A mother who stabbed her husband in the same house that their kids lived in was sentenced to 9 years in the New York state prison system and 5 years post release supervision for the attack. According to prosecutors, this stemmed from a desire to cash in on a life insurance policy. The mother was sentenced in Saratoga County Court Judge Jerry Scarano's courtroom on December 2, 2010.
On the night of Nov. 9, 2009, deputies from the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office responded to a 911 call made by Thomas Vautrin from the home the couple shared with their two children, who were then 5 and 10 years old. Police arrived to discover both Thomas and Mary Jane had suffered serious stab wounds, and the couple were taken for treatment at Albany Medical Center.
Mary Jane Vautrin, 36, initially told police she was attacked by her husband. But investigators said her wounds were self-inflicted, so she was arrested and charged with a six-count indictment that included second-degree attempted murder. Those charges were later dropped in favor of a first-degree felony assault charge as part of a negotiated plea deal.
The stabbing incident was believed to be part of a plan to cash in on a life insurance policy in excess of $30,000, which the woman allegedly forged in her husband's name.
The victim impact statement by Thomas Vautrin,"We had a normal life, normal kids, normal problems. That changed one night about a year ago. On that night, I woke up to my wife stabbing me...Why would you want me dead?"
"When I was in the hospital, I prayed not to live through this," said Thomas Vautrin, who has "14 visible scars. "I can't deny I love you," Thomas Vautrin said to his wife in court Thursday morning.
He went on to explain, however, that the attack has had significant repercussions."The (children), pulled from their beds, seeing the blood-splattered walls ..." he said, his voice trailing off in the courtroom.
Thomas also read victim impact statements from the couple's two children. "I can't see you. I can't snuggle with you...No more doing holiday stuff. No putting up the tree. No Halloween with us," the younger child said.
Besides the prison sentence, Scarano issued a permanent order of protection for the victim against his wife.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Girl's basketball coach charged with child seduction for "affair" with 17 year old sentenced to house arrest
(Original Post 12-20-09)
An Indianapolis girls' basketball coach was charged with child seduction Friday, December 18 for having an "affair" with a 17 year old girl. Investigations believed that Sara Strahm, a 28 year old Pike High School basketball coach, began the "relationship" with her charge earlier in the fall. Pike officials notified police about the alleged relationship.
Sgt. Paul Thompson of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said his agency will give more details of the case Monday, when formal charges are filed. "We believe there were five instances of sexual contact between these two individuals. State law clearly states that if you're under 18, you can't give consent if it's a relationship with someone in a position of trust such as a school official." The Metro police department wants others to come forward just in case there are more victims.
Pike Township School Board member Nancy Poore stated that "I'm saddened to hear of an arrest. I'm not passing judgment on whether this is accurate information or whether anything will be proven against this person. . . . But I'm always saddened when I hear there's a problem related to one of our staff members."
Joe Johnson, a parent of a Pike student, said that "A lot of these parents work a lot of hours, and a coach is like a second family. When you get that trust and you break that, it's really disturbing."
Strahm was released on $5000 bond last night after processing at the Arrestee Processing Center.
(Update 12-24-09) Strahm was officially arraigned on six child seduction charges in an Indanapolis courtroom yesterday. There are more details about the allegetions which led to her arrest.
The affidavit said the 17-year-old student who reportedly was involved with the coach told Tiffany Thomas, another member of the school coaching staff. That information on the allegations was given to Pike Township Schools police and then passed along to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, which started its investigation Friday, the affidavit read.
An e-mail that had been sent to the Pike athletic director tipped investigators to the case. The athletic director, James Perkins, is quoted in the affidavit as saying there had been allegations about teacher and student earlier this autumn, that Strahm had denied the relationship, and that he had warned Strahm about contact with members of the basketball team. Both women initially denied, then admitted to the relationship, according to the affadavit.
The victim claimed she loved Strahm, according to the complaint. "She (the student) said she loves Ms. Strahm and did not want to get her in trouble." Strahm has been replaced by her assistant David Barlow,
father of a former standout.
(Update 12-9-10) Strahm was sentenced to a year in jail, with 185 days suspended and the rest on house arrest after pleading guilty to two counts of child seduction. The guilty plea took place November 22, 2010. In Indiana, child seduction carries a 1 to 3 year prison sentence and occurs when a person in a position of trust has sexual contact with a teen between 16 and 18.
The Marion County Prosecutor's Office said Strahm will be on probation for 185 days and must undergo sex offender treatment. She has a no-contact order with the victim. Strahm was ordered to give up her teaching license. Her felonies will be reduced to misdemeanors if she successfully completes probation.
Besides the above consequences, she was also ordered to undergo 240 hours of community service and fired from her coaching job in January.
(Update 12-24-09) Strahm was officially arraigned on six child seduction charges in an Indanapolis courtroom yesterday. There are more details about the allegetions which led to her arrest.
The affidavit said the 17-year-old student who reportedly was involved with the coach told Tiffany Thomas, another member of the school coaching staff. That information on the allegations was given to Pike Township Schools police and then passed along to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, which started its investigation Friday, the affidavit read.
An e-mail that had been sent to the Pike athletic director tipped investigators to the case. The athletic director, James Perkins, is quoted in the affidavit as saying there had been allegations about teacher and student earlier this autumn, that Strahm had denied the relationship, and that he had warned Strahm about contact with members of the basketball team. Both women initially denied, then admitted to the relationship, according to the affadavit.
