Oregon man sentenced to 56 years for sexual attacks on wife

A man who raped his wife and terrorized their children was sentenced to 56 1/4 years in the Oregon prison system on August 10, 2011. 50 year old Diego Lara Andrade was convicted of numerous sex crimes at the conclusion of a two day trial which took place in a Umatilla County, Or courtroom on July 25 and July 26.

50 year old Diego Lara Andrade of Hermiston, OR was convicted of sexual attacks on his wife, the mother of his children, between March and October 2010. The jury convicted him of several counts of rape, sodomy, and physical abuse of his victimized wife.

Each of the sex crimes defendant was convicted of are listed under Oregon’s Ballot Measure 11, requiring minimum mandatory prison sentences. Convicts sentenced under Oregon’s Ballot Measure 11 are not eligible for parole or any other forms of early release.

Judge Daniel Hill presided over the trial and sentencing of Andrade. Judge Hill imposed five consecutive 100 month sentences in prison for each of the counts of rape in the first degree, one consecutive 100 month sentence for sodomy in the first degree, and one 75 month consecutive sentence for sexual abuse in the first degree for a total of 675 months (56 ¼ years) in prison, without any eligibility for early release.

Judge Hill said that it was his "own arrogance toward his wife and his family that put him in the position he is now in," and that he expected Andrade to die in prison.

Rapist sentenced to 50 more years for week-long assault on wife - appeal denied

(Original Post 9-29-09)
A man who was convicted of raping his wife in a second trial was sentenced to 50 years in prison in addition to 22 years handed down in a previous aggravated rape conviction. The 50 years sentence stems from two consecutive 25 year sentences for aggravated rape and especially aggravated kidnapping. 6 year sentences for aggravated burglary and aggravated assault were imposed, but they'll run concurrently with the other charges.

Sullivan County Criminal Court Judge Robert Montgomery said that he “I shudder to think what might have happened” if Bristol TN resident Doug Young, 49, hadn't been apprehended in Georgia a week after he kidnapped and raped his wife, Heather Moore.

The rapes and kidnapping occurred over the week of January 4 to 11, 2008 after they ate breakfast at Moore's home. Young's presence was a violation of the protective order Moore filed against him on December 3, 2007, citing that “[Young] possesses many firearms and has threatened to shoot me and I am in fear for my life.” Moore's father, fred Moore began staying with his daughter, trying to protect her.

The two traveled in Moore’s vehicle to Asheville, N.C., where they spent the night at a rest stop; to Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where they circled the scenic loop over and over again; and to Cherokee, N.C., where they holed up at the Drama Inn for most of the next week, according to testimony presented Monday and Tuesday.

From Cherokee, Young and Moore took shopping and dining excursions to Spartanburg, S.C., and Clayton, Ga. From Jan. 4 to Jan. 11, Moore testified, Young kept a gun trained on her at almost all times, and forced her to have sex with him on at least seven separate occasions. Prosecutors are focusing only on the incidents that occurred in Sullivan County.

Everywhere they went, Moore testified, Young kept the pistol in his right-hand pants pocket. One day, while drinking vodka and driving, Young menaced her with the gun, running it up and down her head, saying, “I could kill you right now,” she recalled.

Friday’s sentencing concluded the most serious charges that Young racked up in just over a month between Dec. 1, 2007, and Jan. 10, 2008. Before then, he had been a superintendent at BurWil Construction, whose worst offense was an incident of joyriding as a juvenile.

But with his marriage to Moore unraveling, Young turned violent, sexually assaulting Moore in December 2007 at her home, after she refused to give him a hug, a jury concluded.

Then, on the eve of finalizing their divorce and days ahead of a hearing on Young’s aggravated rape charge, he violated the court’s no-contact order and stole in to Moore’s house to wait for her.

Prosecutors in Young’s second trial in August built their case by focusing on his offenses from the time he entered Moore’s residence, to when he left, abducting her at gunpoint, and commandeering her car.

According to Moore's previous victim impact statement, she fears coming home at dark, her rapist escaping and putting a gun to her head, and has to face the door when eating at restaurants. "All of this make it very difficult to report a crime like this and have the most horrible thing that has ever happened to you be exposed in the media for all to see.”

Moore's mother, Margaret Schaffer, said that “We’re going forward now. We’re not looking back.” Young's 2008 rape conviction is currently being appealed.

(Update 5-27-11) Doug Young's appeal of his 2009 rape conviction has been denied by the Tennessee Court Of Criminal Appeals in a unanimous decision dated Monday, May 23, 2011. The appeal is based on the introduction of Young's 1st rape conviction in the second trial as evidence. The court said that while testimony regarding the first rape conviction was a bit excessive, it allowed prosecutors to privide evidence of a criminal plan or motive. The appellate court also ruled that other evidence against Young outweightd the error of allowing the testimony relating to the first conviction. The entire decision can be found here in this pdf file. The case number is E2010-00027-CCA-R3-CD.

Snake rapist sentenced to 25 years prison and lifetime extended supervision

One of two men who were found guilty of raping a woman with a live snake last fall was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment by Eau Claire County Judge Paul Lenz on Tuesday, May 24, 2011. 24 year old John Bullock, of Altoona, earned the sentence after a jury convicted him and 25 year old Damonta Jones of Eau Claire, WI of two counts of 1st degree sexual assault last month.

