Husband gets 10 years in university dean's slaying

On Monday, February 28, 61 year old William Murray Wiggins received 10 years for the 1st degree manslaughter of his wife, an assistant dean of the University of Oregon College of Education. The dean, 62 year old Andrea Nicholson Wiggins, was found strangled in a bathtub at her Springfield, OR home March 5, 2010. The perpetrator pled guilty to 1st degree manslaughter because prosecutors were uncertain that they could prove 2nd degree murder. Lane Circuit Judge Charles Carlson presided over the plea deal and sentencing.

William Wiggins initially reported his wife’s death as an accidental drowning. He might have succeeded at the ruse had Andrea Wiggins not left injuries on her husband’s body as she fought for her life, Springfield police Sgt. David Lewis said after the brief sentencing hearing.

Lewis credited Springfield police Detective Larry Turner with asking to see and then photographing scratch marks and “a severe bite mark” on William Wiggins’ chest after responding to a 911 report of “an elderly female found dead in a hot tub.”

Strangulation bruises were “not obvious” on Andrea Wiggins’ neck, Lewis said — perhaps because her body remained in the hot tub after her death.

William Wiggins claimed he killed his wife "while under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance,” but Springfield police indicated that the lack of financial contribution on his part to the marriage lead to the argument which lead to the slaying.

At the time of Andrea Wiggins’ death, William Wiggins had an inactive real estate broker’s license and she was the primary breadwinner. Her professional accomplishments included raising $30 million in private donations for a new College of Education building that opened in 2009.

According to the victim's son Alexander Vollmer, "she told us that Bill had no savings or money of his own and that she would have to earn enough for them both.” The victim's father said “I believe Andrea had had about enough and Wiggins was aware he was about to lose his meal ticket.

Before the sentence was passed, William said “Andrea was the love of my life and I’ll never forget her. I took away a daughter and a mother and a grandmother from her family. I cannot ask for their forgiveness. I can only hope for their understanding some day.”

Lane County Deputy District Attorney Bob Lane said the victim's family accepted the plea agreement because the perpetrator has reliquenched “all claims to property belonging to the victim, the victim’s estate, and to any proceeds of any life insurance policies. They wanted to make sure that he didn’t benefit from her death.”

Laura Fine, William Wiggins's attorney, said that the strangling of his wife was an anomoly in their 13 year marriage. "All reports indicate that this was a very loving couple with no history of domestic violence.” Her client's actions, she explained, was “the documented side effect of explosive rage caused by one of his prescription medications.”

Vollmer gave a victim impact statement saying that “It’s unbearable to think about how terrified my mother must have been in the last moments of her life,” As his rock, "Every day I miss her sound advice, her wacky sense of humor, her delight in retelling family stories, and even her constant worrying. Her absence has left a gaping hole in our lives.”

The son is still “shock and terrible distress at the nature of my mom’s death and Bill’s role in it," with the worst part being “having to explain to my 7-year-old daughter how her nanny had died.”

The victim's father Jack Nicholson wrote Judge Carlson explaining that his former son-in-law was
“a cruel, callous and calculating killer” and a “deadbeat,” in contrast to his daughter, who "was a precious and special person” who “worked all her life trying to make things better.”

Woman who killed estranged husband recieves life without parole

A Baltimore County teacher was sentenced to life without parole for the murder of her husband Tuesday, August 10. Mary C. Koontz was sentenced to the maximum sentence for the 1st degree murder of her husband, Ronald G. Koontz, who was 66 when murdered. Ronald was a recently retired Baltimore County public school administrator.

The murder was committed on June 19, 2009, at the Koontz home in Glen Arm, Maryland. Mary shot her husband to death with a handgun, then went after her then 16 year old daughter Kelsey. After a 9 day trial and three days of deliberations, she was fouind criminally responsible for the murder of her husband and the attempted murder of now 17 year old daughter Kelsey. The guilty verdict took place July 8.

