64 year old woman gets 6 years for "boyfriend's" manslaughter

A 64 year old Salinas, CA woman was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday for smothering her "boyfriend" to death. 66 year old Lynne Nicole Feurer pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter after being originally charged with murder. Her victim was Joseph Francis Cupita, 81, who she had met in a Chicago ballroom in the early 2000s. The couple moved to California in 2004. The presiding judge was California Superior Court Judge Larry Hayes.

On May 28, 2007, police found Cupita's body lodged between his bed and the wall in the couple's Pacific Grove apartment after an intoxicated and tearful Feurer told a newlywed at the London Bridge Pub that she'd just killed her husband.

Forensic pathologist John Hain concluded the frail man was suffocated, likely with a pillow by someone kneeling on his chest. Defensive wounds indicated he fought for his life, and Hain estimated it took minutes for him to die.

Feurer told police she and Cupita were fighting over his refusal to go to his dialysis appointment. She remembered struggling with him, but few details. Prosecutor Elaine McCleaf said the claim was disingenuous, because Feurer had the presence of mind to gather up her medications and passport before she fled.

Defense attorney Bryan Keller had planned to argue at trial that Feurer was a battered woman who acted in self-defense. He said he settled the case only when McCleaf offered manslaughter rather than a life-term murder.

But McCleaf said Feurer's alcoholism poses a danger to society. She cited three previous drunken-driving convictions and an alcohol-related theft conviction.

She argued that Cupita's vulnerability, the "gruesome" manner of his death and Feurer's callousness were all factors that aggravated her crime to the level of a maximum 11-year sentence.

Keller maintained those aggravating circumstances were balanced or overweighed by the mitigating circumstances that Feurer was a battered woman who acted in self-defense. He called for the lower term of three years.

The prosecutor said she made the offer in light of Feurer's positive contributions, community support and alcoholism.

The killer's son, Alex Feurer, said that "I remember Joe and I miss him a lot," he said. "He did many good things for my family, for my mom and me." "It [His mother's alcohol and prescription drug addictions]unfortunately cost Joe his life. But she's finally here. She's a whole person. She's not the same and she has a lot to offer."

Others who spoke at the sentencing included Reiko Hidaka Scott, cupita's ex-girlfriend, who said that "He was just such a nice, sweet, personable person. He really lived his life through his music and making people happy."

In the end, Haye rejected the battered woman defense put forth by Keller, but weighed that against Feuer's contributions and his own experiences caring for a Alzheimer's patient. Since manslaughter is a violent crime, Feurer must serve 85% of her sentence. She was credited with almost three years behind bars.

Canadian Customs strip search woman back from grandmother's funeral - racial profiling suspected

A Ottawa, ON woman of Carribean decent alleges that she was singled out for a strip search by the Canada Border Services Agency (Canadian Customs) because she was a Jamaican born woman. Charmaine Archer, a 42 year old nurses aide at a nursing home, was pulled over with her cousin and 4 year old son by Canadian customs agents as they were headed home from their grandmother's home in Jamaica. The cousin and son were inspected without further incident, but Archer was forced to undergo a strip search.

Agents told Archer, who is a Canadian citizen, she was flagged because she paid for part of her ticket with a credit card, because she booked last minute and because she only stayed for four days.

Agents took what she described as gauze swabs and ran them over her wallet, the lining of her suitcase and even her toothbrush. This took over an hour, Archer said. Her toothbrush, agents said, tested positive for heroin and THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

Archer said to the agents that “You’re a liar. I don’t do drugs, I don’t know anybody that does drugs, and I wasn’t around drugs when I was in Jamaica … I come from an upstanding family and nobody touched that toothbrush but me.”

Canadian officers told Archer that she would have to undergo a strip search. “I said to her, ‘No way that’s going to happen! My husband don’t know what’s inside my rectum and neither will you.” After the customs agents handcuffed Archer and threatened to take her son away from her, she submitted. Archer describes what happened next.

 I got undressed. There were three women in the room — quite humiliating, quite degrading. I’m a big person, very conscious of my body … you can imagine how I felt. They made me stand up and hold my arm up and they made me lift up my breast. Then she told me to turn around and bend all the way over with my feet wide apart. And then she told me to use my hand and open my rectum.

 They told me to put one foot forward then squat and cough … they told me to lift up my belly and they told me open my feet apart and to pry my legs apart and they looked underneath my crotch. When it was over they asked if I wanted to take a minute to sit down.

