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."

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.”

27 to life for rape of coed by fellow college student

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

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

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

"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.

Suburban Buffalo man gets 25 to life in ambush, beheading of wife

A suburban Buffalo man was sentenced to 25 years to life yesterday in an Erie County, NY courtroom for the beheading murder of his wife. Mohammed "Mo" Hassan was sentenced to the maximum sentence, 25 years to life, for the murder of his wife Aasiya, in their Bridges TV studio in Orchard Park, NY on February 12, 2009. Hassan sneaked up on his wife, stabbed her 40 times, then cut off her head, according to prosecutors.

The murder was preceded by allegations of domestic violence. The jury took only an hour to reach their verdict on February 7, 2011.

The jury reached its verdict after 14 days of testimony and arguments spread over the course of three weeks in Erie County Court. The jury was clearly moved by the mountain of evidence and eyewitness testimony presented by Curtin Gable and fellow prosecutor Paul Bonanno depicting Hassan as a longtime spouse abuser who methodically planned the brutal, blood-soaked attack on his wife in the darkened hallway of their Bridges TV studio on Feb. 12, 2009.

Besides the 25 years to life sentence, Hassan  was also served with a no contact order placed by his eldest two children.

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.

Milwaukee's North Side Strangler sentenced to life

Milwaukee's North Side Strangler was sentenced to seven consecutive life terms yesterday, February 24, 2011 in Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Dennis Cimpl's courtroom. Walter E. Ellis was sentenced for seven counts of 1st degree intentional homicide for the strangulation murders of seven women, must of them prostitutes. More about these crimes can be found here and here.

More than 30 friends and relatives of his many victims filled the gallery Thursday. Nine made formal statements to Cimpl, ranging from vengeful to forgiving.Tina Lewis, mother of Ouithreaun Stokes, Ellis' last known victim, asked, "What went wrong in his life that would make him kill these women?" She said she wished Wisconsin had the death penalty and hoped Ellis would wind up murdered in prison like infamous Milwaukee serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.

Zola Farrior, sister of Sheila Farrior, who was killed in 1995, called Ellis "nothing but the devil. He didn't only kill my sister, he killed my mother - she died of heartbreak after that," Farrior said.

Dominika Walton's mother, Irene Smith, was stabbed and strangled in 1992. She tearfully said she was not happy with Ellis pleading no contest, that he was still trying to avoid responsibility. "He is a straight coward," she said.

Patricia Donald spoke about her friend Deborah Harris, Ellis' first known victim, who was killed Oct. 10, 1986, whom she called a generous, loving person who had moved to the city for a better life. She said she had forgiven Ellis because she will not let him prevent her from enjoying closure.

"We're going to all be all right," Donald said. "You don't win. You don't get to destroy lives anymore."

Ellis did not speak, and his attorney, Patrick Earle, said that he would not make any statements on his client's behalf.

Father of four sent away for life for raping woman he met on sugar daddy website

A man who lured a 22 year old woman he met on a sugar daddy website into rape was sentenced to life without parole by Orange Circuit Judge Walter Komanski Wednesday, February 9. Father of four Marcelo Augusto Alves misrepresented himself as Mark Garcia, even using a fake picture, and communicated with the 22 year old Tampa victim before arranging a meeting with her in the Dr. Phillips area of Orlando outside of a multimillion dollar home March 2009.

 "He was wearing a mask and had a knife in his hand and tackled her to the ground and he raped her," said Assistant State Attorney Kelly Hicks. The mask was pantyhose over his face. Alves put a knife to the victim's throat and tackled her to the ground before raping her.  Alves was charged with, then convicted for four counts of sexual battery. His attorney argued that only one act of rape occured, but Alves was convicted on all four counts.

In the victim impact statement, read by Hicks, she said, "I trusted him as Mark and didn't think something like this could have happened...Marcelo royally screwed me up...Now I understand the term, 'sexual predator.'" "He is a monster who deserves to go away for the rest of his life," Hicks said.

