A man who shot his father-in-law to death at a mall while gunning for his estranged wife was sentenced to 50 years without parole. Michael James Young Jr, 25, was sentenced in a Lexington County, SC courtroom Monday, April 11 after pleading guilty to murder and assault with intent to kill for the shooting of his estranged wife, then 21 year old Shaunna Bell, and her father, a retired US Air Force officer, 49 year old Robert Lynn Bell, on June 13, 2007 in the Columbiana Center mall parking lot.
Before the deadly shooting four days shy of Father’s Day that year, Bell had called police to report that Young threatened to destroy the kiosk at the mall where she sold computers and told her he didn’t care if she lost her job. He also damaged her parents’ vehicle. She told police at the time that Young was known to carry a snub-nosed .38-caliber revolver.
Her father had been driving Bell to and from work for several weeks in an attempt to keep Young away from his daughter, said Robert Rikard, a Columbia lawyer hired by the family.
The Bells are suing the security company, saying that they did not do enough to protect Shaunna from her husband's stalking. While Young was banned from the mall, the supervisor on duty was not informed of this fact.
Shaunna said in her victim impact statement, "I think about getting married and not having anyone to walk me down the aisle. My father/daughter dance was taken from me. When my mom’s birthday or Mother’s Day comes around, I do not have anyone to secretly call for details of what she has been wanting.”
Young has accepted his responsibility for the mall shooting and has expressed his remorse “innumerable” times, his lawyer, John Delgado, said. “He considers it a life sentence, but he considers it a just sentence for what he did.” Despite Young’s imposing size, his aggression toward women “was his way of being able to assert himself in the world,” Delgado said, saying Young had no self esteem.
“He’s a completely different person now,” the lawyer said.
The 50 year sentence for murder will be served concurrently with the assault with intent to kill. In exchange for the guilty plea, Young saw four stalking charges, and single charges of forgery, telephone harassment, and assault with intent to kill. Judge Thomas Russo was the presiding judge over this case.
Showing posts with label male-male. Show all posts
Showing posts with label male-male. Show all posts
Friday, April 22, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Britain's "Night Stalker" sentenced to life for rapes of elderly
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.
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.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Text messaging "lovers" receive life without parole in murder of woman's husband
Monterey County, CA Judge Larry Hayes sentenced a mother and her "lover" to life without parole for kidnapping and killing the woman's husband. Marisela Zarate Andrade, 33, and Sergio de la Cruz, 34, were sentenced to life without parole Tuesday, September 14 for the murder of Jose "Nicco" Zarate of Wasco, CA. Zarate was kidnapped April 11, 2008 from his home and his body was found three days later in the trunk of a Ford Escort near Gonzales, CA vineyard with his hands and feet bound with duct tape, shot between the eyes.
The evidence which convicted the two was collected by Monterey County Sheriff's detective Brett Speirs. These included text messages which spoke of how Marisela and De La Cruz intended to kidnap and kill Jose. Marisela would drug her husband's coffee with chloroform, then De La Cruz and another man would kidnap Jose from his Wasco home. After killing Jose, Marisela wanted De La Cruz to behead her husband to make sure "the rat (is) very dead." The pistol used to kill Jose was recovered in San Francicso during a drug raid.
She gave police different statements about the last time she saw him. When confronted with the text messages, she admitted she participated in the plan to have her husband abducted, but insisted she only wanted him beaten up, a claim she maintained at trial.
Noting that he had received a letter from Zarate Andrade prior to sentencing, Hayes said Tuesday the woman was in denial. He said the length of time the two spent planning the murder, and the content of the text messages, showed the extent of the cruelty they intended to inflict on the victim.
Judge Hayes said,"In some ways you are both very lucky the DA did not choose to (seek) the death penalty in this case. That's how atrocious this murder was." Prosecutor David Gross could have sought the death penalty because Zarate's murder occurred duing the course of a kidnapping.
Besides the life without parole sentenced, Judge Hayes sentenced Marisela to an additional 8 years for kidnapping and De La Cruz to an additional 33 to life for kidnapping and executing the victim. Hayes stayed both sentences. The victim's family attended the sentencing.
