Posted: Jul 03, 2010 7:34 PM EDT
By Norma Yuriar
Fresno County, Calif. (KMPH News) — A Visalia couple is under arrest for killing the woman's ex–husband and trying to cover it up. Investigators say 20–year–old Flor Mayra Perez and 27–year–old Miguel Angel Enciso killed the victim after a fight.
But, it's how they tried to dispose of the body that accentuates this bizarre case.
A burned body and a gas can. The only evidence Fresno County Sheriff deputies found at a citrus orchard. Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims says this crime may have been difficult to solve had the suspects taken the time to remove the barcode and label from the gas can they used to set the body on fire.
"As a result of the barcode we were able to identify, the receipt, the day and the time the gas can was bought there at the Wal–Mart," Mims said.
Investigators say the victim's ex–wife and her boyfriend killed 26–year–old Jose Figueroa Dominguez and they did it at the victim's own home in Orosi. The couple then drove to a Dinuba Wal–Mart to get the materials to burn him.
"Their behavior in the video was as if they had not a care in the world, just as if they were out shopping," Mims said. "They were smiling, they were holding hands, it didn't look like there was any indication that they were worried about anything."
After buying the gas can, Sheriff Mims says the couple drove back to Orosi, loaded Dominguez's body in a car and drove to a citrus orchard near orange cove.
A Farm worker called police on Tuesday when he found the charred remains.
"Our information is they tried to burn this body not just once, but multiple times to make sure that it was destroyed, which makes identification without all of these other circumstance very, very difficult" Mims.
The body is so badly burned only a DNA test can positively identify the victim.
"We believe through our investigation that is probably the [Dominguez]."
Investigators say Dominguez's family reported him missing Thursday. At that point Fresno County Sheriff deputies began to put two and two together.
"Detectives interviewed relatives of this missing person, when we showed them the video they identified the woman in the video as the ex–wife of the missing person," Mims said.
Investigators also have a copy of the receipt, things that the couple bought at Wal–Mart. The say they found those items at the couple's home in Visalia.
Bail is set at $1million. Perez and Enciso remain at the Fresno County Jail, facing murder charges.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Maries County, MO: Man charged with woman's murder
The missing person bulletin for Kinga J. Gillibrand notes that the rural Meta, Mo., woman was last seen at 9:30 a.m. on June 8, 2010, at her residence. Authorities arrested her boyfriend and charged him with murder in the case.
By Jeff Haldiman
Maries County authorities have filed a first-degree murder charge against a Meta man, alleging he killed his girlfriend last month.
On Saturday, Terry Fritz, 39, was charged with causing the death of Kinga Gillibrand, 35, by shooting her on or around June 8, which is the last time she was seen alive.
He was being held on a $500,000 bond in the Maries County Jail.
Fritz could face additional charges, according to Sheriff Chris Heitman.
Fritz was Gillibrand's boyfriend, and they have a child together. He was the last person to see her alive, but did not report her missing until two weeks later.
Authorities found personal items that belonged to Kinga in a dumpster at an apartment complex in Rolla.
Authorities used cadaver dogs and ATVs on Saturday, along with foot and air patrols, to try and find Gillibrand's body.
Multiple law enforcement agencies joined in the search of the 300 acres that the home sits on, and there were searches of a nearby lake and ponds with no signs of Gillibrand's body.
Heitman said he plans to continue searching through the weekend.
Fritz's attorney, Ross Busch, had no comment on the case. He also had no idea when his client's first court appearance might be.
By Jeff Haldiman
Maries County authorities have filed a first-degree murder charge against a Meta man, alleging he killed his girlfriend last month.
On Saturday, Terry Fritz, 39, was charged with causing the death of Kinga Gillibrand, 35, by shooting her on or around June 8, which is the last time she was seen alive.
He was being held on a $500,000 bond in the Maries County Jail.
Fritz could face additional charges, according to Sheriff Chris Heitman.
Fritz was Gillibrand's boyfriend, and they have a child together. He was the last person to see her alive, but did not report her missing until two weeks later.
Authorities found personal items that belonged to Kinga in a dumpster at an apartment complex in Rolla.
Authorities used cadaver dogs and ATVs on Saturday, along with foot and air patrols, to try and find Gillibrand's body.
Multiple law enforcement agencies joined in the search of the 300 acres that the home sits on, and there were searches of a nearby lake and ponds with no signs of Gillibrand's body.
Heitman said he plans to continue searching through the weekend.
Fritz's attorney, Ross Busch, had no comment on the case. He also had no idea when his client's first court appearance might be.
Haines City, FL: Haines City Man Shoots Woman, Then Self as Police Close In
By Tom Palmer
THE LEDGER
Published: Saturday, July 3, 2010 at 9:35 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, July 3, 2010 at 9:35 p.m.
HAINES CITY | A Haines City man shot his ex-girlfriend Saturday afternoon and as police closed in after his fleeing car was stopped on Interstate 4, he attempted to killed himself, police said.
The man was identified as Augustan Canales, 28, 416 Grace Ave. He was in critical condition at Lakeland Regional Medical Center Saturday night, said Capt. Brian Rall of the Haines City Police Department.
The shooting victim was identified as Yoelda Estrada, 23, of Kissimmee, who was listed in stable condition at LRMC.
The incident began at 4:30 p.m. when Canales confronted Estrada outside La Placita Mexico Market, 210 N. 10th St., Rall said.
Rall said Canales pulled a .22-caliber pistol and fired twice, hitting Estrada once in the back.
He then allegedly forced her into his 2010 Honda and sped away, Rall said.
Canales led police on a 10-mile chase west from Haines City through Lake Alfred and then onto the interstate, Rall said.
Rall said that as Canales was heading east on I-4, he suddenly slowed and drove into the shoulder.
Police saw a flash and discovered he had shot himself in the head with a shotgun.
Canales and Estrada were transported to LRMC by ambulance, Rall said.
The pursuit, which involved Haines City police, the Polk County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Highway Patrol, ended along the eastbound lanes of I-4 between County Road 557 and U.S. 27.
Police activity around the crime scene closed one lane of I-4, causing a massive traffic backup.
Both lanes of I-4 were reopened by 9 p.m., Rall said.
Rall said Haines City was assisted in the investigation by the sheriff's office, which will take over the case if Canales dies.
If he lives, he will be charged in the shooting and chase, Rall said.
THE LEDGER
Published: Saturday, July 3, 2010 at 9:35 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, July 3, 2010 at 9:35 p.m.
HAINES CITY | A Haines City man shot his ex-girlfriend Saturday afternoon and as police closed in after his fleeing car was stopped on Interstate 4, he attempted to killed himself, police said.
The man was identified as Augustan Canales, 28, 416 Grace Ave. He was in critical condition at Lakeland Regional Medical Center Saturday night, said Capt. Brian Rall of the Haines City Police Department.
The shooting victim was identified as Yoelda Estrada, 23, of Kissimmee, who was listed in stable condition at LRMC.
The incident began at 4:30 p.m. when Canales confronted Estrada outside La Placita Mexico Market, 210 N. 10th St., Rall said.
Rall said Canales pulled a .22-caliber pistol and fired twice, hitting Estrada once in the back.
He then allegedly forced her into his 2010 Honda and sped away, Rall said.
Canales led police on a 10-mile chase west from Haines City through Lake Alfred and then onto the interstate, Rall said.
Rall said that as Canales was heading east on I-4, he suddenly slowed and drove into the shoulder.
Police saw a flash and discovered he had shot himself in the head with a shotgun.
Canales and Estrada were transported to LRMC by ambulance, Rall said.
The pursuit, which involved Haines City police, the Polk County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Highway Patrol, ended along the eastbound lanes of I-4 between County Road 557 and U.S. 27.
Police activity around the crime scene closed one lane of I-4, causing a massive traffic backup.
Both lanes of I-4 were reopened by 9 p.m., Rall said.
Rall said Haines City was assisted in the investigation by the sheriff's office, which will take over the case if Canales dies.
If he lives, he will be charged in the shooting and chase, Rall said.
St. Albans, WV: Father Kills Daughter's Boyfriend
St. Albans
A Kanawha County man is dead. He was shot by his girlfriend's father. 60-year-old James Downey of St. Albans confessed to police he shot and killed 27-year-old Brandon Hall early Sunday morning. According to Investigators, Downey was upset with the way Hall was treating his daughter, 34-year-old Jennifer Downey.
Downey and Hall lived next to her father on McKinley Ave in St. Albans
Jennifer Downey wasn't home at the time of the shooting. She was in jail, arrested Saturday evening on 3rd Offense Driving on a Revoked license and DUI.
Around 2:00 Sunday morning, Mr. Downey walked next door to confront Hall. There were several people there at the time. That's when Downey pulled out a gun and fired several shots. Hall was hit in the chest and died on the scene.
When police arrived they found the alleged murder weapon at Downey's home. He confessed to investigators that he was the one to pull the trigger but decided not to give a formal statement until he had talked to a lawyer.
Downey was arraigned and then transported to the South Central Regional Jail. He's being held without bond.
A Kanawha County man is dead. He was shot by his girlfriend's father. 60-year-old James Downey of St. Albans confessed to police he shot and killed 27-year-old Brandon Hall early Sunday morning. According to Investigators, Downey was upset with the way Hall was treating his daughter, 34-year-old Jennifer Downey.
Downey and Hall lived next to her father on McKinley Ave in St. Albans
Jennifer Downey wasn't home at the time of the shooting. She was in jail, arrested Saturday evening on 3rd Offense Driving on a Revoked license and DUI.
Around 2:00 Sunday morning, Mr. Downey walked next door to confront Hall. There were several people there at the time. That's when Downey pulled out a gun and fired several shots. Hall was hit in the chest and died on the scene.
When police arrived they found the alleged murder weapon at Downey's home. He confessed to investigators that he was the one to pull the trigger but decided not to give a formal statement until he had talked to a lawyer.
Downey was arraigned and then transported to the South Central Regional Jail. He's being held without bond.
Greenville, NC: Police: Man killed girlfriend before Greenville standoff
Posted: 12:05 p.m. today
Updated: 12:58 p.m. today
A Beaufort County man wanted in his girlfriend's death was arrested after a short standoff in Greenville Saturday.
Authorities told multiple media outlets that Richard Leon Armstead, 21, killed his girlfriend, Miki Hatcher, 23, Saturday evening in their Chocowinity apartment. He then drove to an apartment in Greenville.
Greenville police said they negotiated with Armstead for nearly three hours before he gave up peacefully.
Beaufort County sheriff's deputies said Hatcher had wounds to her head. An autopsy will be conducted. The couple lived together and had children.
Armstead was charged with murder and placed in the Beaufort County jail. It wasn't clear if he had an attorney.
Armstead had previous convictions for common-law robbery and wanton injury to personal property in Martin County, according to state Department of Correction record. He was released in April 2009 after serving an 11-month sentence.
Updated: 12:58 p.m. today
A Beaufort County man wanted in his girlfriend's death was arrested after a short standoff in Greenville Saturday.
Authorities told multiple media outlets that Richard Leon Armstead, 21, killed his girlfriend, Miki Hatcher, 23, Saturday evening in their Chocowinity apartment. He then drove to an apartment in Greenville.
Greenville police said they negotiated with Armstead for nearly three hours before he gave up peacefully.
Beaufort County sheriff's deputies said Hatcher had wounds to her head. An autopsy will be conducted. The couple lived together and had children.
Armstead was charged with murder and placed in the Beaufort County jail. It wasn't clear if he had an attorney.
Armstead had previous convictions for common-law robbery and wanton injury to personal property in Martin County, according to state Department of Correction record. He was released in April 2009 after serving an 11-month sentence.
Cordell, OK: Oklahoma man claims to have heard confession in woman's 2007 disappearance
Protective order once filed against estranged boyfriend of missing Cordell woman
BY RON JACKSON
Published: July 4, 2010
CORDELL — Jason Canterberry said he has been haunted for more than three years by a murder confession in the 2007 disappearance of Melissa Sue Flores. But the man accused of uttering the confession — Flores' estranged boyfriend Ronnie Denny Jr. — denies any such conversation ever took place.
Oklahoma man claims to have heard confession in woman's 2007 disappearance
Now, Canterberry is speaking publicly for the first time in hopes justice will be served and a family can find peace. His words are an eerie reminder of those written by Flores in a protective order petition six months before her Jan. 27, 2007, disappearance.
Flores, 27, said Denny threatened to shoot her in the face. Seven days later she asked for the protective order to be dismissed.
Canterberry, 32, said he knows the rest of the story. He described how Denny — a childhood friend — confessed to killing Flores one night in 2007 while driving Washita County's country roads.
"Ronnie pulled off to the side of the road, and said, 'You want to hear the truth?'” Canterberry recalled. "I said, 'No, I don't.' He just broke down and started crying. He said, 'I did it. I killed her. I killed Melissa.'
"Ronnie told me they got into an argument in the house, and he grabbed a rifle — a black, 9 mm rifle. He said he tried to intimidate her, and fired a shot into the air. She then came at him and he said he fired three times. One shot missed, but two hit her. He dropped his rifle and held her in his arms until she died.
"He said her last words were, 'I love you.'”
Denny, the father to the youngest of Flores' three children, has never been eliminated by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation as a suspect.
Denny purportedly told Canterberry another man was at the house at the time of the shooting, and that man "began to panic.” Canterberry said Denny further stated that the man called his brother, who helped clean up the crime scene.
"Ronnie told me they put Melissa's body, and everything that had anything to do with evidence, including the rifle, in a trunk and loaded it into his Pathfinder,” Canterberry said. "He just never told me where he disposed of the body, although I have my suspicions. The OSBI eventually came to me, and I told them everything I knew.
"I felt it was the right thing to do.”
Canterberry testified before a grand jury in the case in 2007. Denny confronted him after his testimony.
"I asked Jason why he was saying those horrible things,” said Denny, 31. "He said, 'Man, I had to. They made me.' He said the cops had been harassing him and his wife, pulling them over and everything. He said that in front of witnesses.”
OSBI agents served Denny with a search warrant six days after Flores' disappearance, and arrested him Feb. 2, 2007, after finding drugs and a stolen firearm inside his Cordell home.
Judy Tome, Melissa's mother, sensed something was seriously amiss when she found her daughter's car outside Denny's house the day she disappeared. Inside the car, Tome found her daughter's purse and cell phone.
Earlier that morning, Flores called her family in her last known conversation, saying she had spent the night at Denny's home.
"I asked him where my daughter was,” Tome recalled. "He just became very agitated and angry.”
Denny has long denied any involvement.
"Now I live in fear for my daughter and my freedom,” Denny said. "OSBI asked me if I killed Melissa. I told them straight up, 'No. I had nothing to do with her disappearance.'”
Denny is puzzled by Canterberry's claims.
"Too many drugs, I guess,” Denny said. "We were all doing drugs back then.”
Canterberry admits to having a rough past, including fighting, alcohol and drugs. In 2005, he was charged with assault and battery in the presence of a minor. His sentence was deferred.
Denny, meanwhile, speaks with regret about his relationship with Flores.
"She was the girl for me,” Denny said. "I just didn't see it at the time. At first, I didn't think her disappearance was real. Then, while I was in jail, I realized how serious it had become. It was terrible.
"You know, it's hard seeing the posters everywhere, and it's hard being the bad guy. But I never left town because I have nothing to run from.”
Two bullet holes remain visible in the back of Denny's former rental home — bullet holes Denny said he suspects were made by previous residents.
Another pair of bullet holes can be seen a few feet away on the side of the home occupied by Denny's former next-door neighbor, Jeff Scarberry.
Scarberry said investigators entered his home at the time Flores' disappeared to search for bullets. Investigators have never confirmed whether those bullet holes are connected to the case.
"They just came in, flicked some paint off the wall and retrieved two slugs,” said Scarberry, who has lived in the house seven years.
"I never heard anything that day, but then again there were always loud noises and arguments coming from that home.”
Read more: http://newsok.com/oklahoma-man-claims-to-have-heard-confession-in-womans-2007-disappearance/article/3473406#ixzz0sjok2Ifd
BY RON JACKSON
Published: July 4, 2010
CORDELL — Jason Canterberry said he has been haunted for more than three years by a murder confession in the 2007 disappearance of Melissa Sue Flores. But the man accused of uttering the confession — Flores' estranged boyfriend Ronnie Denny Jr. — denies any such conversation ever took place.
Oklahoma man claims to have heard confession in woman's 2007 disappearance
Now, Canterberry is speaking publicly for the first time in hopes justice will be served and a family can find peace. His words are an eerie reminder of those written by Flores in a protective order petition six months before her Jan. 27, 2007, disappearance.
Flores, 27, said Denny threatened to shoot her in the face. Seven days later she asked for the protective order to be dismissed.
Canterberry, 32, said he knows the rest of the story. He described how Denny — a childhood friend — confessed to killing Flores one night in 2007 while driving Washita County's country roads.
"Ronnie pulled off to the side of the road, and said, 'You want to hear the truth?'” Canterberry recalled. "I said, 'No, I don't.' He just broke down and started crying. He said, 'I did it. I killed her. I killed Melissa.'
"Ronnie told me they got into an argument in the house, and he grabbed a rifle — a black, 9 mm rifle. He said he tried to intimidate her, and fired a shot into the air. She then came at him and he said he fired three times. One shot missed, but two hit her. He dropped his rifle and held her in his arms until she died.
"He said her last words were, 'I love you.'”
Denny, the father to the youngest of Flores' three children, has never been eliminated by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation as a suspect.
Denny purportedly told Canterberry another man was at the house at the time of the shooting, and that man "began to panic.” Canterberry said Denny further stated that the man called his brother, who helped clean up the crime scene.
"Ronnie told me they put Melissa's body, and everything that had anything to do with evidence, including the rifle, in a trunk and loaded it into his Pathfinder,” Canterberry said. "He just never told me where he disposed of the body, although I have my suspicions. The OSBI eventually came to me, and I told them everything I knew.
"I felt it was the right thing to do.”
Canterberry testified before a grand jury in the case in 2007. Denny confronted him after his testimony.
"I asked Jason why he was saying those horrible things,” said Denny, 31. "He said, 'Man, I had to. They made me.' He said the cops had been harassing him and his wife, pulling them over and everything. He said that in front of witnesses.”
OSBI agents served Denny with a search warrant six days after Flores' disappearance, and arrested him Feb. 2, 2007, after finding drugs and a stolen firearm inside his Cordell home.
Judy Tome, Melissa's mother, sensed something was seriously amiss when she found her daughter's car outside Denny's house the day she disappeared. Inside the car, Tome found her daughter's purse and cell phone.
Earlier that morning, Flores called her family in her last known conversation, saying she had spent the night at Denny's home.
"I asked him where my daughter was,” Tome recalled. "He just became very agitated and angry.”
Denny has long denied any involvement.
"Now I live in fear for my daughter and my freedom,” Denny said. "OSBI asked me if I killed Melissa. I told them straight up, 'No. I had nothing to do with her disappearance.'”
Denny is puzzled by Canterberry's claims.
"Too many drugs, I guess,” Denny said. "We were all doing drugs back then.”
Canterberry admits to having a rough past, including fighting, alcohol and drugs. In 2005, he was charged with assault and battery in the presence of a minor. His sentence was deferred.
Denny, meanwhile, speaks with regret about his relationship with Flores.
"She was the girl for me,” Denny said. "I just didn't see it at the time. At first, I didn't think her disappearance was real. Then, while I was in jail, I realized how serious it had become. It was terrible.
