27 to life for rape of coed by fellow college student

Former Cuesta College student David Andrew Shenosky was sentenced to 27 to life on Friday, April 22, 2011 for the rape and kidnapping of a fellow student on March 27, 2010. The 23 year old plead no contest under San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge John Trice

After the incident, her eyes had broken blood vessels, consistent with the choking she described, and an examination found that she had been raped, police said. Police found a note on Shenosky’s computer expressing his regret for hurting her. The note said he loved her and wished the incident had never happened. According to the woman’s statements to police, Shenosky drove her home to San Luis Obispo after the rape and then she told her roommates, later describing the events to police.

Shenosky's sentence is as follows : 15 years to life on a single count of forcible rape, and 12 years for 2 counts of felony sexual penetration by a foreign object and a count of kidnapping, all to be served consecutively.

Man who shot father-in-law to death while stalking estranged wife sentenced to 50 years

A man who shot his father-in-law to death at a mall while gunning for his estranged wife was sentenced to 50 years without parole. Michael James Young Jr, 25, was sentenced in a Lexington County, SC courtroom Monday, April 11 after pleading guilty to murder and assault with intent to kill for the shooting of his estranged wife, then 21 year old Shaunna Bell, and her father, a retired US Air Force officer, 49 year old Robert Lynn Bell, on June 13, 2007 in the Columbiana Center mall parking lot.

Before the deadly shooting four days shy of Father’s Day that year, Bell had called police to report that Young threatened to destroy the kiosk at the mall where she sold computers and told her he didn’t care if she lost her job. He also damaged her parents’ vehicle. She told police at the time that Young was known to carry a snub-nosed .38-caliber revolver.

Her father had been driving Bell to and from work for several weeks in an attempt to keep Young away from his daughter, said Robert Rikard, a Columbia lawyer hired by the family.

The Bells are suing the security company, saying that they did not do enough to protect Shaunna from her husband's stalking. While Young was banned from the mall, the supervisor on duty was not informed of this fact.

Shaunna said in her victim impact statement, "I think about getting married and not having anyone to walk me down the aisle. My father/daughter dance was taken from me. When my mom’s birthday or Mother’s Day comes around, I do not have anyone to secretly call for details of what she has been wanting.”

Young has accepted his responsibility for the mall shooting and has expressed his remorse “innumerable” times, his lawyer, John Delgado, said. “He considers it a life sentence, but he considers it a just sentence for what he did.” Despite Young’s imposing size, his aggression toward women “was his way of being able to assert himself in the world,” Delgado said, saying Young had no self esteem.
“He’s a completely different person now,” the lawyer said.

The 50 year sentence for murder will be served concurrently with the assault with intent to kill. In exchange for the guilty plea, Young saw four stalking charges, and single charges of forgery, telephone harassment, and assault with intent to kill. Judge Thomas Russo was the presiding judge over this case.

Victoria, BC teens sentenced to 10 to life for rape slaying of 18 year old girl

By Louise Dickson, Postmedia News [Vancouver Sun]

Kruse Wellwood, one of two teens sentenced to life in prison for the brutal rape and murder of 18-year old Kimberly Proctor last year, is the son of a convicted murderer.

On Monday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Johnston sentenced Wellwood, 17, and Cameron Moffat, 18, as adults and lifted the publication ban that had been protecting their identities since their arrest last June. Proctor was lured to a home, then tortured, beaten and sexually assaulted before she was killed. Her body was dumped and burned on a hiking trail in March 2010.

In eerily similar circumstances, Wellwood's father, Robert Dezwaan, is serving a life sentence for the 2001 murder of 16-year-old Cherish Billy Oppenheim in Merritt. Dezwaan got her drunk, sexually assaulted her and beat her to death. He left her badly damaged body covered with rocks and debris off a deserted road -where he later took RCMP after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Dezwaan committed the crime while out on bail for a previous sexual assault.

At Monday's sentencing in a packed Victoria courtroom, Johnston ruled a youth sentence would not be long enough to hold the teens accountable for their crimes. He imposed the maximum adult sentence available for young offenders.

"It goes without saying first-degree murder with intent to kill is the most serious of offences. The circumstances of this murder as admitted by the young persons are so horrific that no words can adequately convey the inhumane cruelty these young men showed Miss Proctor," said Johnston. "They planned in advance to sexually assault and kill Miss Proctor. They chose her because they thought she would be an easy target, not necessarily because either of them had any ill will towards her."

Members of Proctor's family, including mother Lucia and father Fred, filled the front row of the courtroom. Lucia wiped away tears as Wellwood stood, hands clasped in front, with lawyer Bob Jones by his side as he was sentenced to life in prison.

Defence lawyer Steven Kelliher stood by Moffat, who appeared unemotional as he was sentenced to life in prison.

Outside court, Fred Proctor called the teens "animals" and said they deserve to die a long, slow, painful death."I don't even like to call them animals because Kim was such an animal lover," said Lucia. "To me they're just monsters and monsters are not rehabilitatable."

She lashed out at Wellwood's and Moffat's parents, saying they should have done something about their sons' risky behaviour before it escalated. "This didn't happen overnight this behaviour. You see the signs. You know when something is wrong with your child."

In October, Wellwood and Moffat pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of Proctor, whose badly burned body was found under a bridge on the Galloping Goose Trail on March 19, 2010. The two admitted they lured the Grade 12 student to Wellwood's home, tied her up, gagged her, sexually assaulted her, beat her, suffocated her and mutilated her body with a knife. They then put her body in a freezer. The next day, they put it in a duffel bag and took it by bus to the Galloping Goose Trail.

Johnston also sentenced Wellwood and Moffat to five-year concurrent sentences on the charge of indignity to human remains, authorized the taking of DNA samples from the teens, and imposed a 10-year firearms prohibition.

Charges of sexual assault and unlawful confinement were stayed last week during the grim two-day sentencing hearing in which Crown prosecutor Peter Juk urged Johnston to impose adult sentences for the protection of the public.