According to the criminal complaint:

The woman told police she was at Jones' residence in the early morning hours of Nov. 11 with Jones, Bullock and two friends.The group was drinking alcohol and dancing. At one point, one of the friends left the residence while the second went to take a shower. Jones then invited the woman into a bedroom to see his children's pictures.

When she walked into the bedroom the woman said she was struck in the head with an unknown object and thrown on the floor before blacking out. The woman said she remembered Jones holding her while Bullock sexually assaulted her. She said she later was sexually assaulted with a live snake.
Bullock told police he had sexual contact with the woman but that it was consensual.

Besides 25 years imprisonment, Bullock will spend the rest of his life on extended supervision and the sex offender registry. He must stay away from the victim, Jones, minors, taverns, and alcohol. He also can't own pets.

The 25 year sentence falls in line with the pre-sentence investigation prepared by the Wisconsin Department Of Corrections, which recommended a 20-40 year sentence, but under Eau Claire County Assistant District Attorney Meri Larson's 30-40 year sentence suggestion. According to Larson, Bullock "attacked a defenseless woman in the most degrading way he and Mr. Jones could think of" and that Bullock "is a great threat to the community."

Before sentencing, Bullock said "I can't apologize about a crime I did not commit...My case is a case ... of media sensationalism and police misconduct. My case has been built on a foundation of lies. I am not a man that sexually assaults women."

Judge Lenz disagreed, saying "Just when you think you've seen every kind of depravity that comes into the mind of a man, there comes along another one."

Jones, still being held on $30,000 bail in the Eau Claire County Jail, will be sentenced August 3 after a pre-sentence investigation is run on him. Both Bullock and Jones have appealed their convictions.

Man who threatened to kill "girlfriend" in front of child then does it gets 30 to life

A Bella Vista, CA man who threatened to kill his "girlfriend" in front of her 7 year old child, then proceeded to do just that was sentenced to a prison term of 30 years to life on April 22, 2011. 49 year old Ty Rone Pitts was sentenced in Shasta County Superior Court by Judge Bradley Boeckman on April 22 for the 1st degree murder of 24 year old Randal Leigh Wert. Wert was stabbed five times in front of her 7 year old daughter Kaylee, with three of those stabbings going through Wert's body. This was not the first felony conviction Pitts had for attacking Wert - a 2008 conviction was for choking and holding a knife to Wert's throat.

According to court documents, Pitts told a sheriff's detective that he and Wert, who worked as a shift manager at a fast-food restaurant in Redding, had been arguing the night of the stabbing and that "she continued to 'needle' and 'nag' " at him.

He then pulled an 18-inch "coconut knife" from the top of the refrigerator, and he nicked her arm with it, the court documents show. Wert then told Pitts she was "going to call the cops and he was going to prison."At that point, the report said, Pitts began to stab Wert in the upper torso.

Jankowitz said during the trial's closing arguments that Pitts inflicted the final stab wound after the bleeding and terrified Wert tried to run away from him but tripped and fell down in the driveway at their residence.

Pitts then rolled Wert onto her back and, holding the knife with both hands, raised it high over his head and plunged it into her heart, Jankowitz has said.

Karen Hallenbeck of Shasta Lake, CA said her daughter's murder has caused continuing nightmares."I miss her so much...I talk to her every night before bed...I will never forgive him." Hallenbeck read a letter from her granddaughter Kaylee who asked Pitts why he killed her mother. "I wish you were here so we could play," Kaylee said in her letter.

Hallenbeck also opined that Pitts should get life without parole since "he always said he was going to kill her in front of the children." Judge Boekman said "You predicted this and you made it happen."

Former Houston officer sentenced to 6 years jail for coercing prostitute into sex

A former Houston police officer was convicted, then sentenced to 6 years imprisonment for raping two prostitutes while on duty. 26 year old Demetrie Trevail Dixon, 26 was convicted by a Harris county jury on two counts of sex assault Tuesday, May 3, 2011. The conviction stems from charges that two prostitutes had been coerced into performing oral sex by Dixon while he was on duty.

Dixon was sworn in as an HPD officer in January 2009. He was arrested June 4 and terminated after an internal investigation Jan. 7 [2011].The north Houston division patrol officer was charged last year with four felony counts of sexual assault and two misdemeanor counts of official oppression.

Internal affairs investigators said Dixon stalked several women while on duty then took them to a secluded area to strip-search them. Prosecutors said he raped two of the women twice over a three-month period. After more than a week of trial and about two hours of deliberating, Dixon was sentenced for raping one of the women twice.

While Harris County Prosecutor Prosecutor Matthew Peneguy asked for the maximum of 20 years behind bars for "using the badge to coerce" sex, Dixon's defense attorney said "We don't need to warehouse this guy, he needs help," but the jury disagreed.

Dixon sill faces sexual assault charges for raping the other prostitute, and faces two misdemeanor allegations that he forced two other women, one of them an undercover police officer, to submit to strip searches under threat of jail. 

Missing mother abducted from parents' house by estranged husband - husband sentenced to life without parole

By Rex Hall Jr.

Kalamazoo Gazette

April 26, 2010, 5:03PM

COLON TOWNSHIP — Police are searching for a missing St. Joseph County woman who is believed to have been abducted Monday morning by her estranged husband, authorities said.

 

Venus Rose Stewart, 32, was taken some time between 7:10 and 8:30 a.m. from her parents’ home in the 55000 block of Driftwood Drive in Colon Township, according to Michigan State Police. Police said Stewart, who was last seen wearing pajamas, may be with her estranged husband, Douglas Harrie Stewart, 29.