The victim claimed she loved Strahm, according to the complaint. "She (the student) said she loves Ms. Strahm and did not want to get her in trouble." Strahm has been replaced by her assistant David Barlow,
father of a former standout.
(Update 12-9-10) Strahm was sentenced to a year in jail, with 185 days suspended and the rest on house arrest after pleading guilty to two counts of child seduction. The guilty plea took place November 22, 2010. In Indiana, child seduction carries a 1 to 3 year prison sentence and occurs when a person in a position of trust has sexual contact with a teen between 16 and 18.
The Marion County Prosecutor's Office said Strahm will be on probation for 185 days and must undergo sex offender treatment. She has a no-contact order with the victim. Strahm was ordered to give up her teaching license. Her felonies will be reduced to misdemeanors if she successfully completes probation.
Besides the above consequences, she was also ordered to undergo 240 hours of community service and fired from her coaching job in January.
Wife gets decade for "manslaughter" of husband
A woman who helped her "lover" to kill her husband was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment Wednesday, December 1, in a St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana courtroom. Kendra Talley, a 30 year old mother of an eight year old son, was sentenced to the decade long term after pleading guilty to 2nd degree manslaughter and crystal meth posession last month. Judge Peter Garcia presided over her trial. The "lover," Tommy D. Rowell Sr., is serving a mandatory life without parole sentence for 2nd degree murder.
The deadly night of Dec. 11, 2004, started when Kendra Talley left her home wearing a sweater, a T-shirt and jeans. Her husband stayed home to recover from surgery to remove his wisdom teeth.
Kendra Talley later met up with Rowell and slipped into a blouse, black miniskirt and knee-high boots, and they drove together to the French Quarter to feast on crystal meth, marijuana and potent "hand grenade" drinks, according to witness testimony from Rowell's trial.
They spent most of the evening and morning with friends at a Bourbon Street bar. There, Rowell and Talley argued after Talley gave Carnival beads to another man and flashed him by lifting her leg onto a railing, friends at the bar testified.
Finally, as the sun rose during their journey back across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, Kendra Talley told Rowell that her husband had raped her.
Rowell took Kendra Talley to her home at 108 Gratitude Drive. He honked his horn. Thomas Talley, who had been taking pain medication, stepped outside, wearing only his pajamas. Rowell drew a gun and shot the husband six times, twice point-blank to the head.
Rowell met Kendra when she was 15 and he was 27, meeting through her parents.
David Talley, the victim's brother said through his victim impact statement that the killing robbed the victim of family bonding time, including watching his son grow up. "I know my brother would like to take his son fishing, but he can't - because his life was taken by a selfish act....Zachary's birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter," he said. "The saddest thing in my life was seeing my little brother in his casket . . . all because of bad choices that were made."
Defense attorney Kevin McNary asked Judge Garcia to take into account the single parenting of his client and Zachary's high grades in school. He said his client was not the same person she was "when she was 24," completing a drug rehabilitation program.
Judge Garcia, focusing on the killing, told Talley, "You had a high degree of responsibility," sentencing her to the maximum possible in the plea deal.
The deadly night of Dec. 11, 2004, started when Kendra Talley left her home wearing a sweater, a T-shirt and jeans. Her husband stayed home to recover from surgery to remove his wisdom teeth.
Kendra Talley later met up with Rowell and slipped into a blouse, black miniskirt and knee-high boots, and they drove together to the French Quarter to feast on crystal meth, marijuana and potent "hand grenade" drinks, according to witness testimony from Rowell's trial.
They spent most of the evening and morning with friends at a Bourbon Street bar. There, Rowell and Talley argued after Talley gave Carnival beads to another man and flashed him by lifting her leg onto a railing, friends at the bar testified.
Finally, as the sun rose during their journey back across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, Kendra Talley told Rowell that her husband had raped her.
Rowell took Kendra Talley to her home at 108 Gratitude Drive. He honked his horn. Thomas Talley, who had been taking pain medication, stepped outside, wearing only his pajamas. Rowell drew a gun and shot the husband six times, twice point-blank to the head.
Rowell met Kendra when she was 15 and he was 27, meeting through her parents.
David Talley, the victim's brother said through his victim impact statement that the killing robbed the victim of family bonding time, including watching his son grow up. "I know my brother would like to take his son fishing, but he can't - because his life was taken by a selfish act....Zachary's birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter," he said. "The saddest thing in my life was seeing my little brother in his casket . . . all because of bad choices that were made."
Defense attorney Kevin McNary asked Judge Garcia to take into account the single parenting of his client and Zachary's high grades in school. He said his client was not the same person she was "when she was 24," completing a drug rehabilitation program.
Judge Garcia, focusing on the killing, told Talley, "You had a high degree of responsibility," sentencing her to the maximum possible in the plea deal.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Man who slept with, pimped grown daughter out sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, 15 years sex offender probation - daughter sentenced to probation
(Original Post 5-2-10)
A Palm Coast, FL man who prostituted and had sex with his grown daughter was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and 15 years of sex offender probation Friday, April 30. Alton Smith, 47, was sentenced after pleading guilty to two counts of incest, one count of living off the earnings of prostitution and 52 counts of possession of child pornography. After completion of prison, Smith will be subject to lifetime monitoring under Jessica's Law and civil commitment under Florida's Jimmy Ryce Act. The incest and prostitution counts were due to his pimping (and having sex with) his daughter Kristilyn. The incest led to a 3 year old son who is now in state custody. Because the incest happened in the presence of their son at their former business, Hot Shots A1A Models and Photography, one of the charges Smith plead guilty to was lewd and lascivious exhibition in the presence of a minor under 16.