"You know, it's hard seeing the posters everywhere, and it's hard being the bad guy. But I never left town because I have nothing to run from.”
Two bullet holes remain visible in the back of Denny's former rental home — bullet holes Denny said he suspects were made by previous residents.
Another pair of bullet holes can be seen a few feet away on the side of the home occupied by Denny's former next-door neighbor, Jeff Scarberry.
Scarberry said investigators entered his home at the time Flores' disappeared to search for bullets. Investigators have never confirmed whether those bullet holes are connected to the case.
"They just came in, flicked some paint off the wall and retrieved two slugs,” said Scarberry, who has lived in the house seven years.
"I never heard anything that day, but then again there were always loud noises and arguments coming from that home.”
Read more: http://newsok.com/oklahoma-man-claims-to-have-heard-confession-in-womans-2007-disappearance/article/3473406#ixzz0sjok2Ifd
Myock, NC: NC bodybuilding champ charged with killing husband
The Associated Press
Sunday, July 4, 2010
MOYOCK, N.C. (AP) - Authorities say a North Carolina man having marital problems was killed by his bodybuilding wife in their Currituck County home.
Deputies told The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk, Va., that 38-year-old Lateisha Jandreau was arrested Saturday by officers with a search warrant after they found her 51-year-old husband's body hidden in the couple's garage.
Mike Jandreau says his brother Paul told him he was having problems with his wife, but wasn't scared. The two had been married for about eight years after meeting in a kickboxing class and Lateisha Jandreau won a state bodybuilding championship last month.
Jandreau is charged with first degree murder and is being held at the Currituck County jail without bond. It wasn't immediately clear if she had an attorney.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
MOYOCK, N.C. (AP) - Authorities say a North Carolina man having marital problems was killed by his bodybuilding wife in their Currituck County home.
Deputies told The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk, Va., that 38-year-old Lateisha Jandreau was arrested Saturday by officers with a search warrant after they found her 51-year-old husband's body hidden in the couple's garage.
Mike Jandreau says his brother Paul told him he was having problems with his wife, but wasn't scared. The two had been married for about eight years after meeting in a kickboxing class and Lateisha Jandreau won a state bodybuilding championship last month.
Jandreau is charged with first degree murder and is being held at the Currituck County jail without bond. It wasn't immediately clear if she had an attorney.
St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands: Woman found beaten to death in home
BY CONSTANCE COOPER, REPORTER. DAILY NEWS STAFF
Published: July 3, 2010
Slaying suspect Ruben Santana
ST. THOMAS — Just after daybreak Friday, 911 operators said, a 9-year-old girl called 911 to report that her mother was screaming. Police arrived at the woman’s home in Frenchtown to find 43-year-old Pricilla Davis laying face-down, dead.
Her boyfriend, Ruben Santana, is wanted in connection with what police are calling murder.
Virgin Islands Police Commissioner Novelle Francis Jr. said that Davis was beaten with a chair and appeared to have been stabbed as well.
Santana is 6 feet tall and weighs 172 pounds. He was born in Puerto Rico and has a medium brown complexion. He is believed to be suicidal, Francis said, and police are using extra caution in their search.
V.I. Police spokeswoman Melody Rames said police have information indicating that Davis and Santana were romantically involved.
If that turns out to be the case, it would mean that Davis is the sixth domestic violence-related death in the territory this year.
On April 18, a 2-month-old girl was strangled in Bovoni housing community. Her father, 19-year-old Kaseem Bruno, is accused of wrapping the cord of a fan around the child’s neck to silence her crying and also is suspected of beating his girlfriend, 19-year-old Lilia Roumo, who was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the girl’s death.
On April 23, 40-year-old Lorraine Joseph and her daughter, 19-year-old Alorra Tutien, were allegedly shot by their uncle after a dispute in Estate Peter’s Rest, St. Croix, over cleaning up after a dog. The uncle, 48-year-old Miles David, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder because Tutien was five months pregnant.
On May 12, 58-year-old Iola Martin died of head trauma in a Florida hospital. Her ex-husband, Timothy Rodney, has been accused of beating her with a fire extinguisher in a St. Croix restaurant where she worked as a housekeeper.
Francis said he did not know if Santana had any previous charges for domestic violence and that he was not aware of any restraining orders involving the couple.
Francis acknowledged an increase in domestic violence incidents and urged women in violent relationships to seek help.
“I want to, once again, advise females, if they’re involved in these violent relationships that they should make every effort to seek counseling or get away from the abuse,” Francis said.
Davis died just hours after 2010 passed its halfway point. Her killing was the 44th in the territory this year. At this time last year, 31 people had been killed in the territory. The Virgin Islands had a record 56 homicides in 2009.
— Contact reporter Constance Cooper at 774-8772 ext. 364 or
e-mail ccooper@dailynews.vi.
Published: July 3, 2010
Slaying suspect Ruben Santana
ST. THOMAS — Just after daybreak Friday, 911 operators said, a 9-year-old girl called 911 to report that her mother was screaming. Police arrived at the woman’s home in Frenchtown to find 43-year-old Pricilla Davis laying face-down, dead.
Her boyfriend, Ruben Santana, is wanted in connection with what police are calling murder.
Virgin Islands Police Commissioner Novelle Francis Jr. said that Davis was beaten with a chair and appeared to have been stabbed as well.
Santana is 6 feet tall and weighs 172 pounds. He was born in Puerto Rico and has a medium brown complexion. He is believed to be suicidal, Francis said, and police are using extra caution in their search.
V.I. Police spokeswoman Melody Rames said police have information indicating that Davis and Santana were romantically involved.
If that turns out to be the case, it would mean that Davis is the sixth domestic violence-related death in the territory this year.
On April 18, a 2-month-old girl was strangled in Bovoni housing community. Her father, 19-year-old Kaseem Bruno, is accused of wrapping the cord of a fan around the child’s neck to silence her crying and also is suspected of beating his girlfriend, 19-year-old Lilia Roumo, who was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the girl’s death.
On April 23, 40-year-old Lorraine Joseph and her daughter, 19-year-old Alorra Tutien, were allegedly shot by their uncle after a dispute in Estate Peter’s Rest, St. Croix, over cleaning up after a dog. The uncle, 48-year-old Miles David, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder because Tutien was five months pregnant.
On May 12, 58-year-old Iola Martin died of head trauma in a Florida hospital. Her ex-husband, Timothy Rodney, has been accused of beating her with a fire extinguisher in a St. Croix restaurant where she worked as a housekeeper.
Francis said he did not know if Santana had any previous charges for domestic violence and that he was not aware of any restraining orders involving the couple.
Francis acknowledged an increase in domestic violence incidents and urged women in violent relationships to seek help.
“I want to, once again, advise females, if they’re involved in these violent relationships that they should make every effort to seek counseling or get away from the abuse,” Francis said.
Davis died just hours after 2010 passed its halfway point. Her killing was the 44th in the territory this year. At this time last year, 31 people had been killed in the territory. The Virgin Islands had a record 56 homicides in 2009.
— Contact reporter Constance Cooper at 774-8772 ext. 364 or
e-mail ccooper@dailynews.vi.
Montgomery, AL: Domestic violence victim's family recalls struggle that led up to shooting
By Scott Johnson
sjohnson3@gannett.com
To her sister, she was Patty. To Brandon and Stephanie, she was Mom.
Patricia Lynn Hester, 42, was laid to rest Friday afternoon, the latest victim in a wave of deadly domestic violence.
Patricia had been trying to separate herself from her estranged husband, William Larry Hester, since March or April, her family said. The two married in December, about a month after they started dating, according to her relatives.
She had been married several times, and it was not the first time she had married a man shortly after meeting him, they said.
"Patty was like a lot of people. She just wanted somebody to love her, somebody to care for her," said Mike Gunn, her brother-in-law.
Hester, 61, was no stranger to violence. He was convicted of killing his second wife, Patricia Nelson, in 1987.
Family members of both victims said he also shot and wounded his first wife in Troy in the mid-1970s. The charge was thrown out, and he was never convicted, they said. The Troy Police Department was unable to find a record of the arrest, which predates digital files.
On Monday, Hester met Patricia outside her house with a shotgun, police and family members said. She recently had changed the locks on her house and filed for divorce.
"I wouldn't be surprised if the day that he killed her was the day he got the divorce papers," said her 18-year-old son, Brandon Cogan.
Hester shot his estranged wife in the side, police said. Officers confronted him a few blocks away near Pennsylvania and Madison avenues.
Hester stepped out of his blue Jeep SUV wielding the shotgun, police said, and he ended up at Jackson Hospital in critical condition after being shot by police. His condition had improved to stable by the end of the week, police said.
Because Hester remains hospitalized and is not formally in police custody, a police spokesman said he did not know whether Hester is represented by an attorney at this point.
Patricia's sister, Donna Gunn, and Cogan were at the same hospital Monday when a nurse, doctor and chaplain pulled them aside to tell them that Patricia did not make it.
Approaching storm
Patricia and Larry Hester started dating in October or November of 2009 after chatting on the Internet, Cogan said. Hester was living in Wetumpka with his mother at the time, he added.
He told Patricia shortly after they met about killing his second wife, Cogan said, claiming it was because he had caught her cheating.
Her daughter, Stephanie Hanvey, 22, said she didn't like Hester from the beginning and told her mother not to marry him. But Patricia was determined to stay with him.
"She said he made her happy," Hanvey said.
Other family members initially were not as wary of Hester.
"He seemed like a nice guy when they came over for Thanksgiving," Mike Gunn said. "He put up a good front."
It was not too long, though, before other family members began telling Patricia the same thing as Hanvey, that she should not marry Hester.
But she had been told many times before that the man she was with was not right for her, and she refused to leave him. She had built up a resistance to criticisms about her partner, Cogan said.
Patricia and Hester were married Dec. 23, 2009, and the relationship soured fast, Cogan said.
"My mom said he was wonderful until he got married," he said.
Cogan lived with the two of them at Patricia's house, and he said he soon saw that Hester drank heavily and often acted irrationally.
Cogan said Hester tried to stab him once with a 3- or 4-inch blade, but Cogan only ended up with minor cuts on his finger. The incident is recorded in court documents.
Most of the time, Cogan said, Hester would not confront him physically. "He never did half the stuff (to me that) he did to her," he said.
Sometimes, Cogan had to come to his mother's defense, Donna Gunn said.
"Brandon pulled him off of her more than one time," she said.
Hester also was verbally abusive, family members said.
"When she came in from work, he would always accuse her of cheating on him," Donna Gunn said.
Hanvey said Hester also would get suspicious when her mother would visit her.
"She would come visit me, but she wouldn't stay long because she knew she would be questioned when she got back," Hanvey said.
There were stretches when the two of them would argue every day, Cogan said.
"They would fight so often, I would just shut the door and try to tune out the argument," he said.
The situation escalated in late February or early March, when Hester bought a shotgun, Cogan said.
"Once she knew he had a shotgun, it got more real for her," Hanvey said.
Separation
Patricia started to separate herself from Hester as she became more concerned about what he might do. She would ask him to leave, but he wouldn't go peacefully, Cogan said.
Then one day Hester allegedly pointed the shotgun at her and threatened to shoot her. Hester was arrested, according to court documents, and Patricia was free from him -- at least for a while.
"That was the only way she could get him out of the house, basically, was to have him arrested," Cogan said.
When he was released from jail, though, Patricia invited him back. "She wanted to make things work," Cogan said.
Donna Gunn said her sister also needed help with the rent. Either way, the reunion did not last long. "After a month or so, she realized he wasn't going to change," Cogan said.
After continually fighting with Hester and trying to convince him to leave, Patricia finally decided to change the locks. She had told him to leave many times, which would lead to a fight, Cogan said.
"He would just shout at the top of his lungs, 'Make me leave,'" Cogan said. "So she made him leave."
Patricia filed for a restraining order against Hester and also filed for divorce. Those things did not put her mind at ease. She knew that her husband would be angry and frustrated.
"She was very paranoid. She couldn't sit still. Every noise she heard, she thought it was him," Hanvey said.
She even warned other people, including neighbors, about her husband. "She told everybody in case anything happened that he had threatened to kill her," Donna Gunn said.
Patricia had received counseling recently, but she declined to go to a shelter for battered women, Gunn said.
"She said that she would have a better chance on her own," Hanvey said.
After awhile, though, she could see how dangerous the situation had become.
"She knew something was going to happen," Hanvey said.
Catastrophe
Cogan was lying in bed Monday morning when he awoke to the sound of his mother locking the front door on her way to work at Advance Auto Parts. The next thing he heard was a loud bang, but it didn't register in Cogan's mind that the noise he had heard was a gunshot.
Then someone started knocking and trying to open the door. Cogan said he thought maybe his mother was trying to get back inside the house. He said that he looked through the curtains on the door, and it was not his mother he saw but Hester, who began screaming at Cogan to let him in the house.
"I could tell that he was drunk because he had those red circles around his eyes," Cogan said. "He was drunk so (often), I could tell when he was drunk."
Cogan ran to his room, where he called 911. Neighbors apparently had called as well, and it wasn't long before police were on the scene.
First, though, one neighbor intervened in the situation, Cogan said. The neighbor stepped out onto his porch with a gun. Hester turned and shot at him, and the neighbor shot back, Cogan said. That drove Hester off, he said.
"I'm pretty much convinced that neighbor saved my life," Cogan said.
Hester drove off, and it wasn't long before he was exchanging gunfire with police officers.
Other officers led Cogan out of his house in handcuffs, a precaution Cogan said he understood.
He said it did not even occur to him at the time that his mother might not survive.
"Mom had been fighting for so long, I thought she was just going to fight through it," Cogan said.
Aftermath
Patricia had been in abusive relationships before, her relatives said.
She had sought help from an area family assistance agency once before, in 2002 or 2003, Cogan said. In most of her other relationships, however, there had been more emotional than physical abuse, Cogan said.
Patricia had gotten caught up in a "circle of violence" with her relationships, Donna Gunn said. "She marries these guys as soon as they are ready to get married," she said.
She had never dealt with the kind of situation she was in with her most recent marriage, however.
Her family members agreed that there needs to be more help for domestic violence victims. "(Domestic violence) happens so much that people don't take it seriously," Hanvey said.
The One Place Family Justice Center will be a new resource for women in abusive relationships. The center will have all the resources a victim needs under one roof, said Steve Searcy, the center's director.
The optimistic opening date for the center is October, Searcy said.
Donna Gunn said that it is difficult for domestic violence victims to know what to do when they find themselves trapped in an abusive relationship.
Gunn became emotional as she talked about the dilemmas victims often face.
"(Domestic violence victims) are embarrassed, like Patty was embarrassed, because she had been married so many times, and she just wanted somebody to love her, and she just wanted it to work out," Gunn said.
"And that is what (victims) are feeling. They are scared, but they want their family to work, so they stay, and they think it will get better, but it doesn't. It just keeps getting worse."
Gunn said victims should turn to family and friends for help before trying to handle things on their own.
Whether it is through a shelter or other means, the victim needs to find a safe place away from the abuser, she said.
"There are worse things than being alone," she said.
sjohnson3@gannett.com
To her sister, she was Patty. To Brandon and Stephanie, she was Mom.
Patricia Lynn Hester, 42, was laid to rest Friday afternoon, the latest victim in a wave of deadly domestic violence.
Patricia had been trying to separate herself from her estranged husband, William Larry Hester, since March or April, her family said. The two married in December, about a month after they started dating, according to her relatives.
She had been married several times, and it was not the first time she had married a man shortly after meeting him, they said.
"Patty was like a lot of people. She just wanted somebody to love her, somebody to care for her," said Mike Gunn, her brother-in-law.
Hester, 61, was no stranger to violence. He was convicted of killing his second wife, Patricia Nelson, in 1987.
Family members of both victims said he also shot and wounded his first wife in Troy in the mid-1970s. The charge was thrown out, and he was never convicted, they said. The Troy Police Department was unable to find a record of the arrest, which predates digital files.
On Monday, Hester met Patricia outside her house with a shotgun, police and family members said. She recently had changed the locks on her house and filed for divorce.
"I wouldn't be surprised if the day that he killed her was the day he got the divorce papers," said her 18-year-old son, Brandon Cogan.
Hester shot his estranged wife in the side, police said. Officers confronted him a few blocks away near Pennsylvania and Madison avenues.
Hester stepped out of his blue Jeep SUV wielding the shotgun, police said, and he ended up at Jackson Hospital in critical condition after being shot by police. His condition had improved to stable by the end of the week, police said.
Because Hester remains hospitalized and is not formally in police custody, a police spokesman said he did not know whether Hester is represented by an attorney at this point.
Patricia's sister, Donna Gunn, and Cogan were at the same hospital Monday when a nurse, doctor and chaplain pulled them aside to tell them that Patricia did not make it.
Approaching storm
Patricia and Larry Hester started dating in October or November of 2009 after chatting on the Internet, Cogan said. Hester was living in Wetumpka with his mother at the time, he added.
He told Patricia shortly after they met about killing his second wife, Cogan said, claiming it was because he had caught her cheating.
Her daughter, Stephanie Hanvey, 22, said she didn't like Hester from the beginning and told her mother not to marry him. But Patricia was determined to stay with him.
"She said he made her happy," Hanvey said.
Other family members initially were not as wary of Hester.
"He seemed like a nice guy when they came over for Thanksgiving," Mike Gunn said. "He put up a good front."
It was not too long, though, before other family members began telling Patricia the same thing as Hanvey, that she should not marry Hester.
But she had been told many times before that the man she was with was not right for her, and she refused to leave him. She had built up a resistance to criticisms about her partner, Cogan said.
Patricia and Hester were married Dec. 23, 2009, and the relationship soured fast, Cogan said.
"My mom said he was wonderful until he got married," he said.
Cogan lived with the two of them at Patricia's house, and he said he soon saw that Hester drank heavily and often acted irrationally.
Cogan said Hester tried to stab him once with a 3- or 4-inch blade, but Cogan only ended up with minor cuts on his finger. The incident is recorded in court documents.
Most of the time, Cogan said, Hester would not confront him physically. "He never did half the stuff (to me that) he did to her," he said.
Sometimes, Cogan had to come to his mother's defense, Donna Gunn said.
"Brandon pulled him off of her more than one time," she said.
Hester also was verbally abusive, family members said.
"When she came in from work, he would always accuse her of cheating on him," Donna Gunn said.
Hanvey said Hester also would get suspicious when her mother would visit her.
"She would come visit me, but she wouldn't stay long because she knew she would be questioned when she got back," Hanvey said.
There were stretches when the two of them would argue every day, Cogan said.
"They would fight so often, I would just shut the door and try to tune out the argument," he said.
The situation escalated in late February or early March, when Hester bought a shotgun, Cogan said.
"Once she knew he had a shotgun, it got more real for her," Hanvey said.
Separation
Patricia started to separate herself from Hester as she became more concerned about what he might do. She would ask him to leave, but he wouldn't go peacefully, Cogan said.
Then one day Hester allegedly pointed the shotgun at her and threatened to shoot her. Hester was arrested, according to court documents, and Patricia was free from him -- at least for a while.
"That was the only way she could get him out of the house, basically, was to have him arrested," Cogan said.
When he was released from jail, though, Patricia invited him back. "She wanted to make things work," Cogan said.
Donna Gunn said her sister also needed help with the rent. Either way, the reunion did not last long. "After a month or so, she realized he wasn't going to change," Cogan said.
