthia Cannon is in constant contact with them and never misses work. She did not show up to work on Friday.
O'Leary said a witness saw Patrick Cannon walking on Spindle Hill Road on Friday morning between 9:30 and 10 a.m. The witness said he had mud in his boots and on his clothing.
Four state police dogs and dozens of officers searched an area dense with brush on Cemetery Road in Waterbury on Sunday, Mother's Day. O'Leary said the search, interrupted only by night fall, would resume this morning.
Patrick Cannon, who used to live in the New Britain area, was being represented by an attorney from the public defender's office in Waterbury. He did not speak to police under the advice of his attorney. Police were waiting for a warrant to search his body for evidence, including DNA and any signs of struggle wounds.
O'Leary said the couple was struggling. The Cannons were facing foreclosure on their home, and were headed for divorce. O'Leary said Patrick Cannon, a computer systems sales and service provider, had been out of work, and was struggling to find other employment.
To read the complete story see Monday's Republican-American or our electronic edition at http://republicanamerican.ct.newsmemory.com.
BY LAURESHA XHIHANI | REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
Police tape surrounds the Cannon home at 207 Spindle Hill Road in Wolcott on Sunday as Wolcott and state police investigate the disappearance of Cynthia Cannon, who police say was murdered by her husband, Patrick. Jim Shannon/RA
WOLCOTT -- Two days after he reported her missing, police late Sunday charged Patrick Cannon with his wife's murder.
Cannon, 44, was held overnight on a $3 million bond, and will be arraigned this morning at Waterbury Superior Court in the death of his wife, Cynthia.
Police believe the 35-year-old mother of two was murdered last week. Investigators spent all day Sunday looking for her body in a heavily wooded area behind a graveyard on Cemetery Road in Waterbury. They had not located her body as of early today.
Police early Sunday found Cynthia Cannon's Jeep Liberty on Cemetery Road, just a few miles from the family's 207 Spindle Hill Road.
Investigators also found a bloody sleeping bag on Woodtick Road next to the Scoville Reservoir. Acting Police Chief Neil O'Leary said friends identified the sleeping bag as the one Cynthia Cannon used during a recent Girl Scout camping trip. Police also found nylon rope and other evidence in the Cannon home, and in Cynthia Cannon's SUV.
"There is no doubt Cynthia Cannon has been the victim of a homicide. This is a very tragic incident. We all feel very badly," O'Leary said.
Cynthia Cannon, who originally is from the Danbury area, was reported missing by her husband Friday night. She had not been heard of or seen since Thursday evening, and there was no evidence that she used her cell phone.
Patrick Cannon told police his wife had gone to drop off clothes at a Goodwill box around 10:30 p.m. Thursday. When he woke up on Friday and she wasn't home he assumed she was at work, he told police.
Her friends and co-workers at Control Systems in West Hartford became worried because Cynthia Cannon is in constant contact with them and never misses work. She did not show up to work on Friday.
O'Leary said a witness saw Patrick Cannon walking on Spindle Hill Road on Friday morning between 9:30 and 10 a.m. The witness said he had mud in his boots and on his clothing.
Four state police dogs and dozens of officers searched an area dense with brush on Cemetery Road in Waterbury on Sunday, Mother's Day. O'Leary said the search, interrupted only by night fall, would resume this morning.
Patrick Cannon, who used to live in the New Britain area, was being represented by an attorney from the public defender's office in Waterbury. He did not speak to police under the advice of his attorney. Police were waiting for a warrant to search his body for evidence, including DNA and any signs of struggle wounds.
O'Leary said the couple was struggling. The Cannons were facing foreclosure on their home, and were headed for divorce. O'Leary said Patrick Cannon, a computer systems sales and service provider, had been out of work, and was struggling to find other employment.
To read the complete story see Monday's Republican-American or our electronic edition at http://republicanamerican.ct.newsmemory.com.