Wellwood's father's crimes bear a striking similarity to the rape and murder of Proctor. The details of Dezwaan's offences can only be published now that the judge has lifted a publication ban on Wellwood's and Moffat's identities.

Before his murder conviction, Dezwaan had been arrested in March 2001 for sexual assault with a weapon, confinement, and robbery of a young woman in Kelowna. That followed a 1993 incident in which he was convicted of unlawful confinement and break and enter after he broke into a woman's home at night, climbed on her and tried to stuff a rag in her mouth.

A letter written by Wellwood and read in court last week, said: "As a child, I hated my father for what he had done. I felt I was less than him and now I find I have become a worse man. If you told me 10 years ago that I would commit one of the worst murders in British Columbia, I would not have believed you."

Court-ordered psychiatric and psychological reports on the teens show they are a high risk to reoffend violently and sexually. The reports also show there is little chance they can be rehabilitated.

Wellwood has been diagnosed as a sexual sadist -someone who derives sexual gratification from inflicting pain -with very strong psychopathic traits and strong indicators for necrophilia, an erotic attraction to corpses. A psychologist found he was aroused by the physical and psychological suffering of others, had rape fantasies and was interested in bondage and sexual asphyxia.

Moffat was not diagnosed as a sexual sadist but has a tendency to sexual deviance and the risk and thrill that go along with it. He has had conduct disorder problems since early childhood that involve defiant anti-social behaviour.

St. Paul, MN man pleads guilty to forcing disabled woman to perform oral sex on city bus

A 22 year old Twin Cities man pled guilty Wednesday, March 30 to coercing a young woman with Down's Syndrome to perform oral sex on a bus last winter. Herbert Lee House, 22, of St. Paul, will be sentenced to between 5 and 5 1/2 years in prison on May 18 for a single count of 3rd degree CSC by Ramsey County District Judge Margaret Marrinan on May 18.

The charges said House was on a Route 64 bus in St. Paul about 10:30 a.m. Feb. 22 when the victim, a 19-year-old woman, got on board with a group of other vulnerable adults and their caretaker. Two teenage boys told police that the woman sat next to House, then they saw the two switch places. They saw the woman's head "bobbing up and down in the man's lap," the criminal complaint said.

Prosecutor Karrin Long got House to admit that the woman he victimized was developmentally disabled. "You know now that [the victim] is very slow and very dependent on other people?" Long asked. "Yes," House said. The sex offense was also a violation of probation for other charges. House had a criminal history involving theft, drugs, and assaults.

Former high school basketball star given 84 to 230 years in home invasion rapes

On March 10, 2011, a former basketball player was sentenced to 84-230 years imprisonment for two Philadelphia assaults. 25 year old Domenique Wilson was handed the term by Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Charles J. Cunningham III, who said he handed down the sentence to ensure "there is never a day when he is out."

Judge Cunningham continued, "This was not the case of someone who broke in an apartment and happened to find somebody there. You are a serial rapist, a serial criminal. You just got caught sooner rather than later." Wilson was convicted by a jury in November of rape, burglary, and robbery in the Philly attacks.

Wilson forced his way into an apartment on Oct. 22, 2008, on Clinton Street in Center City. He then raped and robbed a 25-year-old woman at knifepoint, and tied up, robbed, and assaulted her 29-year-old boyfriend.

Wilson was also found guilty of forcing his way into a Spruce Street apartment Dec. 19, 2008. The 24- and 22-year-old University of Pennsylvania female students testified that Wilson threatened them with a gun and knife, covered their eyes, mouths, and wrists with duct tape, and repeatedly raped one.

Both rape victims gave an impact statement, read in court. The first victim's statement said, "In one selfish, disgusting act, you destroyed every part of my life. You attacked me repeatedly in my own bedroom. I no longer have a safe place to call my own - not a single one. My fear is practically constant...With how heartless you seem to be, I don't know if you have the capacity to feel sorry for what you did. But I trust you'll have a long time ahead to think about it."

The Spruce Street victim said, "I want to say 'thank you' for all of the wonderful things I have been blessed with from this horrible act," including a closer relationship with the roommate who had to hear the rape, and a friendship with the other victims.

The Philadelphia sentence will be served consecutively to a Clinton County, PA sentence of 70 to 196 years for home invasion rapes at Lock Haven University in February 2009. Wilson attended school on a basketball scholarship before DNA evidence linked him to the college attacks in April 2009. Wilson was sentenced for those crimes in June.

Chandra Levy's murderer convicted, sentenced to 60 years - victim's mom says no closure

(Original Post 11-23-10)
Washington (CNN) -- After more than three days of deliberations, jurors on Monday convicted Ingmar Guandique of two counts of first-degree murder in the 2001 death of Washington intern Chandra Levy.

As the verdict was read, Levy's mother, Susan, stared intently at Guandique. Several jurors wiped their eyes afterward.

Levy, a 24-year-old California native, was in Washington working as an intern for the Bureau of Prisons when she was last seen on May 1, 2001. Her skull was found over a year later, on May 22, 2002, in Washington's Rock Creek Park. But police didn't arrest Guandique until February 2009. He was then serving a 10-year sentence for attacking two other women in the park and had reportedly spoken about killing Levy.

"It's been nearly 10 years since the promise of a young life was lost in Rock Creek Park," Ronald Machen, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, told reporters Monday afternoon. "Today's verdict does send a message for a murderer to be held accountable. It's never too late for justice to be served."

Following an 11-day trial, jurors deliberated for three days and then for another two hours Monday. They notified Superior Court Judge Gerald Fisher about 11:45 a.m. that they had reached a verdict, entering the courtroom at 12:35 p.m. ET.

Speaking after their dismissal, jurors told reporters they took the time to examine each piece of evidence and consider it. "We were very careful to evaluate all the evidence, and it was a decision based on everything we had," said juror Susan Kelly, a journalist.