After continually fighting with Hester and trying to convince him to leave, Patricia finally decided to change the locks. She had told him to leave many times, which would lead to a fight, Cogan said.
"He would just shout at the top of his lungs, 'Make me leave,'" Cogan said. "So she made him leave."
Patricia filed for a restraining order against Hester and also filed for divorce. Those things did not put her mind at ease. She knew that her husband would be angry and frustrated.
"She was very paranoid. She couldn't sit still. Every noise she heard, she thought it was him," Hanvey said.
She even warned other people, including neighbors, about her husband. "She told everybody in case anything happened that he had threatened to kill her," Donna Gunn said.
Patricia had received counseling recently, but she declined to go to a shelter for battered women, Gunn said.
"She said that she would have a better chance on her own," Hanvey said.
After awhile, though, she could see how dangerous the situation had become.
"She knew something was going to happen," Hanvey said.
Catastrophe
Cogan was lying in bed Monday morning when he awoke to the sound of his mother locking the front door on her way to work at Advance Auto Parts. The next thing he heard was a loud bang, but it didn't register in Cogan's mind that the noise he had heard was a gunshot.
Then someone started knocking and trying to open the door. Cogan said he thought maybe his mother was trying to get back inside the house. He said that he looked through the curtains on the door, and it was not his mother he saw but Hester, who began screaming at Cogan to let him in the house.
"I could tell that he was drunk because he had those red circles around his eyes," Cogan said. "He was drunk so (often), I could tell when he was drunk."
Cogan ran to his room, where he called 911. Neighbors apparently had called as well, and it wasn't long before police were on the scene.
First, though, one neighbor intervened in the situation, Cogan said. The neighbor stepped out onto his porch with a gun. Hester turned and shot at him, and the neighbor shot back, Cogan said. That drove Hester off, he said.
"I'm pretty much convinced that neighbor saved my life," Cogan said.
Hester drove off, and it wasn't long before he was exchanging gunfire with police officers.
Other officers led Cogan out of his house in handcuffs, a precaution Cogan said he understood.
He said it did not even occur to him at the time that his mother might not survive.
"Mom had been fighting for so long, I thought she was just going to fight through it," Cogan said.
Aftermath
Patricia had been in abusive relationships before, her relatives said.
She had sought help from an area family assistance agency once before, in 2002 or 2003, Cogan said. In most of her other relationships, however, there had been more emotional than physical abuse, Cogan said.
Patricia had gotten caught up in a "circle of violence" with her relationships, Donna Gunn said. "She marries these guys as soon as they are ready to get married," she said.
She had never dealt with the kind of situation she was in with her most recent marriage, however.
Her family members agreed that there needs to be more help for domestic violence victims. "(Domestic violence) happens so much that people don't take it seriously," Hanvey said.
The One Place Family Justice Center will be a new resource for women in abusive relationships. The center will have all the resources a victim needs under one roof, said Steve Searcy, the center's director.
The optimistic opening date for the center is October, Searcy said.
Donna Gunn said that it is difficult for domestic violence victims to know what to do when they find themselves trapped in an abusive relationship.
Gunn became emotional as she talked about the dilemmas victims often face.
"(Domestic violence victims) are embarrassed, like Patty was embarrassed, because she had been married so many times, and she just wanted somebody to love her, and she just wanted it to work out," Gunn said.
"And that is what (victims) are feeling. They are scared, but they want their family to work, so they stay, and they think it will get better, but it doesn't. It just keeps getting worse."
Gunn said victims should turn to family and friends for help before trying to handle things on their own.
Whether it is through a shelter or other means, the victim needs to find a safe place away from the abuser, she said.
"There are worse things than being alone," she said.
Sandusky, OH: NAACP wants answers in 2007 murder-suicide case
BY JASON SINGER
Three years later, questions still persist.
And considering the magnitude of the crime, the NAACP thinks someone should answer those questions.
On a warm July evening in 2007, three gunshots echoed across Lions Park.
Sandusky police said Larry Barnett Jr., 25, a black man, murdered his white girlfriend, Rachelle Baskey, 30, and then killed himself.
But after a retired Detroit homicide detective re-examined the case, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has assembled an "evaluation team" to potentially look further into the matter.
"My conclusion was that it did not happen the way it was judged to have happened," Jerry Garrett, the executive director the NAACP's local chapter, told city commissioners last week.
One of the victims' families enlisted the help of the Detroit detective. After finishing his investigation, the detective presented his evidence to the NAACP.
Acting police chief Charlie Sams was out of the office Friday, and unavailable to answer questions.
But the Register received a list of some of the questions and alleged inconsistencies raised by the Detroit detective. They include the following:
* Medical evidence. Neither body had gunpowder burns on them according to the coroner's report, which should have occurred if Barnett committed the shootings from close range.
* The placement of the gun. Sandusky police Officer Chris Parsons, who said he witnessed the murder/suicide, said Barnett still possessed the gun after committing the shootings.
Yet no crime scene photos show Barnett holding the gun. They only show Baskey in possession of the gun.
* Audio recording. Sandusky police Officer Mark Gilliam helped investigate the crime scene. At one point, according to the retired detective, Officer Gilliam's microphone recorded Gilliam saying, "place the gun on her with the barrel pointed down. The gun is in the trunk of my car."
The detective raised 58 questions including these, Garrett said. They involve evidence and perceived procedure errors, he said.
"There obviously needs to be a more in-depth investigation," Garrett said.
The Register requested copies of the entire case file last week from the Sandusky Police Department. Sams said the department will comply with that request.
Three years later, questions still persist.
And considering the magnitude of the crime, the NAACP thinks someone should answer those questions.
On a warm July evening in 2007, three gunshots echoed across Lions Park.
Sandusky police said Larry Barnett Jr., 25, a black man, murdered his white girlfriend, Rachelle Baskey, 30, and then killed himself.
But after a retired Detroit homicide detective re-examined the case, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has assembled an "evaluation team" to potentially look further into the matter.
"My conclusion was that it did not happen the way it was judged to have happened," Jerry Garrett, the executive director the NAACP's local chapter, told city commissioners last week.
One of the victims' families enlisted the help of the Detroit detective. After finishing his investigation, the detective presented his evidence to the NAACP.
Acting police chief Charlie Sams was out of the office Friday, and unavailable to answer questions.
But the Register received a list of some of the questions and alleged inconsistencies raised by the Detroit detective. They include the following:
* Medical evidence. Neither body had gunpowder burns on them according to the coroner's report, which should have occurred if Barnett committed the shootings from close range.
* The placement of the gun. Sandusky police Officer Chris Parsons, who said he witnessed the murder/suicide, said Barnett still possessed the gun after committing the shootings.
Yet no crime scene photos show Barnett holding the gun. They only show Baskey in possession of the gun.
* Audio recording. Sandusky police Officer Mark Gilliam helped investigate the crime scene. At one point, according to the retired detective, Officer Gilliam's microphone recorded Gilliam saying, "place the gun on her with the barrel pointed down. The gun is in the trunk of my car."
The detective raised 58 questions including these, Garrett said. They involve evidence and perceived procedure errors, he said.
"There obviously needs to be a more in-depth investigation," Garrett said.
The Register requested copies of the entire case file last week from the Sandusky Police Department. Sams said the department will comply with that request.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Louisburg, KS: Husband and wife dead in murder-suicide in Louisburg, Kan.
By JOE LAMBE
The Kansas City Star
A husband and wife are dead in a murder-suicide in Louisburg, Kan., that happened minutes after a baby sitter was summoned Wednesday morning to take children from the home, police said.
A text message sent to the baby sitter said, “Come and get the kids now,” said Louisburg Police Chief Ron Anderson. The sender added, “I don’t want them to see what is going on.”
As the baby sitter took the preschool children from the residence, two shots rang out about 7:30 a.m., Anderson said.
Anderson said police have ruled the incident a murder-suicide, and they identified the couple as Danielle Lomax, 26, and Timothy Lomax, 27.
Danielle Lomax had filed for a divorce, but police had never been called to the home for physical violence, Anderson said. On June 3, police responded there briefly regarding a verbal argument over who would be with the children that day, Anderson said.
When police arrived Wednesday, they evacuated nearby homes before the Miami County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team went into the home and found the two people dead.
The Kansas City Star
A husband and wife are dead in a murder-suicide in Louisburg, Kan., that happened minutes after a baby sitter was summoned Wednesday morning to take children from the home, police said.
A text message sent to the baby sitter said, “Come and get the kids now,” said Louisburg Police Chief Ron Anderson. The sender added, “I don’t want them to see what is going on.”
As the baby sitter took the preschool children from the residence, two shots rang out about 7:30 a.m., Anderson said.
Anderson said police have ruled the incident a murder-suicide, and they identified the couple as Danielle Lomax, 26, and Timothy Lomax, 27.
Danielle Lomax had filed for a divorce, but police had never been called to the home for physical violence, Anderson said. On June 3, police responded there briefly regarding a verbal argument over who would be with the children that day, Anderson said.
When police arrived Wednesday, they evacuated nearby homes before the Miami County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team went into the home and found the two people dead.
Kent County, DE: Pardons board recommends commutation for killer
By ESTEBAN PARRA
The News Journal
The state Board of Pardons today said it recommended commuting the prison sentence of life without parole for a woman convicted in 1982 of feeding her estranged husband a Valium-laced macaroni salad before her accomplice stabbed him to death.
The recommendation to commute Judith Ann McBride’s sentence now goes to Gov. Jack Markell, who as a member of the board in 2006 supported her commutation. That recommendation was denied by then-Gov. Ruth Ann Minner.
“While we will certainly review the file carefully, the written decision by the board is thoughtful and the governor has supported a commutation for Ms. McBride in the past,” said Markell’s spokesman, Brian Selander.
McBride, 64, who has served 30 years for the first-degree murder of her estranged husband, William McBride, would have been eligible for parole if Minner went along with the recommendation in 2006. McBride remains in an Arizona prison, where she was transferred to in 2003.
In 1982, a Kent County Superior Court jury convicted McBride of conspiring with Florida drifter Frank L. Ross to murder her estranged husband. She contended she had suffered years of physical and emotional abuse from William McBride.
In her trial, one of the most sensational in Kent County history, McBride testified that she put Valium in her husband’s macaroni salad and had sex with him in an attempt to put him to sleep.
Later, when he fell into a drugged sleep, she let Ross into the apartment to carry out an apparent plan to drown her husband in the bathtub.
But Ross wound up stabbing William McBride 28 times in the head and body as the defenseless man tried to fend off the attacker. He was found dead, face down in his bathtub.
Ross was convicted in 1981 and is serving life without parole. His pleas to the Board of Pardons have been unsuccessful.
McBride has said in the past that the plan was for Ross to beat her husband in retaliation for abusing her and her children. She also has said she was sorry he was killed and that if she got out of prison, she would work to help others avoid her plight.
This is only the second time out of eight attempts that the Board of Pardons recommended commutation of McBride’s life sentence.
The News Journal
The state Board of Pardons today said it recommended commuting the prison sentence of life without parole for a woman convicted in 1982 of feeding her estranged husband a Valium-laced macaroni salad before her accomplice stabbed him to death.
The recommendation to commute Judith Ann McBride’s sentence now goes to Gov. Jack Markell, who as a member of the board in 2006 supported her commutation. That recommendation was denied by then-Gov. Ruth Ann Minner.
“While we will certainly review the file carefully, the written decision by the board is thoughtful and the governor has supported a commutation for Ms. McBride in the past,” said Markell’s spokesman, Brian Selander.
McBride, 64, who has served 30 years for the first-degree murder of her estranged husband, William McBride, would have been eligible for parole if Minner went along with the recommendation in 2006. McBride remains in an Arizona prison, where she was transferred to in 2003.
In 1982, a Kent County Superior Court jury convicted McBride of conspiring with Florida drifter Frank L. Ross to murder her estranged husband. She contended she had suffered years of physical and emotional abuse from William McBride.
In her trial, one of the most sensational in Kent County history, McBride testified that she put Valium in her husband’s macaroni salad and had sex with him in an attempt to put him to sleep.
Later, when he fell into a drugged sleep, she let Ross into the apartment to carry out an apparent plan to drown her husband in the bathtub.
But Ross wound up stabbing William McBride 28 times in the head and body as the defenseless man tried to fend off the attacker. He was found dead, face down in his bathtub.
Ross was convicted in 1981 and is serving life without parole. His pleas to the Board of Pardons have been unsuccessful.
McBride has said in the past that the plan was for Ross to beat her husband in retaliation for abusing her and her children. She also has said she was sorry he was killed and that if she got out of prison, she would work to help others avoid her plight.
This is only the second time out of eight attempts that the Board of Pardons recommended commutation of McBride’s life sentence.
Ft. Meyers, FL: Dog beaten to death by owner
Story Created: Jul 02, 2010 at 2:44 PM America/New_York
|More
FORT MYERS, FL- A shocking case of animal abuse.
A dog apparently beaten to death by his owner.
Tonight, we're learning it's because the dog made a mess.
Neighbor Ellen Hertoz says, "That just really blows me away."
Shock and horror, emotions from those living next to a man accused of beating to death a ten year old dog named "Bumper".
Hertoz says, "I mean, how can you do that?"
Here you see, Frank Devries arrested after his live in girlfriend called animal control. She says he beat her Akita "Bumper" because he went to the bathroom on the floor.
"He admitted to hitting the dog in the head a couple of times and then kicking it once"
Animal control Chief Adam Leith says the dog's injuries tell a different story. He was taken to the hospital where he had to be put down.
Leith says, "It was in an immense amount of pain, had a collapsed lung, two different fractures within it's hip and multiple rib fractures."
Neighbors say, Devries and his girlfriend, were gone all day leaving the dog inside the home. That might be the reason he went to the bathroom.
Devries is facing 3rd degree felony charges for animal cruelty.
Read more: http://www.winknews.com/Local-Florida/2010-07-02/Dog-beaten-to-death-by-owner#ixzz0scSYUwmj
|More
FORT MYERS, FL- A shocking case of animal abuse.
A dog apparently beaten to death by his owner.
Tonight, we're learning it's because the dog made a mess.
Neighbor Ellen Hertoz says, "That just really blows me away."
Shock and horror, emotions from those living next to a man accused of beating to death a ten year old dog named "Bumper".
Hertoz says, "I mean, how can you do that?"
Here you see, Frank Devries arrested after his live in girlfriend called animal control. She says he beat her Akita "Bumper" because he went to the bathroom on the floor.
"He admitted to hitting the dog in the head a couple of times and then kicking it once"
Animal control Chief Adam Leith says the dog's injuries tell a different story. He was taken to the hospital where he had to be put down.
Leith says, "It was in an immense amount of pain, had a collapsed lung, two different fractures within it's hip and multiple rib fractures."
Neighbors say, Devries and his girlfriend, were gone all day leaving the dog inside the home. That might be the reason he went to the bathroom.
Devries is facing 3rd degree felony charges for animal cruelty.
Read more: http://www.winknews.com/Local-Florida/2010-07-02/Dog-beaten-to-death-by-owner#ixzz0scSYUwmj
Las Cruces, NM: Man pleads to lesser charge in death of girlfriend
Sun-News report
Posted: 07/02/2010 11:30:47 PM MDT
LAS CRUCES - A Las Cruces man originally facing a charge of murder in the death of his girlfriend has been sentenced on a lesser charge.
Christopher Michael Mata, 22, who was scheduled to go begin a three-day trial Tuesday, instead pleaded guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter. Third Judicial District Court Judge Stephen Bridgforth sentenced him last week to the maximum of 18 months in prison.
Noel Brown, 19, of Las Cruces was found with a gunshot wound to her abdomen at Mata's residence, in the 5700 block of Rexview Road, about 1:30 a.m. on April 28, 2009. Brown was transported to MountainView Regional Medical Center, but later died.
"It was charged, in Magistrate Court, as an open count of murder because really, at that point, law enforcement didn't have all the facts to what happened," Deputy District Attorney Nelson Goodin said.
The evening of the shooting, Mata and Brown were allegedly drinking during a barbecue at Brown's apartment before returning to Mata's residence. They were getting into bed when a loaded Mini-14 rifle he kept nearby fired and struck Brown, Mata told police. Mata was legally drunk when his blood was drawn seven hours after the incident, Goodin said.
Mata told the court he was sorry for the incident, Goodin said.
Posted: 07/02/2010 11:30:47 PM MDT
LAS CRUCES - A Las Cruces man originally facing a charge of murder in the death of his girlfriend has been sentenced on a lesser charge.
Christopher Michael Mata, 22, who was scheduled to go begin a three-day trial Tuesday, instead pleaded guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter. Third Judicial District Court Judge Stephen Bridgforth sentenced him last week to the maximum of 18 months in prison.
Noel Brown, 19, of Las Cruces was found with a gunshot wound to her abdomen at Mata's residence, in the 5700 block of Rexview Road, about 1:30 a.m. on April 28, 2009. Brown was transported to MountainView Regional Medical Center, but later died.
"It was charged, in Magistrate Court, as an open count of murder because really, at that point, law enforcement didn't have all the facts to what happened," Deputy District Attorney Nelson Goodin said.
The evening of the shooting, Mata and Brown were allegedly drinking during a barbecue at Brown's apartment before returning to Mata's residence. They were getting into bed when a loaded Mini-14 rifle he kept nearby fired and struck Brown, Mata told police. Mata was legally drunk when his blood was drawn seven hours after the incident, Goodin said.
Mata told the court he was sorry for the incident, Goodin said.
Tucson, AZ: Triano's ex-wife returned to Tucson, faces murder charges
Posted Jul 3, 2010, 1:08 am
Dylan Smith
TucsonSentinel.com
The ex-wife of businessman Gary Triano, who was killed in a 1996 bombing of his car, was returned to Tucson on Friday.
Pamela Phillips, who was indicted on charges on first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder in 2008, was taken to the Pima County Jail, a sheriff's spokesman said.
Phillips was brought to Tucson by U.S. marshals, Deputy Jason Ogan said in a news release.
In December 2009, Phillips was arrested in Vienna on a warrant related to Triano's slaying.
Triano was killed Nov. 1, 1996, in the parking lot of the La Paloma Country Club when a pipe bomb placed inside a bag on the passenger seat of his Lincoln Town Car was detonated while he was inside the car.
The force of the explosion tore the roof from the car and propelled the windshield over forty-foot tall trees and into a swimming pool over seventy feet away. Debris was scattered in a five hundred foot radius around the vehicle, authorities say.
In 2008, Phillips and a former boyfriend, Ronald Young, were indicted in Triano's murder.
Authorities said a $2 million insurance policy was the motive for Phillips to hire Young to kill her ex-husband. Phillips was a trustee on the policy; her two children with Triano were the beneficiaries.
Young was serving time in a federal prison in Florida when he became a suspect in the killing. Phillips left her Aspen, Colo., home for Europe before she could be taken into custody.
Young was convicted of Triano's murder in April and sentenced to two life terms.
Triano, 52 when he died, was a real estate investor who was involved in managing Indian gaming casinos in the 1980s.
Triano was involved in more than one business deal that failed in spectacular fashion, leaving many to wonder at the identity of his killer.
A development in the Tucson Mountains went bust in the late '80s. Triano got out of that deal, and into the land that eventually became Tucson Electric Park. He lost that too.
The Tohono O'odham tribe pushed him out of the casino business in 1993.