Article: Women2Day - Lifestyle: When pets aren't for life
May 10 2010 By Chester Chronicle
According to research, many victims of domestic violence would rather stay in an abusive relationship than put their pet in danger. We talk to one new trust that aims to change all this.
When Bess Parker*, 33, was forced to flee her home because of domestic violence, she left behind her eldest daughter, family and friends, as well as her two closest companions: Twilight and Bright Eyes, mother and daughter Staffordshire Bull Terriers whom she'd raised from pup to bitch.
Bess had been involved in abusive relationships in the past, and been forced to leave - but never had it been this difficult. With bruises lining her arms, death notes in her pockets, and her 9-year-old daughter Lisa, in tow, Bess made her way by bus from Surrey up to London's West End, where they would spend the next six months in a refuge for battered women.
They had no clothes, no money and no hope.
But Bess knew there was no turning back. Samuel, her partner of only three months, had threatened to kill her and her family, and, high on drugs, was going round Bess' friends searching for her.
"It was horrible," says Bess over the phone, her voice trembling at the memory.
"We lost everything - all our possessions, our contacts, our home, our family.
"The worst part of all of it was being without the dogs. Twilight was my best friend and Lisa was used to sleeping with Bright Eyes every night, so I'd have to hold her in the refuge as she cried to sleep."
According to research, as many as one in four women experience domestic violence in their lifetime, with data showing a strong link between domestic violence and animal abuse.
Sadly, as refuges and temporary accommodation centres cannot accept pets, some women choose to stay rather than risk their pets' lives by fleeing without them.
Bess, however, was lucky. Through social services, she was referred to The Dogs Trust charity, whose Freedom Project provides a free foster care service for dogs belonging to families fleeing from domestic violence in London, Hertfordshire and Yorkshire.
Twilight and Bright Eyes would be re-homed and taken care of for as long as Bess and Lisa were in refuge - and all Bess had to do was make sure that she rebuilt her own - and her daughter's - life.
"Thinking I had to leave our dogs behind was really the last straw, as they are family," says Bess.
"So to know I had them coming back eventually was the light at the end of the tunnel."
Since its inception in 2004, the Freedom Project has helped re-home some 700 pets, most of them dogs. (In London, cats are also re-homed by the UK's leading cat welfare charity, Cats Protection).
In several recent studies of women seeking refuge from domestic violence, nearly half reported that their pets had been threatened, injured or killed by their partners - making the Freedom Project a very necessary programme indeed, says its manager Clare Kivlehan.
"It's not practical for refuges to take pets and often friends and family are unable to look after some pets, such as dogs and cats, for long periods of time.
"In addition, in many domestic violence situations the perpetrator will threaten to harm or actually harm the family pet as a way of controlling the woman and her family. In fact, many definitions of domestic abuse now include the abuse of pets by the perpetrator."
Foster carers volunteer to house, feed and provide any veterinary care to the pets for an average of nine months, when they are then given back to their owners - and volunteers are always needed.
EastEnders actress Jo Joyner has recently come on board to raise awareness and garner support for the Freedom Project, because the more foster carers there are, the more victims of domestic violence can be helped, she says.
"I know people who have been affected by domestic violence and I also know how easy it is to get trapped in a bad situation.
"Dogs can be such a huge part of your family and can also be your greatest companion when under threat. I know there are thousands of women out there who need to know that they can leave their situation and their dogs will not only be safe, but be returned to them, too."
Julie, a single mum of three, has been a volunteer foster carer for the Freedom Project Yorkshire since it was first established in 2005, and has since cared for a number of dogs, including Scarlett the Staffie and Winston the Bull Mastiff.
"For me, the hardest part about fostering is knowing what the dogs have been through," she says, a former victim of domestic violence herself.
"Seeing them cower when they hear a loud noise and looking bewildered when they first arrive is heartbreaking, but watching them grow in confidence and discovering each dog's individual personality is so rewarding.
"I get a great sense of fulfilment when it's time for them to go home, knowing that they are going back to a family that loves them."