Guandique, 29, will face a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole when he is sentenced February 11. The jury convicted him of one count of murder with kidnapping and a second count of murder with attempted robbery.

After the verdict, Susan Levy asked reporters, "What difference does it make," and then answered her own question."You, the prosecutors, defense, the jury, the police, the public and individual citizens, as well as the media, both the written media and the visual media, we all make a difference," she said. "... It makes a difference to find the right person who is responsible for my daughter's death or for anybody else's death."

Regardless of the sentence Guandique is given, "I have a lifetime sentence of a lost limb missing from our family tree," she said. "It's painful. I live with it every day. ... There's always going to be a feeling of sadness."

Emily Grinstead told reporters that she and fellow jurors were mindful not to rush a decision. While confident they reached the right verdict, she said that "doesn't mean that I don't wish we didn't have to be here today."

"You're dealing with somebody's life," Grinstead said. "Two people's lives. I don't take that lightly."

Asked what she would say to Susan Levy, juror Linda Norton said, "I think she has to take from this what she will. We cannot bring back her daughter. ... We did the best we could with the evidence we were given."

Prosecutors argued that Guandique, a reputed member of the Salvadoran gang Mara Salvatrucha, attacked Levy while she was jogging in Washington's Rock Creek Park. After her skull was found, a search turned up other remains of Levy's, as well as clothing later identified as hers strewn down the side of a ravine. Her running shoes were unlaced, and her clothes were turned inside out. Her pants were knotted in tight restraints around her legs.

Prosecutor Amanda Haines, during her closing argument, cited what she portrayed as confessions that Guandique allegedly made to a cellmate as he served time for other attacks, as well as remarks he allegedly made to a female pen pal.

Defense attorney Santha Sonenberg emphasized the largely circumstantial nature of the case, including what prosecutors have acknowledged was a lack of DNA evidence, a lack of witnesses and only secondhand accounts of Guandique's alleged confessions.

Both the women who Guandique also attacked in the park -- including one on the same day Levy went missing -- spoke at the trial, testimony that Kelly called "powerful." He had pleaded guilty for his role in those attacks, and was set to be released in September 2010.

The disappearance of Levy drew national attention after her parents discovered a connection with Gary Condit, who was then a sitting congressman from California. Condit was never a suspect in the case, but he was questioned intensively for details about Levy's whereabouts.

He testified in the trial earlier this month, but refused to address a question about whether he had sex with Levy. An FBI forensic expert later confirmed Condit's semen had been found in underwear retrieved from Levy's apartment in the days after her parents reported her missing. "We've lost our feeling for common decency. I didn't commit any crime. I didn't do anything wrong," he said.

Condit said several times during his testimony that the media frenzy surrounding Levy's disappearance was hard to handle, including a helicopter flight over his California home while his daughter and her friends were sunbathing at the family's pool. "They reported that I had young women in bikinis at my house," he said.

Juror Grinstead pointed out that it wasn't just police that were sidetracked and focused for weeks on the wrong person. Asked who also was on the wrong track, she told reporters, "You all."

Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier defended authorities' handling of the case Monday afternoon, saying it sometimes takes time to find evidence and suspects. The U.S. attorney's office in the District of Columbia recently opened a "cold case" unit, which Machen credited for leading to four convictions in the past year for murders that dated back as far as 20 years.

"It's not like it is on TV. Cases can be very complicated," said Lanier, who became chief in 2007. "You never give up, regardless of criticism, regardless of mistakes. And I think that's what happened in this case."

(Update 2-15-11) On Friday February 11, Guandique was sentenced to 60 years imprisonment for the Levy slaying. Judge Gerald I. Fisher presided over the trial and its conclusion. Prosecutors asked for life without parole - the defense asked for 60 years. Guandique will serve 85% or 51 years before becoming eligible for early release.

Judge Fisaher called the Levy slaying "a truly horrible crime" and Guandique a "dangerous person...Dangerous to women, in particular. And will be a danger for some time. He's a sexual predator. Nobody else should be at the mercy of Mr. Guandique like Ms. Levy."

Fisher acknowledged that the prosecution's case "wasn't a very strong" one - and was based on circumstantial evidence. Fisher said the strongest evidence linking Guandique to Levy's death included Guandique's previous attacks on two female joggers, testimony from witnesses who placed Guandique in the park at the time Levy disappeared and the testimony of Guandique's cellmate, Armando Morales, who said Guandique admitted to him that he killed Levy in the park.

Before sentencing, the victim's mother, Susan Levy, spoke to Guandique directly. "Because of you, young man, you have caused us to live a Holocaust again...You have sentenced our entire family to days of sadness, tears and heartache. You are a hideous creature."

"How could you take my daughter's life? Did you really take her life? Look me in my eyes and tell me."

Before Fisher issued his decision, Guandique stood up, paused, wiped his eyes and addressed the Levy family. It was the first time he had spoken at length in court since being charged in 2009.

"I am sorry for what happened to your daughter," he said through an interpreter. "But I had nothing to do with it. I am innocent."

This view was the continuation of a view Guandique has held since a January 22 letter to the Washington Post. It goes, "Everything about this case was a stupid, comedic farce that the detectives and prosecutors have engaged in," Guandique wrote. "I know there are people who believe in my innocence and to those people who believe in my innocence I say you are not mistaken, because I am innocent."

On a Valentine's Day 2011 interview with anchor Chris Wragge of the CBS Early Morning Show, Susan Levy said that "I always have that 5 percent not being sure. Ninety-five percent I like to believe that the Justice Department is accurate. But there is that 5 percent...But they proved in court. It's circumstantial. Not substantial, but circumstantial evidence that he was involved."

Wragge later asked, "I know there's no sense of closure but is there any sense of peace that you can think of?" "There's no closure, that's for buildings," Susan Levy said. "You have a daughter that's tragically dead, there's never a sense of peace."