Man sentenced to life in disappearence, murder, of mother of two - chief defendant's mom sentenced for mutilating corpse

(Original Post 7-16-09)
A Brookfield, WI man who allegedly strangled, then hired his friend and mother to burn a suburban Milwaukee mother's body was charged with first-degree intentional homicide and mutilating a corpse. Brandon J. Mueller, 36, was charged in the Jaunary death of his "girlfriend," 28 year old Renee Redmer, who he had been "dating" for a month.

Redmer was strangled around January 5, just after she appered in court for a misdemeanor cocaine posession charge, in Mueller's mother's apartment. Her family did not report her missing until January 13. Nancy J. Pinno, 53, Mueller's mother, of Fond Du Lac, WI and Donald R. Worth, 48, of the Town of Friendship in Fond Du Lac County, WI were charged with mutilating a corpse and aiding in a felony, and a misdemeanor of obstructing an officer after burning Redmer's body in a burn barrel, which was later emptied out into the middle of frozen Lake Winnebago. The burn barrel was later found on Worth's property.

The relationship between Mueller and Redmer was violent, according to the victim's family. Mueller has a history of domestic violence.

According to court records:
• Mueller was convicted in 2008 of disorderly conduct, with a domestic violence enhancement, and served 20 days in jail.

• In 2002, Mueller was sentenced to 60 days in jail and two years' probation after he was convicted of disorderly conduct, with enhancement penalties of domestic abuse, being a habitual criminal and using a dangerous weapon.

• In 1998, Mueller was convicted of intimidating a victim with a domestic abuse enhancement penalty and served four months in jail.

• Also in 1998, Mueller was sentenced to three years' probation for criminal damage to property with an enhanced penalty of domestic violence.

Mueller faces a mandatory life sentence with the possibility of parole if convicted as charged. He is being held on $1 million bail. The others face 16 3/4 years for their roles in the crime. Pinno is being held on $250,000 bail, and Worth on $150,000 bail.

(Update 12-25-09) Two days ago, Pinno was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison and 9 months in jail for being party to the crime of mutilating a corpse and resisting and obstructing an officer.

On Dec. 18, a jury found Pinno guilty after five days of testimony, including watching hours of footage in which Pinno confessed her involvement to detectives.

Nuss compared Pinno — whose criminal history includes crimes of theft and possession of THC — to Kevin Moore, a seemingly mild-mannered man who used a cinder block to kill his wife outside of their Ripon home during the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2006.

Pinno told Judge Nuss that "I am sorry for any involvement I had with Renee.I still don't know how Renee got there. I should have looked in my bedroom. For that, I am so sorry." The victim's twin sister, Amber Donath, explained how she tried to tell her niece that "I find it impossible to explain to a 12-year-old girl that her mother was mutilated, violated and destroyed beyond the darkest imagination… All I can do is hold her and tell her I love her."

Fond du Lac County District Attorney Dan Kaminsky said that the "disgusting" and "callous" crime warranted 7 years in prison. "I believe it was a maximum-sentence case. It was just a question of how we were going to get there. I'm very pleased with the sentence. I think it's appropriate. In this case, it is justice."  

Defense Attorney Catherine Block told The Reporter there may have been too much focus on the connection between the mother and son, noting that Pinno put Mueller up for adoption 36 years ago and only had contact with him the past 1½ years.

"It was a very manipulative relationship," said Block, who requested probation for her client. "… There was a lot of focus on her son being Brandon Mueller. I think that had a lot less to do with it than Ms. Pinno's own mental condition and depression."

Judge Nuss said that Worth, a defendant who took a plea deal and will be sentenced later, might never have gotten involved if Pinno was not party to the crime, and that Pinno should have guided her son. "But for your actions, this may have never had happened. You were there at a critical time in this woman's life and your son's life when you could have stepped up and been the person you would like me to believe you are. You didn't."