In a 1994 bankruptcy filing, Triano claimed $40 million in debts.
In a 2001 piece for the Tucson Weekly, the late Chris Limberis wrapped up the story of Triano's murder:
In all likelihood, Triano was killed instantly. Only an instant to erase a man who came to symbolize Tucson real estate boom and bust, and speculation roller coasters. A mercurial sort who showed off an association with Donald Trump, who burned through millions of dollars and who pined for his children lost in a nasty divorce.
***
His gray slacks were torn. Inside a front pocket were a broken plastic divot tool and a dime. In the other pocket were another dime and two pennies.
Gary Lee Triano, the man who put together million-dollar deals and pissed away tens of thousands of dollars on bad golf, was dead with 22 cents.
Dylan Smith
TucsonSentinel.com
The ex-wife of businessman Gary Triano, who was killed in a 1996 bombing of his car, was returned to Tucson on Friday.
Pamela Phillips, who was indicted on charges on first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder in 2008, was taken to the Pima County Jail, a sheriff's spokesman said.
Phillips was brought to Tucson by U.S. marshals, Deputy Jason Ogan said in a news release.
In December 2009, Phillips was arrested in Vienna on a warrant related to Triano's slaying.
Triano was killed Nov. 1, 1996, in the parking lot of the La Paloma Country Club when a pipe bomb placed inside a bag on the passenger seat of his Lincoln Town Car was detonated while he was inside the car.
The force of the explosion tore the roof from the car and propelled the windshield over forty-foot tall trees and into a swimming pool over seventy feet away. Debris was scattered in a five hundred foot radius around the vehicle, authorities say.
In 2008, Phillips and a former boyfriend, Ronald Young, were indicted in Triano's murder.
Authorities said a $2 million insurance policy was the motive for Phillips to hire Young to kill her ex-husband. Phillips was a trustee on the policy; her two children with Triano were the beneficiaries.
Young was serving time in a federal prison in Florida when he became a suspect in the killing. Phillips left her Aspen, Colo., home for Europe before she could be taken into custody.
Young was convicted of Triano's murder in April and sentenced to two life terms.
Triano, 52 when he died, was a real estate investor who was involved in managing Indian gaming casinos in the 1980s.
Triano was involved in more than one business deal that failed in spectacular fashion, leaving many to wonder at the identity of his killer.
A development in the Tucson Mountains went bust in the late '80s. Triano got out of that deal, and into the land that eventually became Tucson Electric Park. He lost that too.
The Tohono O'odham tribe pushed him out of the casino business in 1993.
In a 1994 bankruptcy filing, Triano claimed $40 million in debts.
In a 2001 piece for the Tucson Weekly, the late Chris Limberis wrapped up the story of Triano's murder:
In all likelihood, Triano was killed instantly. Only an instant to erase a man who came to symbolize Tucson real estate boom and bust, and speculation roller coasters. A mercurial sort who showed off an association with Donald Trump, who burned through millions of dollars and who pined for his children lost in a nasty divorce.
***
His gray slacks were torn. Inside a front pocket were a broken plastic divot tool and a dime. In the other pocket were another dime and two pennies.
Gary Lee Triano, the man who put together million-dollar deals and pissed away tens of thousands of dollars on bad golf, was dead with 22 cents.
Elmhurst, IL: Elmhurst surgeon shoots wife, kills self, cops say
Woman had filed for divorce and sought an order of protection
9:31 PM CDT, July 2, 2010
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An Elmhurst surgeon apparently shot his wife and killed himself Friday, a month after she filed for divorce and sought an order of protection against him, according to police and court records.
Dr. Hani Hennein, 52, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the family home in the 700 block of South Hillside Avenue just after 7 a.m., police said.
His estranged wife, Julia Hennein, 52, was found shot in the face. She underwent surgery at Loyola University Hospital in Maywood. A family member said she was expected to survive the shooting.
"All we heard was this horrible scream and two gun shots," said neighbor Jan McCloud. "She was able to walk out, but there was blood all over her face."
Hani Hennein was arrested on a charge of domestic battery on May 29 in connection with an incident that involved a family member other than his wife, according to court records.
Julia Hennein filed for divorce and an order of protection against Hani Hennein on June 1, according to court records. She alleged physical abuse and extreme mental cruelty. The couple had four children, according to court records.
Hani Hennein worked at Comer Children's Hospital at the University of Chicago in 2009, assisting in pediatric cardiac surgery, a spokesman said. More recently, he had been a pediatric heart surgeon at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics and a faculty member at the university, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
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9:31 PM CDT, July 2, 2010
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An Elmhurst surgeon apparently shot his wife and killed himself Friday, a month after she filed for divorce and sought an order of protection against him, according to police and court records.
Dr. Hani Hennein, 52, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the family home in the 700 block of South Hillside Avenue just after 7 a.m., police said.
His estranged wife, Julia Hennein, 52, was found shot in the face. She underwent surgery at Loyola University Hospital in Maywood. A family member said she was expected to survive the shooting.
"All we heard was this horrible scream and two gun shots," said neighbor Jan McCloud. "She was able to walk out, but there was blood all over her face."
Hani Hennein was arrested on a charge of domestic battery on May 29 in connection with an incident that involved a family member other than his wife, according to court records.
Julia Hennein filed for divorce and an order of protection against Hani Hennein on June 1, according to court records. She alleged physical abuse and extreme mental cruelty. The couple had four children, according to court records.
Hani Hennein worked at Comer Children's Hospital at the University of Chicago in 2009, assisting in pediatric cardiac surgery, a spokesman said. More recently, he had been a pediatric heart surgeon at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics and a faculty member at the university, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
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Smithfield, NC: Suspected Smithfield shooter was charged with threats, assault
Posted: 4:22 p.m. yesterday
Updated: 5:51 p.m. yesterday
A man accused of killing his estranged wife and wounding her stepfather in a Thursday shooting in Smithfield had been charged with making threats against his wife, court records show.
Aldolfo Reyes Maldonado, 45, of 240 Harrison Road in Wilsons Mills, was charged with murder and attempted first degree murder. He was being held in the Johnston County jail without bond. He is due in court on July 22.
Authorities said Maldonado shot Elizabeth Holmes Reyes and Ben Croft at 80 Neuse Bend Road in Smithfield on Thursday afternoon. Reyes was killed, and Croft was being treated at Johnston Memorial Hospital for non life-threatening injuries.
Family members said Reyes and Maldonado had been married for about two years.
When deputies arrived at the home, Maldonado was on the porch holding an infant and a weapon. He surrendered to police. The infant, who family members said is the couple's son, was not injured.
In May, Maldonado was charged with communicating threats to Reyes. According to arrest warrants, Maldonado told Reyes he would kill her.
In March, Maldonado was charged with assault on a female, according to arrest warrants. The charge was filed after police said he hit his wife in the face with his fist. Reyes voluntarily dismissed the charges in April, according to court records.
Janice Allen, a victim advocate in Johnston County, said she helped Reyes file a domestic violence protective order against her husband back in March.
At that time, Reyes claimed her husband assaulted her with a closed fist and threatened to "get her with jumper cables and cut off the power to the house."
Two court hearings were scheduled, but both Reyes and Maldonado did not attend the meetings, so a judge dismissed the order.
Allen said there may have been some confusion about where Reyes was staying when the courts were trying to serve her notice about the hearings.
“This is only a piece of paper,” Allen said of the order. “And if he really wants to hurt you, this is not going to stop it.”
In 2008, Maldonado was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after police said he held a knife to Reyes' throat and told her that was going to kill her. Reyes later voluntarily dismissed the charge.
Another woman took out a protective order against Maldonado in 2005, claiming he beat her and tried to choke her, according to court documents. She also claimed he held a knife to her throat.
Maldonado filed a protective order against that woman in 2007, claiming she punched him in the face and threatened him with a gun.
Reporter: Beau Minnick
Web Editor: Kathy Hanrahan
Updated: 5:51 p.m. yesterday
A man accused of killing his estranged wife and wounding her stepfather in a Thursday shooting in Smithfield had been charged with making threats against his wife, court records show.
Aldolfo Reyes Maldonado, 45, of 240 Harrison Road in Wilsons Mills, was charged with murder and attempted first degree murder. He was being held in the Johnston County jail without bond. He is due in court on July 22.
Authorities said Maldonado shot Elizabeth Holmes Reyes and Ben Croft at 80 Neuse Bend Road in Smithfield on Thursday afternoon. Reyes was killed, and Croft was being treated at Johnston Memorial Hospital for non life-threatening injuries.
Family members said Reyes and Maldonado had been married for about two years.
When deputies arrived at the home, Maldonado was on the porch holding an infant and a weapon. He surrendered to police. The infant, who family members said is the couple's son, was not injured.
In May, Maldonado was charged with communicating threats to Reyes. According to arrest warrants, Maldonado told Reyes he would kill her.
In March, Maldonado was charged with assault on a female, according to arrest warrants. The charge was filed after police said he hit his wife in the face with his fist. Reyes voluntarily dismissed the charges in April, according to court records.
Janice Allen, a victim advocate in Johnston County, said she helped Reyes file a domestic violence protective order against her husband back in March.
At that time, Reyes claimed her husband assaulted her with a closed fist and threatened to "get her with jumper cables and cut off the power to the house."
Two court hearings were scheduled, but both Reyes and Maldonado did not attend the meetings, so a judge dismissed the order.
Allen said there may have been some confusion about where Reyes was staying when the courts were trying to serve her notice about the hearings.
“This is only a piece of paper,” Allen said of the order. “And if he really wants to hurt you, this is not going to stop it.”
In 2008, Maldonado was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after police said he held a knife to Reyes' throat and told her that was going to kill her. Reyes later voluntarily dismissed the charge.
Another woman took out a protective order against Maldonado in 2005, claiming he beat her and tried to choke her, according to court documents. She also claimed he held a knife to her throat.
Maldonado filed a protective order against that woman in 2007, claiming she punched him in the face and threatened him with a gun.
Reporter: Beau Minnick
Web Editor: Kathy Hanrahan
Friday, July 2, 2010
Chula Vista, CA: Mysterious Car Crash Murders; Husband Arrested
Michael Eugene Richardson, arrested after mysterious deaths of his wife and mother-in-law whose bodies were found in a car crash off SR-67.
CHULA VISTA - The owner of a Poway auto repair shop was arrested at his Chula Vista home on Thursday. He had been named as a person of interest in a bizarre double murder that was believed to have been disguised as a car crash, but he's facing charges in a separate case.
Reporters swarmed 57-year-old Richardson as he was taken in handcuffs out of his home by Chula Vista Police. He is the focus of a murder investigation involving his 39-year-old wife, Thao Richardson, and his 72-year-old mother-in-law, Than Lyi.
Thao's uncle, Chris Hollands, can't believe Thao and her mother are gone. "I wish it never happened. I'm shocked. I feel a very tragic sense of loss."
On Tuesday, deputies say mother and daughter were found dead outside wreckage of a suspicious car crash. Investigators now say the scene, where a Honda Accord went off a steep embankment, was staged.
A restraining order filed on March 17th accused Michael Richardson of having sex with his 17-year-old niece. The document claims Thao Richardson walked in on her husband. The District Attorney's office dropped the charges when Thao Richardson refused to testify against her husband.
The 17-year-old's mother filed for an emergency restraining order against Michael Richardson after the incident to protect her daughter. The restraining order was denied because the teen would not cooperate.
The teen and her mother lived in the house with Michael Richardson, his wife and her mother.
"We are hoping for justice. We'd like who ever did this come clean," Hollands said. "If he's the perpetrator, I will feel much more sure of my feeling for him."
For now, Chris Hollands worries about the couple's 7-year-old daughter. Child Protective Services took the girl away from her home in Chula Vista's Eastlake Greens neighborhood. Hollands hopes to get custody of the child while he deals with the loss of his family members.
CHULA VISTA - The owner of a Poway auto repair shop was arrested at his Chula Vista home on Thursday. He had been named as a person of interest in a bizarre double murder that was believed to have been disguised as a car crash, but he's facing charges in a separate case.
Reporters swarmed 57-year-old Richardson as he was taken in handcuffs out of his home by Chula Vista Police. He is the focus of a murder investigation involving his 39-year-old wife, Thao Richardson, and his 72-year-old mother-in-law, Than Lyi.
Thao's uncle, Chris Hollands, can't believe Thao and her mother are gone. "I wish it never happened. I'm shocked. I feel a very tragic sense of loss."
On Tuesday, deputies say mother and daughter were found dead outside wreckage of a suspicious car crash. Investigators now say the scene, where a Honda Accord went off a steep embankment, was staged.
A restraining order filed on March 17th accused Michael Richardson of having sex with his 17-year-old niece. The document claims Thao Richardson walked in on her husband. The District Attorney's office dropped the charges when Thao Richardson refused to testify against her husband.
The 17-year-old's mother filed for an emergency restraining order against Michael Richardson after the incident to protect her daughter. The restraining order was denied because the teen would not cooperate.
The teen and her mother lived in the house with Michael Richardson, his wife and her mother.
"We are hoping for justice. We'd like who ever did this come clean," Hollands said. "If he's the perpetrator, I will feel much more sure of my feeling for him."
For now, Chris Hollands worries about the couple's 7-year-old daughter. Child Protective Services took the girl away from her home in Chula Vista's Eastlake Greens neighborhood. Hollands hopes to get custody of the child while he deals with the loss of his family members.
Roanoke, VA: Police say shooting was murder-suicide
The shooting deaths of a man and woman whose bodies were found last month inside a Southeast Roanoke house have been ruled a murder-suicide, police said Thursday.
The female murder victim was Sondra Lovell, 78, according to her ex-husband, Ed Lovell, who said he has talked with police.
He said that she lived in the Rosewalk Lane house with her son, John David Dunn III, 42, who suffered from fibromyalgia, a chronic condition characterized by musculoskeletal pain.
Ed Lovell said Thursday he did not know the identity of the male victim.
Police would not release the identity of either victim. The medical examiner's office is working to identify the woman, according to a statement from police spokeswoman Aisha Johnson. The statement did not include information about the male's identity, and Johnson did not immediately respond to questions.
Officers were called to the house to check the well-being of residents on June 17 and discovered the bodies.
An autopsy and the police investigation determined that the male victim shot the woman and then turned the gun on himself, Johnson said in Thursday's statement.
-- Amanda Codispoti
The female murder victim was Sondra Lovell, 78, according to her ex-husband, Ed Lovell, who said he has talked with police.
He said that she lived in the Rosewalk Lane house with her son, John David Dunn III, 42, who suffered from fibromyalgia, a chronic condition characterized by musculoskeletal pain.
Ed Lovell said Thursday he did not know the identity of the male victim.
Police would not release the identity of either victim. The medical examiner's office is working to identify the woman, according to a statement from police spokeswoman Aisha Johnson. The statement did not include information about the male's identity, and Johnson did not immediately respond to questions.
Officers were called to the house to check the well-being of residents on June 17 and discovered the bodies.
An autopsy and the police investigation determined that the male victim shot the woman and then turned the gun on himself, Johnson said in Thursday's statement.
-- Amanda Codispoti
Hampton, VA: Jury calls for life sentence for woman who killed boyfriend
A Hampton jury took only half an hour to convict Christine L. Burrage of first-degree murder.
July 01, 2010|By Peter Dujardin, pdujardin@dailypress | 247-4749
HAMPTON — A jury deliberated for only 40 minutes Wednesday before finding a woman guilty of first-degree murder in her boyfriend's death — then deliberated for another hour Thursday before recommending that she spend the rest of her life behind bars.
Christine L. Burrage, now 34, was found guilty of killing Damon Andre Smooth, 29, in a parking lot of the Tide Mill Shopping Center, on North Armistead Avenue, just after he got off work at a restaurant there one day in January 2009.
Commonwealth's Attorney Linda Curtis said Burrage is the first woman she can recall being convicted on a murder charge in Hampton since Elanda Williams was convicted of killing two of her children in 1989, and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Burrage shot Smooth to death with a gun he had given her for protection for her late-night work at a 7-Eleven, police said.
Just before 2 a.m. on Jan. 24, 2009, as the Tide Mill Café was closing, Smooth and Burrage left together, walking toward her car.
Witnesses testified that Burrage, standing near her open driver's-side door, opened fire across the top of the car, striking Smooth, who was standing on the passenger side of the car, in the chest. Smooth stumbled toward the back of the car and collapsed as Burrage drove away.
Within minutes, police stopped her on Kecoughtan Road.
Burrage, who took the stand Wednesday, testified that she and Smooth were arguing, beginning inside the restaurant, and that Smooth was threatening to kill her and her family.
Even after Smooth saw the gun, she said, Smooth told her that "the gun doesn't matter, I can still get you," and moved toward her with a threatening demeanor. She said she then shot Smooth in self-defense. She also described a stormy relationship with Smooth, saying there was past abuse.
But prosecution witnesses testified that they heard Burrage raising her voice in the parking lot after the two left the restaurant. They said they heard Burrage say, "You better recognize" — street slang for you better know who you're dealing with — before she fired across the top of the car. Smooth's family said he was not abusive.
Burrage had been drinking in the club, but she wasn't so drunk that she didn't know what she was doing, said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Greg Bane, one of the two prosecutors on the case.
July 01, 2010|By Peter Dujardin, pdujardin@dailypress | 247-4749
HAMPTON — A jury deliberated for only 40 minutes Wednesday before finding a woman guilty of first-degree murder in her boyfriend's death — then deliberated for another hour Thursday before recommending that she spend the rest of her life behind bars.
Christine L. Burrage, now 34, was found guilty of killing Damon Andre Smooth, 29, in a parking lot of the Tide Mill Shopping Center, on North Armistead Avenue, just after he got off work at a restaurant there one day in January 2009.
Commonwealth's Attorney Linda Curtis said Burrage is the first woman she can recall being convicted on a murder charge in Hampton since Elanda Williams was convicted of killing two of her children in 1989, and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Burrage shot Smooth to death with a gun he had given her for protection for her late-night work at a 7-Eleven, police said.
Just before 2 a.m. on Jan. 24, 2009, as the Tide Mill Café was closing, Smooth and Burrage left together, walking toward her car.
Witnesses testified that Burrage, standing near her open driver's-side door, opened fire across the top of the car, striking Smooth, who was standing on the passenger side of the car, in the chest. Smooth stumbled toward the back of the car and collapsed as Burrage drove away.
Within minutes, police stopped her on Kecoughtan Road.
Burrage, who took the stand Wednesday, testified that she and Smooth were arguing, beginning inside the restaurant, and that Smooth was threatening to kill her and her family.
Even after Smooth saw the gun, she said, Smooth told her that "the gun doesn't matter, I can still get you," and moved toward her with a threatening demeanor. She said she then shot Smooth in self-defense. She also described a stormy relationship with Smooth, saying there was past abuse.
But prosecution witnesses testified that they heard Burrage raising her voice in the parking lot after the two left the restaurant. They said they heard Burrage say, "You better recognize" — street slang for you better know who you're dealing with — before she fired across the top of the car. Smooth's family said he was not abusive.
Burrage had been drinking in the club, but she wasn't so drunk that she didn't know what she was doing, said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Greg Bane, one of the two prosecutors on the case.
Virginia Beach, VA: Va ex-Navy officer who had wife murdered is killed
Associated Press - July 31, 2010 1:35 PM ET
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - A former Navy officer who was serving time for hiring someone to kill his wife was killed in a Kansas military prison a month before he was supposed to be released.