“We have information to believe she did not leave voluntarily,” said Lt. Mike Risko of the State Police Post in White Pigeon.

Police said the Stewarts may be traveling in a 1998 silver Mercury sedan with Virginia license plate XNP1453 or a silver full-size Dodge Ram with four doors and Virginia plate XNP1301. Douglas Stewart lives in Newport News, Va., and police believe the two may be headed there.

Risko said Venus Stewart formerly lived in Newport News but had moved back to Michigan where she was living with her parents and children. He said Venus Stewart’s father and children were asleep at the house in Colon Township at the time that she is believed to have been abducted. The lieutenant declined to say Monday what information police have that leads them to believe that Venus Stewart did not leave her parents’ home willingly.

Police described Venus Stewart as a white female, 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighing approximately 130 pounds with brown eyes and dark hair. Douglas Stewart is described as a white male, 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing approximately 250 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.

Police ask that anyone with information about the Stewarts’ whereabouts to call the White Pigeon post at 269-483-7611 or the State Police Regional Dispatch Center in Rockford.

(Update 5-2-11)

Two weeks ago, Doug Stewart was sentenced to life without parole after being convicted of kidnapping and killing his wife. Stewart was sentenced to life without parole on counts of 1st degree intential murder, and conspiracy to commit first degree inentional murder. A St. Joseph jury convicted Douglas of these charges on March 11 after a three week trial.

During the sentencing, which took place on April 18, Venus' brother Dustin Jasper read a statement by their mother, Therese McComb. Jasper was angry at his former brother-in-law for not telling his family where Venus' McComb's body was.

“Don’t you miss her? Don’t you realize how much Brook and Rachel need their mother? This just shows how much you didn’t love them and saw them as pawns to hunt Venus. You’re hurting Mom by not telling where she is at to have a proper burial.”

Jasper then called his sister's murder a sociopath who lied and seduced his sister into the marriage. "He never served in Afghanistan or was a sniper...A pathological liar lies to get sympathy, to look better, to save his butt...A sociopath will quickly proclaim that you are their true love and soulmate,” Jasper said. “They want to move in together or get married quickly.”

St. Joseph County Circuit Judge Paul Stutesman presided over the trial and sentencing.

A week ago, on April 26, 2011,  a vigil was held for Venus McComb in Centreville, MI. It was led by Pastor Don Smith of Firm Foundation Ministries and attended by about 100 people. Pastor Smith said “It was a special day for me. My mother had also dedicated her life to the Lord and was going to be baptized that day...You could see the joy in her face in the midst of the struggles she was going through. Today, the biggest question is, ‘what are we supposed to do without Venus?’ How can something good come out of something so tragic?...We see the life in her legacy just by looking at her daughters. There’s nothing wrong with crying over Venus tonight. We need to mourn.”

Theresa McComb, the victim's mother said, “She made my life complete...She was a free spirit. She loved her little girls more than anything in the world.”

Minnesota serial predator sentenced to 10 years for raping woman, groping three others

A Shoreview, MN developer was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday, April 20 and will be deported back to his native Bangladesh after being convicted of raping a woman and groping three other women. The sex assaults took place between January 2008 and September 2009. According to prosecutors at his trial, now 36 year old Maksud Mahbub would target women who were drunk at downtown Minneapolis bars during closing time and offer them "help" or rides, when they would be assaulted in his car or home.

The women testified that they passed out and woke up in Mahbub's home or car, unable to remember how they got there. The evidence against Mahbub included a shopping bag found in his closet with four pairs of women's underwear, including one belonging to a victim; a bra; and some women's jewelry. The victims also testified that Mahbub took or disabled their cellphones, in some cases by removing the batteries, so they could not call for help.

In one of the assaults, the victim testified that she had gone to a Minneapolis bar with a friend in September 2009 and had about five beers and six shots of liquor before ending up alone. She testified that the next thing she remembered was being in Mahbub's car. At his townhouse, she said, she fell asleep with her clothes on in his bedroom, but was nude when she woke up and he was on top of her. She said he raped her, even though she pushed him off twice.

Mahbub testified that he had never touched the woman. He also said that he had consensual sex with one of the women and kissed another, but denied touching the others. Mahbub testified at trial that he had only good intentions when he offered the inebriated women rides or took them to his townhome. He admitted only after aggressive questioning that he would have liked to have sex with the ones he groped "if they wanted to."

Investigators found three victims through taxi records after the first reported she was raped in September 2009. Another reported her assault after officials put out a public call for victims to come forward.

The charges that Mahbub was found guilty of and sentenced by Ramsey County District Judge Judith Tilsen were a single count of 3rd degree CSC and 3 counts of 4th degree CSC. A charge of 3rd degree sexual misconduct was dropped, and cases against six other women were not pursued or dropped due to lack of evidence. One of his victim wrote a letter to Judge Tilsen regarding her assault.

"I wanted to write this letter not only for myself but for the other women in this trial, and the countless others that may have been afraid to come forward. I thought, how could this happen to me? I am so much ... stronger than to let this happen." she said, before realizing that regardless of background, there is a difference between sex and rape. As for Mahbub's actions, the victim said, "that's what predators do."

Mahbub through his attorney Earl Gray, argued for a year in jail and SO treatment, stating that the immigration hold Mahbub has meant that he will be seperated from his brother, young daughter, and mother, who cried throught the proceedings. "I have been blessed with a loving family. I'm sorry to everyone because they had to endure such a hard time ... because of my conduct. I'll never be able to see my daughter, brother and mom ever again." said Mahbub.