A suspicious advertisement for an escort service led investigators to arrest Kristilyn Smith for prostitution on Dec. 12 [2008]. Alton Smith also was charged with being a principal to prostitution and was given a notice to appear in court. According to a police report, Smith admitted his daughter occasionally worked as a paid escort and he told police that those who answered his Internet ads usually would photograph or film his daughter in the nude.
When Flagler investigators returned to the Smiths' Palm Coast home with a search warrant later in December, they said they found photos of "hundreds" of children posed nude or engaged in sex acts.
Officials also arrested Smith's wife, Tina Marie Smith, 44, who is his daughter's stepmother. Tina Marie Smith had been jailed for 15 months until last month when she struck a deal, pleading guilty to aggravated child abuse in exchange for prosecutors dropping 37 counts of possession of child pornography against her. She was sentenced to 10 years sex offender probation and will not be listed as a sex offender.
Kristilyn will be sentenced at a later date for 3 counts of incest, prostitution, and child neglect.
(Update 11-23-10) Last Monday, November 16, Kristilyn was sentenced to 5 years probation in a Daytona Beach courtroom for a single charge of incest. Flagler County, FL Circuit Judge Kim C. Hammond dropped a second incest charge and a child neglect charge. Volusia County sentenced Kristilyn to 15 years probation for another incest charge. This concludes the criminal proceedings against her.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Sushi chef serial rapist gets 40 years with 34 to serve
Ortiz-Soto worked as a sushi chef at various Miami Beach restaurants, the last a rooftop sushi bar at the Gansevoort South Hotel. His spree included:
• Raping a woman he met outside Jerry's Famous Deli in November 2006. Claiming he owned his own sushi restaurant, Ortiz-Soto bought her a calzone then lured her to an alleyway off 14th Street and Collins Avenue.
• Raping a woman in an alley off Collins Avenue and Ninth Street. Ortiz-Soto spied her leaving Mango's Tropical Cafe and lured her into the alley by promising to sell her marijuana. ``Forgive me, I'm sorry,'' he told the woman after the attack, before running off.
• Attempting to rape a woman he met at The Office bar in September 2007. He brutally beat her in an alley off Fourth Street -- after offering her pizza -- but the woman was able to break free.
• Trying to rape a woman in an alley off Collins Avenue and 14th Street in July 2008. He punched the woman several times but was scared off by the screams of a passerby.
After the last attack, police officers saw Ortiz-Soto jump into a taxi with blood covered clothes, and surveillance cameras captured him to the act. According to prosecutor Ivonne Sanchez-Ledo, the perp left DNA evidence in the two rape cases. Ortiz-Soto confessed to the crimes after his arrest. Sanchez-Ledio and defense attorney Christopher DeCoste agreed to a three decade sentence, but Judge Venzer rejected that sentence as being too lenient., leading to the 40 year plea bargain. "You have irreparably changed the lives of your victims by your behavior.I do believe this sentence will sufficiently guarantee you do no more harm to our citizens.''
Bay Area serial rapist gets life for attacking four women
A Richmond, California man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for a rape spree committed against four women between 2007 and 2009 in his hometown and the nearby city of Oakland. Michael Edward Stevens, 30, was sentenced to 165 to life for 15 felonies and 2 misdemeanors. His conviction took place in July, and the sentencing took place Friday, November 5, presided over by Contra Costa County Superior Judge Laurel Brady. Crimes which merited the lifelong sentence included rape, rape in concert, various other sex crimes, false imprisonment and robbery.
Prosecutor Dana Filkowski argued at trial that Stevens is a serial rapist who took sexual pleasure in terrorizing the victims -- some of them prostitutes -- by using a gun and pretending to be an off-duty police officer after sweet-talking them into his car.
One of the victims was a deaf-mute homeless woman who testified Stevens kidnapped her off the street. Another said Stevens left her naked on the side of a road, after which she cloaked herself in a garbage bag and huddled in a portable toilet while she waited for police.
One woman said she was gang-raped by Stevens and a second man who had been hiding in Stevens' trunk when she first got into the vehicle. The second assailant was recently identified at Stevens' nephew, who was 14 when the New Year's Eve 2008 attack occurred.
The nephew, Frank Stevens Dean, now 16, is currently jailed in another county for an unrelated matter, Filkowski said. Once that case is resolved, he will be brought to Contra Costa County, where he has been charged as adult with six felonies, including rape and firearm enhancements.
One of Stevens’ victims said, ”I thank God that the victims are alive, and myself," she said. "I am happy to never see his face again." As for Stevens, just before sentencing, he said, "Murder me today, see me tomorrow... if not in this life, the next." Stevens said. "I assume that's not a threat," Brady said. "That's a promise," he replied.
Prosecutor Dana Filkowski argued at trial that Stevens is a serial rapist who took sexual pleasure in terrorizing the victims -- some of them prostitutes -- by using a gun and pretending to be an off-duty police officer after sweet-talking them into his car.