The defense said Koontz shouldn't be held responsible because she was delusional and had been isolated from her family since 2007 when, after a mental evaluation, she wasn't welcome in the home. Throughout the trial, several doctors testified that Koontz had been diagnosed with several different mental disorders.

A doctor for the defense said she didn't believe that Koontz was faking being mentally ill the day she killed her husband; however another doctor said Koontz was diagnosed with a disorder where she put her needs in front of others, and another said he didn't believe she was psychotic during the incident based on her actions prior to the killing.

When Koontz took the stand in her own defense, she said she didn't mean what she said in the messages.

Koontz said she was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and borderline personality disorder, and she'd been treated for depression since 1991. She said she was in a fog the day her husband was killed, and she told jurors she didn't remember pulling the trigger. Koontz claimed she was also trying to commit suicide. She told jurors her husband was abusive and that he referred to her as damaged and criticized her for a lot of things.

The prosecution said that Mary was deliberate when she planned the attack on her husband and daughter, because she concealed the rental car she used to try and get away and bought the gun ont of state.

During sentencing, Kelsey gave a victim impact statement which ended with "I know if I ever see her face again, my life will be at risk and it will be the last face I ever see." Mary said to Kelsey and her son from a previous marriage that “Words are totally inadequate. You deserve nothing but goodness in your life.”

After Mary received her life without parole sentence, Kelsey said, "I just wanted her to hear how much she hurt me ... Maybe she had bad things happen in her childhood, but it's an individual's responsibility to get help, talk to people, make sure you don't lead the rest of your life down a path of no return...I think that my mom should be a lesson to everyone that no matter what you're going through right now, you can get past it and you can move on. You can be a better person for whatever you're going through in your life."

Domestic violence coordinator guilty of assaulting husband over alleged affair - sentenced to DV counseling

(Original Post 5-29-10)

A director of a Michigan domestic violence shelter was convicted of attacking her husband over an alleged affair on May 18, 2010. 46 year old LaDonna Glenn was convicted of felonious assault, which carries a maximum 4 year prison term and a $2,000 fine for threatening her husband with a hammer September 24 at their Southfield, MI condo. An Oakland County jury found her guilty after only two hours of deliberation.  Oakland County Circuit Judge Martha Anderson will sentence Glenn June 21.

She was accused of going Sept. 24 to her and her husband’s condominium in Southfield, beating on the door with a hammer and twice raising the tool at her husband, George Glenn, 69, whom she alleged was unfaithful. LaDonna Glenn was arrested after George Glenn told police he had to grab his wife’s hands and wrestle her to the floor to remove the hammer from her grip, according to a Southfield Police Department report. She had been hitting a glass table with it and calling her husband a cheater.

When officers, who were summoned by a neighbor, arrived at the home, George Glenn was sitting on LaDonna Glenn as she lay on her stomach, pinning down her hands at the wrist, according to the report. LaDonna Glenn told officers her husband forced her into the living room and threw her to the ground, hurting her right knee. She went to a hospital before going to jail.

LaDonna Glenn is the domestic violence coordinator of AWARE, Inc, an organization which serves victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse/assault in the Jackson, MI area. AWARE's executive director Rebecca Filip and president Bree Thurlby did not comment, but released the following statement:

AWARE cannot comment on the exact circumstances surrounding an employee matter due to employee confidentiality and the law,” according to a letter submitted by the board last week to the [Jackson, MI]Citizen Patriot.

When the legal process is complete, the board determines what action it must take as an employer on a case-by-case basis. Issues involving AWARE’s employees are addressed pursuant to the agency’s policies and procedures. The board fully supports its executive director and all employees.

(Update 6-22-10) LaDonna Glenn was sentenced to a year probation, domestic violence and anger management treatment, and must abstain from posessing deadly weapons or engaging in assaultive behavior. The sentencing took place yesterday in Circuit Judge Martha Anderson's courtroom. Glenn was fired from her job as the AWARE domestic violence coordinator.