Judge Tilsen said in response, "I'm not going to depart from (state sentencing) guidelines because it's going to be hard on your family," and Ella Friendt, a juror on the case, said "To me, it was a gut-wrenching case. It was very hard being a mother, to see what his mother was going through. But I also have a daughter ... and he was a predator."

Sterling Heights man who kidnapped, raped mother of his children gets 26 3/4 to 75 years

A Sterling Heights, MI man was sentenced to 26 3/4 to 75 years in prison in a suburban Detroit courtroom Friday, April 15, 2011 for raping and kidnapping his "girlfriend," the mother of his two children, on New Years Day 2010.  Brandon Jay Smith kidnapped the woman be forcing her into his grandmother's car when she arrived to work at a Green Oak Township restaurant.

The woman testified at a June preliminary examination that Smith was waiting for her when she arrived to work. She said he told her not to resist and not to scream for help. She resisted and she screamed, and Smith grew angrier, the woman said. The woman sat on the ground in an effort to be dead weight, but her 5-foot, 96-pound frame was no match for Smith, at 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds.

She said Smith fled on U.S. 23, where he cut off his electronic tether, he had to wear one as a condition of his sentencing less than a month earlier on charges of aggravated domestic violence against the same woman, and threw it out the window. He put zip ties on her wrists and took the batteries out of both of their cell phones.

Smith told the woman that he was taking her somewhere no one would find her and during that trip north, he told her that he was going to asphyxiate himself and she was going to watch. He also told her that he was going to kill her and if police stopped them, he threatened to kill her in front of them.

The woman said Smith raped her while en route to his family’s camper trailer in Antrim County and again once they reached the site. She was rescued by Antrim County sheriff’s deputies in the early morning hours of Jan. 2, 2010.

Defense attorney Mark Gatesman said that he was proud of his client's taking responsibility. He also said that a factor in his client's favor was that instead of killing his victim should police raid the trailer, he simply surrendered to police.

This view contrasts with some of the statements Smith made to the Center for Forensic Psychiatry.  "My intent was never to hurt her, but she got hurt. We were supposed to go up to the camper, up north. She kept asking why we were going there. I told her that's where I'm going to commit suicide. ... The reason she was with me was she could watch. Never got around to doing it, though. The cops came before I had a chance to."

However, according to presiding Judge Livingston County Circuit Judge Michael P. Hatty, it was Smith's mother who took on her reasonably to the mother of her grandkids to lead them to the camper. Judge Hatty, citing the "horrendous" nature of the case, said "This case came up very short of being a murder case, if the police didn't get there quick enough." According to Prosecutor David Moses, the victim was 45 minutes from death. "She thought she was going to die. She thought she would not see her family again, would not see her children," Moses said about the victim.

Beside the kidnapping and 1st degree criminal sexual conduct counts, Smith was also sentenced for assault with intent to commit great bodily harm, aggravated domestic violence and assault with a dangerous weapon for threatening and cutting the woman with a knife as well as interfering with electronic communications.

The victim's father, who attended the sentencing, said that he thanked the officials who helped find his daughter. "We owe a lot to the police agencies that were involved in this. Those guys did a great job."

"Boyfriend" sentenced to life without parole for running over woman on Jacksonville, FL street

A man who deliberately ran over his "girlfriend", crushing her bones so badly that they "resembled sand" was sentenced to life without parole in a Jacksonville, FL courtroom a week ago today. Circuit Judge Mark Hulsey sentenced Giacinto Martin, now 34, for a count of attempted murder for pushing mother of two Mary Wilkie out of a car she was driving and running her over last July in Jacksonville.

Martin pushed Wilkie out of the car, ran over her, backed over her and then ran her over again. He maintained it was an accident. The two had left a bar that night and Wilkie drove because Martin was drunk.

Police said Martin left Wilkie on Anniston Road just off Beach Boulevard to die in the middle of the night. During a break in his interview with detectives, he was caught on video saying to himself, “If I was going to run her over, I’d make sure she was dead but I’d never do that.”

According to the victim's mother Judith Wilkie, her daughter is still in a wheelchair relrning how to walk, and medicial bills from her recovery have topped $1.4 million. Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda said that the $1.4 million was the highest amount he has seen for medical costs resulting from crimes he has prosecuted.

Before Judge Hulsey sentenced Martin, Martin asked for a term which would allow him to attempt to pay off the victim's bills. “I have nightmares every single night about this. I swear to you. I swear to God. I swear to everybody in my life I’d never hurt her.”

However, Hulsey said, “There are cases where lenience is called for. This isn’t one of them. I hope that God has mercy on your soul, to be honest with you.”

Hitman sentenced to life for murder at behest of victim's wife

A hitman hired by the victim's wife to kill for a $500,000 life insurance policy was sentenced to life plus 25 years in a Fulton County, GA courtroom for the killing. Jean Pierre Devaughn, 29 of suburban Atlanta, was sentenced by Judge Stephanie Manis Monday, April 11, 2001 for the murder of his cousin, 35 year old Eric Clark of Alabama. According to the Fulton County District Attorney's Office, Clark's wife, Constance Shinell Clark, hired Devaughn to kill her husband for his life insurance.

Clark had driven to Atlanta the day he was murdered with $500 cash to get discounted alcohol for a party he was bartending, prosecutors said. Authorities learned that in the months before he died, Clark's wife had secured a $500,000 life insurance policy on her husband, prosecutors said.