Although it was difficult, Bess and Lisa survived their six pet-less months in refuge, in part, Bess says, because they received regular photos and letters from the families caring for the dogs - a "godsend" for getting them through the pain of separation.
The full family was reunited just one day after leaving the refuge, but despite having her "family" back together again, Bess still misses her friends and life in Surrey, and has had a hard time readjusting.
"It's been really hard to pick myself up and get a job, because the last couple of years have been really tough," she says quietly, admitting that she was raped by a previous boyfriend just months before she was assaulted by Samuel.
"But the greatest point of my life is knowing now that I've got my little family back. I miss my friends and my family, but I owe the Dogs Trust my life."
Nearly two years have passed since Bess saw or spoke with her family, including her 16-year-old daughter, Aimie, who's been living with her grandparents.
While she misses them desperately, she still prefers keeping them in memory than risking her own, or her family's, life.
"I go to call my mum and remember I can't, or think I'd like to go down and visit a friend and know that it's too dangerous, as he's threatened and harassed each and every one of them," she says.
"I don't want to put anyone at risk. So for right now, it's like me and my daughter against the world."
Lisa, now 11, is starting high school and has integrated into her new life in Middlesex very well, Bess says.
And the change of scenery has also been good for her. She has a stable new relationship with a former friend, and is planning a new career.
"I want to go back to college and learn how to become a car mechanic," she giggles. "It's something I've wanted to do since the age of 10, so I'm looking forward to it."
Bess is still in contact with the foster carers who looked after Bright Eyes and Twilight, regularly sending them photographs of the dogs and even sometimes visiting her "second family" with the Staffies for a reunion.
"The way they looked after my dogs, I can't say thank you enough," explains Bess.
"We wouldn't be where we are now without them."
Become a foster dog owner
The Freedom Project is currently looking to recruit more foster carers, especially men - so if you like dogs, can devote an average of nine months to looking after a pet and want to help a family in need, visit www.dogstrustfreedomproject.org.uk
* Name has been changed to protect subject's identity.
According to research, many victims of domestic violence would rather stay in an abusive relationship than put their pet in danger. We talk to one new trust that aims to change all this.
When Bess Parker*, 33, was forced to flee her home because of domestic violence, she left behind her eldest daughter, family and friends, as well as her two closest companions: Twilight and Bright Eyes, mother and daughter Staffordshire Bull Terriers whom she'd raised from pup to bitch.
Bess had been involved in abusive relationships in the past, and been forced to leave - but never had it been this difficult. With bruises lining her arms, death notes in her pockets, and her 9-year-old daughter Lisa, in tow, Bess made her way by bus from Surrey up to London's West End, where they would spend the next six months in a refuge for battered women.
They had no clothes, no money and no hope.
But Bess knew there was no turning back. Samuel, her partner of only three months, had threatened to kill her and her family, and, high on drugs, was going round Bess' friends searching for her.
"It was horrible," says Bess over the phone, her voice trembling at the memory.
"We lost everything - all our possessions, our contacts, our home, our family.
"The worst part of all of it was being without the dogs. Twilight was my best friend and Lisa was used to sleeping with Bright Eyes every night, so I'd have to hold her in the refuge as she cried to sleep."
According to research, as many as one in four women experience domestic violence in their lifetime, with data showing a strong link between domestic violence and animal abuse.
Sadly, as refuges and temporary accommodation centres cannot accept pets, some women choose to stay rather than risk their pets' lives by fleeing without them.
Bess, however, was lucky. Through social services, she was referred to The Dogs Trust charity, whose Freedom Project provides a free foster care service for dogs belonging to families fleeing from domestic violence in London, Hertfordshire and Yorkshire.
Twilight and Bright Eyes would be re-homed and taken care of for as long as Bess and Lisa were in refuge - and all Bess had to do was make sure that she rebuilt her own - and her daughter's - life.
"Thinking I had to leave our dogs behind was really the last straw, as they are family," says Bess.