One of the victims was a deaf-mute homeless woman who testified Stevens kidnapped her off the street. Another said Stevens left her naked on the side of a road, after which she cloaked herself in a garbage bag and huddled in a portable toilet while she waited for police.
One woman said she was gang-raped by Stevens and a second man who had been hiding in Stevens' trunk when she first got into the vehicle. The second assailant was recently identified at Stevens' nephew, who was 14 when the New Year's Eve 2008 attack occurred.
The nephew, Frank Stevens Dean, now 16, is currently jailed in another county for an unrelated matter, Filkowski said. Once that case is resolved, he will be brought to Contra Costa County, where he has been charged as adult with six felonies, including rape and firearm enhancements.
One of Stevens’ victims said, ”I thank God that the victims are alive, and myself," she said. "I am happy to never see his face again." As for Stevens, just before sentencing, he said, "Murder me today, see me tomorrow... if not in this life, the next." Stevens said. "I assume that's not a threat," Brady said. "That's a promise," he replied.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Seattle serial rapist faces, gets mandatory life without parole sentence for rapes of homeless women
(Original Post 9-20-10)
A serial rapist who was convicted for attacks on two homeless women will be sentenced to life without parole after a Seattle jury convicted him of 2 counts of 2nd degree rape Thursday, September 16. The life sentence which 51 year old Frank Borders will serve upon his sentencing is a consequence of Washington State's three strikes law, which mandated the sentence for a third strike.The first rape was reported in December 2007, when a 55-year-old woman said Borders, her boyfriend's brother, raped her in the restroom at a downtown Seattle park. The investigation stalled, however, when the victim, who was homeless, disappeared for several months.
After the woman agreed to be interviewed by police the next October, Seattle police began posting fliers with Borders' photo at several downtown homeless shelters in search of other possible victims, according to the court documents.
On March 17, 2009, the day after a flier was posted at a YWCA shelter downtown, police were called by a woman who claimed Borders lured her into the woods with the promise they would smoke crack and assaulted her, court papers said.
The second victim testified during both trials that she didn't come forward earlier because she was convinced that nobody would care about what happened to her because she was homeless during the summer of 2007. She is now 48, off drugs and living in an apartment.
Senior Deputy Prosecutor Julie Kays said that due to Borders' 1981 rape conviction of attacking a 18 year old woman for which he served a year in jail and 5 years probation, life without parole is mandatory. "These 12 people protected our community and our very vulnerable by finding him guilty. I have no doubt that if he were released he would re-offend. These 12 people got it that it doesn't matter if you're homeless and an addict you will still get justice."
Borders' attorney, Julie Gaisford, begged to differ, citing the fact that one of the victims was high on crack cocaine and that other did not reliably identify her client. "You glimpse truth over your shoulder, you never see it head on."
(Update 11-4-10) Borders was formally sentenced Friday, October 29, to life without parole by Superior Court Judge Helen Halpert. Before sentencing, Kays said that for targeting vulnerable women, "He preyed on vulnerable women and he banked on the fact no one would care if they came forward.He deserves, based on his conduct alone, to spend the rest of his life in prison."
One of Borders' victims said that the sentencing itself showed that at least in some cases, the justice system does work for vulnerable victims. That victim said that because of Borders' imprisonment, "I do matter.It's a shame he's thrown away his life. I'm trying to rebuild mine." That victim is no longer homeless.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
20 year old man arrested in live rape of "girlfriend" pleads guilty in Phoenix court
(Original Post 6-3-09)
A 20 year old Phoenix man was charged with 2 counts of sexual assault, a count of kidnapping, and a count of taking a surreptitious photo. John Hock, 20, had allegedly assaulted the victim, who he knew for a couple of months, on February 26, with the victim alerting police in early March.
Hock set up a computer with a webcam and sexually assaulted a woman he knew as she was passed out from drinking alcohol, according to a Phoenix police probable cause statement released on Monday.
As he did this, he signed onto a Web account and broadcasted the sexual assault live on the Internet, the statement said. The video was then posted to a Web site where it was repeatedly played until the site pulled it off, police said.
Police said Hock raped the woman in her own bedroom after she had been asleep for four to five hours.
She learned about the video after receiving text messages from her friends. After she signed up, the victim found photos of her nude from the waist down. Hock allegedly commented that he knew the victim was passed out and that he was having sex with her without her knowledge.
(Update 9-6-10) Hock plead guilty to attempted sexual assault and voyeurism Thursday, September 2 in Maricopa County Superior Court for the attack. He's expected to be sentenced October 8. Apparentely, Hock is known online for his risque videoes. It is also thought that Hock specifically groomed the victim for the assault.
(Update 10-26-10) On Wednesday, October 20, Hock was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison and lifetime parole supervision. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Hannah presided over the sentencing. The victim said, "I opened up my home to him and ended up being molested and videotaped while sleeping."
When Judge Hannah asked about the sentence, the victim said "I think it should be more, Your Honor." Hock said that "I don't think it's fair that I should be a sex offender for the rest of my life over this."
A 20 year old Phoenix man was charged with 2 counts of sexual assault, a count of kidnapping, and a count of taking a surreptitious photo. John Hock, 20, had allegedly assaulted the victim, who he knew for a couple of months, on February 26, with the victim alerting police in early March.
Hock set up a computer with a webcam and sexually assaulted a woman he knew as she was passed out from drinking alcohol, according to a Phoenix police probable cause statement released on Monday.