“This is by no means isolated,” said Ewart Walters, editor of the Spectrum, a monthly newspaper aimed at Ottawa’s black community. “There have been enough incidents over the years of people being picked on.”

He pointed to Leon Stewart, who was held for three hours at the airport in March, 2000. Like Archer, he was strip searched, only Stewart was asked to produce a bowel movement to satisfy customs agents he wasn’t concealing drugs.

“There is an overwhelming number of black people coming from Jamaica who get stopped and asked questions.” Walters said.

Archer's travel agent, Kermit Dougan of Voyages G Travel in Gatineau, PQ, across the river from Ottawa, said that Jamaica is on a list of destinations with a reputation for drug use. Even so, many of his clients, who are black and “not happy about how they’ve been treated,”  have used Toronto's Pearson International Airport, Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau AIrport, and even Syracuse NY's Hancock International Airport to avoid the racial profiling at Ottawa's airport.

Archer says that she is retaining a lawyer since “I want to know what my rights were. I hope no one will ever have to feel the form of degradation that I felt. And that lack of power.”

Anchorage man sentenced to 48 years after slashing man to death after sex

A 29 year old man who slashed a man to death during a sexual encounter in Anchorage, AK was sentenced to 48 years in prison Thursday, December 10 by State Superior Court Judge Philip Volland.

Hunter killed Randall Roe, 47, after Roe picked him up on Fourth Avenue early one morning in November 2006. Roe, who had brain damage from a bicycle accident, was high on cocaine and had his own history of trouble. Something went wrong during the encounter, the men struggled, and Hunter pulled out a knife and killed Roe in the cab of Roe's pickup, according to trial testimony.

Hunter testified at both his trials that he acted in self-defense and that he was not himself because he was so intoxicated on malt beer and vodka the morning of the murder. The first jury couldn't reach a verdict. The second jury acquitted him of first-degree murder but convicted him of the lesser second-degree murder charge.

At the sentencing, the defense and prosecution argued over whether Hunter was just intoxicated that night and acting out or if he is a dangerous man with mental health problems who cannot be controlled. Prosecutor John Skidmore asked Volland to send Hunter away for 60 years, saying he was a danger to the community. Defense attorney Paul Maslakowski asked for the minimum 10 years.

One aspect of the trial which helped Judge Volland determine the character and mental state of Hunter was his two hour long statement, read to the courtroom after his conviction. Volland said that the statement told him more about the defendant than the evidence and statements from officials.
 
That allocution was telling me more about Mr. Hunter than anything else in this case...[It was] a rambling, disjointed discourse largely irrelevant to sentencing in which Mr. Hunter both simultaneously admitted to his various mental health and addiction problems and denied them...This is a man in denial of his problems. This is a man who has some significant cognitive problems. This is a man not completely in touch with his surroundings and the world.

Two rapists sentenced to de facto life terms in New Hanover County courts

Last Thursday, December 10, 2009, two separate rapists were convicted by New Hanover County juries of separate sex and kidnapping crimes against mainly adult victims. Nicholas Lee Lofton, a 28 year old resicent of Rocky Point, NC, was convicted of robbery, two counts of kidnapping, burglary and two counts of assaulting a child under 12 years old, malicious castration, one count of attempted sex offense and two counts of sex offense. Lofton was sentenced to 84-115 years in prison. The second rapist, 51 year old Douglas Job Smith, was sentenced to 94-115 years in prison after convictions of rape, sex offense and kidnapping. The New Hanover County District Attorney's Office prosecuted both cases.

In the Lofton case, a man and woman testified that three men, including Lofton, burst into their bedroom on Oct. 5, 2007 while they slept in a home in the 600 block of Sharease Circle and pointed guns at them. The attackers punched and kicked the man, and burned his neck and genitals with hot pliers, said prosecutor Barrett Temple. The attackers bound the man and his girlfriend, she said. During the attack, all three attackers sexually assaulted the man's girlfriend in front of the man's two young girls, whose eyes were duct-taped, Temple said. “The girls were awake the whole time and aware of what was going on."

The attackers, who were known by their victims, rummaged through the house and grabbed $400 in cash and jewelry. Lofton was caught because the victims knew his voice and saw his face. Temple said that “It was a tough case for us, and we were pleased with the verdict.”

On December 10, 2007, Smith pulled up in his vehicle and offered a 32 year old woman a ride home, but instead of taking her home, he took her to his house, a 8' x 27' camped behind a Castle Hayne business, according to prosecutor Connie Jordan.