"There's 1,318,345 violent crimes committed in 2009 - one murder every three minutes, one violent crime every six seconds, one rape and assault every two minutes. 5.2 million crimes were reported 2007. On average 15,000 to 17,000 people are killed every year since 2000. That's more than what is killed, unfortunately, in Afghanistan. This is pervasive, and one of the leading psychological problems in America, leading to post-traumatic stress disorder. We live in a very violent society, and our most important resources are our children and our family, and we need to do something about this problem."

Lawsuit by 17 year old boy alleges school did nothing to protect him from teacher - teacher sentenced to 2 years sex offender probation

(Original post 8-21-09)
A math teacher accused of sexually assaulting a 17 year old boy at a Chicago West Side college preparatory school was sued by the boy's family yesterday. The suit alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress, willful and wanton misconduct, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty. Damages are over $50,000 per count, excluding court costs.

The student-athlete, an unnamed minor, was recruited and enrolled at Chicago Hope Academy, 2189 West Bowler Street in the Near West Side neighborhood on the West Side, in 2005, the suit said.

Beginning in the spring of 2008, when the boy was 16 years old, his math teacher Kathryn Vail-Wesley, 22, “publicly and privately showered Plaintiff with attention and affection,” the suit said.Vail-Wesley “would hug or touch Plaintiff on an almost daily basis during the 2007-2008 school year, and would invite Plaintiff to her home,” the suit said.

Vail-Wesley was “well-liked” by students, and the boy felt “privileged to receive attention” and looked to her as a “mentor, leader, protector and authority figure,” the suit said.

After the grooming, Vail-Wesley began making phone calls and “gratuitous inappropriate and/or intimate discussion regarding her private life and sexual history,” eventually approaching his for sex because she was fond of him and wanted to “mix [his] chocolate skin with [her] vanilla skin.” This culminated in repeated sexual encounters between August and October of 2008. The end of the relationship occurred after Vail-Wesley’s husband, a fellow teacher at the school, found his wife and the victim, physically assaulting the victim.

Vail-Wesley’s solicitation and sexual exploitation of the boy included sexual touching, kissing, intercourse and other sexual acts. It occurred in various locations, including but not limited to classrooms, passageways, the teacher’s lounge, chapel and other locations on the Academy’s premises, the suit said. Vail-Wesley explained that her sexual behavior was a “reward” for the boy’s good athletic performance for the school's football team, the suit said. She would attend the boy’s football games exclusively wearing his jersey.

Vail Wesley has been charged with 5 counts of sexual assault, with the trial still pending. The lawsuit stated that teacher student boundaries were blurred, particularly between teachers and student-athletes. The perp's sexual actions were “regular and conspicuous” and “should have been apparent” to other teachers and coaches, but "[a]cademy staff turned a blind eye to Vail-Wesley’s inappropriate attention.”

The lawsuit says that school administrators, teachers, and coaches began to intimidate the victim, culminating after the administration gave the boy a choice to either withdraw or be expelled from Chicago Hope, disrupting both his academic and athletic careers.

(1-14-11 - guilty plea to lesser charges) Vail-Wesley was sentenced to 2 years of sex offender probation Wednesday, January 12, 2011 after pleading guilty to aggravated criminal sexual abuse. The other counts of sexual assault were dropped by prosecutors. Chicago Hope principal Mike Laneve said that “Chicago Hope Academy doesn’t discuss school affairs in public.”

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."

Queens rapist gets 37 to 42 years imprisonment for attacking student during first day on job

A Queens, NY rapist was sentenced to a prison term of 37 to 42 years Thursday, September 23. 23 year old James Gillespie was convicted September 3 of the July 2009 rape of a 20 year old St. John's University student in Fresh Meadows, NY. The victim was walking to her first day at work as a part time restaurant hostess when Gillespie pounced.

As Gillespie dragged the woman into an alley, she reached into her purse and called 911 and her pleas for mercy – which Gillespie ignored – were recorded and played back in court during Gillespie’s trial.

"Please don't do this to me- Oh, my God, sir, please!" she pleaded just before the rape. Of course, Gillespie violated her. He also took her cell phone and purse.

Assistant Queens DA Jared Rosenblatt asked for the maximum sentence.

"You are an animal," Rosenblatt said over the objections of Gillespie's lawyer. "You are evil and your actions were heinous."

Gillespie offered a rambling denial."I don't even know why I'm still standing here in this courtroom," he said. "I don't understand what's going on here."

At the sentencing, which the victim attended, her statement to her attacker was this. "You are less than a man. Luckily, I'm a strong individual...I must let you know you are weak. You are a coward. You do not deserve to walk the streets as you are."

Queens Supreme Court Richard Buchter sentenced Gillespie to the max for rape, criminal sex act, and robbery.

"I think Mr. Gillespie is seriously lacking in any humanity.The defendant’s only concern us his own perverse sexual satisfaction. He’s young and that what worries me. He shouldn’t get out while he can still do it again."

Queens DA Richard Brown said about the woman's testimony, "She testified with dignity and grace. Hopefully, knowing that he will now be behind bars for a long time will provide her with a small measure of help in overcoming the physical and psychological trauma." That trauma includes sleepless nights, fear of AIDS, and a reluctance to walk alone.

Brooklyn serial rapist sentenced to 174 1/2 to 178 years in prison

A Brooklyn serial rapist who preyed on women in the Crown Heights neighborhood was sentenced to 174 1/2 to 178 years in the New York prison system Wednesday, September 8, 2010, according to the Brooklyn DA's office. 23 year old Erick Lewis was convicted of rape, criminal sex act, robbery, and 2 counts of sex abuse in August.

Lewis’ string of rapes around Crown Heights began in January 2008 around 12:30 p.m, when Lewis followed a woman into a laundry room in the basement of her Crown Heights apartment building, assaulted her and attempted to force her to perform oral sex.

In August 2008, just after midnight, Lewis raped and robbed another woman, at gunpoint, in the elevator of another Crown Heights building. The victim reported the incident to the police, and was taken to Methodist Hospital. There she was treated, and forensic evidence was collected.