Molest victim shoots attacker, pleads guilty to voluntary manslaughter

A Fort Bragg, CA man who shot his alleged molester pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter April 6 in a case where he is considered a folk hero. 32 year old Aaron Vargas, allegedly victimized from ages 11 to 28 by his former next-door neighbor, faces a maximum of a decade in prison for shooting 63 year old Darrell McNeill in February 2009.

He told [his family] McNeill began molesting him while they were on a fishing trip when Vargas was 11 years old. McNeill continued to psychologically harass Vargas into adulthood, the Vargas family said.

McNeill would drop by the house Vargas shared with his fiancee at all hours, call frequently and ask to baby-sit Vargas’ newborn daughter, his sister [Mindy Galliani] said. Galliani believes her brother snapped on the night he drove to NcNeill’s home outside of Fort Bragg carrying a .44 caliber cap and ball pistol.

The men argued and Vargas shot McNeill once in the chest, then stayed at the home for 20 minutes to make sure he was dead, preventing Liz McNeill from phoning for help, law enforcement officers said. After the shooting, Vargas disassembled the gun and divulged his accusations for the first time.

Liz McNeill and her sons have written letters urging Humboldt County, CA prosecutors to charge Vargas with lesser charges that murder, and according to Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Norman and Vargas’ attorney, Tom Hudson. Three men and a woman contacted the DA's office alleging molestation by McNeill, and Norman said the plea agreement was “a fair resolution in light of all the facts.”

Vargas has became a celebrity of sorts since his arrest immediately after the killing. His sister’s unflagging outreach efforts garnered nationwide media attention and support from the Fort Bragg community and beyond for Vargas, who many consider to be the victim in this case.

More than 2,000 people signed an online petition seeking a reduction in the charges or dismissal of the case. A dozen people claim McNeill also molested them, said Vargas’ sister, Mindy Galliani.

Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Ron Brown took into account the plea of the victim's family in accepting the plea agreement, but not the public support for Vargas, shown by a petition urging charges be dropped. “That is the reason we’re not guided by public opinion,” Judge Brown said.

Brown will sentence Vargas after an April 20 stipulated facts hearing. There is a chance that Vargas can be sentenced to more than 10 years by Judge Brown. Voluntary manslaughter carries a 21 year maximum sentence, and Vargas can retract his plea if Brown sentences him to 10-21 years.

Husband who murdered high school receptionist gets 30 years without parole

A Rockford, IL man who murdered his wife as she slept was sentenced to 30 years without parole. Winnebago County Judge Joe McGraw sentenced 65 year old Thomas McFeegan to that term Wednesday, February 17 after a guilty plea. The victim was a longtime receptionist at Rockford's Auburn High School Main Campus, and co-founded a homicide victims' support group.

McFeggan’s wife, Carol, 62, was discovered the morning of June 29 by their daughter, Sarah McFeggan, and Sarah’s friend, Valerie Heinisch, inside the couple’s northwest Rockford home. Police found the woman deceased in her bed. Police spoke to Sarah McFeggan, who gave officers a note written by her father that she said she had found in the kitchen.

In the note, Thomas McFeggan wrote that he killed Carol McFeggan, and that her death was not a suicide. He also revealed in his note that he and Carol were facing foreclosure on their home, although Carol didn’t know about it. Thomas also wrote that he had planned to commit suicide.

However, instead of killing himself, law enforcement found Thomas fishing in a Vilas County, WI lake, where he was arrested July 1. He was found with a .38 caliber handgun, which he admitted using against his wife when Rockford detectives interviewed him.

Illegal immigrant sentenced to 32 years for rape of woman in Amtrak station

Lasalle County, IL Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr sentenced an illegal immigrant to 32 years in prison for the attack on a 67 year old Dixon, IL woman at the Mendota, IL Amtrak station. Emerson A. Hernandez-Reyes, 27, of Peru, was sentenced to consecutive 14 year terms for 2 counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, and 4 years for robbery, for stealing the victim's cellphone. The aggravated criminal sexual assault charges require 85% time served, but the robbery charge require only 50% time served. Hernandez-Reyes will be 52 before being released from the Illinois Department Of Corrections.