(Update 1-2-11) Brandon Mueller was sentenced to life without parole Tuesday, December 28, 2010. Judge Robert Wirtz handed down this sentence for the 1st degree intentional homicide for strangling Redmer and 7 1/2 years for mutilation of a corpse. The victim's father, Mark Redmer said that "I'm asking please protect us and other fathers such as me. Don't let him out for any reason whatsoever. He's shown over and over what kind of individual he is."

Wirtz noted Mueller's criminal history started at the age of 15. His past includes six juvenile convictions, 22 adult convictions and three domestic abuse-related restraining orders. Redmer's father, Mark Redmer, said Mueller threatened to kill Renee's sister, Amber Donath, and Renee's children as a means to keep the victim close to him.

[ District Attorney Dan] Kaminsky noted motivation for murder may have been fueled by a disdain Mueller had for Redmer not telling him where she was going and who she was spending time with.

During the trial, Mueller claimed that while he strangled Redmer, it was unintentional, the result of a fight between them over her heroin use. While Mueller claimed he only took a few seconds strangling Redmer, Fond du Lac County Medical Examiner Douglas Kelley said strangling someone to death can take minutes.

Mueller himself said, "I want to apologize and just say that the lifestyle I was living was very sinful and not appropriate." He told Kaminsky, "I wasn't just going to throw her body somewhere. I considered it cremating it. I said a prayer when I spread her ashes into the lake. So I guess, yeah, technically, it could be an act of love."

Judge Wirtz told him, "You have caused a lot of sorrow and anguish. Renee's children are motherless. "Her whereabouts for quite some time were unknown. It is not comforting, I'm sure, for the parents, children, family members or friends to find out ultimately what happened."

Donald Worth's sentence handed down earlier this year was 6 years.

Bay Area serial rapist gets life for attacking four women

A Richmond, California man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for a rape spree committed against four women between 2007 and 2009 in his hometown and the nearby city of Oakland. Michael Edward Stevens, 30, was sentenced to 165 to life for 15 felonies and 2 misdemeanors. His conviction took place in July, and the sentencing took place Friday, November 5, presided over by Contra Costa County Superior Judge Laurel Brady. Crimes which merited the lifelong sentence included rape, rape in concert, various other sex crimes, false imprisonment and robbery.

Prosecutor Dana Filkowski argued at trial that Stevens is a serial rapist who took sexual pleasure in terrorizing the victims -- some of them prostitutes -- by using a gun and pretending to be an off-duty police officer after sweet-talking them into his car.

One of the victims was a deaf-mute homeless woman who testified Stevens kidnapped her off the street. Another said Stevens left her naked on the side of a road, after which she cloaked herself in a garbage bag and huddled in a portable toilet while she waited for police.

One woman said she was gang-raped by Stevens and a second man who had been hiding in Stevens' trunk when she first got into the vehicle. The second assailant was recently identified at Stevens' nephew, who was 14 when the New Year's Eve 2008 attack occurred.

The nephew, Frank Stevens Dean, now 16, is currently jailed in another county for an unrelated matter, Filkowski said. Once that case is resolved, he will be brought to Contra Costa County, where he has been charged as adult with six felonies, including rape and firearm enhancements.

One of Stevens’ victims said, ”I thank God that the victims are alive, and myself," she said. "I am happy to never see his face again." As for Stevens, just before sentencing, he said, "Murder me today, see me tomorrow... if not in this life, the next." Stevens said. "I assume that's not a threat," Brady said. "That's a promise," he replied.

Passaic, NJ man gets LWOP for ax murder of wife

A Passaic, New Jersey man was sentenced to life without parole Tuesday, October 12 for the ax murder of his wife as she ran from her own home onto a street. What made the attack worse was that the victim, Luisa Emilia Chireno, was killed as her children cowered in terror in their room. Police were able to follow a trail of hair and blood, left as the murdered struck the victi in the back with an ax and pulled out her hair.

