"Boyfriend" sentenced to 25 years for slaying of woman in NYU apartment

A man who choked his girlfriend to death inside her mother's apartment was sentenced to 25 years for 1st degree manslaughter Wednesday in a Manhattan courtroom. Michael Cordero plead guilty to 1st degree manslaughter in a Manhattan courtroom for the chance to avoid life behind bars.

Mr. Cordero, 26, pleaded guilty last month to manslaughter for the 2007 killing of Boitumelo McCallum, the daughter of two New York University professors. In exchange for his guilty plea, Mr. Cordero was promised a 25-year sentence.

The killing took place early Wednesday, August 1, 2007, at her mother's NYU owned apartment in Greenwich Village. Cordero was angry that his victim threw a bash inside the apartment without inviting him, and choked her to death so hard that her nose bled. After the slaying, Cordero wrapped a bloody towel around her head and wrapped it in bedsheets, which he stuffed between the bed and the wall of the apartment. On Sunday, August 5, tenants who sublet the apartment from the victim's parents found "Tumi's" rotting body and called police.

Justice Bonnie G. Wittner of State Supreme Court in Manhattan had said that she would not have accepted the plea deal without the parents’ consent. Ms. McCallum’s parents, Teboho Moja and Robert McCallum, did accept the deal, but they still had words that were both touching and harsh.

The victim's father said, "You made the relationship about power and domination, rather than about love and compassion. That is why Tumi was trying to move away from you. Tumi was scared of you. I tried as much as I could to protect her, but you did everything behind my back and that of our family to get to her one final time.”

The victim's mother also had a statement read for her by Manhattan Assistant District attorney Martha Bashford. “You barehandedly killed my child. Your hands are stained forever with her blood.”

"Michael Cordero added insult to injury by making us bury our loved one in unrecognizable image. Her decomposed body is buried and memories of her charming smile live in our hearts. Her infectious laughter and her voice calling out ‘mummy’ still rings in my ears.”

[Neighbors knew] McCallum as the bubbly daughter of the two professors. Her mother, Teboho Moja, is a professor at NYU's Steinhardt School of Education.

Moja was part of the board of UNESCO's Institute for International Education Planning, appointed by then-South African President Nelson Mandela to draw up higher education reforms for the country.

The slain woman's father, Robert McCallum, is an adjunct professor in art education at NYU. "She was a regular girl, a pretty girl, a typical college student," said Dan Lee, a filmmaker who lived down the hall. "She wasn't edgy. She's not the type of girl who would get into trouble."

McCallum graduated from the Beacon School, a selective public school in Manhattan, in 2005 and attended Mills College in Oakland, Calif., for two semesters. But she had not returned to the college since finishing spring semester in 2006.

A native of South Africa, she moved to the city with her parents as a young child and while in high school worked for two years at the American Museum of Natural History learning how to isolate, amplify, sequence and edit DNA.

"She didn't have a green card and neither did I. We bonded over that in the lab," said her pal Bernard Laszczower, 19.

Cordero, in court, said that "Just living without her is a fate worse than death - or imprisonment," he said. "I know what I did was wrong. ... It was just something that happened." However, the victim's parents said his "apology" statement was just another self serving ploy designed to shift blame and minimize the impact of his crime.  McCallum said that "In the time that I've known him, he's always had an excuse for his behavior. One wants to be compassionate, but I'm sorry I couldn't be."

Moja said, He said, 'I'll die from loneliness.' We're all going to miss her. What about us? We weren't a part of his equation. If he can't have her, nobody else should have her - not another guy, not his family. I feel like I've seen him for the last time, and I want to keep it that way. Looking in the face of a killer is something that I cannot explain."

Former Pennsylvania National Guardsman sentenced to prison for assault

By LES STEWART [Lebanon, PA Daily News]

A Pennsylvania National Guardsman was sentenced Wednesday [April 21] to Lebanon County prison for three months to two years for sexually assaulting a woman in a Fort Indiantown Gap barracks in December 2007. He was one of three soldiers charged in the case.

President Judge John C. Tylwalk sentenced 28-year-old Alan W. Ledford Jr. of South Coopersburg on misdemeanor charges of indecent assault and simple assault. Ledford pleaded guilty in February as part of a plea agreement with the office of the Lebanon County District Attorney. In exchange for his guilty plea, a more serious felony charge of sexual assault filed was dismissed.

Sean P. McMenamin, 25, of Pottstown was also scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday, but his defense attorney is involved in defending another client in a homicide trial in another county this week, Tylwalk said. McMenamin will be sentenced at a later date. Ledford and McMenamin were scheduled to go on trial in February, but both pleaded guilty.

A third defendant in the case, Matthew S. Taggart, 25, of Springfield, Delaware County, pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced in June to three months to two years in Lebanon County prison for indecent assault and simple assault.