Officials at Fort Leavenworth say 54-year-old former Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael Fricke was beaten with a baseball bat by another inmate on July 24. He died Thursday after his family authorized taking him off life support.
Fricke had served 16 years of the 30-year sentence for his involvement in the murder of his wife, Roxanne, who was shot to death the parking lot of a Kempsville supermarket in 1988.
Fricke pleaded guilty during his 1994 court-martial to avoid a possible death sentence. He said he agreed to pay a man he had been stationed with at Oceana Naval Air Station $25,000 to find someone to kill his wife.
Man who had wife killed in Va. Beach in '88 to be freed
VIRGINIA BEACH
A former Navy lieutenant commander convicted in a murder-for-hire plot targeting his wife is set to be free this summer after serving 16 years of a 30-year sentence.
Michael Fricke is scheduled to be released from the Department of Defense's only maximum-security prison, at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. He was convicted in the slaying of his 31-year-old wife, Roxanne Fricke, in a Kempsville Road grocery store parking lot in 1988.
After 10 days of trial in a military court at Norfolk Naval Station in 1994, Michael Fricke pleaded guilty to premeditated murder, avoiding a potential guilty verdict and execution.
Fricke was expected to serve 25 to 30 years, but under the military's parole system, he was eligible for parole in 10 years.
"Sixteen years for premeditated murder-for-hire when he was looking at the death sentence," said Roxanne Fricke's mother, Elizabeth Wade, in a phone interview earlier this week.
Wade said a Fort Leavenworth representative told her that Fricke got credit for good behavior and a work program he participated in.
"He's getting out because he was a good boy in prison," said Beverly Suain, one of Roxanne Fricke's sisters.
The case generated a lot of news coverage and took many turns. Roxanne Fricke was shot twice in the head on May 13, 1988. She and Michael Fricke, who had been high school sweethearts, had an infant son at the time.
Police arrested a man named Angelo Rivera in 1993 and accused him of shooting Roxanne Fricke for money.
Michael Fricke and another man, Gilroy Lamar Brunson, who claimed to be the middleman, were later arrested. Brunson got immunity for testifying against Michael Fricke.
Prosecutors dropped the capital murder charge against Rivera later in 1993. In 2000, he was charged again with capital murder in the case.
Prosecutors then dropped the charge against Rivera in 2003 because of destroyed evidence and inmates who changed their minds about testifying.
Suain said family members went to the parole board in Washington, D.C., each year to argue against Fricke's release.
Michael Fricke is set to be released to Edgewater, Fla., about an hour and a half from where Roxanne met and married him, and where her mother and her family still live, her mother said.
The Fort Leavenworth spokeswoman said the Army prohibits interviews with prisoners.
Jen McCaffery, (757) 222-5119, jen.mccaffery@pilotonline.com
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - A former Navy officer who was serving time for hiring someone to kill his wife was killed in a Kansas military prison a month before he was supposed to be released.
Officials at Fort Leavenworth say 54-year-old former Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael Fricke was beaten with a baseball bat by another inmate on July 24. He died Thursday after his family authorized taking him off life support.
Fricke had served 16 years of the 30-year sentence for his involvement in the murder of his wife, Roxanne, who was shot to death the parking lot of a Kempsville supermarket in 1988.
Fricke pleaded guilty during his 1994 court-martial to avoid a possible death sentence. He said he agreed to pay a man he had been stationed with at Oceana Naval Air Station $25,000 to find someone to kill his wife.
Man who had wife killed in Va. Beach in '88 to be freed
VIRGINIA BEACH
A former Navy lieutenant commander convicted in a murder-for-hire plot targeting his wife is set to be free this summer after serving 16 years of a 30-year sentence.
Michael Fricke is scheduled to be released from the Department of Defense's only maximum-security prison, at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. He was convicted in the slaying of his 31-year-old wife, Roxanne Fricke, in a Kempsville Road grocery store parking lot in 1988.
After 10 days of trial in a military court at Norfolk Naval Station in 1994, Michael Fricke pleaded guilty to premeditated murder, avoiding a potential guilty verdict and execution.
Fricke was expected to serve 25 to 30 years, but under the military's parole system, he was eligible for parole in 10 years.
"Sixteen years for premeditated murder-for-hire when he was looking at the death sentence," said Roxanne Fricke's mother, Elizabeth Wade, in a phone interview earlier this week.
Wade said a Fort Leavenworth representative told her that Fricke got credit for good behavior and a work program he participated in.
"He's getting out because he was a good boy in prison," said Beverly Suain, one of Roxanne Fricke's sisters.
The case generated a lot of news coverage and took many turns. Roxanne Fricke was shot twice in the head on May 13, 1988. She and Michael Fricke, who had been high school sweethearts, had an infant son at the time.
Police arrested a man named Angelo Rivera in 1993 and accused him of shooting Roxanne Fricke for money.
Michael Fricke and another man, Gilroy Lamar Brunson, who claimed to be the middleman, were later arrested. Brunson got immunity for testifying against Michael Fricke.
Prosecutors dropped the capital murder charge against Rivera later in 1993. In 2000, he was charged again with capital murder in the case.
Prosecutors then dropped the charge against Rivera in 2003 because of destroyed evidence and inmates who changed their minds about testifying.
Suain said family members went to the parole board in Washington, D.C., each year to argue against Fricke's release.
Michael Fricke is set to be released to Edgewater, Fla., about an hour and a half from where Roxanne met and married him, and where her mother and her family still live, her mother said.
The Fort Leavenworth spokeswoman said the Army prohibits interviews with prisoners.
Jen McCaffery, (757) 222-5119, jen.mccaffery@pilotonline.com
Clancy, MT: Parole could be revoked for man who killed wife
AP News (7/2/10)
A 71-year-old Clancy man who killed his wife in Richland County in 1974 could have his parole revoked after a report that he shot a neighbor's dog last month.
Jefferson County Sheriff Craig Doolittle says no charges have been filed against Loren D. Sharbono for an early June incident in which he is accused of shooting a dog he said was harassing his chickens.
But Bob Anez, a spokesman for the Montana Department of Corrections, says probation and parole officials at the Jefferson
County jail determined Tuesday that Sharbono violated his parole by owning a gun. Sharbono was taken to Montana State Prison on Wednesday to await a revocation hearing.
He was sentenced in 1975 to 75 years in prison for killing his wife, who was eight months pregnant. Sharbono was paroled last year after serving 34 years.
A 71-year-old Clancy man who killed his wife in Richland County in 1974 could have his parole revoked after a report that he shot a neighbor's dog last month.
Jefferson County Sheriff Craig Doolittle says no charges have been filed against Loren D. Sharbono for an early June incident in which he is accused of shooting a dog he said was harassing his chickens.
But Bob Anez, a spokesman for the Montana Department of Corrections, says probation and parole officials at the Jefferson
County jail determined Tuesday that Sharbono violated his parole by owning a gun. Sharbono was taken to Montana State Prison on Wednesday to await a revocation hearing.
He was sentenced in 1975 to 75 years in prison for killing his wife, who was eight months pregnant. Sharbono was paroled last year after serving 34 years.
Garland, TX: Dallas-area man jailed after wife found dead
06/25/2010
Associated Press
Police have arrested a suburban Dallas man accused of strangling his wife and leaving her body in a car in a church parking lot.
Garland police say 36-year-old Julio Trevino was being held Friday in the city jail on a murder charge with bond set at $1 million. Jail officials didn't know whether the Garland man had an attorney. A home telephone listing for him was disconnected.
Police spokesman Joe Harn said the body of 31-year-old Pearl Ramos Hernandez was found in a sport utility vehicle by someone mowing the lawn at the church Thursday morning.
Police say they believe the woman died Wednesday night at the home she shared with Trevino, about a mile from the church.
Associated Press
Police have arrested a suburban Dallas man accused of strangling his wife and leaving her body in a car in a church parking lot.
Garland police say 36-year-old Julio Trevino was being held Friday in the city jail on a murder charge with bond set at $1 million. Jail officials didn't know whether the Garland man had an attorney. A home telephone listing for him was disconnected.
Police spokesman Joe Harn said the body of 31-year-old Pearl Ramos Hernandez was found in a sport utility vehicle by someone mowing the lawn at the church Thursday morning.
Police say they believe the woman died Wednesday night at the home she shared with Trevino, about a mile from the church.
Silver Spring, MD: Md. man gvien life term in '08 slaying of runaway
By Dan Morse
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 2, 2010; B06
A 34-year-old Silver Spring man was sentenced to life in prison Thursday, minutes after issuing a meek apology to family members of a 14-year-old runaway he strangled and stabbed to death in late 2008.
"Look at how you worded it," Montgomery County Circuit Judge Eric Johnson said from the bench. "You told them you are sorry for 'what happened.' Mr. Bailey, earthquakes 'happen,' hurricanes 'happen.' People do things. You did this. It didn't 'happen.' It wasn't some ghost that came in and did this."
Under Maryland laws, Tracy Bailey could become eligible for parole. But the governor's office must sign off on parole for those convicted of murder who receive life sentences.
"The notion that you should go back into society is frightening," Johnson said. "And it's not going to happen if this court has anything to do with it."
Bailey, who earlier served a 13-year sentence in New York for attempted murder, was living as a transient in Montgomery in fall 2008. He met the runaway, Davonn Dupree, and the two began squatting in an apartment along Castle Boulevard in Silver Spring.
At some point, Dupree caught Bailey sleeping with a girl, and the two argued.
Bailey handcuffed Dupree and strangled and stabbed her in the left side of the neck, according to prosecutors.
He then moved the bed to a corner of the room to conceal the blood, prosecutors said.
A few days later, Bailey moved Dupree's body to a secluded stairwell, prosecutors said.
Dupree had a troubled childhood. But at the time of her death, she was going to high school and had plans to become a nurse, prosecutors said. Her grandmother and relatives remain devastated by her slaying.
Bailey's attorney, Michael Gambrill, said his client is mentally ill. "Mr. Bailey is a sick individual," Gambrill told the judge. "His mental health troubles date back 15 to 20 years at least."
After prosecutors explained the case, the judge gave Bailey a chance to speak.
"I just want to apologize for the incident that happened to the family that lost their daughter," he said. "Some of the stuff [the prosecutor] was saying, that ain't what happened. But I don't want to go back into that. . . . I know it's sad that it happened."
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 2, 2010; B06
A 34-year-old Silver Spring man was sentenced to life in prison Thursday, minutes after issuing a meek apology to family members of a 14-year-old runaway he strangled and stabbed to death in late 2008.
"Look at how you worded it," Montgomery County Circuit Judge Eric Johnson said from the bench. "You told them you are sorry for 'what happened.' Mr. Bailey, earthquakes 'happen,' hurricanes 'happen.' People do things. You did this. It didn't 'happen.' It wasn't some ghost that came in and did this."
Under Maryland laws, Tracy Bailey could become eligible for parole. But the governor's office must sign off on parole for those convicted of murder who receive life sentences.
"The notion that you should go back into society is frightening," Johnson said. "And it's not going to happen if this court has anything to do with it."
Bailey, who earlier served a 13-year sentence in New York for attempted murder, was living as a transient in Montgomery in fall 2008. He met the runaway, Davonn Dupree, and the two began squatting in an apartment along Castle Boulevard in Silver Spring.
At some point, Dupree caught Bailey sleeping with a girl, and the two argued.
Bailey handcuffed Dupree and strangled and stabbed her in the left side of the neck, according to prosecutors.
He then moved the bed to a corner of the room to conceal the blood, prosecutors said.
A few days later, Bailey moved Dupree's body to a secluded stairwell, prosecutors said.
Dupree had a troubled childhood. But at the time of her death, she was going to high school and had plans to become a nurse, prosecutors said. Her grandmother and relatives remain devastated by her slaying.
Bailey's attorney, Michael Gambrill, said his client is mentally ill. "Mr. Bailey is a sick individual," Gambrill told the judge. "His mental health troubles date back 15 to 20 years at least."
After prosecutors explained the case, the judge gave Bailey a chance to speak.
"I just want to apologize for the incident that happened to the family that lost their daughter," he said. "Some of the stuff [the prosecutor] was saying, that ain't what happened. But I don't want to go back into that. . . . I know it's sad that it happened."
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Celina, OH: Celina Man Sentenced For Wife’s Death
Posted: 11:49 am EDT June 30, 2010
CELINA, Ohio -- A Celina man was sentenced Wednesday after he was found responsible for causing his wife’s drug overdose death.
Brett Riley, 43, was found guilty of reckless homicide and possession of the drug Fentanyl a month ago.
Riley and his wife, were abusing the drug together when she died last year. On Wednesday, Riley was placed on probation for four years and ordered to serve 90 days in the county jail.
If he violates his probation, Riley faces four years in prison.
CELINA, Ohio -- A Celina man was sentenced Wednesday after he was found responsible for causing his wife’s drug overdose death.
Brett Riley, 43, was found guilty of reckless homicide and possession of the drug Fentanyl a month ago.
Riley and his wife, were abusing the drug together when she died last year. On Wednesday, Riley was placed on probation for four years and ordered to serve 90 days in the county jail.
If he violates his probation, Riley faces four years in prison.
Minocqua, WI: Mom talked her son into giving up
Man 'person of interest' in Minocqua murder
By Eric Litke
Sheboygan Press staff
A Sheboygan County native wanted for questioning in his wife's death surrendered last week after his mother refused to help him and convinced him to give up, the mother said Wednesday.
Speaking for the first time about the weeklong manhunt that ended June 24 at her home in rural Sheboygan Falls, Virginia Karstaedt said she never asked the obvious question, though she has her suspicions about what happened.
"I know his wife is dead, but I never asked him how, why or what happened, and I never asked him because I didn't want to know," said Karstaedt, 61, of W2852 Highway J. "I will never speak to my son again. This is the most horrible thing in the world that happened, and we're never going to forgive him, and neither will his father."
"This is a very difficult thing, but I wanted to make sure he wasn't shot on sight."
Police had been looking for 39-year-old William R. Schmidt since June 17, when his wife's body was found in their home in Minocqua. William Schmidt, who grew up in Cascade, is described as a "person of interest" in the death of Lori J. Schmidt, 44.
Authorities say the death investigation is a criminal one but have declined to call the death a murder or reveal the cause of death. Police found Lori Schmidt's body while checking on her well-being at her father's request.
Karstaedt said the couple met while working together at Menards in Rhinelander and were married Feb. 12. Karstaedt was at the wedding but didn't see either of them until William Schmidt came to her house last week.
In the days before his arrest, William Schmidt's pickup was found abandoned near Fond du Lac and he was seen driving a stolen 2001 Ford Escape in Chicago, authorities said. Karstaedt said he also was in Detroit at one point.
Karstaedt first heard from her son the morning of June 24. She said she knew who it was the moment she was notified it was a collect call.
"He called me to ask me to … drive him by his father's house up north," Karstaedt said. "I told him, 'You're wanted — I can't do that. I won't do that.'
"I told him, 'I will tell you to come to my home, I will tell the sheriff's department to come to my home, that way I know everybody's safe, you're not going to be shot on sight.'"
Karstaedt said her son parked the stolen Escape in the nearby parking lot of Smerke's Sportsmens Club and walked to her house. He had made his mother promise not to contact authorities until after he arrived.
"He got here, we hugged him, we kissed him," Karstaedt said, referring to her and her husband, James, William Schmidt's stepfather. "I said, 'I have to call the sheriff's department.'"
Minutes later, about 10 a.m., numerous deputies responded to the house with guns drawn. William Schmidt followed commands to come out of the house alone with his hands up and lay down on the ground.
"I was not helping him, I was telling him to give himself up, and he did," Karstaedt said. "He had no intention of doing that when he called me, but I talked to him on the phone and told him to give himself up, it's time to end this now, and he did."
William Schmidt was held in the Sheboygan County Jail until Monday, when he was picked up by Oneida County authorities and returned to face questioning. He had been held on a probation hold.
William Schmidt attended Plymouth High School, though he did not graduate, his mother said. Court records show he last listed a local address in 1996, when he was living in Plymouth.
That same year he was convicted of burglary and sentenced to 13 years in prison, authorities said. He was released in January 2009 and lived with his father in St. Germain until the wedding, Karstaedt said.
Karstaedt said authorities had also been at her house the day Lori Schmidt died.
"The minute they found his wife's body they contacted me, everyone was here, they searched my home," Karstaedt said. "They said, 'Being his mother, wouldn't he contact you?' I said I didn't think he would, because the last time he was on the run 13 years ago he didn't contact me until he got caught, but this time he ran out of money and he did contact me."
By Eric Litke
Sheboygan Press staff
A Sheboygan County native wanted for questioning in his wife's death surrendered last week after his mother refused to help him and convinced him to give up, the mother said Wednesday.
Speaking for the first time about the weeklong manhunt that ended June 24 at her home in rural Sheboygan Falls, Virginia Karstaedt said she never asked the obvious question, though she has her suspicions about what happened.
"I know his wife is dead, but I never asked him how, why or what happened, and I never asked him because I didn't want to know," said Karstaedt, 61, of W2852 Highway J. "I will never speak to my son again. This is the most horrible thing in the world that happened, and we're never going to forgive him, and neither will his father."
"This is a very difficult thing, but I wanted to make sure he wasn't shot on sight."
Police had been looking for 39-year-old William R. Schmidt since June 17, when his wife's body was found in their home in Minocqua. William Schmidt, who grew up in Cascade, is described as a "person of interest" in the death of Lori J. Schmidt, 44.
Authorities say the death investigation is a criminal one but have declined to call the death a murder or reveal the cause of death. Police found Lori Schmidt's body while checking on her well-being at her father's request.
Karstaedt said the couple met while working together at Menards in Rhinelander and were married Feb. 12. Karstaedt was at the wedding but didn't see either of them until William Schmidt came to her house last week.
In the days before his arrest, William Schmidt's pickup was found abandoned near Fond du Lac and he was seen driving a stolen 2001 Ford Escape in Chicago, authorities said. Karstaedt said he also was in Detroit at one point.
Karstaedt first heard from her son the morning of June 24. She said she knew who it was the moment she was notified it was a collect call.
"He called me to ask me to … drive him by his father's house up north," Karstaedt said. "I told him, 'You're wanted — I can't do that. I won't do that.'
"I told him, 'I will tell you to come to my home, I will tell the sheriff's department to come to my home, that way I know everybody's safe, you're not going to be shot on sight.'"
Karstaedt said her son parked the stolen Escape in the nearby parking lot of Smerke's Sportsmens Club and walked to her house. He had made his mother promise not to contact authorities until after he arrived.
"He got here, we hugged him, we kissed him," Karstaedt said, referring to her and her husband, James, William Schmidt's stepfather. "I said, 'I have to call the sheriff's department.'"
Minutes later, about 10 a.m., numerous deputies responded to the house with guns drawn. William Schmidt followed commands to come out of the house alone with his hands up and lay down on the ground.
"I was not helping him, I was telling him to give himself up, and he did," Karstaedt said. "He had no intention of doing that when he called me, but I talked to him on the phone and told him to give himself up, it's time to end this now, and he did."
William Schmidt was held in the Sheboygan County Jail until Monday, when he was picked up by Oneida County authorities and returned to face questioning. He had been held on a probation hold.
William Schmidt attended Plymouth High School, though he did not graduate, his mother said. Court records show he last listed a local address in 1996, when he was living in Plymouth.