On September 11, 2008, Lewis robbed a woman and forced her to perform oral sex on him, in the elevator of another Crown Heights building. Forensic evidence was collected from the floor of the elevator linking Lewis to the crime.

The presiding judge was Brooklyn Superior Court Justice Vincent Del Giudice.

Former Navy sailor sentenced to decade behind bars for "love" triangle slaying

On Friday, September 3, Sixto Balbuena, a former Navy sailor who stabbed "romantic" rival Samuel Valdivia to death over the affections of their "girlfriend" and former teacher Tamara Hoffman, was sentenced to a decade behind bars. This sentence was the minimum Balbuena could have gotten after his conviction of 2nd degree murder - the max he could have got was 22 years. The trial started May 28, 2010 and ended June 4. The presiding judge in the trial was Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Whitten

Balbuena and the victim, 18 year old Valdivia, were both seduced by their former math teacher as students at separate high schools. Hoffman was teaching the then 17 year old Balbuena at Tempe, AZ's Marcos de Niza High School. She was fired after police caught Balbuena with Hoffman's bra in a parked car in November 2006 . She then went to Chandler's El Dorado High School and started a sexual relationship with 18 year olf Valdivia.

On April 9, 2009, Balbuena left Naval Air Facility El Centro in California, where he was an aircraft mechanic, at about 9 p.m., after finishing his shift, and headed toward Chandler to visit his fiancee, Hoffman, then 48.

Phone records show that they exchanged cellphone calls several times that night as he made the 4 ½-hour drive. But when he reached her house, according to the attorneys' statements, Hoffman did not answer the door or her cellphone. Balbuena opened the front door.

Inside, he heard noises coming from the bedroom. He grabbed a knife from the kitchen. Then, he told police investigators - one of whom testified Thursday - he saw a shadowy figure and they tussled. Seventeen minutes after he arrived, Balbuena called police. Prosecutor Jason Kalish played the 911 call, in which Balbuena says that "some guy" had been stabbed. Hoffman can be heard sobbing in the background.

When police arrived, they found Balbuena and Hoffman sitting calmly in the living room and wondered if either had been stabbed. An officer then found Valdivia, wearing only boxer shorts, moaning on the bathroom floor, his internal organs protruding from an abdominal wound.

Valdivia, who played for El Dorado's baseball team and wrote songs, died at the scene. After the conviction, Julio Valdivia, Samuel's older brother, said  "I don't know if he's going to pay enough. It's been tough. The pain is still there. I still feel like it happened yesterday. Sometimes, I feel like I need to talk to him. He made me think and kept me out of trouble." During the sentencing hearing, Balbuena said "I'm going to face them. I want to ask your forgiveness for all that has happened," but Valdivia's family did not believe he was sincere.

The victim's mother Placida Maldonado said  "He said he didn't mean to hurt him, but I don't believe that." The victim's brother-in-law Julio Laurean said "He's going to do 10 years, but we will do a lifetime...It felt like he was just trying to get out of the hole, that's how I felt."

Valdivia's relatives also believe that Hoffman had a part in the killing. "There are two victims here. One is dead and the other now behind bars," Maldonado said. A sister said that "She's truly at fault. She's crazy and should not have been dating boys. She was 48 years old and my brother only 18."

TheArizona Board of Education investigation of Hoffman saw her surrender her teaching certificate on December 7, but she can reapply within 5 years of the surrender. No criminal chargers were ever filed regarding Hoffman.

German girl band singer sentenced to community service, suspended 2 year sentence for infecting "lover"

A German court has given pop singer Nadja Benaissa a two-year suspended sentence for having unprotected sex while failing to tell her sexual partners she was HIV positive.

The 28-year-old Benaissa is a member of the popular girl band No Angels. She discovered she was HIV positive in 1999 when she was three months pregnant. She was arrested in April 2009 for having unprotected sex with three men in 2004 and 2006 and failing to inform them of her HIV status. To do so can be classified as aggravated assault under German law.

Both the state prosecutor Peter Liesenfeld and her defense had asked the courts for the suspended sentence in the trial, which ended on Wednesday. Liesenfeld cited her confession and her expression of remorse as reasons for lighter sentence "I made a huge mistake," Benaissa said in an emotional apology during the closing arguments.

"I am sorry from the bottom of my heart," she said. "I would love to turn back the clock, but I can't."

But the 34-year-old man she infected with HIV gave an angry testimony during the trial, saying she had caused "a lot of suffering in this world." Because she and the man both have a strain of the virus that is relatively rare in Germany, medical experts had determined the man had almost certainly been infected by Benaissa.

She was also convicted of attempted aggravated assault for having unprotected sex with another man who did not contract the virus.She said she was afraid that her career would be negatively impacted if it became public that she is HIV positive.

Instead of jail time, the pop star is expected to complete 300 hours of community service and attend regular counseling sessions. No Angels, which first formed in 2000 and got back together in 2007 after a brief break, are expected to restart their tour. That tour was interrupted last year when Benaissa was arrested just before performing in Frankfurt.

Maria Lauterbach's killer sentenced to life without parole

(Originally Posted 1-12-08)

Maria Lauterbach, a 20 year old Marine who was 8 months pregnant, was found murdered yesterday in North Carolina along with her fetus after her disappearance December 19th. She last spoke to her mother December 14th and her car was found a week ago (January 7th). Yesterday, remains of a woman and her fetus were found in the primary suspect's home, that of another Marine she suspected of rape in April last year. The idea that the baby was the rape suspect's is plausible.

The suspect in her murder, Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean 21, was accused of rape by Maria, and she was scheduled to testify against Laurean at a military hearing.

While Maria's mother described her as a liar, her uncle, Peter Steiner, described the pregnancy as due to the alleged rape, and maintained that the Marines did not protect his niece. When her car was found, a military protective order, similar to a restraining order, was found, but civilian officials said they were never notified. The order, which lasted from July to September, stated Laurean could not come within 1000 feet of Maria.