As he did this, he signed onto a Web account and broadcasted the sexual assault live on the Internet, the statement said. The video was then posted to a Web site where it was repeatedly played until the site pulled it off, police said.
Police said Hock raped the woman in her own bedroom after she had been asleep for four to five hours.
She learned about the video after receiving text messages from her friends. After she signed up, the victim found photos of her nude from the waist down. Hock allegedly commented that he knew the victim was passed out and that he was having sex with her without her knowledge.
(Update 9-6-10) Hock plead guilty to attempted sexual assault and voyeurism Thursday, September 2 in Maricopa County Superior Court for the attack. He's expected to be sentenced October 8. Apparentely, Hock is known online for his risque videoes. It is also thought that Hock specifically groomed the victim for the assault.
(Update 10-26-10) On Wednesday, October 20, Hock was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison and lifetime parole supervision. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Hannah presided over the sentencing. The victim said, "I opened up my home to him and ended up being molested and videotaped while sleeping."
When Judge Hannah asked about the sentence, the victim said "I think it should be more, Your Honor." Hock said that "I don't think it's fair that I should be a sex offender for the rest of my life over this."
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Saudi prince who murdered servant "lover" sentenced to life with 20 year minimum
A Saudi prince who used his servant as a "human punchbag" was jailed for life today for beating and strangling him to death. Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud, 34, stood with his arms folded and showed no emotion as he was told he must serve a minimum term of 20 years in jail.
The prince killed 32-year-old Bandar Abdulaziz in a brutal assault with a "sexual element" at their five-star hotel in central London in February. It was the culmination of a campaign of "sadistic" abuse including a previous "nasty" assault in a hotel lift weeks before.
Mr Justice Bean told the prince, who had tried to claim diplomatic immunity when he was first arrested: "No-one in this country is above the law." Saud, a member of one of the world's wealthiest and most powerful families, did not flinch as the judge described the injuries he had inflicted on the "subservient" Mr Abdulaziz.
The judge said: "I cannot be sure that you intended to kill your victim. I think the most likely explanation is that you could not care less whether you killed him or not." Saud, shaven-headed and wearing a black top, was watched from the public gallery by his father Prince Abdulaziz, looking ashen-faced and glancing between his son in the dock and the judge passing sentence.
An Old Bailey jury heard how the prince bit his victim hard on both cheeks during his murderous attack at their suite in the Landmark hotel in Marylebone. Saud was fuelled by champagne and Sex on the Beach cocktails when he began the ferocious beating after a Valentine's Day night out.
He was found guilty of murder as well as a second count of grievous bodily harm with intent relating to the attack in the lift. If he ever returns to his home country, Saud faces the possibility of execution because being gay is a capital offence there, and he could seek asylum in Britain when he is eventually released.
The judge said: "It is very unusual for a prince to be in the dock on a murder charge. But your trial has proceeded in just the same way as anyone else's would in this court. No one in this country is above the law. It would be wrong for me to sentence you either more severely or more leniently because of your membership of the royal family in Saudi Arabia. You killed Bandar in the course of a sustained and ferocious assault. You were in a position of domination over him, as demonstrated both by the lift incident and by the sexually explicit photographs you took of him, at some point prior to February 15, which were found on your mobile phone. Bandar was a vulnerable victim, entirely subjugated to your will. You were in a position of authority and trust over him which you exploited ruthlessly. Whether or not your relationship with him had involved sexual intercourse as well makes no difference to sentence in this case."
Saud's initial claim that the aide's injuries were caused by a mugging were exposed after police discovered CCTV footage of the lift attack on January 22. The judge said: "The most chilling aspect of that footage is that your victim did not resist at all. He was so completely subservient to you that after being treated as a human punchbag he followed you meekly out of the lift."
The attack left the aide's ear swollen to three times the normal size and "beyond medical treatment".
Saud did not take him to hospital and inflicted a further attack in the lift on a later occasion - further evidence, said the judge of "this having been a violent and abusive relationship over a period of weeks if not longer".
The attack which killed Mr Abdulaziz left him with so many injuries, including bleeding in the brain, a fractured larynx and bruising in the abdomen, that pathologists could not say for certain what caused his death.
Saud had murdered him between 1.40am and 2.40am and spent the next 12 hours on the phone "working out his options". "If you had any remorse you would have sought medical help immediately. But you were only concerned for yourself," said the judge.
The prince told a "pack of lies" to paramedics and police before admitting he carried out the killing shortly before the trial - claiming it was manslaughter but not murder, he added. "To this day you have not explained why you killed him."
A prosecution application for costs was adjourned to be heard on Friday. The sentence spells an end to the gay prince's luxury playboy lifestyle in which he dined in fine restaurants and was attended by male escorts in his hotel room.
A gay masseur who visited him there described the "dashing" Saud as a cross between Omar Sharif and Nigel Havers. In court, his lawyers made a failed bid before the trial started to stop evidence of his homosexuality being made public.
The suave prince pretended Mr Abdulaziz was his friend and travelling companion but no-one seemed aware of the darker side of his treatment of the aide.
Jonathan Laidlaw QC, prosecuting, said: "Beneath the surface this was a deeply abusive relationship which the defendant exploited for sadistic reasons, for his own personal gratification." Mr Laidlaw said the assault leading to the aide's death "was a really terrible, a really brutal attack".