He was charged March 30 after the Dixon woman reported she’d been sexually assaulted in the women’s room. Hernandez-Reyes, she said, had entered the restroom and advised her he wanted sex. She told police she did not know her assailant, who then punched her in the head, grabbed her by the neck and committed two forcible sex acts after she refused.

The victim was soon found by an unidentified motorist who stopped a Mendota police squad car and reported the crime. A short time later, armed with a cursory description of the man, La Salle County sheriff's deputies spotted the 6 foot-tall, 200-pound Hernandez walking south on Route 251 near North 39th Road and took him into custody.

Prosecutors said Friday that Hernandez-Reyes confessed to the crime. A DNA match between victim and assailant further corroborated the sexual assault.Public defender Tim Cappellini declined to comment on Friday’s disposition.

Theoretically, Hernandez-Reyes is scheduled for decades of mandatory supervised release, but more likely, he'll be deported, as he had an immigration hold even before the rape.

Teacher gropes 19 year old woman, released on bail

A 60 year old New Jersey teacher has been charged with 4th degree criminal sexual contact with fondling a 19 year old woman. North Warren Regional High School Spanish teacher Walter J. Brandt was arrested after apologizing to a 19 year old woman for fondling her breasts.

The alleged contact occurred [March 31] in Brandt's home, court records show. The 19-year-old victim went to authorities, who recorded a subsequent conversation between her and Brandt with her consent, according to court records.

Authorities arrested Brandt on [April 1]. Independence Township police asked that the Warren County Prosecutor's Office handle the investigation because he is a former township official. He served on the Independence Township Committee from Jan. 1, 1997, through 2005.

Brandt, employed with the school since Noverber 1998, was suspended with pay from his $56,025 / year job April 1, according to North Warren Regional Superintendent Brian Fogelson. Judge John Pursel of Superior Court in Belvidere heard his preliminary hearing, where he was released on bail under conditions including no contact with the victim or any minors.

Groping doctor sentenced to 2 months home confinement

Dr. Mathew Burman, who lives in Southfield, MI, but works in Bloomfield Township, MI, was sentenced to 60 days on a tether and 5 years probation after groping a female patient from Waterford Township at his practice. The victim and perp are both 63, and the incident occured after an eye exam in August 2007, when he claimed that he needed to check his victim's heart rate. Three other women testified that Dr. Burman inappropriately touched them.

Tustin mobile home resident allegedly raped, assaulted by roommate

David Reyes, 20, of Tustin, CA was charged with raping his 60 year old female roommate in a mobile home park, then taking all of her items with him in his truck, found at a local hotel.

Police officers responded to a report of suspicious circumstances in the Tustin Village Mobile Home Park on Sunday. When they arrived, officers say they found a 60-year-old woman who had been bound and sexually assaulted before being robbed of credit cards, flat screen televisions and other personal items.

Police arrested Reyes outside the hotel after he returned. He was taken to the Orange County Jail, charged with suspected rape, assault, burglary, and robbery.

Suburban Dallas man sentenced to 30 years for murdering wife

A retired ironworker who wanted to change the guilty plea for shooting his wife to death was sentenced to 30 years in prison Monday, July 28 by District Judge Mike Thomas in Criminal District Court No. 4. Freddie Willhite, 69, killed his wife at 7:30 in the evening at their home in the Dallas suburb of North Richland Hills on March 19 of last year.

Willhite claimed that his wife Donna, 66, had enticed and ridiculed him his whole life. During testimony in the punishment phase, Tarrant County Deputy Medical Examiner Lloyd White testified that Donna Willhite was shot at close range.