They were charged with sexually assaulting a then-36-year-old Lebanon County woman at a Fort Indiantown Gap barracks on Dec. 15, 2007. On Wednesday, defense attorney Ari Weitzman said alcohol played a role in the events of Dec. 15, 2007. He asked Tylwalk to sentence Ledford to probation.

He said his client was "extremely intoxicated" that night, and Ledford did not plan for the victim to be sexually assaulted by three men. "This happened spontaneously," Weitzman said.

What began as consensual sex between Ledford and the victim in a bathroom utility room in a barracks escalated into the sexual assault of the victim, the defense attorney said. "This is not the way Mr. Ledford typically conducts himself," Weitzman said. Ledford has served in the military for 11 or 12 years and hopes to spend the rest of his life in the service, the defense attorney said. His guilty plea may jeopardize that, he added.

Ledford enlisted in the military at the age of 17 and has served since then, Weitzman said. He has earned the rank of sergeant, he added. He served 14 months in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 and 2005, the defense attorney said. At the time of their arrest, McMenamin, Ledford and Taggert were scheduled to be deployed to Iraq but were ordered to remain in the United States to face the criminal charges. None was deployed.

When he was arrested, Ledford was a member of Detachment 1, Company A, 628th Aviation Support Battalion, which is based at the Gap.

On Wednesday, Megan Ryland-Tanner, the assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case, said she has been in contact with the military and said she is not sure how Ledford's case will be handled by military authorities. Tanner agreed that alcohol played a role, but said that does not excuse the conduct of the three men.

"These three men engaged in sexual contact with (the victim) without her consent," Tanner said.

The victim said the judgment she used the night of the assault was out of character for her. She had met four men at a Union Township bar and went to the Gap along with two other women. She said she has been undergoing counseling since the sexual assault. "It's something that continues to follow me," she said.

Ledford faced the woman and apologized. "It's something that should have never happened," he said. "I'm truly sorry for that." The judge said the victim had acknowledged she had not shown the best judgment the night of the assault. "But that does not excuse what you did," Tylwalk told Ledford.

In addition to the prison sentence, Ledford was ordered to pay fines of $900.

Lehigh Acres, FL woman sentenced to 25 years prison, 10 years probation for murder of sleeping husband

A Lehigh Acres, FL woman who murdered her husband while he was sleeping then staged a phony abduction of her self and her kids was sentenced to 25 years in prison followed by 10 years probation Monday, April 26, in a Lee County courtroom. The woman plead guilty to 2nd degree murder in the attack on her husband took place August 11, 2008. Child abuse charges, for the phony abduction story, were dropped as part of the plea deal. The phony abduction took place  with the help of Amber duct taping her kids. The husband suffered 6 gunshot wounds to the head.

Amber Rose Roberts, [then] 24, had at first told Lee County sheriff's deputies that she and her two young children had been kidnapped. That was how she explained why they were walking in the area of Greenbriar Boulevard while her husband, John Roberts, 27, was dead in bed, having suffered from multiple gunshot wounds.

But according to detective William Murphy, the stories Amber Roberts told didn't add up.

"When confronted with the inconsistencies, Amber Roberts confessed to shooting John Roberts multiple times with a .9 mm handgun," Murphy reported. "She also confessed that the alleged kidnapping was false. The information provided by Roberts was consistent with the physical evidence gathered at the scene. Amber Roberts also escorted detectives to multiple locations and additional evidence was recovered."

One of those locations was the canal at the corner of 32nd Street West and Ann Avenue, where deputies found the gun.

John Roberts' body was found by a deputy who arrived at the couple's 16th Street West home to serve eviction papers. Their home had been in foreclosure. They had lived there with their 7-month-old son and Amber's 5-year-old son.

The victim's cousin, Robbin Brophy said that two weeks before the murder at a family function, things seemed to be going smoothly and asked this pointed question of her cousin's killer. “Who made you judge, jury and executioner of John’s life? Do you realize how many lives you have ruined?” Brophy also said that "If there was a problem, you could have come to any one of us.” Brophy was one of almost 20 family members of the victim present. Assistant State Attorney Dan Feinberg said they would have liked to have seen a harsher sentence, but understand the criminal justice system.

Amber Roberts said little except to answer mostly yes and no questions from prosecutors.[She] had planned on using battered wife syndrome as a defense, and she said she agreed with the strategy of her attorney, David Goldberg, who didn’t take the deposition of law enforcement officers in the case. Instead, he deposed rebuttal witnesses who could testify about that defense.

“I was just going by what he was looking at in my best interests,” was the lengthiest statement Amber Roberts said.Goldberg said the battered spouse syndrome was a viable defense, but the plea was in her best interests.

The son she had before her marriage with her victim is in the care of relatives. The whereabouts of the child she had with her victim is unknown. Amber should be released in a little under 20 years, assuming she gets all of her good time credits.