The Jacksonville (NC) Daily News has more.

Civilian investigators have said a military protective order — similar to a restraining order, but authorized by the commanding officer in charge of the Marine being restrained — existed for a pregnant Marine against the Marine accused of killing her, but they were never made aware of it by anyone from Camp Lejeune.

Paul Chiccarelli, special agent in charge of Naval Criminal Investigative Service aboard Camp Lejeune, said the "crucial information that brought the turn in the case came through the base," adding the base had been very cooperative throughout the investigation. Chiccarelli said Laurean was not taken into custody after Lauterbach reported the alleged rape because there were indications that Lauterbach and Laurean carried on "some sort of friendly relationship" after she filed the complaint against him.

Chiccarelli said Laurean had not been considered a flight risk after the Lauterbach disappearance.

Laurean ended up fleeing at around 4AM Friday, and is currently on the run. He is believed to be in either Louisiana or Texas as of 6:30 PM Sunday.

Lauterbach's uncle, Peter Steiner, a psychiatrist who lives in Louisville, Ky., and had been in Jacksonville in the past week looking into his niece's disappearance, said his niece called her uncle's home at least twice a week, because they were very close. "She was a very beautiful, athletic young lady. She volunteered to join the Marine Corps. She was very committed to the Marines, and she is being portrayed in a way that does not look well."

Because of the widespread coverage, Victimized Over The AOC will link to sources which provide more in-depth coverage of this story.

Holly's Fight Against Violence, a Canada-centric blog against violence against women, has this tribute to the young Marine.

The Jacksonville, NC Daily News has this special section related to coverage of her disappearance and murder.

Update (1-15-08): According to the autopsy report, Maria Lauterbach died of blunt trauma to the head, putting to rest all doubt about her murder. There was a note written by Lauren claiming that she committed suicide by slitting her throat. Laurean is said to be in hiding, and not actively on the run.

"It is believed that he has reached a location where his need to move in high speed or long distance no longer exists,” said Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown. A $25,000 reward has been postedfor information leading to Laurean's arrest.

Update (1-18-08): Marine officials did not believe that Lauterbach was the victim of foul play until she was found dead. Mrs. Laurean waited 24 hours before reporting Lauterbach's death to authorities, and an item, believed to be a crowbar, suspected as being the murder weapon, was recovered after being turned in by a witness. Police found Laurean's truck, and are going over evidence inside it.

“We believe that we have an item that may have been used in the murder of Maria Lauterbach,” Sheriff’s Department Capt. Rick Sutherland said. “It is consistent with what the Medical Examiner believes is the cause of death. We have not confirmed what this item is.”

Laurean is now believed to be in Mexico, where he allegedly told fellow Marines and his wife he would flee to if convicted in the rape.

The FBI filed court documents this week stating Laurean told members of his Marine Corps unit he would flee to Mexico if it appeared he would be found guilty of raping Lauterbach. Laurean's wife, Christina Laurean, also told authorities she believed her husband would head to Mexico if he was in legal trouble. Laurean is reported to have mailed letters back to his wife in North Carolina, according to two law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The letters had a Houston postmark, the AP reported.

"We strongly suspect, but have not confirmed, that Laurean may be in Mexico," said FBI spokesman Richard Kolko in Washington. "We have a strong working relationship with law enforcement partners in Mexico, and we're working with them to locate and apprehend him." In addition to the original charges of first-degree murder, bank card theft and obtaining property by false pretense, Laurean has been charged by the FBI with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

(Update 4-11-08)

Laurean has been captured in Morelia, capital of the Mexican state of Michoacan. Besides murder, charges include theft, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and fraud. Police carrying out an anti-kidnapping operation stopped Laurean because he was acting suspicious, and then ran him through a criminal database. It is believe that Laurean used Lauterbach's ATM card to with draw funds for his flight to Mexico, which according to prosecutors occured January 14.

U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza said in a statement that “Laurean fled to Mexico early this year in the hope of avoiding justice” and called the arrest “a clear message to all would-be fugitives from U.S. law that Mexico will not provide them refuge.”

Prosecutors dropped the death penalty as the maximum sentence to secure Laurean's extradiction.

Phone messages seeking comment left at Lauterbach’s parents’ home in Vandalia, Ohio, with Lauterbach’s uncle Pete Steiner, and with family attorney Chris Conard were not immediately returned late Thursday.

Another family attorney, Merle Wilberding, said Lauterbach’s mother, Mary, received the call from the FBI informing her of the arrest with “shock and surprise.”

“She’s been living with Cpl. Laurean being on the run ... and living without an expectation that he was going to be captured any time soon, so when the word came it really caught her by surprise, and she’s still trying to let it all sink in,” Wilberding told WDTN-TV in Dayton, Ohio.

(Update 4-20-09) Laurean was formally extradicted back to North Carolina from Mexico last Friday. Earlier today, he was in court for a bond hearing in Onslow County District Court. The hearing, presided over by Judge Paul A. Hardison, enede with Laurean being denied bond. His next court appearence will be May 18. Official charges include 1st degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and numerous theft related charges.

(Update 8-24-10) Laurean was convicted by a jury after three hours of deliberation of bludgeoning Lauterbach to death and immediately sentenced to life without parole. The trial was moved to Wayne County, NC from Onslow County due to pre-trial publicity. Besides the 1st degree murder charge, Laurean was also convicted of theft and fraud by using Lauterbach's ATM card.

During closing arguments, Chief Assistant District Attorney Ernie Lee talked about the 4 weeks between when the victim's mother last saw her daughter and when Lauterbach's body was found in a burn pit. “On Jan. 11, 2008, Mary Lauterbach’s nightmare became a reality when her daughter’s body was found buried in the defendant’s backyard,” Lee said. Lee went on to say how Laurean's career was at stake, since sex with a subordinate is a crime in the Marine Corps.  Despite the DNA test showing that Laurean was not the father of Lauterbach's unborn child, “as long as Maria Lauterbach was still out there he could not [be a good Marine].”