Their daughter, Mellisa Martinez, described her father as a violent drunk who tried to get her to move out of the couple’s shared home. She felt her father would be dangerous to both the community and her, and that Willhite had mailed the daughter a drawing of where her mother was shot.

Martinez had told relatives not to allow her father inside their home if he was drunk.
"On the Saturday before the incident, he called and left a message saying that mother had died," Martinez testified. "I quickly called her, and she said she was fine, but I found it very odd that he would do that."

On the evening of March 19, 2007, Freddie Willhite called his daughter, saying he was angry with Donna Willhite. "He kept saying, 'That’s it, that’s it,’ his daughter said Willhite said.

Willhite tried to change his plea July 16 because, in his own words, lawyer Scott Brown of Fort Worth, "told me I don’t have a chance [and] said that the jury would be mad for taking up their time with the case."

However, Judge Thomas said the defendant knew what he was doing. The prosecuting attorney was Tarrant County assistant district attorney Rebecca McIntire. Willhite can get out in 15 years with good behavior.

Donald Phares sentenced to 9 years for murder of wife of 4 decades

Donald Phares, of Flora Vista, NM, was sentenced to 9 years in prison for killing his wife of 40 years on October 13, 2007, a sentence possible only because their daughter Amy suggested the plea agreement. He killed his wife Shan by shooting her in the back of the head with a .22 caliber gun while she prepared their breakfast. Donald has never formally admitted responsibility, something which did not sit well with District Judge Thomas Hynes.

Even while being formally sentenced to prison, the defendant appeared indifferent and didn’t address the court, but Todd Sewell, Amy’s husband, spoke on behalf of his wife."My wife is a complete wreck. She needs this to be over to get on with her life," he said. "It's just been very emotional to try to reach some understanding about the fate of her father."

"The family is torn. We have a daughter who is dealing with a dead mom and a father who is the perpetrator, as far as she is concerned," Deputy District Attorney Paul Wainwright said. "Their suggestion, with my approval, was that we reduce (prison time)."

Judge Hynes stated that he accepted the plea agreement only because the victim (and perp’s) daughter and son-in-law asked for it so they could get on with their lives.

"To come down from 15 (years) to nine seems to me to be a substantial reduction to what I would have sentenced him to," Hynes said.

Phares called 911 to report his wife’s shooting death, but according to the San Juan County Sheriff's Office, gave false information about his activities and concealed the information about his .22 caliber gun from police.

When detectives requested to test Phares for residual gun fire residue, the man said he may have gun powder on his hands because he had been firing his .22-caliber rifle earlier in the day. Detectives asked Phares where he had been firing his rifle, he led them to an area with tire tracks and boots which matched Phares’. A shallow grave was found which turned out to be his wife’s.

Because the murder case relied almost exclusively on circumstantial evidence — with no evidence of a motive — Phares may have been acquitted by a jury at trial, Chief Public Defender Christian Hatfield said, noting the man had been happily married to the victim for nearly 40 years with no history of violence. Hatfield also noted the man's extensive Vietnam military service and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

"It's an extremely anomalous in a life of loving and caring," Hatfield said of the murder. "There's a reasonable chance that a jury would come back (with a verdict) either way."

Deputy District Attorney Paul Wainwright said, "I think it was a fair ending. "What's sad is Mr. Phares showed absolutely no remorse at any of the proceedings. He didn't make an attempt at apologizing."

Racine, WI woman sentenced to 3 years in prison for stabbing husband with knife

Wife sentenced to 3 years in prison for stabbing husband. In her sentencing, Judge Emily Mueller said drinking and substance abuse were not excuses for her actions.

Michelle Ferrell, 52, was sentenced to 3 years in prison and 4 years of extended supervision for stabbing her husband with a knife on St. Patrick's Day. The formal charge was first degree reckless injury while armed. Issac Ferrell, 67, apologized for the incident, stating that if he hadn't gave his wife alcohol and crack cocaine, she would not have stabbed him.

"This never would have happened if I hadn’t put the stuff in her hands. We’ve had problems before, but not like this.”