That same year he was convicted of burglary and sentenced to 13 years in prison, authorities said. He was released in January 2009 and lived with his father in St. Germain until the wedding, Karstaedt said.
Karstaedt said authorities had also been at her house the day Lori Schmidt died.
"The minute they found his wife's body they contacted me, everyone was here, they searched my home," Karstaedt said. "They said, 'Being his mother, wouldn't he contact you?' I said I didn't think he would, because the last time he was on the run 13 years ago he didn't contact me until he got caught, but this time he ran out of money and he did contact me."
Medina, OH: Medina man charged in wife's death
MEDINA, Ohio - A Medina County man is now behind bars accused of killing his wife.
When 60-year-old Dennis Auerswald took his wife to the hospital 16 months ago, he said he found her unresponsive with an alcohol bottle. Now, he has been charged with aggravated murder, murder and forgery.
Police wouldn’t say how they thought Auerswald killed his wife, but the search warrant affidavit said Maureen Auerswald had antifreeze in her system and that’s why her organs failed.
Medina police said Dennis Auerswald took his wife to Medina General Hospital in February 2009. The 60-year-old woman was completely unresponsive.
“He claimed he had found her with an unopened bottle of alcohol,” Medina Mayor Dennis Hanwell said. He was the police chief at the time. “Her condition worsened… She was taken in, in the evening hours. She passed away the following morning.”
Hanwell said Auerswald’s story about the vodka just didn't add up and doctor's described him as "lax" about his dying wife.
“The doctor at our local ER thought is was suspicious, both his reaction to what was going on, his explanation as to what was going on, as well as her condition,” Hanwell said.
Police searched Auerswald’s home twice after Maureen’s death.
Auerswalk was charged in 2008 with domestic violence against his wife. The affidavit reported a friend in California had called Medina police worrying about Maureen.
When 60-year-old Dennis Auerswald took his wife to the hospital 16 months ago, he said he found her unresponsive with an alcohol bottle. Now, he has been charged with aggravated murder, murder and forgery.
Police wouldn’t say how they thought Auerswald killed his wife, but the search warrant affidavit said Maureen Auerswald had antifreeze in her system and that’s why her organs failed.
Medina police said Dennis Auerswald took his wife to Medina General Hospital in February 2009. The 60-year-old woman was completely unresponsive.
“He claimed he had found her with an unopened bottle of alcohol,” Medina Mayor Dennis Hanwell said. He was the police chief at the time. “Her condition worsened… She was taken in, in the evening hours. She passed away the following morning.”
Hanwell said Auerswald’s story about the vodka just didn't add up and doctor's described him as "lax" about his dying wife.
“The doctor at our local ER thought is was suspicious, both his reaction to what was going on, his explanation as to what was going on, as well as her condition,” Hanwell said.
Police searched Auerswald’s home twice after Maureen’s death.
Auerswalk was charged in 2008 with domestic violence against his wife. The affidavit reported a friend in California had called Medina police worrying about Maureen.
Passiac, NJ: Passaic ax murderer guilty of aggravating factors in wife's death
Thursday, July 1, 2010
LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY JULY 1, 2010, 4:41 PM
BY RICHARD COWEN
A jury on Thursday found Fernando Chireno guilty of two aggravating factors in the ax murder of his wife, Luisa, ending the seven-week trial while all but ensuring that the Passaic man will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
The jury in Paterson found that Chireno killed his wife during the commission of a burlgary and in violation of a restraining order. Those two aggravating factors make him eligible for the maximum sentence of life without parole when he is returned to state Superior Court Sept . 17 for sentencing. Chief Assistant Prosecutor Mark Ranges said he will ask Judge Raymond A. Reddin to impose the maximum sentence on Chireno.
On Tuesday, the same jury found Chireno guilty of murder, weapons possession, burglary, and endangering the welfare of a child. The murder conviction exposed Chireno, 34, a maximum sentence of life in prison with a chance for parole after serving 85 percent of the term, which was calculated at about 58 years. Under this lighter sentence, Chireno would have had a chance to be paroled if he lived until 92.
The jury returned for a second phase of the trial immediately following Tuesday's verdict to determine whether the aggravating factors were present on the morning of April 18, 2008, when Chireno broke into the apartment of his estranged wife, Luisa, on Myrtle Avenue in Passaic; He was armed with an ax that he had purchased the night before at The Home Depot.
While the the couple's three children cowered in a nearby room, Chireno chased his wife with the ax and struck her 15 times. She she collapsed in the middle of Myrtle Avenue. At the trial, Chireno pleaded insanity, claiming he was a paranoid schizophrenic who heard voices from God.
But the state convinced the jury that Chireno was no madman but an angry, jealous husband who thought his wife was sleeping with another man, and coldly calculated her murder. Seven months before her death, Luisa Chireno videotaped her husband threatening to kill her. She kept the tape, just in case something bad happened to her, prosecutor's said.
The victim also sought--and got--a restraining order against Chireno six weeks before her death. Superior Court Judge John Selser signed the order on March 4, 2008. While that restraining order did not prevent Chireno from killing his wife, it may now prevent him from ever leaving prison.
E-mail: cowen@northjersey.com
LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY JULY 1, 2010, 4:41 PM
BY RICHARD COWEN
A jury on Thursday found Fernando Chireno guilty of two aggravating factors in the ax murder of his wife, Luisa, ending the seven-week trial while all but ensuring that the Passaic man will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
The jury in Paterson found that Chireno killed his wife during the commission of a burlgary and in violation of a restraining order. Those two aggravating factors make him eligible for the maximum sentence of life without parole when he is returned to state Superior Court Sept . 17 for sentencing. Chief Assistant Prosecutor Mark Ranges said he will ask Judge Raymond A. Reddin to impose the maximum sentence on Chireno.
On Tuesday, the same jury found Chireno guilty of murder, weapons possession, burglary, and endangering the welfare of a child. The murder conviction exposed Chireno, 34, a maximum sentence of life in prison with a chance for parole after serving 85 percent of the term, which was calculated at about 58 years. Under this lighter sentence, Chireno would have had a chance to be paroled if he lived until 92.
The jury returned for a second phase of the trial immediately following Tuesday's verdict to determine whether the aggravating factors were present on the morning of April 18, 2008, when Chireno broke into the apartment of his estranged wife, Luisa, on Myrtle Avenue in Passaic; He was armed with an ax that he had purchased the night before at The Home Depot.
While the the couple's three children cowered in a nearby room, Chireno chased his wife with the ax and struck her 15 times. She she collapsed in the middle of Myrtle Avenue. At the trial, Chireno pleaded insanity, claiming he was a paranoid schizophrenic who heard voices from God.
But the state convinced the jury that Chireno was no madman but an angry, jealous husband who thought his wife was sleeping with another man, and coldly calculated her murder. Seven months before her death, Luisa Chireno videotaped her husband threatening to kill her. She kept the tape, just in case something bad happened to her, prosecutor's said.
The victim also sought--and got--a restraining order against Chireno six weeks before her death. Superior Court Judge John Selser signed the order on March 4, 2008. While that restraining order did not prevent Chireno from killing his wife, it may now prevent him from ever leaving prison.
E-mail: cowen@northjersey.com
Wilmington, DE: Delaware crime: Man killed after trying to break up fight
Police arrest suspect in fatal stabbing
By TERRI SANGINITI
The News Journal
A man who intervened in an argument in front of his home late Tuesday was fatally stabbed by another man who initially ran off but returned with a butcher knife.
Wyatt H. Brower, 44, died after the 10:20 p.m. incident in the 1300 block of W. Fifth St., said Wilmington police Master Sgt. Steven Barnes.
Police found Brower inside the house, suffering from a stab wound to his left abdomen.
New Castle County paramedics treated him on the scene and took him to Christiana Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:15 p.m., less than an hour after the incident.
A 17-year-old New Castle girl was arguing with a 23-year-old man outside the victim's home, Barnes said.
The man, later identified by police as Omaire Clark of the first block of Gill Drive east of Newark, was described as the teen's ex-boyfriend.
At some point during the argument, Brower walked out of the house and tried to break up the fight, saying he was going to call police.
Clark left and came back several minutes later with a large kitchen knife, Barnes said.
He said Clark's mother lives nearby and he got the knife from her home.
When he returned, Clark charged at Brower with the knife and stabbed him in the left torso, Barnes said.
He said Clark then drove off in a dark-colored car.
Clark continued to text his estranged girlfriend on her cell phone after he fled, Barnes said. Investigators were able to trace the cell phone to Elkton, Md.
Shortly after midnight, Clark was arrested by Wilmington and Elkton police.
He is being held in the Cecil County jail pending extradition to Delaware.
The incident marked the third fatal stabbing in the city this year. Another nine slayings were by gunfire.
By TERRI SANGINITI
The News Journal
A man who intervened in an argument in front of his home late Tuesday was fatally stabbed by another man who initially ran off but returned with a butcher knife.
Wyatt H. Brower, 44, died after the 10:20 p.m. incident in the 1300 block of W. Fifth St., said Wilmington police Master Sgt. Steven Barnes.
Police found Brower inside the house, suffering from a stab wound to his left abdomen.
New Castle County paramedics treated him on the scene and took him to Christiana Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:15 p.m., less than an hour after the incident.
A 17-year-old New Castle girl was arguing with a 23-year-old man outside the victim's home, Barnes said.
The man, later identified by police as Omaire Clark of the first block of Gill Drive east of Newark, was described as the teen's ex-boyfriend.
At some point during the argument, Brower walked out of the house and tried to break up the fight, saying he was going to call police.
Clark left and came back several minutes later with a large kitchen knife, Barnes said.
He said Clark's mother lives nearby and he got the knife from her home.
When he returned, Clark charged at Brower with the knife and stabbed him in the left torso, Barnes said.
He said Clark then drove off in a dark-colored car.
Clark continued to text his estranged girlfriend on her cell phone after he fled, Barnes said. Investigators were able to trace the cell phone to Elkton, Md.
Shortly after midnight, Clark was arrested by Wilmington and Elkton police.
He is being held in the Cecil County jail pending extradition to Delaware.
The incident marked the third fatal stabbing in the city this year. Another nine slayings were by gunfire.
Rock Springs, UT: Sheriff's Office investigates Rock Springs murder, attempted suicide
Published: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 5:58 PM MDT
A Rock Springs woman is dead and her husband is in stable condition in a Salt Lake City Hospital in an apparent murder-suicide last week.
The incident is still under investigation by the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office.
On June 25, deputies were dispatched to the residence of Terrence and Cara Hayes north of Rock Springs. The sheriff’s office was notified by friends of Cara Hayes that she had sent a text message saying “Come get me.”
The victim had been to dinner with friends and they had dropped her at home a short tme before receiving the text message.
When patrol deputies arrived at about midnight, there was no answer at the door so they forced entry into the residence and found Cara Hayes, 42, dead of a gunshot wound to the face.
In another room they found her husband, Terrence Hayes, seriously injured from a self-inflicted gunshot wound under the chin. A large-caliber revolver was recovered at the scene.
Sweetwater County Coroner Dale Majhanovich pronounced Cara Hayes dead at the scene.
Terrence Hayes was first transported to Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County then flown to Utah.
According to Undersheriff Craig Jackson, Terrence Hayes will survive his injuries. No charges have yet been filed, but all reports are being forwarded to the Sweetwater County Attorney’s Office as the investigation continues.
A Rock Springs woman is dead and her husband is in stable condition in a Salt Lake City Hospital in an apparent murder-suicide last week.
The incident is still under investigation by the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office.
On June 25, deputies were dispatched to the residence of Terrence and Cara Hayes north of Rock Springs. The sheriff’s office was notified by friends of Cara Hayes that she had sent a text message saying “Come get me.”
The victim had been to dinner with friends and they had dropped her at home a short tme before receiving the text message.
When patrol deputies arrived at about midnight, there was no answer at the door so they forced entry into the residence and found Cara Hayes, 42, dead of a gunshot wound to the face.
In another room they found her husband, Terrence Hayes, seriously injured from a self-inflicted gunshot wound under the chin. A large-caliber revolver was recovered at the scene.
Sweetwater County Coroner Dale Majhanovich pronounced Cara Hayes dead at the scene.
Terrence Hayes was first transported to Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County then flown to Utah.
According to Undersheriff Craig Jackson, Terrence Hayes will survive his injuries. No charges have yet been filed, but all reports are being forwarded to the Sweetwater County Attorney’s Office as the investigation continues.
Lexington, KY: Fight Path: After parents' murder-suicide, XFC's Julio Gallegos fixing family name
by Kyle Nagel on Jul 01, 2010 at 4:30 pm ET
Gerardo "Julio" Gallegos, like many fighters, is trying to make a name for himself in mixed martial-arts.
But, in a way, he's also trying to erase the effect his name has.
"I fight to take my last name out of the dirt for what my dad did to it," Gallegos told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "Half my family doesn't even talk to me because of what he did, but I'm trying to do good with it, to make it a better name."
When Gallegos was just into his teenage years, his parents had another in a line of arguments that littered their relationship – one Gallegos describes as abusive. They had just closed the restaurant the family owned in Lexington, Ky., for the night.
But this night was different. It ended with Gallegos' father killing his mother with a shotgun blast and then turning the shotgun on himself in a murder-suicide. The tragedy has become infamous in the city and tore apart Gallegos' family.
After years of anger troubles and stops in jail for a string of misdemeanor offenses, Gallegos has stabilized his life, and he has turned his attention on improving lives for others.
His vehicle is fighting, and he hopes to continues his success (he's 4-0 in the fast-growing Xtreme Fighting Championships) with a 185-pound bout against Mike Bernhard (7-2) at "XFC 11: The Next Generation." The HDNet-televised event takes place July 9 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla.
Outside of fighting, the 27-year-old Gallegos spends his time raising his young family (his fiancée, Zeena, is also his manager) in Lexington while contributing money and awareness for cancer research. It is a life that experienced early, unimaginable tragedy, then became more focused when he turned his angry street fighting into a career.
"I try to help people forget about their problems for two or three minutes in a round," Gallegos said. "It's something that brings me so much joy, and I want to try to help others through it."
Years of trouble
While growing up, Gallegos felt strong love from both of his parents, he said. They attended his youth sporting events and encouraged him in athletics, where he had significant skill.
But their relationship with each other was different.
"It was abusive," Gallegos said. "My father beat my mother quite a bit."
After that stormy relationship culminated in their deaths, Gallegos moved in with his grandfather in nearby Danville, Ky., but he only stayed there until he moved out at 17 and finished high school while living on his own.
Gallegos, meanwhile, dealt with anger issues that would last for years.
"I was always fighting," he said. "I just couldn't release my anger, but that was the only way I knew how to try.
"I tried counseling and talking to someone, but I felt like this was a person who had a college degree and a great life. How could they understand what I was dealing with?"
Gallegos later spent time in and out of jail, which made obtaining a job more difficult during his times on the outside. Then, he met a woman.
Zeena was a manager at a bar that Gallegos went to, and he learned that she could listen to and understand his problems. They shared their issues with each other, including Gallegos' difficulty in finding direction.
"She said, 'If I can get you a fight, would you take it?'" Gallegos said. "She researched how the game worked, and she found a way to make it happen."
That was 2007, and Gallegos took his first amateur MMA fight with no specific training and still dealing with personal issues. But, he loved it.
"It was like going back home; it felt so comfortable," Gallegos said. "But it was the hardest thing I ever did. I knew about 45 minutes after that fight that it was something I wanted to take more seriously."
Helping others
As he started his fighting career, the rest of Gallegos' life was also coming into focus.
During one of his periods in jail, Gallegos had Zeena help him research how to start a business. That began J and Z Cleaning Inc., a cleaning service for homes, businesses and other needs. Later, it also spawned J and Z Elite Mowing, which continued Gallegos' entrepreneurial spirit.
His family was also growing. He and Zeena have two children together, a boy and a girl. He found his regular gym, Reaction MMA in Lexington, and the training produced an 8-2 amateur record before he started his undefeated run in the XFC.
After his own life improved, he turned his attention to others.
Gallegos has become heavily involved with a group called Fight for Life USA, which raises funds and awareness for the battle against cancer. He has helped directly in fundraising while also trying to aid patients with his fighting.
At his most recent fight – a 34-second TKO of former UFC fighter Shane Primm at XFC 10 that kept him undefeated in four fights since February 2009 – he walked into the cage with one of those patients with whom he had become close.
As he continues his successful fighting career, manages his businesses, and grows his family, Gallegos often wonders what his parents would think of his accomplishments.
"I think about them every day," Gallegos said. "I hope they would be proud of what I've done with my life, and I wonder what they would think about my lady and my kids. But I've tried to do my best to make it a better life for all of us."
Gerardo "Julio" Gallegos, like many fighters, is trying to make a name for himself in mixed martial-arts.
But, in a way, he's also trying to erase the effect his name has.
"I fight to take my last name out of the dirt for what my dad did to it," Gallegos told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "Half my family doesn't even talk to me because of what he did, but I'm trying to do good with it, to make it a better name."
When Gallegos was just into his teenage years, his parents had another in a line of arguments that littered their relationship – one Gallegos describes as abusive. They had just closed the restaurant the family owned in Lexington, Ky., for the night.
But this night was different. It ended with Gallegos' father killing his mother with a shotgun blast and then turning the shotgun on himself in a murder-suicide. The tragedy has become infamous in the city and tore apart Gallegos' family.
After years of anger troubles and stops in jail for a string of misdemeanor offenses, Gallegos has stabilized his life, and he has turned his attention on improving lives for others.
His vehicle is fighting, and he hopes to continues his success (he's 4-0 in the fast-growing Xtreme Fighting Championships) with a 185-pound bout against Mike Bernhard (7-2) at "XFC 11: The Next Generation." The HDNet-televised event takes place July 9 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla.
Outside of fighting, the 27-year-old Gallegos spends his time raising his young family (his fiancée, Zeena, is also his manager) in Lexington while contributing money and awareness for cancer research. It is a life that experienced early, unimaginable tragedy, then became more focused when he turned his angry street fighting into a career.
"I try to help people forget about their problems for two or three minutes in a round," Gallegos said. "It's something that brings me so much joy, and I want to try to help others through it."
Years of trouble
While growing up, Gallegos felt strong love from both of his parents, he said. They attended his youth sporting events and encouraged him in athletics, where he had significant skill.
But their relationship with each other was different.
"It was abusive," Gallegos said. "My father beat my mother quite a bit."
After that stormy relationship culminated in their deaths, Gallegos moved in with his grandfather in nearby Danville, Ky., but he only stayed there until he moved out at 17 and finished high school while living on his own.
Gallegos, meanwhile, dealt with anger issues that would last for years.
"I was always fighting," he said. "I just couldn't release my anger, but that was the only way I knew how to try.
"I tried counseling and talking to someone, but I felt like this was a person who had a college degree and a great life. How could they understand what I was dealing with?"
Gallegos later spent time in and out of jail, which made obtaining a job more difficult during his times on the outside. Then, he met a woman.
Zeena was a manager at a bar that Gallegos went to, and he learned that she could listen to and understand his problems. They shared their issues with each other, including Gallegos' difficulty in finding direction.
"She said, 'If I can get you a fight, would you take it?'" Gallegos said. "She researched how the game worked, and she found a way to make it happen."
That was 2007, and Gallegos took his first amateur MMA fight with no specific training and still dealing with personal issues. But, he loved it.
"It was like going back home; it felt so comfortable," Gallegos said. "But it was the hardest thing I ever did. I knew about 45 minutes after that fight that it was something I wanted to take more seriously."