The victim's mother, Janice Clark, spoke for her son during the sentencing."Not seeing his lovely face and smile has been hard for our family. Eric was loved so much and he was brutally murdered and left like trash. This man has taken his life and shown no remorse...He destroyed our son and we will never be the same."

The wife is currently serving time in federal prison for identity fraud, but is scheduled to be tried for her husband's murder.

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.

Britain's "Night Stalker" sentenced to life for rapes of elderly

By Andy Bloxham 8:00AM GMT 26 Mar 20
The Telegraph [Britain]

Delroy Grant, 53, “terrified a whole community” for 17 years by committing hundreds of offences against pensioners including rape, sexual assault and burglary. Grant singled out his victims by looking for signs they were elderly and lived alone.

Dressed in black, wearing a mask or balaclava, with gloves on his hands, he would remove entire window panes, cut telephone lines and remove light bulbs before robbing and molesting his victims in the middle of the night. Yesterday, one of his victims, known only as Miss J for legal reasons, took the witness stand and faced her attacker.

At 5ft 1ins tall, with pure white hair and wire-rimmed spectacles, dressed in a white top and blue jacket, the 85-year-old stood as her police statement was read to the court.

"It is something that I shall never forget completely. It still feels so recent. I feel a huge amount of resentment and wonder how the suspect chose me. I often think to myself 'Why me?' or 'Why any of the other victims?'. I also feel a sense of indignation and anger as I feel that I had done everything reasonable to avoid this sort of thing happening. I have found that time is not a great healer. I don't think that it has got any easier over the last year. I certainly haven't got back my peace of mind."

She then added in person that she failed to understand why Grant had struck, before thanking the judge for the opportunity to speak.

The police operation to find Grant cost an estimated £7million and was the largest hunt for a serial rapist ever conducted in London. However, they had missed an opportunity to arrest him in 1999, which allowed him to strike again over 100 times more.

He was yesterday jailed for life, with a minimum of 27 years before he could be considered for parole.
Judge Peter Rook, sentencing, told Grant he remained a “very dangerous man capable of committing heinous crimes and causing incalculable harm” and warned him he was likely to die in jail.

The judge said: “You targeted elderly victims living alone. Your actions blighted the remaining precious years of their lives. Their homes, where many of them had lived for years, should have been their safest refuge where they could have expected to live their lives undisturbed and at peace. It is hard to imagine the extreme fear that the feel of your gloved hand and the sight of your masked figure looming above them must have been felt by your victims in their beds.”

He also placed Grant on the sex offenders' register for life.

Grant's defence counsel, Courtenay Griffiths QC, admitted that he could offer no mitigation for his client other than to point out that his age meant he would probably spend the rest of his life in jail.
Mr Griffiths added: "These offences were indeed perverse and disgusting and they were also uniquely revolting."

Before the former minicab driver left Woolwich Crown Court, in south London, the judge made these remarks. "Delroy Grant. Your utter depravity knows no bounds. The 18 victims of your offending were all elderly. In respect of nine of them, not only did you break into their homes in the middle of the night, that invasion being a highly traumatic experience for them in itself, but you then proceeded to subject them to humiliating and degrading sexual attacks.

Your offending spanned a period of 17 years. Five south London boroughs were affected by your offending. Over 17 years you have terrified a whole community. As your counsel accepted, thousands of people in south London have been living in fear that they might be your next victim.

It also led to an enormous drain on police resources as the years went by and you evaded arrest. Your offending led to the largest hunt for a serial rapist ever conducted in London.

This series of offences have multiple aggravating features. Your offending falls in a category of its own, way above anything envisaged in the definitive sentencing guidelines.

You targeted elderly victims living alone. Your actions blighted the remaining years of their lives. Their homes, where many of them had lived for years, should have been their safest refuge, where they could expect to live their lives undisturbed and at peace. You chose to invade their homes when they were in bed at night.

It is hard to imagine the extreme fear that the feel of your gloved hand and the sight of your masked figure looming above them must have been felt by your victims in their beds. Those who you raped or attempted to rape were all over 80. Many of your victims were in poor health.

Since in every case but one, your elderly victims lived on their own, I can only conclude that these offences were well-planned and you targeted victims. Singling out your victims must have involved considerable planning, as you chose the most vulnerable of people.

In the middle of the night, you would wake your victims who would be sleeping in their own beds by placing a gloved hand over their mouths to stop them screaming. You would shine your torch into their terrified eyes. You would search their homes and steal their money. I am not going to catalogue in detail the trail of distress, fear and misery you have left behind you.

There can be only one sentence and that is life imprisonment. I have no doubt that these offences are of such seriousness that a life sentence is appropriate to reflect the public abhorrence at your offending. You are a very dangerous man capable of committing heinous crimes and causing incalculable harm to people. It will be a matter for the Parole Board whether you ever be released. It may be that you will never be released.

Your offending is in a league of its own. I must look at the totality of your offending. I bear in mind that you are now 53. If this was a determinate sentence, a total sentence of 54 years would be appropriate. This means the minimum term will be one of 27 years, less the time you have spent in custody. I am told that is one year and 129 days. That makes the total minimum sentence 25 years, 236 days. I stress that is the minimum term you must serve.

It will follow automatically that you will be placed on the Sexual Offences Register for life.

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.