According to the criminal complaint, Racine police were called March 17 to the couple’s apartment for a report of a sexual assault of a child. But when police arrived there were no children in the apartment.Police said Michelle Ferrell told officers she had stabbed her husband and told them to take her to jail. Isaac Ferrell told officers Michelle Ferrell said she was going to kill him and then stabbed him.Police said Isaac Ferrell left the apartment, then went back and his wife hit him in the head with a flower pot. He left to call police.

Michelle Ferrell also called authorities and allegedly told the dispatcher that her husband had sexually assaulted their grandchild. However, on the scene, officers spoke with the couple’s daughter, who said it was not true. The daughter told police her mother only made the accusation because she had been drinking.

According to Assistant District Attorney Robert Repischak, Michelle had been arrested for domestic violence before, but her husband had always dropped the charges. This time, due to the stabbing, charges weren't allowed to be dropped. Repischak said that Michelle's injuries to her her husband were"incredibly violent" and that "she did quite a number on him."

Family members pleaded for leniency, stating that she needed to kick drug and alcohol addiction, which the sentencing judge required as part of her sentence. Judge Emily Mueller stated “I frankly don’t know what the real story is,” Mueller said. “But regardless of what you heard, you stabbed your husband.”

Woman who claimed abuse sentenced to 22 years in husband's death

A Des Moines, WA woman who claimed that her husband's murder was a plan to escape from his abuse has been sentenced to 22 years in prison following her guilty plea to 1st degree murder last month. Velma Ogden-Whitehead's claims of grief and abuse held no sway with Judge Steven Gonzalez as he sentenced her Thursday.

"Domestic violence victims deserve our compassion and resources, but the domestic violence victim is not you. Your claims of abuse and suffering, I must say, are hollow."

Ronald Whitehead, 61, was shot 4 times and shoved from his car near Sea-Tac airport. Her son and his friend are facing 1st degree murder trials later this year. Ogden-Whitehead claimed that the murder was a auto theft plot gone wrong, and asked for forgiveness Thursday.

"I deeply regret that I took matters into my own hands instead of letting the police and the courts sort out the mess between my husband and I."

Defense attorney Jonathan Newcomb said the woman had told people her husband abused her long before he was killed and even showed them injuries. He also said she suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis and would probably be in a wheelchair by the time she gets out of prison -- if she lives that long.

But Whitehead's daughter was adamant that the "trusting, honorable man and loving, dependable father" did not abuse anyone. She and others said the false claim was just another attempt to manipulate and wring sympathy from people.

"Velma Ogden-Whitehead killed my father simply because she wanted his money," Kimberley Whitehead said. "She may not have pulled the trigger, but what she did was worse."

She told the judge she was now an orphan who would not have her father to walk her down the aisle, see his future grandchildren or dispense advice.

"She believed she had everyone fooled -- that my father was the victim of a random carjacking," she said. "She does not deserve to ever be free again."

Her fiance, Jay Hildebrand, said Ogden-Whitehead even made it impossible for relatives to grieve peacefully because she had her name added to Whitehead's headstone, a sight he called disgusting. He called her an "incredible, manipulative liar" who sought out interviews with the media and attended support groups for violent crime victims -- people who were unknowingly "sitting in the room, sharing their innermost feelings with a murderer."

Prosecutors and Newcomb recommended the low end of the usual 20- to 27-year sentence as part of a plea agreement, though the judge added two years. Ogden-Whitehead's son, Jonathan Ogden, and his friend, Wilson Sayachack, both have pleaded not guilty to murder charges.

Sayachuk's attorneys say he had nothing to do with Whitehead's death.

Whitehead was allegedly killed by Sayachuk on March 18, 2005, as he was entering his car. Sayachuck allegedly hid in the backseat with a gun, and jumped up to shoot him. For a year, Ogden-Whitehead plead to justice in her husband's death, all the while, having an affair with a younger 26 year old man.