Helping others
As he started his fighting career, the rest of Gallegos' life was also coming into focus.
During one of his periods in jail, Gallegos had Zeena help him research how to start a business. That began J and Z Cleaning Inc., a cleaning service for homes, businesses and other needs. Later, it also spawned J and Z Elite Mowing, which continued Gallegos' entrepreneurial spirit.
His family was also growing. He and Zeena have two children together, a boy and a girl. He found his regular gym, Reaction MMA in Lexington, and the training produced an 8-2 amateur record before he started his undefeated run in the XFC.
After his own life improved, he turned his attention to others.
Gallegos has become heavily involved with a group called Fight for Life USA, which raises funds and awareness for the battle against cancer. He has helped directly in fundraising while also trying to aid patients with his fighting.
At his most recent fight – a 34-second TKO of former UFC fighter Shane Primm at XFC 10 that kept him undefeated in four fights since February 2009 – he walked into the cage with one of those patients with whom he had become close.
As he continues his successful fighting career, manages his businesses, and grows his family, Gallegos often wonders what his parents would think of his accomplishments.
"I think about them every day," Gallegos said. "I hope they would be proud of what I've done with my life, and I wonder what they would think about my lady and my kids. But I've tried to do my best to make it a better life for all of us."
Macon, MS: Man wanted in Macon shooting found dead in Starkville home
TIM PRATT
JULY 1, 2010 10:17:00 AM
A Starkville man wanted for a shooting in Macon Tuesday night was found dead in the home of his estranged wife Wednesday afternoon of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
The Starkville Police Department and Macon Police Department had been searching for 45-year-old Willie James Young since the Tuesday night incident in Macon, where he allegedly shot 19-year-old Syperia Dickerson at a home on Dickerson Street. Young once dated Dickerson's mother, SPD Sgt. Chadd Garnett said.
The shooting came after a confrontation at the home. Young was spotted leaving the scene in a Lincoln Navigator, which was spotted later that night at the Brookville Gardens apartment complex in Starkville, not far from his estranged wife's house at 430 N. Long St.
Young's estranged wife, whom police have not identified, heard about the shooting in Macon and had left her home, Garnett said. She then showed up at the Starkville Police Department Wednesday afternoon and asked for an officer to go with her to her home so she could pick up some clothes, Garnett said.
"She didn't know if (Young) was going to try to come back to the house or not," Garnett said. "She did it for her safety."
Because police considered Young armed and dangerous, the SPD activated its SWAT team. The SWAT team entered the home Wednesday at about 4:10 p.m. and discovered Young in a back bedroom, dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Garnett said. Police believe Young killed himself late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.
The investigation is ongoing.
JULY 1, 2010 10:17:00 AM
A Starkville man wanted for a shooting in Macon Tuesday night was found dead in the home of his estranged wife Wednesday afternoon of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
The Starkville Police Department and Macon Police Department had been searching for 45-year-old Willie James Young since the Tuesday night incident in Macon, where he allegedly shot 19-year-old Syperia Dickerson at a home on Dickerson Street. Young once dated Dickerson's mother, SPD Sgt. Chadd Garnett said.
The shooting came after a confrontation at the home. Young was spotted leaving the scene in a Lincoln Navigator, which was spotted later that night at the Brookville Gardens apartment complex in Starkville, not far from his estranged wife's house at 430 N. Long St.
Young's estranged wife, whom police have not identified, heard about the shooting in Macon and had left her home, Garnett said. She then showed up at the Starkville Police Department Wednesday afternoon and asked for an officer to go with her to her home so she could pick up some clothes, Garnett said.
"She didn't know if (Young) was going to try to come back to the house or not," Garnett said. "She did it for her safety."
Because police considered Young armed and dangerous, the SPD activated its SWAT team. The SWAT team entered the home Wednesday at about 4:10 p.m. and discovered Young in a back bedroom, dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Garnett said. Police believe Young killed himself late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.
The investigation is ongoing.
Chicago, IL: Jennifer Hudson speaks out about family slayings
June 30, 2010|By Tribune staff report
"It's all a blur, it was surreal. It was like I was outside myself," said Jennifer Hudson on Monday's episode of VH1's "Behind the Music," recalling her reaction to the 2008 Chicago slayings of her mother, brother and nephew.
The Oscar-winning actress and "American Idol" alum from Chicago said she more or less went into seclusion for two weeks following the murders.
"[I was] inside one room with just family and friends coming in and out," she said. "I prayed when I'd get up in the morning and prayed before I laid down at night."
William Balfour, the estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson's sister Julia, was charged with three homicides on December 2, 2008.
The bodies of Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, and brother, Jason Hudson, 29, were discovered Oct. 24, 2008 in the family home in the 7000 block of South Yale Avenue. The search for a suspect became urgent when authorities realized that Hudson's nephew, Julian King, 7, was missing. He was found dead, slumped in the back seat of an SUV, on Oct. 27.
Hudson has rarely addressed the murders publicly.
"I feel like I've lived about three or four different lives," she said, adding that her 11-month-old son David Daniel Otunga Jr. "reminds me of my nephew." Hudson is engaged to aspiring pro-wrestler and reality show alum David Otunga. The couple plans to wed in Chicago.
"It's all a blur, it was surreal. It was like I was outside myself," said Jennifer Hudson on Monday's episode of VH1's "Behind the Music," recalling her reaction to the 2008 Chicago slayings of her mother, brother and nephew.
The Oscar-winning actress and "American Idol" alum from Chicago said she more or less went into seclusion for two weeks following the murders.
"[I was] inside one room with just family and friends coming in and out," she said. "I prayed when I'd get up in the morning and prayed before I laid down at night."
William Balfour, the estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson's sister Julia, was charged with three homicides on December 2, 2008.
The bodies of Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, and brother, Jason Hudson, 29, were discovered Oct. 24, 2008 in the family home in the 7000 block of South Yale Avenue. The search for a suspect became urgent when authorities realized that Hudson's nephew, Julian King, 7, was missing. He was found dead, slumped in the back seat of an SUV, on Oct. 27.
Hudson has rarely addressed the murders publicly.
"I feel like I've lived about three or four different lives," she said, adding that her 11-month-old son David Daniel Otunga Jr. "reminds me of my nephew." Hudson is engaged to aspiring pro-wrestler and reality show alum David Otunga. The couple plans to wed in Chicago.
Blanchard, OK: Blanchard man enters plea in bank robbery, death of ex-wife
Blanchard man has pleaded no contest to first-degree murder and shooting with intent to kill and guilty to a robbery attempt.
BY NOLAN CLAY
Published: July 1, 2010
Modified: June 30, 2010 at 8:39 pm
A Blanchard man pleaded no contest Wednesday to first-degree murder in the unusual case where his ex-wife was killed when the two tried to rob a bank.
Samuel Booth Lewis, 57, also pleaded no contest to shooting at a security guard with intent to kill. He pleaded guilty to attempted armed robbery. A judge set sentencing for Aug. 10 in Oklahoma County District Court.
Samuel Lewis was shot in the chest during a July 18 shoot-out with a security guard as he and his ex-wife attempted to rob the MidFirst Bank, 2225 N May Ave. in Oklahoma City. His ex-wife, Barbara Payton Lewis, 56, was killed.
A prosecutor said Barbara Lewis had problems with methamphetamine. After his capture, Samuel Lewis told the FBI his ex-wife had done other robberies, the prosecutor said.
Samuel and Barbara Lewis divorced in 1986 but had gotten back together.
The prosecutor said Samuel Lewis fired seven times at the security guard. The guard, James Shepherd, was cut by flying glass during the shootout. A defense attorney said Samuel Lewis was trying to get the guard to stop shooting at Barbara Lewis.
Read more: http://newsok.com/robber-pleads-in-death/article/3472558?custom_click=lead_story_title#ixzz0sTLHDIBR
BY NOLAN CLAY
Published: July 1, 2010
Modified: June 30, 2010 at 8:39 pm
A Blanchard man pleaded no contest Wednesday to first-degree murder in the unusual case where his ex-wife was killed when the two tried to rob a bank.
Samuel Booth Lewis, 57, also pleaded no contest to shooting at a security guard with intent to kill. He pleaded guilty to attempted armed robbery. A judge set sentencing for Aug. 10 in Oklahoma County District Court.
Samuel Lewis was shot in the chest during a July 18 shoot-out with a security guard as he and his ex-wife attempted to rob the MidFirst Bank, 2225 N May Ave. in Oklahoma City. His ex-wife, Barbara Payton Lewis, 56, was killed.
A prosecutor said Barbara Lewis had problems with methamphetamine. After his capture, Samuel Lewis told the FBI his ex-wife had done other robberies, the prosecutor said.
Samuel and Barbara Lewis divorced in 1986 but had gotten back together.
The prosecutor said Samuel Lewis fired seven times at the security guard. The guard, James Shepherd, was cut by flying glass during the shootout. A defense attorney said Samuel Lewis was trying to get the guard to stop shooting at Barbara Lewis.
Read more: http://newsok.com/robber-pleads-in-death/article/3472558?custom_click=lead_story_title#ixzz0sTLHDIBR
Santa Ana, CA: Financial woes drove Santa Ana couple to attempt murder-suicide, husband tells police
July 1, 2010 | 12:24 pm
A Santa Ana man who allegedly shot his wife and attempted to commit suicide was suffering from financial distress, according to Santa Ana police.
Michael Eugene Upton, 57, is being held without bail on suspicion of killing his wife, said Cpl. Anthony Bertanga.
Upton called Santa Ana police Wednesday morning and reported that he shot a woman in his apartment on the 1100 block of West Stevens Avenue, Bertanga said.
Police found the body of Upton's wife, Melva Laverne Upton, 57, who died from an apparent gunshot wound.
Upton told police he had taken several pills in an attempted suicide, Bertanga said. After he was released from the hospital, police questioned him. Upton revealed that both he and his wife were out of work and savings and were facing eviction from their apartment.
"The story he told was that he and his wife had discussed this and that this was their best option," Bertanga said.
-- My-Thuan Tran
A Santa Ana man who allegedly shot his wife and attempted to commit suicide was suffering from financial distress, according to Santa Ana police.
Michael Eugene Upton, 57, is being held without bail on suspicion of killing his wife, said Cpl. Anthony Bertanga.
Upton called Santa Ana police Wednesday morning and reported that he shot a woman in his apartment on the 1100 block of West Stevens Avenue, Bertanga said.
Police found the body of Upton's wife, Melva Laverne Upton, 57, who died from an apparent gunshot wound.
Upton told police he had taken several pills in an attempted suicide, Bertanga said. After he was released from the hospital, police questioned him. Upton revealed that both he and his wife were out of work and savings and were facing eviction from their apartment.
"The story he told was that he and his wife had discussed this and that this was their best option," Bertanga said.
-- My-Thuan Tran
Loveland, OH: Boyfriend indicted for murder in shooting death of Loveland girlfriend
July 1, 2010
A Hamilton County grand jury indicted a Loveland man Thursday for murder, accusing him of shooting his live-in girlfriend to death June 18.
Howard Williford Jr., 53, was indicted for murder and felonious assault for the shooting death of Debra West, 49.
Williford also tried to commit suicide by shooting himself in the face.
He was unsuccessful and appeared in court - his face scarred and swollen from the suicide attempt - following his release from University Hospital.
The bullet remains lodged in his face.
A Hamilton County grand jury indicted a Loveland man Thursday for murder, accusing him of shooting his live-in girlfriend to death June 18.
Howard Williford Jr., 53, was indicted for murder and felonious assault for the shooting death of Debra West, 49.
Williford also tried to commit suicide by shooting himself in the face.
He was unsuccessful and appeared in court - his face scarred and swollen from the suicide attempt - following his release from University Hospital.
The bullet remains lodged in his face.
Marathon, FL: Plantation man to stand trial for manslaughter in 2008 death of girlfriend in Marathon
Florida Keys Kenoter
4:39 PM EDT, July 1, 2010
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MARATHON It appears Broward County resident Dam Lopez will have his day in court after all.
Lopez, 27, is accused of manslaughter in the shooting death of his 20-year-old girlfriend, Andrea V. Anzola Villafrade of Deerfield Beach, at the Knights Key Inn in Marathon on March 22, 2008.
Assistant State Attorney Patrick McCullah had said in March a settlement in the case was likely, but a trial is now scheduled to begin the week of Aug. 16 in Marathon.
Depositions were recently finished and McCullah said the discovery process on both sides is nearly complete. Lopez faces a 30-year maximum sentence if convicted.
Lopez, from Plantation, is represented by Assistant Monroe County Public Defender Tony Barrows. Both Barrows and McCullah declined comment since the case appears headed for trial.
4:39 PM EDT, July 1, 2010
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MARATHON It appears Broward County resident Dam Lopez will have his day in court after all.
Lopez, 27, is accused of manslaughter in the shooting death of his 20-year-old girlfriend, Andrea V. Anzola Villafrade of Deerfield Beach, at the Knights Key Inn in Marathon on March 22, 2008.
Assistant State Attorney Patrick McCullah had said in March a settlement in the case was likely, but a trial is now scheduled to begin the week of Aug. 16 in Marathon.
Depositions were recently finished and McCullah said the discovery process on both sides is nearly complete. Lopez faces a 30-year maximum sentence if convicted.
Lopez, from Plantation, is represented by Assistant Monroe County Public Defender Tony Barrows. Both Barrows and McCullah declined comment since the case appears headed for trial.
Cincinnati, OH: Life In Prison Or Death: Convicted Killer Sentenced
POSTED: 6:01 am EDT July 1, 2010
UPDATED: 6:08 am EDT July 1, 2010
CINCINNATI -- It is a question of life in prison or death Thursday, for a man convicted of killing three people.
Mark Pickens will face a judge for killing his ex-girlfriend Noelle Washington, her young son, and a 3-year-old girl she was babysitting. The deaths happened last summer in the Pendleton neighborhood.
During the trial, prosecutors said Pickens killed his ex-girlfriend because she accused him of rape. Prosecutors said her child, and the 3-year-old that was killed, were at the wrong place at the wrong time.
News 5 will be in the courtroom and bring you the judge's decision.
UPDATED: 6:08 am EDT July 1, 2010
CINCINNATI -- It is a question of life in prison or death Thursday, for a man convicted of killing three people.
Mark Pickens will face a judge for killing his ex-girlfriend Noelle Washington, her young son, and a 3-year-old girl she was babysitting. The deaths happened last summer in the Pendleton neighborhood.
During the trial, prosecutors said Pickens killed his ex-girlfriend because she accused him of rape. Prosecutors said her child, and the 3-year-old that was killed, were at the wrong place at the wrong time.
News 5 will be in the courtroom and bring you the judge's decision.
Jackson, MS: Police arrest Jackson man in shooting death of his girlfriend
By Associated Press
5:35 AM CDT, July 1, 2010
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Jackson police say an early morning shooting left a 28-year-old Canton woman dead and her boyfriend in jail charged with murder.
Investigators say 26-year-old Charles Kuebler of Jackson allegedly shot Tamara Stuckey around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.
The Clarion-Ledger reports Stuckey was shot at least once in the head and died at the scene.
It was not immediately known whether Kuebler has an attorney
5:35 AM CDT, July 1, 2010
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Jackson police say an early morning shooting left a 28-year-old Canton woman dead and her boyfriend in jail charged with murder.
Investigators say 26-year-old Charles Kuebler of Jackson allegedly shot Tamara Stuckey around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.
The Clarion-Ledger reports Stuckey was shot at least once in the head and died at the scene.
It was not immediately known whether Kuebler has an attorney
Scranton, PA: Woman gets decade in prison for yanking steering wheel, killing boyfriend and injuring kids
June 30, 2010|By Kevin Amerman, OF THE MORNING CALL
Monica Cabrera, TMC
A Scranton woman who yelled "I hope you all (expletive) die" as she yanked a steering wheel on the Northeast Extension last year, causing an accident that killed her boyfriend and seriously injured her two children, will serve at least a decade behind bars.
Steffanie Ramos, 27, was sentenced today to 10 to 20 years in state prison by Lehigh County Judge Robert L. Steinberg.
"I just had too many things going on at the time and I just snapped," Ramos told the judge. "It was not my intention to kill or harm anyone, but unfortunately my actions did."
In April, Ramos pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Ramos crashed the car around 5:25 p.m. Feb. 7, 2009, at mile marker 63 of the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike while arguing with her boyfriend, Rene Andres Amaya, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney V. Paul Bernardino III.
Monica Cabrera, TMC
A Scranton woman who yelled "I hope you all (expletive) die" as she yanked a steering wheel on the Northeast Extension last year, causing an accident that killed her boyfriend and seriously injured her two children, will serve at least a decade behind bars.
Steffanie Ramos, 27, was sentenced today to 10 to 20 years in state prison by Lehigh County Judge Robert L. Steinberg.
"I just had too many things going on at the time and I just snapped," Ramos told the judge. "It was not my intention to kill or harm anyone, but unfortunately my actions did."
In April, Ramos pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Ramos crashed the car around 5:25 p.m. Feb. 7, 2009, at mile marker 63 of the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike while arguing with her boyfriend, Rene Andres Amaya, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney V. Paul Bernardino III.
Brighton Township, MI: Police: 'Nasty' remarks drove son-in-law to murder
By Lisa Roose-Church
DAILY PRESS & ARGUS
An argument that included "nasty" comments attacking a son-in-law's character led a Madison Heights man to fatally shoot his mother-in-law at her Brighton Township home, according to testimony Wednesday.
At a preliminary hearing, Livingston County District Judge L. Suzanne Geddis ordered Americo DeCiantis Jr., 62, to stand trial on a charge of open murder in connection to the shooting death of Louise DeRosia. Police say she was killed early on the afternoon of Jan. 25, the day before her body was found in the living room of her home in the 5400 block of Lawnwood Drive in the Larkins Road Estates subdivision off Larkins Road, near Interstate 96 and Kensington Road. She had been shot in the head.
Defense attorney Michael Dennis said at best the state may have a case for second-degree murder against his client, who also is charged with possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony as well as larceny in a building.
"There's no evidence to show it was premeditated," he told the judge.
Assistant Prosecutor Pamela Maas disagreed, pointing to testimony from Detective Sgt. Sean Furlong from the Brighton post of the Michigan State Police.
"The testimony ... is the defendant said they had an argument; he went to his car for the sole purpose of getting a gun and shot her more than once. That is premeditation," Maas countered.
Furlong testified DeCiantis' silver 2003 Jeep Liberty — which a neighbor saw at DeRosia's residence — and cell phone records place him in the area of DeRosia's home at the time of the murder.
Furlong said he got DeRosia's family members, including her daughters, DeCiantis and his children, to the post on a Sunday in March by creating a ruse of interviewing them to create a timeline of events. However, Furlong said his intention was to arrest DeCiantis that day because police "believed he was responsible for this crime."
Furlong spent an hour "getting to know DeCiantis" and trying to establish that the Jeep the neighbor saw was DeCiantis' and that he drove it the day of the shooting. The sergeant also wanted to verify DeCiantis' cell phone number and ask when the defendant last spoke to his mother-in-law.
"Christmas 2009," DeCiantis told Furlong.
Then Furlong directly accused DeCiantis of killing DeRosia, but DeCiantis denied the allegation. Furlong outlined his evidence, including the phone records, and asked the suspect whether he committed the crime himself or if his wife and children helped.