Saud, who told detectives he was the grandson of the Saudi king, had denied killing his servant until shortly before the trial, before finally admitting that he had caused his death. Jurors rejected a claim by his barrister John Kelsey-Fry QC that he was only guilty of manslaughter. Detective Chief Inspector John McFarlane said: "He treated Bandar with utter contempt."
The prince killed 32-year-old Bandar Abdulaziz in a brutal assault with a "sexual element" at their five-star hotel in central London in February. It was the culmination of a campaign of "sadistic" abuse including a previous "nasty" assault in a hotel lift weeks before.
Mr Justice Bean told the prince, who had tried to claim diplomatic immunity when he was first arrested: "No-one in this country is above the law." Saud, a member of one of the world's wealthiest and most powerful families, did not flinch as the judge described the injuries he had inflicted on the "subservient" Mr Abdulaziz.
The judge said: "I cannot be sure that you intended to kill your victim. I think the most likely explanation is that you could not care less whether you killed him or not." Saud, shaven-headed and wearing a black top, was watched from the public gallery by his father Prince Abdulaziz, looking ashen-faced and glancing between his son in the dock and the judge passing sentence.
An Old Bailey jury heard how the prince bit his victim hard on both cheeks during his murderous attack at their suite in the Landmark hotel in Marylebone. Saud was fuelled by champagne and Sex on the Beach cocktails when he began the ferocious beating after a Valentine's Day night out.
He was found guilty of murder as well as a second count of grievous bodily harm with intent relating to the attack in the lift. If he ever returns to his home country, Saud faces the possibility of execution because being gay is a capital offence there, and he could seek asylum in Britain when he is eventually released.
The judge said: "It is very unusual for a prince to be in the dock on a murder charge. But your trial has proceeded in just the same way as anyone else's would in this court. No one in this country is above the law. It would be wrong for me to sentence you either more severely or more leniently because of your membership of the royal family in Saudi Arabia. You killed Bandar in the course of a sustained and ferocious assault. You were in a position of domination over him, as demonstrated both by the lift incident and by the sexually explicit photographs you took of him, at some point prior to February 15, which were found on your mobile phone. Bandar was a vulnerable victim, entirely subjugated to your will. You were in a position of authority and trust over him which you exploited ruthlessly. Whether or not your relationship with him had involved sexual intercourse as well makes no difference to sentence in this case."
Saud's initial claim that the aide's injuries were caused by a mugging were exposed after police discovered CCTV footage of the lift attack on January 22. The judge said: "The most chilling aspect of that footage is that your victim did not resist at all. He was so completely subservient to you that after being treated as a human punchbag he followed you meekly out of the lift."
The attack left the aide's ear swollen to three times the normal size and "beyond medical treatment".
Saud did not take him to hospital and inflicted a further attack in the lift on a later occasion - further evidence, said the judge of "this having been a violent and abusive relationship over a period of weeks if not longer".
The attack which killed Mr Abdulaziz left him with so many injuries, including bleeding in the brain, a fractured larynx and bruising in the abdomen, that pathologists could not say for certain what caused his death.
Saud had murdered him between 1.40am and 2.40am and spent the next 12 hours on the phone "working out his options". "If you had any remorse you would have sought medical help immediately. But you were only concerned for yourself," said the judge.
The prince told a "pack of lies" to paramedics and police before admitting he carried out the killing shortly before the trial - claiming it was manslaughter but not murder, he added. "To this day you have not explained why you killed him."
A prosecution application for costs was adjourned to be heard on Friday. The sentence spells an end to the gay prince's luxury playboy lifestyle in which he dined in fine restaurants and was attended by male escorts in his hotel room.
A gay masseur who visited him there described the "dashing" Saud as a cross between Omar Sharif and Nigel Havers. In court, his lawyers made a failed bid before the trial started to stop evidence of his homosexuality being made public.
The suave prince pretended Mr Abdulaziz was his friend and travelling companion but no-one seemed aware of the darker side of his treatment of the aide.
Jonathan Laidlaw QC, prosecuting, said: "Beneath the surface this was a deeply abusive relationship which the defendant exploited for sadistic reasons, for his own personal gratification." Mr Laidlaw said the assault leading to the aide's death "was a really terrible, a really brutal attack".
Saud, who told detectives he was the grandson of the Saudi king, had denied killing his servant until shortly before the trial, before finally admitting that he had caused his death. Jurors rejected a claim by his barrister John Kelsey-Fry QC that he was only guilty of manslaughter. Detective Chief Inspector John McFarlane said: "He treated Bandar with utter contempt."
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Passaic, NJ man gets LWOP for ax murder of wife
[34-year-old Fernando] Chireno was convicted of murder in June, after jurors rejected his insanity defense. The victim, who was 26 when she died, had a restraining order against him because of past domestic violence. She ran for her life from her Myrtle Avenue home on April 18, 2008, after Chireno broke in. The couple's children were left in the bedroom as Mrs. Chireno was stabbed 15 times and left in a pool of blood on the street. She died a short time later in surgery.
Before sentencing, Chireno "apologized " to the victim's mother, Carlita Pozo. “From the deepness of my heart, I am sorry. I lost my mind. I was having problems and no one was helping me. I know nothing is going to give you your daughter back, but I, too, lost her. Please, I ask from my heart that you forgive me.”