Texas granny raped, beaten, pushed into well

An 18 year old registered sex offender is being held on $167,500 bond after being charged with kidnapping, raping, beating, then throwing a 63 year old woman into a well, where she was miraculously found by her grandson then rescued 16 hours later.

Henderson County Sheriff officials said Joshua James Cannon, 18, has been formerly charged with aggravated sexual assault, aggravated robbery, aggravated kidnapping, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and felon in possession of a firearm.

Cannon was sent to the Texas Youth Commission for molesting a 5 year old girl and registered as a sex offender last Wednesday.

"The investigation is continuing so we don't know all the charges the investigators will charge him with," McWilliams said.

The ordeal started after Cannon asked to use the woman’s phone. He said his truck had broken down, and called a number, but got an answering machine. He came back again, this time, with a rifle, and aimed it at her head.

"I tried to shut the door, but he grabbed it and ripped it from my hands. I ran toward the front door, but he caught me and hit me with the butt of the gun which knocked me to the floor," she said.

As she tried to escape, the man continually asked if she had a debit card while beating her.

"He took my purse and just kept asking if I had an ATM card. I just asked him to take the purse and leave but he wouldn't leave me. I begged and begged to stay here, but he wouldn't let me," she said. Despite her injuries, Cannon allegedly grabbed the woman up off the floor and forced her outside to her car.

"He pushed me in the car and told me if I tried to jump out that he would kill me. I didn't know what to do," she said.

The woman said Cannon kept saying the ordeal was some type of gang-related initiation and that he was being watched, but she never saw anyone.

Cannon passed her son’s home twice, with the woman, while holding her puppy, wondering if she was going to see him or other family members alive again.

"I just kept thinking of something to do, but I couldn't. I just kept thinking 'Oh God."

Less than two miles from her house was a path into a wooded area where the concrete well stands -- a well with a narrow top protruding from the earth about three feet and the base ballooning out into a cistern 20 feet below.

According to the woman, the perpetrator gave her three choices – being shot, strangled, or pushed down into the well. Cannon decided to push her down the well, where she bounced off the sides before resting at the water filled bottom.

"I don't remember how I fell, but I remember being scared and cold. I don't know why he left but soon he was gone," she said.

As the woman fought shock, hallucinations and the cold for hours on end, her family began looking for her after hearing a voicemail from the Seagoville Police Department on her cell phone.
The woman's daughter said she had gone by her mother's home and saw a chair out of place and thought it was odd her mother was not home.

However, it would be several hours before the daughter went back to the home and saw her mother's cell phone sitting on a table with the message about her car.

Henderson County Sheriff's Lt. Pat McWilliams said Seagoville police found the suspect and a 15 year old juvenile, who Cannon picked up after he pushed the woman into the well. The police seized the car, but let both go.

Meanwhile, the woman’s family started calling police and searching for their matriarch after the Seagoville police called the victim’s daughter about the stolen car.

The son, familiar with the area of the well because of previous ATV riding, sent his son, the victim’s grandson to the well just in case she was there.

"I don't know why my brother thought to look there, but he sent my nephew and he found his grandmother down in the well," the victim's daughter said.

The victim said at first she thought she was dreaming that her grandson was looking down at her, but then other family members and neighbors began gathering around the well.

"I heard him saying grandma and I just started crying and thanking God. I knew that God had saved me," she said.

But it would take firefighters with the Gun Barrel City Fire Department to safely retrieve her from what had been her prison for a day.

The victim's daughter said firefighters originally tried a ladder, but it didn't work so they lowered a firefighter down to help the beaten woman out.

"Seeing (the firefighter) I thought he just looked good," she said.

The victim was taken to Tyler, where she was treated for dehydration, brusies and a broken nose. Currently, the woman is living with relatives, but her future plans are unclear.

I don't want to move, but then I don't want to be alone right now. I hope that (Cannon) gets the punishment he deserves."

"God let me know with this that miracles do happen."