Man who strangled wife to death with belt sentenced to 30 years imprisonment

A man who strangled his wife to death with a belt was sentenced to 30 years in a Tallahassee, FL, courtroom Monday, April 26. Daniel Tappen murdered his wife Kimberly inside their southeast Tallahassee, FL home in 2008. After a 6 day trial, and five hours of deliberation, Tappen was convicted of 2nd degree murder by a jury on March 10 of this year. The main reason that Tappen was convicted of 2nd and not 1st degree murder was defense evidence showing that Kim had a high level of cocaine in her body and the insistence that Kim's death was suicide.

During the sentencing hearing, prosecutors asked for life without parole. Kim's mother, Lynn Delay, brought her dead daughter's childhood teddy bear, saying the bear was "still very much loved just like his owner." Kim's sister Cheryl Phillips said that "It has been almost two years now and I just want to stop crying, but I can't, it hurts so much."

 "Danny is a kind and harmless man. There is not an unkind bone in his body. Throughout our entire marriage, he never said no to me," says Daniel's ex-wife Mary Jane Tappen.  Through tears, his mother turned her attention from the Judge to Daniel. "We know that you didn't do this son and we love you very much."

The defendant will be eligible for early release after serving 25 1/2 years in the Florida Department Of Corrections. He hopes to be incarcerated in Wakulla Correctional Institute, 20 miles from Tallahassee.

Rapist gets 50 years for vicious attack in Illinois park

A Madison County, IL judge gave a convicted rapist a harsher sentence than even prosecutors asked for yesterday, April 26, after the victim testified about her injuries caused by the attack. Associate Judge Kyle Napp sentenced 31 year old Keith Recklein, of Granite City, IL, to 50 years in prison. The sentence breakdown is as follows - 2 25 year terms to be served consecutively  for two Class X felonies of aggravated criminal sexual assault and 5 years to be served concurrently to the sexual assault charges for aggravated battery.

In the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Recklein telephoned the woman, a stranger, after midnight on May 1, 2008, and lured her to Horseshoe Lake State Park near Granite City with a claim that a friend of hers was there and needed help. The call was made on her friend's cell phone. Park workers found the woman, then 20, of Lebanon, unconscious with critical head injuries, the next morning.

The woman said she remembered meeting a man at the park but said she lost consciousness when he put her in a head lock, and did not remember the beating or sexual assault. She awoke later in a hospital, suffering from a facial fracture, fractured ribs and a brain injury. She said she feared for a time that she was pregnant with her attacker's child.

Police had no suspect in the case for several months, but then reinterviewed people who had been at a bar in Caseyville with the victim's friend when he passed out and was taken home. The man later noticed that his cell phone was missing. Recklein was one of the people at the bar, and an expert witness said DNA found on the victim's panties was likely from Recklein.

Judge Napp presided over Reichert's bench trial last October, finding him guilty. The testimony which influenced her the most was a park worker's testimony that he thought the woman was a pile of garbage dumped in the park before moving closer. Judge Napp said that Reichert treated his victim like a piece of garbage and that he was a danger to society.
 
Reichert's attorney Charles Stegmeyer said his client had a wife and children which needed him. For trying to kill someone else's grown daughter for his sexual pleasure, Reichert lost the right to be a father to his children.

Boulder, CO woman who stabbed husband in heart pleads to negligent homicide - gets 90 days JAIL with work release

(Original Post 2-13-10)

A 32 year old Boulder, CO woman who stabbed her husband pled guilty to criminal negligent homicide after stabbing her husband, John Houseman, to death with a kitchen knife. Traci Housman was originally charged with 2nd degree murder, which carried a sentence of 10-32 years in prison. Criminally negligent homicide carries a 1-3 year prison sentence. In 2007, the couple met on Myspace after a 20 year off and on relationship. They were married in June 2008.

Boulder County District Court Judge Maria Berkenkotter has discretion in sentencing as the guilty plea was "blind." Matthew Connell, Traci's public defender, plans to ask for a probation sentence for his client because of the victim's history of domestic violence. Police reports and one of John's ex-wives tell of his violent tendencies. He was ticked by police in 2001 after death threats and "basking her face in."

According to police, Housman stabbed her husband once in the chest with a kitchen knife during an altercation in their 2994 23rd St. home early on Aug. 2. Housman told investigators that they had been drinking on the Pearl Street Mall earlier in the night and ended up at a nearby sushi restaurant, where John Housman started telling people, "I'm gay," according to a police report.

Traci Housman told detectives that her husband had told her years ago that he was bisexual, and she had no problem with it. But, according to police, she told him that night "that it was disrespectful for him to announce this to everyone since they were married."

They got into an argument, and Traci Housman decided to walk home, the report said. When she arrived, her husband was waiting, "and he was angry," according to the report.

Traci Housman told police that her husband pushed her into a wall, grabbed her hair and hit her head several times. She told detectives that he pushed her head into a glass framed picture, causing it to break, and she eventually got away to grab a knife from the kitchen, according to police.