Border guard gets 2 years for making women strip for no reason

A Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) guard was sentenced to 2 years less a day in the British Columbia jail system followed by three years probation by forcing young women, three Americans and a Canadian, to strip under threat of detention or a criminal record. The victims were detained on pretence of drug charges. 35 year old Daniel Johnson Greenhalgh was sentenced by BC justice Fritz Verhoeven in a New Westminster, BC courtroom on March 4, 2011.

The incidents took place in the spring of 2007 at the Douglas Border Crossing in South Surrey (known as the Blaine or Peach Arch crossing to Americans). The gropings took place between April 12 and May 26 in various locations at the crossing. The first incident, on April 12, featured two Seattle young women who were trying to cross the border. Greenhalgh separated them, made both of them strip, but only groped one of them.

The victims were not admitted into Canada.  The next incident featured a Canadian woman who was returning from Seattle with her friend April 14. The last incident featured a young heterosexual couple detained at the border on May 26, 2007. The last incident lead to the charges Greenhalgh were convicted of. 

The couple were detained at the border for one hour and 20 minutes. During that time Greenhalgh allegedly grilled the young woman about whether she was smuggling drugs, and then suggested that she could either be detained overnight in a cell and strip-searched in the morning or strip-searched now. When she chose to be strip-searched immediately, she was told to walk to the back of the building.

Greenhalgh then allegedly took her to a men's bathroom in a park where he ordered her to take off all her clothes except her underwear. After patting her underwear and private parts, he touched her breasts. She got dressed and the couple was allowed into Canada.

Justice Frits Verhoeven said that while even a legitimate strip search can be humiliating, the disgraced border guard used "relentless lies, intimidation and threats" to coerce women who knew the searches were illegal, but "reluctantly surrendered." Greenhalgh's abuse of authority had not only tainted the reputation of the CBSA, but tainted the reputation of Canada itself. Justice Verhoeven said that crimes like Greenhalgh's "shock and appall nearly every Canadian."

As a border guard, Greenhalgh was entrusted with enormous power, which he "knowingly, flagrantly and repeatedly" abused with apparent indifference to the suffering of his victims, Verhoeven said. And yet, he noted, the former guard has shown no sign of remorse.

The judge noted that Greenhalgh refused to discuss the offences with a psychiatrist prior to sentencing. Outside court, defence lawyer Stephanie Vyas explained to reporters that Greenhalgh maintains he's innocent and will launch an appeal of his conviction. The psychiatrist found him a moderate risk to reoffend, unless he finds himself once again in a position of authority. In such circumstances, the psychiatrist said, he'd be a high risk.

Two of the victims submitted victim impact statements. One said that after the "insult to her dignity," she had become cynical about authority figure, and a second victim is now afraid to travel. Another victim impact statement was submitted by Greenhalgh's ex-wife, who he met on the job as a fellow border guard. The ex-wife said that the crimes were a "devastating" breach of trust not only to the profession, but to her and their children. Greenhalgh is currently living in his parents' basement after being fired from the CBSA, a construction job, and using up his unemployment benefits.

Crown prosecutor Winston Sayson said that the sentence was just, since Greenhalgh's conduct was "an affront to all Canadians. He broke his promise, his oath of office."

Green card marriage leads to murder of wife, life without parole for husband

A Jamaican national who married a Florida woman to gain residency easier was sentenced to life without parole Wednesday, March 2, 2011. Orane Ferguson, 31 and a resident of Land O Lakes, FL, was convicted by a Pasco County jury of 1st degree murder for stabbing his wife, Lenora Michelle Ferguson, 50 times in the bathroom of their home. Ferguson was also convicted of aggravated battery for stabbing the murder victim's minor son, Gabriel Neal. Since prosecutors did not seek the death penalty,  Circuit Judge Michael Andrews could only sentence the defendant to life without parole.

The Kingston, Jamaica native testified that he was in Florida for a four month visa to attend his brother's funeral when he met the victim, who went by her middle name. The woman suggested that she would help Ferguson obtain permanent residency in the United States by marrying him, while he supported her and her son. According to defense attorney Assistant Public Defender Willie Pura, Ferguson was met with increasing demands by his wife, including sex and impregnation, and threatened to withdraw her immigration help if he did not comply. Things boiled over on July 20, 2008.

The Fergusons argued that Sunday morning before heading to church in Lakeland. A second argument broke out after they returned home that afternoon. This time it turned violent. Orane Ferguson grabbed knives and so did Neal, who heard his mother screaming and ran downstairs to help her.

Eventually, Michelle Ferguson ran into a bathroom. Her husband forced his way in and began stabbing her. Neal ran to the door with a knife and began trying to attack his stepfather. Orane Ferguson stabbed him in the mouth, chest and thumb. The boy collapsed but managed to run outside and get help. Orane Ferguson testified that he doesn't remember stabbing his wife.

In closing arguments, Pura said that the events of 2008 should be considered manslaughter, since"There is simply no evidence of premeditation." Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis "How long does it take to get some knives, chase her into the bathroom, knock down this door and stab her 50 times? Is that enough time for reflection? I submit that's more than enough time for reflection."

The victim's sister Lakeisha Robinson, said that she remembers Michelle as a loving and caring mother. "The only thing she did wrong was marry the wrong man."

Wife gets life without parole for at least 20 years for son's murder of husband

A woman who conspired along with her 20 year old son to kill the woman's husband was sentenced to life without parole for at least 20 years in a Topeka, KS courtroom Thursday, February 17.