"So to know I had them coming back eventually was the light at the end of the tunnel."
Since its inception in 2004, the Freedom Project has helped re-home some 700 pets, most of them dogs. (In London, cats are also re-homed by the UK's leading cat welfare charity, Cats Protection).
In several recent studies of women seeking refuge from domestic violence, nearly half reported that their pets had been threatened, injured or killed by their partners - making the Freedom Project a very necessary programme indeed, says its manager Clare Kivlehan.
"It's not practical for refuges to take pets and often friends and family are unable to look after some pets, such as dogs and cats, for long periods of time.
"In addition, in many domestic violence situations the perpetrator will threaten to harm or actually harm the family pet as a way of controlling the woman and her family. In fact, many definitions of domestic abuse now include the abuse of pets by the perpetrator."
Foster carers volunteer to house, feed and provide any veterinary care to the pets for an average of nine months, when they are then given back to their owners - and volunteers are always needed.
EastEnders actress Jo Joyner has recently come on board to raise awareness and garner support for the Freedom Project, because the more foster carers there are, the more victims of domestic violence can be helped, she says.
"I know people who have been affected by domestic violence and I also know how easy it is to get trapped in a bad situation.
"Dogs can be such a huge part of your family and can also be your greatest companion when under threat. I know there are thousands of women out there who need to know that they can leave their situation and their dogs will not only be safe, but be returned to them, too."
Julie, a single mum of three, has been a volunteer foster carer for the Freedom Project Yorkshire since it was first established in 2005, and has since cared for a number of dogs, including Scarlett the Staffie and Winston the Bull Mastiff.
"For me, the hardest part about fostering is knowing what the dogs have been through," she says, a former victim of domestic violence herself.
"Seeing them cower when they hear a loud noise and looking bewildered when they first arrive is heartbreaking, but watching them grow in confidence and discovering each dog's individual personality is so rewarding.
"I get a great sense of fulfilment when it's time for them to go home, knowing that they are going back to a family that loves them."
Although it was difficult, Bess and Lisa survived their six pet-less months in refuge, in part, Bess says, because they received regular photos and letters from the families caring for the dogs - a "godsend" for getting them through the pain of separation.
The full family was reunited just one day after leaving the refuge, but despite having her "family" back together again, Bess still misses her friends and life in Surrey, and has had a hard time readjusting.
"It's been really hard to pick myself up and get a job, because the last couple of years have been really tough," she says quietly, admitting that she was raped by a previous boyfriend just months before she was assaulted by Samuel.
"But the greatest point of my life is knowing now that I've got my little family back. I miss my friends and my family, but I owe the Dogs Trust my life."
Nearly two years have passed since Bess saw or spoke with her family, including her 16-year-old daughter, Aimie, who's been living with her grandparents.
While she misses them desperately, she still prefers keeping them in memory than risking her own, or her family's, life.
"I go to call my mum and remember I can't, or think I'd like to go down and visit a friend and know that it's too dangerous, as he's threatened and harassed each and every one of them," she says.
"I don't want to put anyone at risk. So for right now, it's like me and my daughter against the world."
Lisa, now 11, is starting high school and has integrated into her new life in Middlesex very well, Bess says.
And the change of scenery has also been good for her. She has a stable new relationship with a former friend, and is planning a new career.
"I want to go back to college and learn how to become a car mechanic," she giggles. "It's something I've wanted to do since the age of 10, so I'm looking forward to it."
Bess is still in contact with the foster carers who looked after Bright Eyes and Twilight, regularly sending them photographs of the dogs and even sometimes visiting her "second family" with the Staffies for a reunion.
"The way they looked after my dogs, I can't say thank you enough," explains Bess.
"We wouldn't be where we are now without them."
Become a foster dog owner
The Freedom Project is currently looking to recruit more foster carers, especially men - so if you like dogs, can devote an average of nine months to looking after a pet and want to help a family in need, visit www.dogstrustfreedomproject.org.uk
* Name has been changed to protect subject's identity.
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