"Traci said she poked out at John with one of the knives she had grabbed, and he suddenly stopped his attack," the report said.

Housman said she ran to the backyard, and when she went back into the house, she found John Housman sitting up against a wall with a large wound where she had "poked him," the report said. She immediately began CPR, according to police, and called 911 twice.

Stewart Lundstrom, Traci's brother, said "We are saddened that we can't be there for her with such an important choice to make. Please note that although we are stuck here, our hearts are with Traci, whatever her decision may be." Lundstrom and Traci's mother attended all of her hearings except the plea agreement, which they missed due to a snowstorm. Traci will be sentenced on April 23, and is being held in the Boulder County Jail on $250,000 bail.

(Update 4-27-10) Last Friday, Housman was sentenced by Boulder County District Court Judge Maria Berkenkotter to 7 years probation, 400 hours of community service and 90 days in the Boulder County jail's work release program. "It's completely undisputed that Mrs. Housman stabbed Mr. Housman...The dents in the wall that were made by John slamming Mrs. Housman's head into the wall are powerful evidence of what happened that evening...I am persuaded that Mrs. Housman is genuinely and profoundly remorseful for her actions."

Hope Housman, the victim's daughter, had a letter about the loss of her father read by Boulder County Deputy District Attorney David Cheval. "I was daddy's girl. I never thought about how life would be without daddy. Words can't explain how I feel. There's a hole in my heart."

None of John Housman's family members or friends were in the courtroom Friday, while numerous friends and family members showed up to support Traci Housman. Deputy District Attorney Amy Okubo said John Housman's supporters stayed away because they didn't want to hear bad things about the man they loved.

Matthew Connell, defense attorney for Housman, said he didn't want to insult John Housman during the hearing, "but I don't know how to talk about this case and ignore the fact that John Housman was very severely beating up Traci Housman that night."

Traci herself said in mitigation, "I know how excited they [John and Hope]were for all those things, and now [Hope will] have to feel his absence at all of those milestones...But John was different that night. I saw it in his eyes...I really loved John, and I still do. Know that I never wanted this to happen."

The 90 day jail sentence will be suspended once Traci finds employment, something a defense attorney said will be at a local gas station. As for the community service, her father John Lundstrom said "The community service -- that's not punishment to her. That's what she loves to do."

Remains of 25 year old Brooklyn woman missing since December 2008 found- repeat sex offender suspected

(Original Post 12-11-08)
A high ranking New York City MTA assistant police chief’s son, sandwich shop owner, and registered SO was arrested yesterday on suspicion of the kidnapping (and presumably rape and murder) of a 25 year old aspiring dancer from McAllen, TX after her disappearance a week ago today.

According to her family, 25 year old Laura Garza, shoe store worker and recent transplant to New York from Texas, Garza fell in love with NYC after a trip there earlier this year, and saw an opportunity to engage in two of her passions – designing and dance.

Garza's cousin, Isela Villalobos, told WNBC Monday from Mission, Texas, that Garza loved New York after moving there from McAllen. “She went there for a vacation this year and she came back and told her mother she was moving,” Villalobos said. “She loved fashion and she loved the dance, and where else but New York do you go for that?”

As the search for Garza continues, all her friends and family can do is hope and pray that she is found alive.

Garza’s aunt, Elma Esquivel, sat with other family members in their home in Texas, holding pictures of the missing woman and weeping. “He knows where she is,” she said of Mele. “How come he don't tell us where she is?”

“If you guys see her, please call the police and let the authorities know that you've seen her or try to help her out,” her friend Christy Torres told NBC News. “We really want her to come home. We want her to be safe.”

Unfortunately, it is probably too late, as Garza crossed paths with 23 year old Michael Melo, the Newburgh, NY area sex offender with a history of exposing himself to women, and either forcing sex on them, or jacking off in front of them.

Melo had been charged, then convicted of shopping mall parking lot sexual assaults in New Jersey, where he would run up to women, jack off in front of them, leaving semen on his victim’s clothing. One of the New Jersey victims was a 16 year old girl. These offenses were plead down to child endangerment and forcible touching, and Melo was sentenced to 6 years probation.

Garza was picked up at a Manhattan club a week ago today at 4 AM by Melo and another man, after going out with a friend, something that profiler Clint Van Zandt says protects from sexual predation of adults:

Garza came to the bar with a friend, but she left her friend to be with a man she had just met, someone she otherwise knew nothing about. As Tom Cruise's character learned in the movie "Top Gun," you never leave your wingman, the person who would have your best interest at heart, a lesson also learned by 18-year-old Natalee Holloway in Aruba and Imette St. Guillen, the 24-year-old criminal justice graduate student who in early 2006, made a fatal error in judgment; she too trusted the wrong man.