[34-year-old Fernando] Chireno was convicted of murder in June, after jurors rejected his insanity defense. The victim, who was 26 when she died, had a restraining order against him because of past domestic violence. She ran for her life from her Myrtle Avenue home on April 18, 2008, after Chireno broke in. The couple's children were left in the bedroom as Mrs. Chireno was stabbed 15 times and left in a pool of blood on the street. She died a short time later in surgery.

Before sentencing, Chireno "apologized " to the victim's mother, Carlita Pozo. “From the deepness of my heart, I am sorry. I lost my mind. I was having problems and no one was helping me. I know nothing is going to give you your daughter back, but I, too, lost her. Please, I ask from my heart that you forgive me.”

Judge Reddin issued this statement while handing down the LWOP sentence. “It boggles my mind to think that a human being could do to another human being what he did to Luisa Chireno This was not a spur-of-the-moment attack. He went out and bought the ax. He goes to her house at 2 in the morning. He ripped the hair right out of her head. That’s the savagery of this crime, He buried that ax in her back, and he walked away from the scene.”

Pozo fainted after the sentencing and had to be led out of the courtroom.

Jealous northern England man sentenced to life without parole for at least 30 years for murder of nurse

By Peter Magill [Burnley chief reporter]

FORMER ambulance technician who murdered his ex-girlfriend while on bail for her rape was jailed for a minimum of 30 years today. Ambulance technician and bouncer Jonathan Vass, 30, launched a frenzied knife attack on nurse and mother-of-one Jane Clough, 26, as she arrived for work at Blackpool Victoria Hospital in July. She was admitted to the hospital’s accident and emergency unit where she worked as colleagues tried in vain to save her.

Vass, described as “manipulative and controlling”, was freed to kill after being given bail while awaiting trial over allegations that he had repeatedly raped her. The rape charges were dropped after the murder. John and Penny Clough, her parents, were angered by both decisions - first to free him and then to let the rape charges lie on file. They sat in the public gallery just yards from Vass in the dock as he was jailed for life at Preston Crown Court after pleading guilty to murder at an earlier hearing.

Judge Anthony Russell QC handed down the mandatory life sentence before telling Vass he will serve a minimum of 30 years before he can be considered for release. Vass wept uncontrollably, covering his face his hands as he was told he would only be eligible for parole in 2040.

The victim’s parents and family wept and hugged each other as the court heard for the first time that, after stabbing and slashing Miss Clough with a 3in (7.6cm) blade, he walked away momentarily, then went back seconds later to finish her off.

”As she lay bleeding you walked away but then returned and slowly, deliberately and cold-bloodedly slit her throat,” Judge Russell said as he passed sentence. ”It is difficult to imagine a more horrific crime than this murder. Furthermore it was a crime motivated by real hatred and revenge. This was a deliberate, brutal and callous murder for which you have shown no remorse and no care for your own daughter. Jane Clough was a nurse who devoted her life to the care of others. She had the misfortune to become involved with you. She bore your child and then you murdered her, leaving your infant child without a mother and with the prospect of growing up to learn one day that her father murdered her mother.”

The court heard that Miss Clough kept a diary, detailing her abuse and fears of Vass and what he might do.

She and her family, who held a protest outside court before the case began this morning, were “rocked and devastated” when he was bailed on the rape charges, leaving Miss Clough “extremely concerned for her safety”.  She left home to live with her parents and recorded in her diary that she was worried “Johnny was going to do something stupid”.

He had been relying on her to drop the charges.

Another entry read of fears he would “get his revenge”, adding: “What’s he going to do?”

Dennis Watson QC, prosecuting, said it was clear the motive for the murder was to prevent Miss Clough giving evidence. Mr Watson said the couple met while both working at the hospital but their relationship was troubled because of Vass.