Judge Reddin issued this statement while handing down the LWOP sentence. “It boggles my mind to think that a human being could do to another human being what he did to Luisa Chireno This was not a spur-of-the-moment attack. He went out and bought the ax. He goes to her house at 2 in the morning. He ripped the hair right out of her head. That’s the savagery of this crime, He buried that ax in her back, and he walked away from the scene.”
Pozo fainted after the sentencing and had to be led out of the courtroom.
Jealous northern England man sentenced to life without parole for at least 30 years for murder of nurse
By Peter Magill [Burnley chief reporter]
FORMER ambulance technician who murdered his ex-girlfriend while on bail for her rape was jailed for a minimum of 30 years today. Ambulance technician and bouncer Jonathan Vass, 30, launched a frenzied knife attack on nurse and mother-of-one Jane Clough, 26, as she arrived for work at Blackpool Victoria Hospital in July. She was admitted to the hospital’s accident and emergency unit where she worked as colleagues tried in vain to save her.
Vass, described as “manipulative and controlling”, was freed to kill after being given bail while awaiting trial over allegations that he had repeatedly raped her. The rape charges were dropped after the murder. John and Penny Clough, her parents, were angered by both decisions - first to free him and then to let the rape charges lie on file. They sat in the public gallery just yards from Vass in the dock as he was jailed for life at Preston Crown Court after pleading guilty to murder at an earlier hearing.
Judge Anthony Russell QC handed down the mandatory life sentence before telling Vass he will serve a minimum of 30 years before he can be considered for release. Vass wept uncontrollably, covering his face his hands as he was told he would only be eligible for parole in 2040.
The victim’s parents and family wept and hugged each other as the court heard for the first time that, after stabbing and slashing Miss Clough with a 3in (7.6cm) blade, he walked away momentarily, then went back seconds later to finish her off.
”As she lay bleeding you walked away but then returned and slowly, deliberately and cold-bloodedly slit her throat,” Judge Russell said as he passed sentence. ”It is difficult to imagine a more horrific crime than this murder. Furthermore it was a crime motivated by real hatred and revenge. This was a deliberate, brutal and callous murder for which you have shown no remorse and no care for your own daughter. Jane Clough was a nurse who devoted her life to the care of others. She had the misfortune to become involved with you. She bore your child and then you murdered her, leaving your infant child without a mother and with the prospect of growing up to learn one day that her father murdered her mother.”
The court heard that Miss Clough kept a diary, detailing her abuse and fears of Vass and what he might do.
She and her family, who held a protest outside court before the case began this morning, were “rocked and devastated” when he was bailed on the rape charges, leaving Miss Clough “extremely concerned for her safety”. She left home to live with her parents and recorded in her diary that she was worried “Johnny was going to do something stupid”.
He had been relying on her to drop the charges.
Another entry read of fears he would “get his revenge”, adding: “What’s he going to do?”
Dennis Watson QC, prosecuting, said it was clear the motive for the murder was to prevent Miss Clough giving evidence. Mr Watson said the couple met while both working at the hospital but their relationship was troubled because of Vass.
”He was a jealous man who wished to dominate and have complete control over Jane despite the fact that, unknown to her, he was carrying on a relationship with two other women at the same time,” Mr Watson told the court. By early 2009 Miss Clough was pregnant but Vass had become controlling and “sexually demanding”.
In November that year she plucked up courage to report him to police, telling officers of the months of physical and sexual abuse and the repeated rapes even when she was seven months pregnant.
Text messages between the pair were read out.
Miss Clough sent him a message saying: “You have hurt, raped and reduced me to tears on countless occasions... and you want to get engaged and have more kids? Why?” He replied: “We are staying together regardless of our problems.” A second text read: “Why should you come back? To push me about, grab me, rip my clothes off, make me cry...” Another said: “You physically and sexually abuse me. You threatened to kill me the other night.”
Vass’s replies read: “Please can I come home... best behaviour promise”, and “I do love you Janey. Either get pregnant or engaged. Your choice.”
Vass was charged with nine rapes and assault in November 2009 and told a work colleague, an ex-boyfriend of Miss Clough, if he was found guilty he would kill her - but the threat was dismissed as “bravado”. When it became clear she was prepared to give evidence in court Vass decided to take “retribution”, the court heard.
FORMER ambulance technician who murdered his ex-girlfriend while on bail for her rape was jailed for a minimum of 30 years today. Ambulance technician and bouncer Jonathan Vass, 30, launched a frenzied knife attack on nurse and mother-of-one Jane Clough, 26, as she arrived for work at Blackpool Victoria Hospital in July. She was admitted to the hospital’s accident and emergency unit where she worked as colleagues tried in vain to save her.
Vass, described as “manipulative and controlling”, was freed to kill after being given bail while awaiting trial over allegations that he had repeatedly raped her. The rape charges were dropped after the murder. John and Penny Clough, her parents, were angered by both decisions - first to free him and then to let the rape charges lie on file. They sat in the public gallery just yards from Vass in the dock as he was jailed for life at Preston Crown Court after pleading guilty to murder at an earlier hearing.
Judge Anthony Russell QC handed down the mandatory life sentence before telling Vass he will serve a minimum of 30 years before he can be considered for release. Vass wept uncontrollably, covering his face his hands as he was told he would only be eligible for parole in 2040.
The victim’s parents and family wept and hugged each other as the court heard for the first time that, after stabbing and slashing Miss Clough with a 3in (7.6cm) blade, he walked away momentarily, then went back seconds later to finish her off.