After the other man left, Garza was left alone with Melo, who was the last person who saw her alive. They went to Melo’s hometown of Newburgh, and that’s where the last reports of her alive were made. Though she hasn’t been found, profiler Clint van Zandt lays out his belief that Garza is probably dead, using available police evidence:

When Garza was reported as missing, the police quickly went looking for Mele. When they found him he had scratches on his neck, bite marks on his hands, and had allegedly scrubbed his car and apartment with bleach, this with the assistance of his unknowing girlfriend. He also cut out a large piece of his carpet, indicating that he had accidentally spilled bleach on it, a piece large enough to wrap around the body of a 5’2”, 120 lb. woman like Garza. Witnesses indicate Mele frantically cleaned and vacuumed his car and apartment the morning of Garza’s disappearance, eventually disposing of the vacuum cleaner, one that could contain physical evidence related to the missing woman.

In their search for Garza, police have found a machete, a woman’s shoe and other items of clothing that could be related to the victim, some of which were recovered from a nearby dumpster he was seen going through. Evidence of blood was found in Mele’s SUV, one he had parked at his parent’s home, and blood was also found by police in his apartment.

DNA should quickly tell police if the blood and other physical evidence confirm what investigators believe, that Mele took Garza to his apartment where he may have assaulted and murdered her, then took her remains to a yet to be discovered body disposal site. Should this be the case, investigators will attempt to determine where he car was the morning of Garza's disappearance and where a man in panic would go to dispose of a body.

Divers are in the pond behind his apartment in case he chose a close by site. Although now in police custody for violation of his probation, he is represented by counsel and is not discussing his role in the disappearance and possible death of Garza. I have no doubt that other young girls and women, after seeing Mele's photo and reading about his actions, will come forward to identify him as their previously unidentified assailant. Too late, I fear, for Laura Garza.

Melo was arrested yesterday and held on $50,000 bond by Rockland County police for parole violations, including skipping three sex offender classes, hanging out at bars, failing to met with his PO, and moving to his own apartment from his parents’ home. At least 10 other women have reported various sexual violations by Melo, and officials suspect that the number of victims is much higher.

Besides Paramus, NJ police officials, other law enforcement officers have investigated Melo. Police Detective William Fritz became interested in Melo 2 years ago after complaints of sexual aggression against young women. “His behavior can be described like a predator,” Fritz said.

When minors are kidnapped by sex offenders, most of the time, the first 72 hours are the most critical (and this is the reason why Amber Alerts are issued). If a victim has not been found in the first three days alive, they probably won’t be. There is no reason to doubt this applies to adult victims as well as child victims. However, Garza’s Texas family, including her aunt Elma Esquivel, are holding out hope that for one young woman, things might turn out differently.

“He knows where she is. How come he don't tell us where she is?”

(Update 4-26-10) Laura Garza's body was found in Pennsylvania. Her remains were discovered by two ATV riders in a field April 11 in Olyphant Township, PA, near Scranton.

By April 13, Pennsylvania investigators determined the remains didn’t belong to a missing person in that state’s database. They notified state police in New York, and that led investigators to travel to Pennsylvania and obtain sample to use for the DNA tests.

New York State Police Capt. Wayne Olson said that “That DNA evidence has concluded that the remains are definitely those of Laura Garza...We’ve got a lot of legwork to do here.”  Convicted sex offender Richard Mele is still the only suspect in her murder. "Michael Mele has never been cooperative in this investigation," Olson said.

Miss Garza's remains and a Michael Kors wristwatch were found in a remote wooded area more than a half-mile from the nearest home. Two days after the discovery, investigators in Pennsylvania contacted state police in Middletown, N.Y., to see if the remains could belong to Miss Garza.

Now that the remains have been identified, both New York and Pennsylvania investigators will begin trying to determine the circumstances surrounding Miss Garza's death. For now, New York investigators have taken the lead in the investigation, though Lackawanna County District Attorney Andy Jarbola said his office, the state police and the county coroner's office are still involved in the investigation.

"New York authorities have jurisdiction," he said. "It is possible she was killed here, but I believe the evidence will dictate otherwise." He declined to elaborate.

Lt. Pierce Gallagher said officials plan to interview residents in the Olyphant area regarding possible recollections of suspicious activity around the time of Garza's disappearence and death.

Silver Spring man who stabbed wife to death in front of child sentenced to life without parole

A Montgomery County, MD man was sentenced to life without parole for stabbing his wife to death while their child was home. Lamour A. Harrison, 37, was stabbed to death by her own husband, 49 year old Claude Harrison, in their Silver Spring apartment.  He went from room to room, stabbing her with a 12-inch knife four times after he broke into the bedroom in which she barricaded herself with - their 18 year old daughter Shanoy's.

After arguing in the kitchen with his wife, Claude Harrison followed her to a bedroom, where she slammed the door between them, according to police. He then forced his way into the bedroom, according to the documents. Detectives think Lamour Harrison "attempted to barricade herself" inside their daughter's bedroom while Claude Harrison had the knife in his back pocket, according to Feeney. After forcing his way into the room, he stabbed her four times, [a law enforcement officer] said.