44 year old Michelle Eberhardt was convicted of felony 1st degree murder for the murder by her son of 51-year-old Gerald “Jerry” Eberhardt. Judge Debenham said to the perpetrator, "You have violated the trust between a husband and a wife.[The family's] pain and suffering won't end today. It will continue for the rest of their lives." The shooting death rook place on October 25, 2009. Michelle's plea to felony 1st degree murder spared her a trial on premeditated first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and solicitation to commit murder.

Scott M. Mosher, 20, the alleged triggerman in his stepfather's murder, is scheduled to go on trial June 13 for premeditated first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit premeditated first-degree murder

According to facts presented in Eberhardt's plea, Michelle Eberhardt and Mosher had talked about killing her husband, a used car dealer in Topeka. Mosher said he knew someone who would kill Jerry Eberhardt for $2,000. Michelle paid the money, but Jerry Eberhardt wasn't shot. She negotiated with the man who had taken the $2,000, but the man wanted more money and a car from the lot.

Mosher told Michelle he had a pistol and would take care of the slaying. Michelle Eberhardt said the house at 2538 S.E. Shawnee Heights Road would be empty Oct. 25, 2009, after 12:30 a.m., and at 1:30 a.m., she heard a gunshot. When she found her husband, he was sitting up in bed in the master bedroom of the family home.

A third defendant, Derrick Dwayne Haase, now 21, of Topeka, pleaded no contest April 26 to a reduced charge of reckless second-degree murder. On July 22, Haase was sentenced to 10 years and 11 months in prison.

The victim's father, Duane Eberhardt, said that the Eberhardts tried to welcome Michelle and her two children, but that she was "unberable" and a "rat." Like good parents do, Duane tried to convince his son to divorce her, but Jerry claimed to still be in "love" with her. "Dad, I know you're right, but I love her," Jerry told his dad. "You’ve stolen part of my future. The father said he intended to live long enough "to urinate on you and your son's graves because neither one of you will survive your prison sentences."

The victim's mother Mary said that her son would protect his wife after Mosher would beat her when she refused to give him money for drugs. However, she repaid that concern with betrayal when after the murder, Michelle told Shawnee County deputies her husband was responsible for his murder. “Why? Why did you do it? Jerry loved you. We loved your family. Why did you betray us...“You killed Jerry. Scott just pulled the trigger. What mother would encourage her son to kill? You threw your son under the bus.”

At least one Topeka Capital-Journal commenter said that Jerry should have listened to his father instead of his heart regarding Michelle.

pleasurestud said,

Too bad the guy stayed with that wicked woman. He should have listened to his family to dump her sorry ass. In the end he loses his wife over "love"............whatever. It wasn't love.

Northwest Houston serial rapist sentenced to life with parole possibility in 30 years

By CINDY GEORGE HOUSTON CHRONICLE
March 4, 2011, 5:18AM

A Houston man charged with five rapes and a murder in the Acres Homes neighborhood received a life sentence with the possibility of parole on Thursday. The same jury found LaMarques Devon McWilliams, 35, guilty last Friday of one aggravated sexual assault — a first-degree felony. The other rape charges were dismissed. He will be eligible for parole after serving 30 years in prison, according to his lawyer, Jacquelyn Carpenter.

McWilliams is accused of raping a woman who has pleaded guilty to prostitution three times in Harris County in the past two years, according to public records. The woman, who is not being named by the Houston Chronicle, testified during the guilt-innocence part of the trial.

After McWilliams was convicted on the single aggravated sexual assault charge, the prosecution presented DNA evidence that linked him to several other women, who testified during the penalty phase of the trial that they were raped by McWilliams.

McWilliams was arrested in August 2009 on two counts of aggravated sexual assault. A month later, he was charged with three more rapes and the death of Pamela Ann Goss, whose body was found in the Acres Homes area in 2006. McWilliams still faces a murder charge.

Carpenter said most of the women who testified this week worked as prostitutes.

"DNA shows evidence of sexual activity but it doesn't necessarily mean that the sexual activity was rape," the defense lawyer said. "If there were any sex, I believe it was consensual."

McWilliams did not testify, but has maintained his innocence. His lawyers have filed a notice of appeal.

Carpenter contends that her client was identified by police for political expediency as a way to calm fears about a rash of rapes and killings.

"They've been looking for someone for years," she said. "This was about showing the black community that we care that something is happening in (Acres Homes)."

A prosecutor with the Harris County District Attorney's Office could not be reached for comment.

Acres Homes residents and local activists became alarmed by the possibility of a serial killer or serial rapist in the northwest Harris County community after several bodies were found along roadsides, ditches and empty lots beginning in 2006. During the same time, there were dozens of sexual assault reports in the area. The investigation became one of the largest in the history of the Houston Police Department, which formed a special task force and devoted what was described as unprecedented resources to chase leads.

That probe resulted in multiple arrests, but charges were filed against McWilliams and Bilford Dwight Junious, 40, who was accused of nine sexual assaults in Acres Homes over seven years. He was convicted on one rape charge in 2009 and sentenced to 40 years in prison. The other charges were dismissed.

cindy.george@chron.com

Quebec man sentenced to 25 to life for luring woman he met online to death

A Quebec City man has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the slaying of a woman he met over the Internet and whose body has never been found. An emotionless Alain Perreault, 48, was sentenced Friday [February 11, 2011]morning to life in prison without possibility for parole for 25 years for the death of Lyne Massicotte.