”He was a jealous man who wished to dominate and have complete control over Jane despite the fact that, unknown to her, he was carrying on a relationship with two other women at the same time,” Mr Watson told the court. By early 2009 Miss Clough was pregnant but Vass had become controlling and “sexually demanding”.

In November that year she plucked up courage to report him to police, telling officers of the months of physical and sexual abuse and the repeated rapes even when she was seven months pregnant.

Text messages between the pair were read out.

Miss Clough sent him a message saying: “You have hurt, raped and reduced me to tears on countless occasions... and you want to get engaged and have more kids? Why?” He replied: “We are staying together regardless of our problems.” A second text read: “Why should you come back? To push me about, grab me, rip my clothes off, make me cry...” Another said: “You physically and sexually abuse me. You threatened to kill me the other night.”

Vass’s replies read: “Please can I come home... best behaviour promise”, and “I do love you Janey. Either get pregnant or engaged. Your choice.”

Vass was charged with nine rapes and assault in November 2009 and told a work colleague, an ex-boyfriend of Miss Clough, if he was found guilty he would kill her - but the threat was dismissed as “bravado”. When it became clear she was prepared to give evidence in court Vass decided to take “retribution”, the court heard.

Fabulist who murdered wife convicted, sentenced to LWOP

(Initial Post 9-26-10)
A Tulsa County, OK jury needed only a half hour of deliberation in a lawyer's shooting murder by her own husband. John Robert Kastner, 52, was convicted of the 1st degree murder of his wife, 44 year old Lori Moon Kastner, at their south side Tulsa, OK home on June 25, 2008. The motive, according to Tulsa County, OK prosecutors, was that the victim was about to expose her husband's lies.

Kastner had led his family to believe that all five family members were traveling by plane to Israel on June 25, 2008, prosecutors said. Kastner indicated he was a former member of the Israeli military who had been honored for heroism and that the trip to Israel was related to a high-paying job that Lori Kastner was going to get with a corporation connected to her husband.

No such flight or job offer existed, and Kastner never served in the Israeli military, prosecutors said.

Kastner made significant financial promises to benefit Webster that he could not keep, and he "was a ticking time bomb getting ready to explode," [First Assistant District Attorney Doug] Drummond said.

Drummond also insisted that "[Kastner's] reputation was going to be ruined, and that was the most important thing in John Kastner's life."

The other prosecutor in the case, Assistant District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler, said that Kastner, the "legend of Webster High School," is "nothing but a bald-faced liar. You cannot believe a word that the defendant says."

Kastner said the killer was an intruder who he said picked up Kastner's gun in the house. He told police that he struggled with the intruder and was shot in the hand, and he said the intruder fled with a bag containing about $5,000, evidence indicated.

Kunzweiler said Kastner's account features a "mysterious man" moving around in a dark house and finding a loaded gun and money on the same table. Kastner was an English teacher, "and as an English teacher he deals in fiction," Kunzweiler said

Assistant Public Defender Jill Webb said that Kastner had no motive to kill his wife because killing her would not solve his problems - "John's problem was John." Webb said that while Kastner was guilty of lying and making false promises, it did not prove he was a murderer. Kastner was never called to the witness stand.

When he is formally sentenced tomorrow, Kastner will be sentenced to life without parole - in Oklahoma, murder carries death, life without parole, or life with parole. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty, and jurors ruled out life with parole.  Amber Merchant, Lori Kastner's best friend, said "We're very pleased with the verdict and feel like justice was served."

Kastner plans to appeal the verdict, according to Chief Public Defender Pete Silva. The presiding judge is District Judge Tom Gillert.

(Update 9-29-10) Kastner was formally sentenced to life without parole Monday, September 27, 2010. If he had been granted parole, he would have had to serve 38 and 3 months before his first chance of it.