When the woman asked to use the bathroom, she couldn't because the room was littered with feces. That's when Smith pulled out a butcher knife and forced her to take off her clothes. He bound her wrists and ankles and duct-taped her mouth before raping and sexually assaulting her over six hours, Jordan said.

It wasn't until workers at the business arrived the following morning that they asked Smith to move his truck because it was parked across several parking spaces. He moved his vehicle and returned to the residence where the woman eventually managed to undo the duct tape on her ankles and run outside to an automotive business where workers contacted 911, Jordan said.

Police found the woman's clothes inside a garbage bag in the camper, and arrested Smith in Columbus County, NC. According to Jordan, “The jury's verdict will really help her attempt to put this behind her more. Not only has she been trying to forget it for two years, I really feel like their verdict is a powerful healing tool for her...This will be with her for the rest of her life. I don't see any way around that. It's a devastating crime. I can't even begin to understand how you cope with this.”

Buffalo, NY murderer, rapist sentenced to 40 to life

New York State Supreme Court Justice M. William Boller sentenced a murderer and rapist to a 40 years to life sentence Friday, December 11, saying that the attacker would have been condemmed if he had struck in either Texas of Florida.

[46 year old Earl Gill] pleaded guilty Nov. 5 to second-degree murder for the death of Johnson and first-degree rape for attacking a 46-year-old woman in the Travelers Lodge on Main Street on Jan. 8, 2006, punching her in the face when she resisted his advances.

Carter told the judge that if she is alive in 40 years when Gill comes up for parole, she will vigorously oppose his release. Gill, Carter said, "doesn't deserve to ever see freedom."

Gill's lawyer, Kevin W. Spitler, said Gill is "remorseful [and] accepts responsibility" for "his inability to control his addiction to drugs," his motive for the break-in.

After the victim awoke to discover Gill ransacking her house, she was sexually assaulted and choked — a plastic bag affixed over her face with duct tape to ensure her death.

Gill, who had been in custody since his arrest February 18, served two previous stints in the New York prison system. The terms were 3 years between 1987 & 1990 for a sex abuse conviction, and a decade between 1994 and 2004 for a burglary conviction.

Tampa Bay area sheriff's deputy sentenced to 5 years for sex assault of motorist

Circuit Judge Wayne S. Timmerman sentenced a former Hillsborough County deputy to 5 years in prison and 10 years of sex offender probation Thursday, December 10. Raymond Choy, 38,  faced 30 years for sexual battery and another 30 years for kidnapping before the plea deal. Choy's attorney, Normal Canella Sr, said that his client's deal was appropriate "in view of the totality of circumstances. My client is pleased and certainly should be pleased by the outcome."

Assistant State Attorney Rita Peters said prosecutors decided to offer the deal after reviewing all the circumstances in the case. Peters said she explained the agreement to the victim.

Authorities say Choy was investigating a hit-and-run when the assault happened on April 1, 2007. He ran the license plate of the car that drove away and went to the owner's home, where he took a woman into custody.

She told investigators that Choy took her to the accident scene and then drove to orange groves in Thonotosassa, telling her she wouldn't be arrested if she cooperated. She immediately called the sheriff's office after Choy took her back home. Investigators took samples from the woman's hair and arm. Choy's DNA matched those swabs.

Choy, a seven-year veteran, was placed on administrative leave before resigning.

The victim, flanked by her boyfriend, said that Choy "ruined my life. As a deputy, he was there to protect and serve. He didn't do that."

Vermont man with girlfriend, wife sentenced to 15-30 years for assaults

A man with a girlfriend and a wife living with him was sentenced to 15 to 30 years in a Vermont prison Wednesday, December 9 for physically, emotionally, and sexually abusing them at their Williston, VT home. Judge Michael Kupersmith sentenced Kaseem Smith in Vermont District Court in Burlington after a plea aggreement in which sex assault charges were dropped in exchange for guilty pleas to two aggravated domestic assault charges.

The charges which lead to the assault charges were two instances in 2007 where Smith hit his "girlfriend" with a walking stick until it broke, and hitting her with hand weights. After that incident, the "girlfriend" fled the house, assisted by her employer and the women's advocacy group Women Helping Battered Women.

Other instances against both women included forcing or coercing the women to either fight or have sex with each other while he watched, having the girlfriend eat her contacts as punishment for disobeying him, and putting a gun in his wife's mouth and telling her not to move because the safety wasn't on.