Meanwhile, Lauterbach's defense attorney, Dick McNeil, said that his client should not be convicted of 1st degree murder because Laurean's wife, Christina, also had motive. Texts and computer records make no record of Laurean and Lauterbach being in contact between the rape allegation and the murder. Laurean was eventually cleared of that rape allegation.

McNeil painted his client as a panicked Marine who was at home minding his own business when a troubled, distraught woman came to his door in violation of a protective order. McNeil says he questioned Lauterbach’s truthfulness during the trial, not to degrade her reputation, but to show she was depressed and confused.

Before sentencing but after the verdict, Maria Lauterbach told Laurean to look at his mother and think of his daughter. “I feel so sorry for your daughter. She will have to live with the shame that her father is in prison for murdering not one but two people,” she said.
 
McNeil said that he planned to appeal the verdict.

Marine faces charged in abduction, rape of N. Virginia woman

A US Marine has been charged with the rape of two Ballston, VA women who he followed home and assaulted at around 4AM on February 27, 2010. 21 year old Jorge "George" Torrez was charged with acts relating to the gunpoint rape and abduction of two women after they returned home from a meal. According to authorities, after Torrez forced them inside of their house, one of the women called 911 and hung up, leading him to flee with the other woman.

4 hours later, that woman was found in Prince William County VA, close to the edge of Marine Corps Base Quantico. Torrez was stationed in Ft. Myer, near the area of the attack. She had been raped, beaten and choked to within inches of her life before being dumped in the woods. Authorities arrested him within hours of the attack.

Arlington police on Friday [June 25] announced that they have charged Torrez with 14 criminal counts related to the North Wakefield Street attack, including abduction, rape, forcible sodomy, robbery, burglary with intent to commit sexual assault and use of a firearm during a felony.

Torrez was already in jail for a second attack which took place February 10, 2010, when he allegedly attempted to abduct a woman at gunpoint near a local high school, but settled for simply grabbing her purse. That attack led to a composite sketch which led to Torrez.

Arlington County spokeswoman Crystal Nosal, a detective, said "If these two cases are connected, there's obviously a clear escalation within two weeks. Two weeks ago the woman convinced him not to take her, and then he confronts two women and leaves one for dead in Prince William County."

Torrez, who joined the Marine Corps at 18 immediately after graduating from high school in Zion, Ill., served in Okinawa, Japan, for two years before moving to Northern Virginia last year, according to his family. He had a lifelong ambition to join the military, an ambition that solidified after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, his sister said.

Sara Torrez said her brother has been working at the Pentagon and seemed to be enjoying it, their discussions centering on whether he wanted to continue with a career in the Marine Corps or to leave, go to school and return to Illinois.

Torrez is being held in the Arlington County Jail without bond. His next court appearance was scheduled for July 26, but may be sooner in Prince William County officials file their own charges. Prosecutors are considering bringing attempted capital murder charges against Torrez because it appears that parts of the attack occurred in their jurisdiction and the attack included rape.

Man sentenced to dozen years in prison for rape attempt which left woman brain damaged

A Gangster Disciple leader was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for kidnapping Monday, June 28 in the attempted rape of a woman, suffering from mental illness, who either fell or was pushed 7 stories off of a project building at 51st and Federal on Chicago's south side. The woman suffered broken legs, a broken pelvis, and massive brain injuries that will leave her under the care of a guardian for the rest of her life.

The victim, a 21-year-old woman who suffered from bipolar disorder, had just been released from the police lockup at 51st and Wentworth, authorities said. She wandered into a JJ Fish restaurant, and several young men took her to an apartment in the Robert Taylor Homes, sources said. A video camera in the restaurant reportedly captured bizarre behavior by the woman.

After she was left there by the men, now 27 year old Marvin Powell forced himself into the apartment, and ended up alone with the victim. Chicago police sought the last man in the apartment with her after the fall (or push) out of the window. Powell was originally charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault, attempted criminal sexual assault and unlawful restraint, but plead guilty to a single count of kidnapping Monday, June 28.

Powell's previous most serious charge was attempted murder in 2002, pleaded down to aggravated battery with a firearm. He served 3 years before release in 2005.

Cook County, IL press release - Chicago female sex offender captured, imprisoned

One of Cook County’s Most Wanted has been apprehended and sentenced, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart announced Thursday [June 24, 2010]. Tyreka Simms, 23, whose last known address was the 1500 block of West Marquette in Chicago, is accused of sexually molesting her 18-year-old mentally disabled relative in 2004. The victim contracted gonorrhea as a result of Simms’ assault. At the time, the victim’s family agreed to a sentence of 30 months sex offender probation.

On May 5th, 2008, a warrant was issued for Simms’ arrest after she violated probation and fled her home without notification. Simms’ mugshot and information was placed on the sheriff’s website as one of Cook County’s Most Wanted.

Based on a nationwide alert, Louisiana authorities apprehended Simms and returned her to Chicago on June 14th. On June 23, she was sentenced to one year imprisonment on two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and four counts of criminal sexual abuse/can’t consent.

Simms will be transferred to the Illinois Department of Corrections to fulfill the remainder of her sentence. She has received 303 days credit for time served while in jail in 2008.

Entrepreneur & father of three killed - wife and employee charged in love triangle slaying

A West Goshen, Pennsylvania father of three and entrenpreneur was poisoned and bludgeoned to death with a shovel before being buried in a shallow grave next to a high school. The suspects are the victim's wife, 34 year old Morgan Mengel and 22 year old employee Stephen Shappell. The victim, according to police, is 33 year old Kevin Mengel Jr.  The suspects are 34 year old Morgan Mengel and Stephen Shappell, 22. According to the wife's Facebook page, they had been married since August 1998. The couple have 3 children.

According to officials, the plot began when Morgan and Steve began to "fall in love" at the business that the victim and Morgan ran together, M.K.B. Property Management LLC. The company does landscaping for homeowners and other property owners.