After the stabbing, he follows the victim into the kitchen, along with their daughter, and prosecutor Peter Feeney describes the last moments of the 37 year old mother's life during closing arguments.

"This is a horribly intimate picture. This is horrific. Dad and mom, Shanoy watching. He takes the knife, and if there's any question at all in your mind about premeditation, after the kitchen incident there ought not to be. He's talking to her. He's talking to his wife. ... And she says to him, 'Please, please.' His response – I mean she's begging, she's begging, begging – his response: 'Please what?'" Shanoy falls over her mother as she lay dying from the stab wounds which literally pierced her heart.

Brian D. Shefferman, Harrison's defense attorney argued that his client did not mean to kill his wife, saying that "Raw emotion got the better of Claude Harrison on August 10th. He snapped. He did an awful, awful thing...This clearly was not Claude Harrison’s normal way of dealing with stress and problems, and marital strife...What he did was completely wrong ... We know that," Shefferman said. "But this was not a premeditated and deliberate act. It was the result of raw emotion and frustration. Once he got control of that knife, he clearly lost control."

To establish premeditation, though, prosecutors don't have to show the defendant engaged in weeks or even minutes of planning. They can argue that the amount of time someone takes to weigh whether to kill or not need only be a matter of seconds. And in cases like Harrison's, when someone is accused of stabbing or shooting repeatedly, prosecutors will argue that the second, third or fourth attacks are themselves a matter of premeditation because the defendant had a chance to stop but didn't.

Feeney said that previous talk of hurting his wife and the choice of a 12 inch knife when smaller knives were available underscored Harrison's intent to kill. "He's looking for a knife that’s going to get the job done. There’s a butter knife. I don't want that. There's a regular steak-knife. I don't want that. There's a knife that you would use to chop an onion. That's not big enough. I want this. I want this. This is going to get the job done. He hunts her down, ladies and gentlemen," he says to the court, particularly the jury.

Jurors, persuaded by that argument, convicted Harrison of 1st degree murder February 25. Almost two months later, on April 22, Harrison was sentenced to life without parole. "This is yet another domestic-violence murder in front of a child. It's deeply troubling," said Montgomery County's chief prosecutor John McCarthy. Because Harrison was sentenced to life, the governor must sign off on any parole request, meaning he should die behind bars.

"Divorce party" murderer of ex-wife sentenced to life without parole for at least 10 years

Andy Passant and Naomi Corrigan, Evening Gazette

Brian Jones was sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in prison for butchering 34-year-old mum-of-two Katrina Jones at the former marital home in Church Close, Marske. Katrina was knifed 12 times after arguing with her ex-husband on November 27 last year. She had been decking out the house with banners and balloons to celebrate the end of their 10-year marriage.

Yesterday there were dramatic scenes at Teesside Crown Court as Jones was found guilty of murdering Katrina at the end of a two-week trial. Jones, 63, of Thrushwood Crescent, Marske, collapsed in the dock, at which point the judge called an adjournment while the defendant received attention.

The former doorman and bodybuilder, had denied murder, raising the defences of provocation and diminished responsibility.But after deliberating for more than seven hours the jury of six men and six women unanimously found him guilty of murder.

The trial judge, the Recorder of Middlesbrough Judge Peter Fox QC, told Jones: “The jury has found you guilty of murder. I am bound therefore to pass, as I now do, a sentence of life imprisonment.” There were gasps from the public gallery and members of Jones’ family wept.

Struggling to be heard above the sound of crying, the judge said he was satisfied Jones had gone to get the knife from a neighbour’s house before returning and stabbing Katrina.

“Your intention, I am clear, was to kill her,” he said. The judge said he accepted Jones had been provoked, but not to the degree needed for a legal defence. He also took into account his age, his physical health and the fact that he had no previous convictions for violence.

But he told Jones, who will be 64 later this year, he would have to serve a minimum of 10 years before being considered for parole. A tearful Jones tried unsuccessfully to address the judge before being led from the dock. Family members shouted out that they loved him.

Members of Katrina’s family, who remained dignified and calm during and after the trial, had been in court to hear the verdict. Afterwards Katrina’s mum Jean Evans paid an emotional tribute to her daughter outside court. In a statement, Mrs Evans said Katrina “was my baby and I miss her with all my heart”.

As the family waited nearby while Detective Sergeant Colin Helyer, relatives of Jones came out of the court and several hurled abuse. Gestures were made and one shouted: “He’ll be out in six and a half.”

The court heard how the couple had been married for 10 years.
In February 2009, Jones found out his wife was seeing someone else when he discovered a Valentine’s card.
Katrina filed for divorce although Jones was desperate to save their marriage. Jones said they still regularly had sex until about July last year and left his head “screwed up”.

He ended up moving to a flat in Thrushwood Crescent, Marske. But he spent much of the time staying with his former neighbour next door to Katrina. Police were called a number of times by Katrina, who was keeping a diary of the harassment she was suffering at the hands of Jones. The trial had heard how he had gone round to confront Katrina as she prepared to hold a divorce party.