"You just took whatever happened and hoped it would end soon," said the "girlfriend." The wife said that "You had to do everything Kaseen said to do, otherwise, you were looking for a beating."

Smith, 34, once hosted a show called "KA Live," which aired weekly on Channel 15, a community access channel in Burlington. He is also a former coach for youth football in Essex and youth recreational basketball in Williston.

Smith's lawyers argued that neither woman ever sought medical help as a result of injuries allegedly inflicted by Smith. The two women conceded under questioning that Smith never abused any of their children and was well liked by the kids he coached.

The lawyers also questioned the veracity of some of what the women said Smith did. "A lot of the allegations are easily made, but difficult to disprove," Bill Skiff, one of Smith's lawyers, told Kupersmith.

Smith, in a brief statement just before Kupersmith sentenced him, apologized to his estranged wife and the ex-girlfriend for his conduct. "I'd like to say I'm sorry for the mental and physical anguish I caused the ladies and the kids," he said. "But I'm a peaceful guy now."

Chittenden County Deputy State's Attorney Rosemary Gretkowski said that "Anything less than this sentence would demean the severity and the atrocity of this abuse."

To his credit, Judge Kupersmith said that "Mr. Smith is a chronic batterer and abuser. I consider him to be a major danger to the community... What I have heard is credible evidence of years and years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse perpetrated on two women."

Baseball bat attacker of woman, child sentenced to 40 years behind bars

A man who beat his "girlfriend" and her son, leaving the woman's mother as her grandson's guardian and her daughter's caregiver was sentenced to 40 years in prison Thursday, December 3, in an Alachua County, FL courtroom. Daniel Steven Fucci, 46, was sentenced for the baseball bat attack on Debra Charlene Wyrosdick, 45, and her son Andrew, 7, leaving them both in a pool of blood.

Earlier, Fucci plead guilty to attempted murder, aggravated child abuse, and felony fleeing. He plead to , in his words, spare the child from having to testify in a jury trial. Fucci also atempted to justify his attack on the woman and her child, saying that "It was 50-50. She attacked me and I fought back," Fucci told Judge James Nilon. "We'd both been drinking a lot and arguing. I had no intention of hurting her - I was trying to get the knife away from her."

When an ambulance crew arrived, they reported finding Wyrosdick unconscious on the floor with Andrew on top of her and both appeared to be dying in the kitchen that was covered in blood.

Wyrosdick's mother, Ruby Wyrosdick, who is now Debra's caretaker and guardian of her son, testified that Debra received massive brain injuries and "still needs more therapy than we can afford. She will likely need assistance for the rest of her life."

Ruby Wyrosdick also said that her daughter remained in a coma until late 2008 and then spent about 10 months in an assisted living facility before moving in with Ruby. "Half of her head appears caved in," Ruby Wyrosdick said.

Fucci claimed that he still "loves" his victim, saying that "I would be her slave for life because I still love her," Fucci said. "I accidentally hit her in the head. It was self-defense. I was trying to stop her from coming at me with a knife." Judge Nilon said that the baseball bat injuries were too forceful to be self-defense, and that Fucci's behavior pattern was entrenched for 10 years, and he was "certainly old enough to have sought and received help for this pattern of behavior."

Among the other factors that Nilon said he considered before sentencing Fucci was a pre-sentence investigation showing that Fucci had a long history of violent behavior and statements from two of Fucci's sisters who asked for leniency.

The sisters told Nilon that Fucci had been physically, mentally and sexually abused by another of their brothers while they were growing up and that Fucci had a history of getting involved with damaged women who drew him into their dramas.

Psychologist Dr. Harry Krop testified that he had examined Fucci three times since the crimes and determined that Fucci abused alcohol, has a personality disorder with narcissistic and obsessive traits, had indicators of bipolar disorder and that there were apparent features of post traumatic stress disorder.

Because all inmates must serve at least 85% of their prison sentences, Fucci will serve at least 34 years and will be 80 when he gets out.

Woman's murderous "boyfriend" sentenced to life without parole

A man who choked his "girlfriend" to death because she was seeing her ex was sentenced to life without parole yesterday in a Tallahassee, FL courtroom. Thirty-six year old Terrell Lee Robinson plead guilty to the 1st degree murder of pregnant 25 year old Elisabeth Killam in a Tallahassee, FL apartment on September 23. The choking took 5 to 6 minutes, according to Robinson's police statement. When she tried to scream, Robinson stuffed napkins in Killiam's mouth. Robinson took medicine to commit suicide, but was found semiconscious.