”As she lay bleeding you walked away but then returned and slowly, deliberately and cold-bloodedly slit her throat,” Judge Russell said as he passed sentence. ”It is difficult to imagine a more horrific crime than this murder. Furthermore it was a crime motivated by real hatred and revenge. This was a deliberate, brutal and callous murder for which you have shown no remorse and no care for your own daughter. Jane Clough was a nurse who devoted her life to the care of others. She had the misfortune to become involved with you. She bore your child and then you murdered her, leaving your infant child without a mother and with the prospect of growing up to learn one day that her father murdered her mother.”
The court heard that Miss Clough kept a diary, detailing her abuse and fears of Vass and what he might do.
She and her family, who held a protest outside court before the case began this morning, were “rocked and devastated” when he was bailed on the rape charges, leaving Miss Clough “extremely concerned for her safety”. She left home to live with her parents and recorded in her diary that she was worried “Johnny was going to do something stupid”.
He had been relying on her to drop the charges.
Another entry read of fears he would “get his revenge”, adding: “What’s he going to do?”
Dennis Watson QC, prosecuting, said it was clear the motive for the murder was to prevent Miss Clough giving evidence. Mr Watson said the couple met while both working at the hospital but their relationship was troubled because of Vass.
”He was a jealous man who wished to dominate and have complete control over Jane despite the fact that, unknown to her, he was carrying on a relationship with two other women at the same time,” Mr Watson told the court. By early 2009 Miss Clough was pregnant but Vass had become controlling and “sexually demanding”.
In November that year she plucked up courage to report him to police, telling officers of the months of physical and sexual abuse and the repeated rapes even when she was seven months pregnant.
Text messages between the pair were read out.
Miss Clough sent him a message saying: “You have hurt, raped and reduced me to tears on countless occasions... and you want to get engaged and have more kids? Why?” He replied: “We are staying together regardless of our problems.” A second text read: “Why should you come back? To push me about, grab me, rip my clothes off, make me cry...” Another said: “You physically and sexually abuse me. You threatened to kill me the other night.”
Vass’s replies read: “Please can I come home... best behaviour promise”, and “I do love you Janey. Either get pregnant or engaged. Your choice.”
Vass was charged with nine rapes and assault in November 2009 and told a work colleague, an ex-boyfriend of Miss Clough, if he was found guilty he would kill her - but the threat was dismissed as “bravado”. When it became clear she was prepared to give evidence in court Vass decided to take “retribution”, the court heard.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Female swim coach charged with sexual abuse of 17 year old girl pleads guilty, sentenced to year in jail
Sarah Blessing, a 27 year old South Plainfield, NJ woman who is a 5th grade teacher and Edison, NJ swim coach, was charged Wednesday, December 2 with sexually exploiting a 17 year old swim student at Bishop George Ahr High School. Blessing was formally charged with sexual assault, criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a girl, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan and Edison police chief Thomas Bryan.
The relationship lasted for 6 months, from June to her arrest, according to officials, and was found out when Diocese of Metuchen officials notified Edison police. The Metuchen Dioscese fired Blessing from her swim coach job, a job she held for four years. "The Diocese and Bishop Ahr High School is shocked and saddened to learn of these allegations," officials said in a statement [December 1, 2009]. We, of course, take matters of this nature very seriously."
Blessing , a 5th grade teacher at Park Middle School in Scotch Plains, was suspended from that job pending the outcome of her case. She is being held on $150,000 bond without a cash option at the Middlesex County Jail in North Brunswick. Superior Court Judge James Mulvihill has ordered that Blessing not contact her victim.
Authorities ask that anybody with information about Blessing call Investigator Raj Chopra of the prosecutor’s office at (732) 745-3600, or Edison police detectives Michael Michalski or Tim Farrell at (732) 248-7525.
(Update 8-6-10) Blessing plead guilty yesterday to criminal sexual contact and witness tampering in front of MIddlesex County Judge Judge Joseph Paone, according to prosecutors. She must forfeit her teaching certificate and the right to hold public sector jobs in New Jersey. Blessing must also undergo mental health treatment and have no contact with the victim or girls under 18 without supervision.
She is expected to be sentenced to a year in jail when Judge Paone formally sentences Blessing on September 30.
(Update 10-2-10) Blessing was sentenced to 364 days in jail and 5 years probation September 30, 2010 by Judge Paone. At the sentencing hearing, Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Christie Bevacqua said that Blessing met the victim during a troubled period for the girl. The victim's mother asked Blessing to "watch out for her," but instead Blessing "took my daughter's innocence away." ""The betrayal of trust is a huge thing here," said Bevacqua.
Before the sentencing Blessing read a statement saying "I wasn't manipulative. It wasn't predatory. I had feelings for this person."
Blessing will not be allowed to have any contact with the victim or any unsupervised contact with females under the age of 18 and must undergo mental health counseling. Under the sentence, she can no longer teach and will be barred from holding public employment in New Jersey.
Blessing faced a maximum sentence of a decade behind bars. Criminal sexual contact is a felony which lands one on the sex offender list for life under New Jersey's Megan's Law.
Taken from a New Jersey lawyer's site:
Criminal sexual contact is a third degree charge and if a person is convicted of this crime they will face 3 to 5 years in prison, and serious fines. Additionally, the person will be required to register under New Jersey's Megan's law which is a lifelong notification system in which the local community where the offender lives is provided with his personal information and details about the crime for which he was convicted.
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