He snapped after seeing the house had been decorated with banners, balloons and streamers. One poster read: “Katrina’s divorce party. Free at last.” There was also a photo of Jones with the message “Pin the tail on the ex”, the jury heard. Jones argued with Katrina and then went next door to get a knife before returning and repeatedly stabbing her.

He then dialled 999 and pleaded for help to save his former wife’s life. Jones said he was “devastated” when he became aware of the divorce party. He said: “I couldn’t believe she would do that, I couldn’t believe she would hurt me that much.” Jones said he remembered arguing with Katrina but couldn’t remember attacking her.

THE heartbroken mum of Katrina Jones told how she will never get over losing her youngest daughter.

Jean Evans, along with other members of Katrina’s family, remained dignified and calm throughout the trial, despite hearing horrific evidence of the attack and previous incidents of harassment suffered at the hand of Jones.

In a touching statement given after the case, Mrs Evans said: “Katrina was the youngest of my four children. She was my baby and I miss her with all my heart. “I miss being able to cuddle and hold her and I miss being able to tell her how much I love her and how proud she made me feel every day. In hindsight I wish that I had told her every day that I loved her, at least it would have made up for all the times that I will not be able to do that now. My life has changed for ever and it will never be the same again. I loved my daughter very much and still do.”

Mrs Evans, a widow who lives in Middlesbrough, described her daughter as “funny, caring and lovely to be around”. And she added that the whole family are struggling to come to terms with what happened to Katrina. “Mark, Phillip and Susan who are Katrina’s brothers and sister are totally heartbroken at Katrina’s death and this will affect them and their families for the rest of their lives,” she said.

“With regards to Jordan (Katrina’s son) his whole life has been turned upside down and thrown into chaos. Everything that he trusted and believed in has been taken away from him.” She asked that the family’s privacy be respected.

During the case, Katrina’s family heard that police were called to the house on several occasions and she was keeping a diary of his harassment.

Detective Sergeant Colin Helyer, who led the case, said: “This is one of the most extreme cases of domestic violence that I have ever dealt with and the victim endured months and months of abuse which has ultimately led to her death. “Throughout the court case, Katrina’s family have had to listen to a lot of painful and upsetting evidence given by various witnesses. They have remained dignified throughout this time. This is a just result for a horrific crime. I only hope that it brings some closure for the family and they can now move on with their lives.”

El Paso, TX woman gets light sentence for killing husband with knife

An El Paso, TX woman will only be in jail for a little under 2 months after her conviction of criminally negligent homicide in the stabbing death of her husband. Judge Bonnie Rangel sentenced the woman to 2 years after jurors acquitted her of murder and manslaughter on Friday. The killer, 25 year old Leslie Alvarado, was convicted of stabbing to death 32 year old Leopoldo Mosqueda, who bled to death after being attacked on November 4, 2007.

Both the prosecution and defense attorney accepted that Alvarado stabbed her husband in the arm intentionally. However, there were differences in their arguments about why the killing happened. The trial, presided over by 171st District Court Judge Bonnie Rangel, began Monday with closing arguments on Thursday.

During his closing argument Thursday, [defense attorney Ruben]Hernandez said that Alvarado stabbed her husband in self-defense.He argued that Leopoldo Mosqueda had tried to rape her the night he died. If Alvarado had wanted to kill Mosqueda, she would have stabbed him in a vital organ and not in the arm, he said.

But Assistant District Attorney Scott Ferguson argued that Alvarado purposely selected a large knife for the attack. Ferguson took the knife that killed Mosqueda and stabbed the air in front of the jury during his closing argument. "When you stab someone like this in the arm, two or three times, you know at the very least that she's intending to cause death or serious bodily injury," he said.

Ferguson also argued that a taped jail conversation of Alvarado showed that she had a motive for killing her husband because she had a relationship with a woman.

On Wednesday, April 21, prosecutors brought up an August 2003 incident in which Alvarado allegedly hit her husband with a bat, but the victim dropped charges. Dr. Timothy Proctor reviewed the records of both the victim and defendant, with the records showing that Alverado had been abused regularly, and Mosqueda was diagnosed as bipolar. "It was a very chaotic relationship, and what I saw was mutual aggression," Proctor said.

After Judge Rangel's sentencing, the victim's sister, Maria Teresa Mosqueda, said that despite the strained relationship with her brother, "I can never forgive you. Never." Hernandez told reporters "I think we're still happy with the result because it wasn't a murder. She didn't plan it, and she didn't want that result."

Judge Rangel sentenced Alvarado to 2 years for aggravated assault for attacking Vickie Dobson at a mall, causing head injuries.The aggravated assault sentence will be served concurrently with the homicide charges.