A jury came back with the guilty verdict after three days of deliberation. Perreault met Massicotte in a chat room on the Internet and arranged a date in Quebec City in July 2003. Massicotte, a single mother, travelled there from her home in Chambly, Que., and vanished after the encounter.

Despite numerous searches, Massicotte's body was never found. The jury heard that Perreault admitted on video during a police sting operation he had killed Massicotte.The operation involved a fictitious criminal organization with an undercover officer posing as a crime boss.

During his trial, Perreault denied any involvement in Massicotte's slaying.

Former British soldier sentenced to 16 to life for bombing of wife's car

A former British soldier was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for at least 16 years at Maidstone crown court Friday, February 18. 33 year old Nicholas Fabian of Vigo, Kent, England was convicted for planting a hand grenade underneath his wife Victoria's car. The hand grenade was stolen from training exercises and was rigged to go off when the victim reversed out of her driveway on March 5, 2010.

The victim suffered burns and shrapnel injuries, and was six months pregnant with her attacker's son, named Freddie. During the attack, Fabian, driving in another car with his four year old son Harry ripped off his shirt to use as a tourniquet. Police suspected Fabian from the beginning, but charges were not filed until they found the green and yellow paint that was found on the grenade and the fishing line used to booby trap the car. Fabian's official charges were attempted murder and causing an explosion with intent to endanger life.

Andrew Patience, QC castigated Fabian before formally pronouncing sentence. "What you did in causing that explosion, with the consequences which flowed from it on March 5 last year, was wicked beyond belief. You conceived a plan to rid yourself of your wife which demonstrated low cunning in its planning and preparation, and utter heartlessness and chilling ruthlessness in its execution...You are an evil man who was prepared to destroy at least one human life in order to achieve your own selfish ends. Not only are you evil but you present a danger to the general public."

Patience said that "your wife was not to know, even when you were sat together on March 4, that the plans for your life together meant nothing to you and you were practising upon her the cruelest of deceptions."

The motive behind the attack was for Fabian to rid himself of his wife and make a life with his mistress Jackie Phillips. The 33 year old Phillips told authorities Fabian promised to leave his wife for her, but Fabian himself said that he felt "lust, infatuation and obsession," but not love for Phillips. Phillips was not the only person who Fabian has had dalliances with.

Since his conviction [Thursday, February 17], it has since been revealed that as well as cheating on his wife, attempted killer Fabian had previously worked as a £50-a-time male prostitute and even starred in a gay porn movie while still a soldier in Aldershot.

Known as ‘Squaddie Nick’, he catered to the sexual needs of older men with an Army uniform fetish. One man, who had a relationship with Fabian after meeting him on a train, said: 'He came on to me strongly and we had sex in the train toilet. 'I dropped him off at his married Army quarters afterwards in my car but that night he was knocking on my door again. He was having affairs with a string of women and wanted gay sex too,' he told The Sun.

At the time [in 2004]he was living with a former partner, Louise Sands, the mother of two of his children. When asked after the trial whether she was aware of her ex’s secret double life, Miss Sands, 30, said: ‘What? Nick? Gay? My head is fried.’

He had spent ten years in The Princess of Wales Royal Regiment and during his time with them he was investigated for ‘misconduct issues’ which saw him demoted from lance corporal to private. He was also alleged to have stolen from his fellow soldiers.

After leaving the Army in 2004 he had found it difficult to adjust to civilian life and claimed he was happy when he was called up to serve as he missed ‘the thrill of being a soldier’, the court heard.

On the day of the attack in March last year Mrs Fabian had planned to take Charlie and Harry, her four-year-old son with Fabian, to get a haircut.

Afterwards all four were due to have a family meal at a Harvester restaurant.

Alastair Dickson from the Kent Crown Prosecution Service, said the affair with Phillips was not the only motive behing the attack on his wife. "Clearly not everyone who has affairs goes on to attempt to kill his wife in such a way...It has something to do with the fact that he was a fantasist and an attention-seeker but I don’t think anyone will ever know the true motive in addition to the Jackie Phillips motive behind this offence."

Dickson praised the victim for facing her attacker in open court instead of from behind a screen. "Victoria Fabian, throughout this terrible ordeal, has shown an enormous degree of bravery and strength. That's reflected in the way she gave her evidence to the court. She was brave enough to make the decision that she didn't want to give evidence from behind a screen, which was available to her. What she wanted to do was face Nicholas Fabian in court and for him to see exactly what he had done to her, and that shows remarkable bravery."

Predatory massage therapist sentenced to 11 years in prison

A Minneapolis massage therapist was ordered to serve 11 years imprisonment and be registered as a predatory sex offender on Valentines Day 2011. Lawrence Martin Valencour, 62, was convicted back in November of four counts of 4th degree criminal sexual conduct at a week long trial presided over by District Judge Thomas Poch. The assaults happened at Apple Valley, MN's A Touch Of Tranquility massage parlor, which has shut down.

In 2008, three women reported to Apple Valley police that Valencour had touched their breasts and genitals and put his genitals in their hands during massages, according to a criminal complaint. Police located three more victims through the business's owner.

The owner, who hired Valencour, base the hiring on the recommendation of a massage school she trusted. The misplaced trust cost her her business and those women their dignity.

Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom, the prosecutor, said, "We're pleased with the lengthy prison term that was handed down today in this case. These types of crimes are extremely traumatic to the victims, whose privacy is directly invaded in a very disturbing way." Backstrom said the 11 years for the 4th degree CSC counts were the maximum prison sentence that could be handed down.