On June 17, she reportedly said, Shappell placed "some sort of drug" in a lemon Snapple, which Morgan Mengel then left on the hood of the pickup truck for Kevin Mengel to find. No one else who worked at the business drank Snapple, she reportedly told police, and she knew Kevin Mengel would drink it.

A short time later, according to court documents, she received a text from Shappell that said he had struck Kevin Mengel in the head with a shovel.

She reportedly asked if he was serious and he replied, "Dead serious." She then asked if there was a "pulse," police reports said, to which he replied "Get down here now." Morgan Mengel reportedly told police that Shappell told her he buried Kevin Mengel's body approximately 150 yards behind Marple Newtown High School, where he had been a student.

The beginning of the end for Morgan Mengel and Shappell's freedom came on Father's Day, when Kathleen Barton reported her son missing. She noted that her daughter-in-law told her that she had seen Kevin move out of their West Goshen, PA apartment on June 18. Still suspicious, Kathleen monitored her son's Facebook page and told West Goshen detectives about the affair. After her son's Facebook page was updated in a different style than he would use on June 23, detectives went to the victim's apartment.

While Morgan gave police the same story that she gave her mother-in-law, detectives saw the victim's clothes and toothbrush in the apartment. After being taken to the police station for an interview, Morgan Mengel admitted the affair and the murder.

According to West Goshen Police Department Chief Michael J. Carroll, "Normally a report of a missing person who's a 33-year-old adult male is sometimes not taken as seriously because they have the absolute right to be missing, they can go wherever they want to go. During the course of the week it became clear to our department that this was more than just a missing person case."

 We were able to identify and locate the victim by the use of a cadaver dog that was brought to us by the Search and Rescue Dogs of Pennsylvania in Malvern. I can tell you without the use of this dog, we would not have been able to find this body.

It's a very tragic case. The victim was the father of three children. Obviously the children have lost their father and with what has gone on so far they're going to lose their mother for an extended period of time.

Shappell was arrested in Denver the evening of Sunday, June 27. Carroll said "This was a direct result of cooperation between departments. It was through an investigation here. We knew where to look for him."

It is unknown what charges he'll face when he is extradited to Pennsylvania, but Morgan Mengel will be facing 1st degree murder and criminal homicide.

Man who faked cancer, stabbed "girlfriend" after she found out gets decades in prison

An Irish national who slew his "lover," a NYPD forensic investigator, was sentenced to 29 to 37 years in prison for her murder. The official charges McGurk plead guilty to were manslaughter and three counts of evidence tampering. Gary McGurk, the "boyfriend" of criminologist Michelle Lee, was sentenced June 16 by Queens Supreme Court Justice Gregory Lasak, who indicated he would have sentenced the murderer to life if he hadn't plead guilty. "This makes no sense at all. You deserve a life sentence, Mr. McGurk. You know that," Judge Lasak said.

In April 2009, Lee was bashed 4 times with a hammer, stabbed in the neck, and burned with an iron before McGurk left her nude body on her bed for police to find, with the knife still in his victim's neck. Prosecutors believe that the motive for the attack was anger over not getting any more money from Lee, who he tricked into believing had cancer. Lee had gave McGurk thousands for "treatment," for "cancer" which McGurk claimed spread to his kidney, liver, and lungs.

"I'm not ready to lose Gary," Lee wrote in an entry read by Queens Assistant District Attorney Charles Testagrossa. "I'm just trying to figure out the right time to tell him I love him. I truly do...He's so brave. I can't stop crying. I love him so much. I wish he would get better. I wish I could hold onto him forever."

The couple met in 2004 at CUNY John Jay college. Lee was 24 when she was killed.

At the sentencing, McGurk said that "I hope that in the years to come God will help you through this. Michelle is safe with him now. I don't ask for forgiveness because I don't deserve it. I will meet my maker one day and receive my punishment that day as I receive my punishment today. I can only hope the years to come will be easier. May she rest in peace."

Couple sentenced to prison for rape of 17 year old girl

By Scott J. Croteau TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER — A Clinton man and his one-time girlfriend were sentenced to prison [May 11, 2010] after they pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a July rape in which they held down the victim and took pictures of her.

Robert S. Cockerline, 23, of 230 Sterling St., Clinton, and Jerrica A. Gray, 20, of 120 Lawrence St., Fitchburg, each pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated rape and single counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14, assault and battery and photographing an unsuspecting nude person.

Mr. Cockerline was sentenced in Worcester Superior Court to serve 12 to 15 years in prison for the rape charges. Ms. Gray received 5 to 8 years in prison. Both were sentenced to five years' probation; they are required to register as sex offenders.

According to Assistant District Attorney Anthony J. Marotta, the couple lured a 17-year-old female friend to Mr. Cockerline's apartment in Clinton on July 26. He said the couple first asked the victim to a movie, then Mr. Cockerline said he had some new puppies he wanted to show her. While in the apartment, the victim told authorities, she was given some orange juice that tasted strange, and moments later she was unconscious. Mr. Marotta said it is unclear whether Mr. Cockerline struck the victim in the head or the juice was spiked with some type of drug.

When the victim awoke, she found Mr. Cockerline on top of her, raping her, while Ms. Gray held her down and gave instructions to Mr. Cockerline, the prosecutor told Judge Peter W. Agnes Jr. today. Ms. Gray also took pictures of the rape, which authorities were able to obtain in their investigation.

After the attack, the victim ran from the apartment, but her assailants followed her. Ms. Gray gave her a ride home to Lunenburg. The victim texted a friend about the assault. Police were notified. Mr. Marotta said Mr. Cockerline and Ms. Gray first denied being with the victim, but a neighbor had a security camera that caught the victim going in and out of the apartment.

The victim, now 18, and her mother sat in court during sentencing today. Mr. Marotta read the victim's impact statement to the court. “Yes, I was victimized by you,” the victim said addressing Mr. Cockerline. “I am no victim. I am not your victim. I am a survivor.”

"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."