The victim's family members attended Robinson's sentencing, which was to a mandatory life without parole sentence. “I often have to beg God to take the image of Elisabeth out of my mind. The pain of that knowledge is debilitating,” said Killiam's sister.

“What we fervently hope is that Terrell Robinson will not be allowed out of prison again,” Barbara Killam told Circuit Judge Terry Lewis in speaking on behalf of her daughter. “Now we live in a constant state of struggle to try to grasp that she is gone. We have lost our joy in life.”

David Killam, told Lewis that if his daughter were alive today, “she would tell you in no uncertain terms that justice has not been served.”

Robinson plead guilty to the murder to avoid facing a possible death penalty. According to Assistant State Attorney Jack Campbell, the 2 1/2 months between the crime and sentencing was “the fastest resolution in a first-degree murder case (he’d) ever heard of.”

Robinson's reason for pleading guilty against his public defender's advice was “I’d like to get on with it. Nobody needs to be run through the mud. Every time we go through this, her body continues to be drug through the grave.”

Canada commerorates 20th anniversary of Montreal Massacre

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, which led to greater recognition of violence against women in Canadian society. Commerations of the event were held all across Canada.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement it is important for Canadians to remain committed to eliminating violence against women.



"On Dec. 6, 1989, 14 bright, talented, young women were murdered at l'Ecole polytechnique de Montreal in one of the most tragic acts of violence against women in our country's history," Harper said.


"Their deaths galvanized the need to end violence against women in the hearts and minds of Canadians.


"Today, on Canada's National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women, we should all take time to remember and reaffirm our commitment to continue working to protect the lives, dignity and equality of all women."

Man held in beating, rape, murder attempt on 91 year old woman

Leslie James Setzer, 34, of East Stroudsburg, PA, was charged with the rape, beating, and attempted murder of a 91 year old woman on Saturday, November 28. Patrolman Kevin Buck of Palmerton, PA was called to the victim's house just before 2 PM, and said that after a man asked to use her phone, he struck her in the head, raped her, and attempted to smother her with a plastic bag.

When the man fled, the victim called police. Buck said the victim provided a description of her attacker and it matched the description of a man who had just walked into the emergency room at Palmerton Hospital ''stating that he needed help.''

Police arrested Setzer at the hospital. The victim has been at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest since the attack. Buck said she has been upgraded to stable condition.

Buck said that the attack was a random act perpetrated by a stranger. Besides the rape, attempte murder, and beating charges, Setzer also faces aggravated assault, indecent assault, and aggravated indecent assault.

He is currently being held on $1 million bail at the Carbon County Prison.

Murderer, armed robber, sentenced to a decade for rape of Youngstown woman

A murderer serving 55 years to life for the rape-slaying of 19 year old Sierra Slayton in August 2005 was sentenced on November 30 to an additional prison term for the rape of another woman in Youngstown, OH. Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge John M. Durkin sentenced 26 year old Antwon Lanier to an additional 10 years in prison for one count of rape and one count of intimidation of a victim. Lanier plead guilty to those counts to avoid trial on those counts and charges of kidnapping, aggravated robbery. 

The rape and intimidation conviction stems from a 2005 incident where Lanier assaulted a Warren woman in the front yard of a home not far from a Youngstown South Side bar.

The rape victim told police she was forced out of Teenie’s Tavern on South Avenue at gunpoint and raped in the front yard of a house with high bushes near Taft Elementary School on East Avondale Avenue.

Police checked the area around Taft and found a house with high bushes on East Avondale at the corner of Homestead Street. A used condom and its wrapper were found in the front yard near bushes and taken as evidence.

The woman, when interviewed by police, said she’d gone to the bar with a female friend. She said they were approached by two men, one later identified as Lanier. The female friend had asked to see Lanier’s license because she didn’t believe he was old enough to drink. She remembered the birth date — May 6, 1983 — from the license.

After the exchange, when the victim went to the restroom, Lanier followed her, pulled out a handgun and said “Don’t talk, scream or cry or I’ll kill you and your friend.” He ordered the victim out of the bar and down East Avondale, and after another threat, raped her in front of the house. Lanier then damanded the victim's money. The victim gvae him only $6. Lanier looked at her ID and threatened to kill her if she reported the attack.
 
Besides the Sierra Slaton slaying, Lanier was sentenced to 21 years for armed robbery and assault. Ohio prison sentences are served without benefit of parole or other early release.