"Man" sentenced to 80 to life for murdering wife in front of 4 year old son

A 30 year old Omaha, NE "man" who beat, choked, and stabbed his wife to death in front of their 4 year old son was sentenced to 80 years to life by Douglas County District Judge J. Michael Coffey yesterday afternoon. Sonia Espinoza-Lucero, 34, was brutalkly murdered by her husband Johnny Rix, described as controlling and violent. Deputy Douglas County Attorney Kim Pankonin said that the murder scene was the worst she saw in 16 years as a prosecutor, but the DV leading up to it was all too typical. Rix plead no contect to murder and child endangerment.

A sweet woman, Sonia Espinoza-Lucero kept the couple's volatile relationship secret from her coworkers, friends, even family. She worked hard and raised the couple’s three sons — including 1-year-old twins, Pankonin said. And she dealt with the neverending specter of her husband’s temper.

Pankonin said Rix was "insanely jealous" and controlling. He drove his wife to work, constantly called to check on her and hounded her at home. It was the same behavior Rix was accused of in the late 1990s.

In that case, a Grand Island, NE woman's family helped their daughter escape the relationship while Rix was at work. "This was not unusual conduct for the defendant. And it resulted in the senseless loss of a mom, sister and friend. It was a gruesome, horrible death she did not deserve," Pankonin told the court.

The 4 year old witnessed the beating and murder, and was also traumatized because his father tried to jump of of a fast food restraraunt with him before police intervened.

"By the child’s interview he saw a good portion of it,” said Pankonin. “He was able to act it out to a therapist and act it out with a doll so he saw a good portion of it which is very, very sad.” 

He made a big mistake, he left three little kids without mom and dad and the big kid, he got too many problems, too many psychological problems ‘cause he saw everything and right now his behavior is not really good,” said Sonia's brother, Alex Espinoza.

The sentence breakdown is 60 to life for 1st degree murder, and 20 years, served consecutively to the 60 to life term, for use of a weapon during a felony. Rix must serve 40 years, or half the minimum term, before parole, something Pankonin believes Rix will never be granted.

Though Rix apologized for the pain he cause his wife's family, Judge Coffey said that "people have described her death as ‘horrific.’If you saw what has been done here, that might be mild. It was completely senseless. Extremely violent. I only hope the children can somehow put it aside."

Judging from the aftereffects on the now 6 year old boy, it looks like that will be a long way off.

AM Rapist gets 75 to life for attacks on San Diego area women

The AM Rapist, a man who terrorized San Diego area women between 2000 and 2001, will never hurt another woman again. He was sentenced to 75 to life yesterday in San Diego Superior Court by Judge Kerry Wells, who commended the victims for their perseverance. Judge Wells stated that she "hope[d] that you all know that what the defendant did to you does not define you. How you handled it defines you. What happened to each of you is every woman's nightmare. You all suffered an unimaginable trauma. You all fought to survive in your own way. I'm in awe of that."

The judge added: “There’s no question he deserves to die in prison.”

Authorities attributed a series of rapes that occurred from June 2000 to February 2001 in Ocean Beach, Mission Beach and the College Area to a suspect they dubbed the “A.M. Rapist.” The victims — all women in their mid-20s according to prosecutors — were awakened by an intruder who choked, fondled and raped them.

Each attack occurred in the pre-dawn hours, earning the sexual predator his nickname.

Eventually, DNA evidence linked [now 34 year old Stephen]Richardson, a former Navy man who had been stationed in San Diego at the time, to each of the crimes. According to court documents, Richardson was discharged from the Navy for psychological reasons and returned to the Chicago area in March 2001. At the time of his arrest, he was married, had earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees and worked in a management position at company earning $70,000 per year.

Richardson was arrested in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights last summer, and plead guilty to five counts of rape last month on the 12th. In addition, he is suspected of a sixth rape of an Arlington Heights woman who was sexually assaulted July 29, 2003, at 4AM. That DNA profile came back positive for a match with the other 5 assaults. Charges haven't yet been filed in that case, but the investigation is still continuing.

In court, with all five of his victims looking on, he claimed that  depression, loneliness, and lack on control led him to burglarize and rape, and also led to attempted suicide by drug overdose.

“I was on a destructive path with nothing to lose,” Richardson said. “Today I’ve lost everything that has ever mattered to me...What I have done to each of you has haunted me over the years. I always felt that I was living on borrowed time, but I can’t change the past.”

Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth McCluthchey called Richardson a "wolf in sheep's clothing" because the sex predator appeared to the outside world to be a family man and an upstanding member of the military. Her assessment was seconded by Richardson's wife, who said in a statement submitted to the court that she had been "lied to, deceived and betrayed."

This was seconded by two victims who chose to make an impact statement.

"Stephen Richardson almost killed me, and the assault was the worst thing I've ever gone through in my life. Perhaps [he]will come to realize how devastating his actions were."

A second woman believes that she's being watched whenever she goes to the grocery store, and worries for the safety of her daughter.