"He said his family didn't know anything," testified Furlong, who again accused DeCiantis of killing his mother-in-law.
"At that point, he said, 'Yes I did,' " the sergeant said.
Furlong said DeCiantis indicated that he went to DeRosia's home to drop off a wheelchair and the two had argued about how DeRosia was handling her elderly mother's care.
DeCiantis told Furlong that DeRosia "got nasty" with him, telling him he was "not good enough" for her daughter and that he "was not a good person," Furlong testified.
"He said at one point in the argument, he decided to go back out to his Jeep to retrieve a gun," Furlong said, noting that the weapon was a .38-caliber revolver. Police have not recovered the murder weapon.
DeCiantis appeared to wipe tears as Furlong testified that DeCiantis admitted he followed DeRosia through the kitchen into the living room and hit her. When Furlong asked if he physically struck the woman, DeCiantis replied: "I shot her," Furlong said, holding up his hand and if he were holding a gun.
DeCiantis said he couldn't recall how many times he pulled the trigger, but he thought it was twice. He knew the first time he shot her, "she wasn't looking at him," Furlong said.
After the shooting, DeCiantis told Furlong, he was disoriented, sat down and then decided to ransack the house. He took his mother-in-law's wallet and cell phone before going home, where he went tuxedo shopping with his son before going to White Castle in Eastpointe.
It was there, Furlong said, that DeCiantis ditched the dead woman's belongings next to a lamppost. The items were later found by police, which prompted DeCiantis' wife to call Livingston County authorities and ask them to check on her mother's welfare.
When county sheriff's deputies said they found nothing out of order, they asked permission to enter the home, but Linda DeCiantis denied that request — a move that initially led investigators to question if she was involved in her mother's murder.
Furlong said all family members were initially considered people of interest in the investigation, which is typical in similar murder cases.
On cross-examination, Dennis asked Furlong if he questioned DeCiantis about how bad the argument was and how "nasty" DeRosia had been during that argument. Furlong said he did not.
"Did you know Louise DeRosia was arrested?" Dennis asked.
Maas immediately objected, saying that line of questioning was not pertinent to the murder. She accused the defense attorney of grandstanding for the media.
"Do we want to trash the dead?" Maas said vehemently. "The woman's not here to defend herself."
Dennis said DeRosia "had a tendency to say bad things and get into arguments with people," but Geddis told him he could not raise the issue because it wasn't pertinent to the matter at hand.
After the court hearing, Dennis declined to provide details of his claim or say why the information was important.
The defense attorney said he plans to file pretrial motions challenging the validity of his client's alleged statements to police.
Furlong testified that he knew he was going to arrest DeCiantis for DeRosia's murder when he interviewed the man March 14, but DeCiantis did not know that. He admitted that during his March 14 interview, he did not give DeCiantis his Miranda rights, which include the right to remain silent.
Dennis asked why, and Furlong replied: "I didn't have to."
"That remains to be seen," Dennis countered.
DAILY PRESS & ARGUS
An argument that included "nasty" comments attacking a son-in-law's character led a Madison Heights man to fatally shoot his mother-in-law at her Brighton Township home, according to testimony Wednesday.
At a preliminary hearing, Livingston County District Judge L. Suzanne Geddis ordered Americo DeCiantis Jr., 62, to stand trial on a charge of open murder in connection to the shooting death of Louise DeRosia. Police say she was killed early on the afternoon of Jan. 25, the day before her body was found in the living room of her home in the 5400 block of Lawnwood Drive in the Larkins Road Estates subdivision off Larkins Road, near Interstate 96 and Kensington Road. She had been shot in the head.
Defense attorney Michael Dennis said at best the state may have a case for second-degree murder against his client, who also is charged with possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony as well as larceny in a building.
"There's no evidence to show it was premeditated," he told the judge.
Assistant Prosecutor Pamela Maas disagreed, pointing to testimony from Detective Sgt. Sean Furlong from the Brighton post of the Michigan State Police.
"The testimony ... is the defendant said they had an argument; he went to his car for the sole purpose of getting a gun and shot her more than once. That is premeditation," Maas countered.
Furlong testified DeCiantis' silver 2003 Jeep Liberty — which a neighbor saw at DeRosia's residence — and cell phone records place him in the area of DeRosia's home at the time of the murder.
Furlong said he got DeRosia's family members, including her daughters, DeCiantis and his children, to the post on a Sunday in March by creating a ruse of interviewing them to create a timeline of events. However, Furlong said his intention was to arrest DeCiantis that day because police "believed he was responsible for this crime."
Furlong spent an hour "getting to know DeCiantis" and trying to establish that the Jeep the neighbor saw was DeCiantis' and that he drove it the day of the shooting. The sergeant also wanted to verify DeCiantis' cell phone number and ask when the defendant last spoke to his mother-in-law.
"Christmas 2009," DeCiantis told Furlong.
Then Furlong directly accused DeCiantis of killing DeRosia, but DeCiantis denied the allegation. Furlong outlined his evidence, including the phone records, and asked the suspect whether he committed the crime himself or if his wife and children helped.
"He said his family didn't know anything," testified Furlong, who again accused DeCiantis of killing his mother-in-law.
"At that point, he said, 'Yes I did,' " the sergeant said.
Furlong said DeCiantis indicated that he went to DeRosia's home to drop off a wheelchair and the two had argued about how DeRosia was handling her elderly mother's care.
DeCiantis told Furlong that DeRosia "got nasty" with him, telling him he was "not good enough" for her daughter and that he "was not a good person," Furlong testified.
"He said at one point in the argument, he decided to go back out to his Jeep to retrieve a gun," Furlong said, noting that the weapon was a .38-caliber revolver. Police have not recovered the murder weapon.
DeCiantis appeared to wipe tears as Furlong testified that DeCiantis admitted he followed DeRosia through the kitchen into the living room and hit her. When Furlong asked if he physically struck the woman, DeCiantis replied: "I shot her," Furlong said, holding up his hand and if he were holding a gun.
DeCiantis said he couldn't recall how many times he pulled the trigger, but he thought it was twice. He knew the first time he shot her, "she wasn't looking at him," Furlong said.
After the shooting, DeCiantis told Furlong, he was disoriented, sat down and then decided to ransack the house. He took his mother-in-law's wallet and cell phone before going home, where he went tuxedo shopping with his son before going to White Castle in Eastpointe.
It was there, Furlong said, that DeCiantis ditched the dead woman's belongings next to a lamppost. The items were later found by police, which prompted DeCiantis' wife to call Livingston County authorities and ask them to check on her mother's welfare.
When county sheriff's deputies said they found nothing out of order, they asked permission to enter the home, but Linda DeCiantis denied that request — a move that initially led investigators to question if she was involved in her mother's murder.
Furlong said all family members were initially considered people of interest in the investigation, which is typical in similar murder cases.
On cross-examination, Dennis asked Furlong if he questioned DeCiantis about how bad the argument was and how "nasty" DeRosia had been during that argument. Furlong said he did not.
"Did you know Louise DeRosia was arrested?" Dennis asked.
Maas immediately objected, saying that line of questioning was not pertinent to the murder. She accused the defense attorney of grandstanding for the media.
"Do we want to trash the dead?" Maas said vehemently. "The woman's not here to defend herself."
Dennis said DeRosia "had a tendency to say bad things and get into arguments with people," but Geddis told him he could not raise the issue because it wasn't pertinent to the matter at hand.
After the court hearing, Dennis declined to provide details of his claim or say why the information was important.
The defense attorney said he plans to file pretrial motions challenging the validity of his client's alleged statements to police.
Furlong testified that he knew he was going to arrest DeCiantis for DeRosia's murder when he interviewed the man March 14, but DeCiantis did not know that. He admitted that during his March 14 interview, he did not give DeCiantis his Miranda rights, which include the right to remain silent.
Dennis asked why, and Furlong replied: "I didn't have to."
"That remains to be seen," Dennis countered.
Dayton, OH: Man who buried wife in concrete is up for parole
Former Dayton Daily News worker began his 15 years to life sentence in 1989.
By Laura A. Bischoff, Columbus Bureau
Updated 7:31 AM Thursday, July 1, 2010
COLUMBUS — Ohio parole officials will decide this summer whether to release convicted murderer Theodore Sinks, a former Dayton Daily News maintenance supervisor who killed his wife, Judy, at home and buried her body at the newspaper’s downtown building in 1987.
Sinks, now 71, is going before the Ohio Parole Board for the third time since he entered prison in 1989.
Terry Harmon, the younger brother of Judy Sinks, said his family opposes parole. “I just think that he is a very dangerous person and he doesn’t deserve to be out,” he said.
A Montgomery County Common Pleas Court convicted Sinks of beating and strangling his wife and sentenced him to 15 years to life in prison.
Sinks reported his wife missing on Nov. 23, 1987. He was arrested April 26, 1988, after Dayton police, based on evidence from a newspaper maintenance worker, found the body of Judy Sinks, 44. She had been a clerical worker in the newspaper’s circulation department.
Sinks had placed her body in a plastic barrel and had a subordinate, who did not know the contents, help him move it up elevators and stairs to the top of the building at Fourth and Ludlow streets. There, prosecutors said, Sinks placed the body in a small pit near a cooling tower, and poured cement over it.
Sinks is scheduled to meet with parole board officials July 6, according to the state Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. If they recommend his release, the issue could go before the full Ohio Parole Board for a decision.
The Montgomery County prosecutor’s office and Cox Media Group Ohio, which owns the Dayton Daily News, also oppose Sinks’ parole. “We strongly encourage the Parole Board to reject any request for release of Mr. Sinks,” said Emily Chambers, vice president for Human Resources, Cox Media Group Ohio.
By Laura A. Bischoff, Columbus Bureau
Updated 7:31 AM Thursday, July 1, 2010
COLUMBUS — Ohio parole officials will decide this summer whether to release convicted murderer Theodore Sinks, a former Dayton Daily News maintenance supervisor who killed his wife, Judy, at home and buried her body at the newspaper’s downtown building in 1987.
Sinks, now 71, is going before the Ohio Parole Board for the third time since he entered prison in 1989.
Terry Harmon, the younger brother of Judy Sinks, said his family opposes parole. “I just think that he is a very dangerous person and he doesn’t deserve to be out,” he said.
A Montgomery County Common Pleas Court convicted Sinks of beating and strangling his wife and sentenced him to 15 years to life in prison.
Sinks reported his wife missing on Nov. 23, 1987. He was arrested April 26, 1988, after Dayton police, based on evidence from a newspaper maintenance worker, found the body of Judy Sinks, 44. She had been a clerical worker in the newspaper’s circulation department.
Sinks had placed her body in a plastic barrel and had a subordinate, who did not know the contents, help him move it up elevators and stairs to the top of the building at Fourth and Ludlow streets. There, prosecutors said, Sinks placed the body in a small pit near a cooling tower, and poured cement over it.
Sinks is scheduled to meet with parole board officials July 6, according to the state Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. If they recommend his release, the issue could go before the full Ohio Parole Board for a decision.
The Montgomery County prosecutor’s office and Cox Media Group Ohio, which owns the Dayton Daily News, also oppose Sinks’ parole. “We strongly encourage the Parole Board to reject any request for release of Mr. Sinks,” said Emily Chambers, vice president for Human Resources, Cox Media Group Ohio.
Concord, NH: Calif. man arrested in 1989 NH fire that killed 4
CONCORD, N.H. — A recently created Cold Case Unit has brought criminal charges against a California man in the 1989 deaths of four family members in a New Hampshire apartment house arson, authorities said.
David McLeod was arrested Wednesday in California on four counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Carl Hina, his 12-year-old daughter, Sara, his wife, Lori, and their 4-month old daughter, Lillian, Attorney General Michael Delaney said.
A medical examiner ruled the victims died from smoke inhalation after the Jan. 14, 1989, fire in Keene, a city of about 25,000 residents an hour's drive southwest of Concord.
McLeod, who lived in Keene at the time of the fire, was arrested Wednesday in West Sacramento, Calif., where he has lived for 15 years, Delaney said.
It hadn't been determined who was representing McLeod because courts were closed when the attorney general made his announcement Wednesday evening. There was no telephone listing for McLeod in West Sacramento.
McLeod, 53, frequently visited the apartment building where the Hinas lived, Senior Assistant Attorney General William Delker said. He was a suspect in the original investigation, but no arrests were made and the case remained open, Delker said.
Several residents were in the building at the time of the fire, but all escaped except for the Hina family.
In 2009, a new law created New Hampshire's first Cold Case Unit to investigate the state's more than 100 unsolved homicides and suspicious deaths. The dedicated unit includes two investigators from the state police, an investigator from the attorney general's office and Delker as prosecutor.
"It gives you the resources to focus on the cases," Delker said.
The unit focused on the Hinas' deaths, renewing the investigation and interviewing new witnesses, he said.
"This was one of the first ones we started investigating, and this was one of the first ones we focused on and the first one the investigation allowed us to pursue and obtain these arrests warrants," he said.
McLeod originally was expected to be returned to New Hampshire late Thursday, but Delker said more paperwork was needed and he didn't know when McLeod would be moved. McLeod was represented at an extradition proceeding by the California public defender's office; no one answered the phone there Wednesday evening.
David McLeod was arrested Wednesday in California on four counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Carl Hina, his 12-year-old daughter, Sara, his wife, Lori, and their 4-month old daughter, Lillian, Attorney General Michael Delaney said.
A medical examiner ruled the victims died from smoke inhalation after the Jan. 14, 1989, fire in Keene, a city of about 25,000 residents an hour's drive southwest of Concord.
McLeod, who lived in Keene at the time of the fire, was arrested Wednesday in West Sacramento, Calif., where he has lived for 15 years, Delaney said.
It hadn't been determined who was representing McLeod because courts were closed when the attorney general made his announcement Wednesday evening. There was no telephone listing for McLeod in West Sacramento.
McLeod, 53, frequently visited the apartment building where the Hinas lived, Senior Assistant Attorney General William Delker said. He was a suspect in the original investigation, but no arrests were made and the case remained open, Delker said.
Several residents were in the building at the time of the fire, but all escaped except for the Hina family.
In 2009, a new law created New Hampshire's first Cold Case Unit to investigate the state's more than 100 unsolved homicides and suspicious deaths. The dedicated unit includes two investigators from the state police, an investigator from the attorney general's office and Delker as prosecutor.
"It gives you the resources to focus on the cases," Delker said.
The unit focused on the Hinas' deaths, renewing the investigation and interviewing new witnesses, he said.
"This was one of the first ones we started investigating, and this was one of the first ones we focused on and the first one the investigation allowed us to pursue and obtain these arrests warrants," he said.
McLeod originally was expected to be returned to New Hampshire late Thursday, but Delker said more paperwork was needed and he didn't know when McLeod would be moved. McLeod was represented at an extradition proceeding by the California public defender's office; no one answered the phone there Wednesday evening.
Hickory, NC: Family, friends honor murder victim
By Sarah Newell Williamson | Hickory Daily Record
Family and friends huddled together Wednesday night to light candles and remember someone who's own light was snuffed out too soon.
Christy Dawn Whitmore was killed on March 22. She was 32. The Catawba County Sheriff's Office charged her boyfriend, Ryan Ansley Rendleman, with her murder. Sheriff's officials have called Whitmore's death a crime of passion. Rendleman is in the Catawba County jail under no bond.
That is little consolation to those who knew Whitmore best, though.
"Christy was always there for us," said Debbie Moses, a close friend of Whitmore. "She always tried to give somebody a smile. I know she's looking down on us and saying, 'It's OK, I'm fine, I'm in God's hands, there's no more pain, no more sorrow.' She's taking care of us from up there."
Moses said Whitmore, a CNA, took care of everyone while she was alive. When Moses was very sick, Whitmore stopped by her house on her way to and from work to check in on her and take care of her. When Whitmore's father was ill, she took care of him, as well.
Laura Mongro worked with Whitmore at Catawba Valley Primary Care. She said Whitmore was a wonderful person who was full of life. Mongro said Whitmore's No. 1 priority was her 12-year-old son.
Mongro said she felt like she needed to come to Wednesday evening's vigil.
"I was in Texas when this happened to Christy, and I wasn't able to come to her funeral," she said. "This gives me a time to pay my respects."
According to friend Martha Creed, Whitmore had a spark that few others do.
"My friend Christy had an amazing smile, and the twinkle in her eye when she said 'hello,' made you want to be her friend," she said. "She was a wonderful mother, sister, friend and employee. Of people like here there are too few."
Creed said she and others wanted to do something to help ensure what happened to Whitmore wouldn't happen to others in Catawba County.
"I know Christy would always want a safe place for battered women to go," she said. "Domestic violence is a crime and must be stopped. It always starts out mild, perhaps just with hateful remarks. He always apologizes and says he doesn't remember what he said or how it happened because of drugs or alcohol or some other excuse."
Creed said she and other friends and family members decided to establish Christy's Hope, in honor of Whitmore. It's a special fund to support the battered women's shelter that's affiliated with the Family Guidance Center.
"I know it would be Christy's hope to wipe out domestic violence in Catawba County. She would never want another woman to be afraid," Creed said. "It is our duty to say no more domestic violence in Catawba County, no more in this state and no more in this country."
Family and friends huddled together Wednesday night to light candles and remember someone who's own light was snuffed out too soon.
Christy Dawn Whitmore was killed on March 22. She was 32. The Catawba County Sheriff's Office charged her boyfriend, Ryan Ansley Rendleman, with her murder. Sheriff's officials have called Whitmore's death a crime of passion. Rendleman is in the Catawba County jail under no bond.
That is little consolation to those who knew Whitmore best, though.
"Christy was always there for us," said Debbie Moses, a close friend of Whitmore. "She always tried to give somebody a smile. I know she's looking down on us and saying, 'It's OK, I'm fine, I'm in God's hands, there's no more pain, no more sorrow.' She's taking care of us from up there."
Moses said Whitmore, a CNA, took care of everyone while she was alive. When Moses was very sick, Whitmore stopped by her house on her way to and from work to check in on her and take care of her. When Whitmore's father was ill, she took care of him, as well.
Laura Mongro worked with Whitmore at Catawba Valley Primary Care. She said Whitmore was a wonderful person who was full of life. Mongro said Whitmore's No. 1 priority was her 12-year-old son.
Mongro said she felt like she needed to come to Wednesday evening's vigil.
"I was in Texas when this happened to Christy, and I wasn't able to come to her funeral," she said. "This gives me a time to pay my respects."
According to friend Martha Creed, Whitmore had a spark that few others do.
"My friend Christy had an amazing smile, and the twinkle in her eye when she said 'hello,' made you want to be her friend," she said. "She was a wonderful mother, sister, friend and employee. Of people like here there are too few."
Creed said she and others wanted to do something to help ensure what happened to Whitmore wouldn't happen to others in Catawba County.
"I know Christy would always want a safe place for battered women to go," she said. "Domestic violence is a crime and must be stopped. It always starts out mild, perhaps just with hateful remarks. He always apologizes and says he doesn't remember what he said or how it happened because of drugs or alcohol or some other excuse."
Creed said she and other friends and family members decided to establish Christy's Hope, in honor of Whitmore. It's a special fund to support the battered women's shelter that's affiliated with the Family Guidance Center.
"I know it would be Christy's hope to wipe out domestic violence in Catawba County. She would never want another woman to be afraid," Creed said. "It is our duty to say no more domestic violence in Catawba County, no more in this state and no more in this country."
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