Serial "girlfriend" rapist sentenced to life without parole for raping woman in front of her child

A Savannah, GA man with a history of raping "girlfriends" was sentenced to life without parole as four-time habitual offender Monday, September 20. 47 year old Jerry Howard was convicted by a Chatham County, GA jury Saturday, September 18 of rape, aggravated assault, and misdemeanor cruelty to a child for raping and choking his 28 year old "girlfriend" in front of her 1 year old daughter at his home November 29, 2007.

Assistant District Attorney Isabel Pauley presented evidence that Howerd tried to intimidate the victim into recanting the charges and called as a witness a previous "girlfriend" who was attacked in a similar manner in 1988. 

Chatham County Superior Court Judge John E. Morse Jr imposed the life sentence on Howard based on prior felony convictions. The life term for rape and the 20 year term for aggravated assault were imposed consecutive to each other. A year term for cruelty to a child will be served concurrently with the life sentence. Because this is his fourth strike, the life term is without parole. These convictions include robbery, possession of controlled substances and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Howard was released from prison in August 2007, three months before the latest attack.

Below is the law requiring four time felons in Georgia to serve the maximum sentence for that crime without parole.

[A]ny person who, after having been convicted under the laws of this state for three felonies or having been convicted under the laws of any other state or of the United States of three crimes which if committed within this state would be felonies, commits a felony within this state other than a capital felony must, upon conviction for such fourth offense or for subsequent offenses, serve the maximum time provided in the sentence of the judge based upon such conviction and shall not be eligible for parole until the maximum sentence has been served. (from O.C.G.A. 17 -10-7)

Paroled rapist gets two life without parole sentences for rape, arson murder of sisters

A man who raped and burned to death two Northwest Indiana sisters was sentenced to life without parole Thursday, September 9, 2010. 36 year old David Alan Flores, a sex offender convicted of rape twice before, was sentenced by Lake Criminal Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr for the burglary, rapes, and murders of two twenty something sisters, one of which had recently married.

Flores, 36, of Griffith, had faced the death penalty had the case gone to trial. He pleaded guilty Aug. 26 to two counts of murder and two counts of rape of Jennifer Evans, 28, of Griffith, and Kristen Evans-Kennedy, 25, of Chicago.

Acknowledging the family's wish to avoid reliving the horror of the sisters' deaths during perhaps 25 years of death penalty appeals, Stefaniak reluctantly accepted Flores' guilty plea for which he will serve two life sentences for murder and two 20-year sentences for rape.

Stefaniak said that if Flores had received the death penalty, there was a three-in-five chance that it would have been overturned on appeal. However, the judge made clear that Flores deserved such a punishment. "As I live my life and talk to people, this is just the case in a perfect world that would justify the death sentence. I could pronounce a death sentence. The fact of the matter is you, Mr. Flores, are the devil among us. There are no redeeming qualities that you have and there is nothing you can offer society," Stefaniak told the murderer.

Jennifer had bought a house on North Lindberg Street, and Flores happened to show up with a friend on Sept. 10, 2009, at a small gathering she hosted.

He went inside to use the bathroom, unlocked a window to the office across the hall, and returned after the women were in bed to rape, strangle and stab them. Before he left, he collected items he'd touched, then set fire to the home. The autopsies showed the women were alive when the fire was started.

Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter said that the family of the victims would have gone for the death penalty, but "They did not want in and out of court for the next 25 years.You have to listen to the family."

Family friend Sue Brownwell said that "Each was a force in her own right, and they were an unbeatable team together. They will live in our treasured memories."

Mary Ann Evans, comparing the murders of her daughters to 9-11, called the murders her "personal terrorist attack." Her husband and the victims' father Ron, a retired Munster firefighter, was the person who discovered his daughters' still burning bodies. "I watched him die the day he found Jen and Kristen. I am alone. I am the woman that everybody pities," she said. Ron died of cancer six months after the murder. A slideshow of them was played just before Flores' sentencing.
 
Mary Evans is working with legislators to ensure that repeat sex offenders like Flores can never be granted parole. Flores was on parole for another rape when he murdered the two young women.