The evidence which convicted the two was collected by Monterey County Sheriff's detective Brett Speirs. These included text messages which spoke of how Marisela and De La Cruz intended to kidnap and kill Jose. Marisela would drug her husband's coffee with chloroform, then De La Cruz and another man would kidnap Jose from his Wasco home. After killing Jose, Marisela wanted De La Cruz to behead her husband to make sure "the rat (is) very dead." The pistol used to kill Jose was recovered in San Francicso during a drug raid.
She gave police different statements about the last time she saw him. When confronted with the text messages, she admitted she participated in the plan to have her husband abducted, but insisted she only wanted him beaten up, a claim she maintained at trial.
Noting that he had received a letter from Zarate Andrade prior to sentencing, Hayes said Tuesday the woman was in denial. He said the length of time the two spent planning the murder, and the content of the text messages, showed the extent of the cruelty they intended to inflict on the victim.
Judge Hayes said,"In some ways you are both very lucky the DA did not choose to (seek) the death penalty in this case. That's how atrocious this murder was." Prosecutor David Gross could have sought the death penalty because Zarate's murder occurred duing the course of a kidnapping.
Besides the life without parole sentenced, Judge Hayes sentenced Marisela to an additional 8 years for kidnapping and De La Cruz to an additional 33 to life for kidnapping and executing the victim. Hayes stayed both sentences. The victim's family attended the sentencing.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Former Navy sailor sentenced to decade behind bars for "love" triangle slaying
On Friday, September 3, Sixto Balbuena, a former Navy sailor who stabbed "romantic" rival Samuel Valdivia to death over the affections of their "girlfriend" and former teacher Tamara Hoffman, was sentenced to a decade behind bars. This sentence was the minimum Balbuena could have gotten after his conviction of 2nd degree murder - the max he could have got was 22 years. The trial started May 28, 2010 and ended June 4. The presiding judge in the trial was Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Whitten
Balbuena and the victim, 18 year old Valdivia, were both seduced by their former math teacher as students at separate high schools. Hoffman was teaching the then 17 year old Balbuena at Tempe, AZ's Marcos de Niza High School. She was fired after police caught Balbuena with Hoffman's bra in a parked car in November 2006 . She then went to Chandler's El Dorado High School and started a sexual relationship with 18 year olf Valdivia.
On April 9, 2009, Balbuena left Naval Air Facility El Centro in California, where he was an aircraft mechanic, at about 9 p.m., after finishing his shift, and headed toward Chandler to visit his fiancee, Hoffman, then 48.
Phone records show that they exchanged cellphone calls several times that night as he made the 4 ½-hour drive. But when he reached her house, according to the attorneys' statements, Hoffman did not answer the door or her cellphone. Balbuena opened the front door.
Inside, he heard noises coming from the bedroom. He grabbed a knife from the kitchen. Then, he told police investigators - one of whom testified Thursday - he saw a shadowy figure and they tussled. Seventeen minutes after he arrived, Balbuena called police. Prosecutor Jason Kalish played the 911 call, in which Balbuena says that "some guy" had been stabbed. Hoffman can be heard sobbing in the background.
When police arrived, they found Balbuena and Hoffman sitting calmly in the living room and wondered if either had been stabbed. An officer then found Valdivia, wearing only boxer shorts, moaning on the bathroom floor, his internal organs protruding from an abdominal wound.
Valdivia, who played for El Dorado's baseball team and wrote songs, died at the scene. After the conviction, Julio Valdivia, Samuel's older brother, said "I don't know if he's going to pay enough. It's been tough. The pain is still there. I still feel like it happened yesterday. Sometimes, I feel like I need to talk to him. He made me think and kept me out of trouble." During the sentencing hearing, Balbuena said "I'm going to face them. I want to ask your forgiveness for all that has happened," but Valdivia's family did not believe he was sincere.
The victim's mother Placida Maldonado said "He said he didn't mean to hurt him, but I don't believe that." The victim's brother-in-law Julio Laurean said "He's going to do 10 years, but we will do a lifetime...It felt like he was just trying to get out of the hole, that's how I felt."
Valdivia's relatives also believe that Hoffman had a part in the killing. "There are two victims here. One is dead and the other now behind bars," Maldonado said. A sister said that "She's truly at fault. She's crazy and should not have been dating boys. She was 48 years old and my brother only 18."
TheArizona Board of Education investigation of Hoffman saw her surrender her teaching certificate on December 7, but she can reapply within 5 years of the surrender. No criminal chargers were ever filed regarding Hoffman.
Balbuena and the victim, 18 year old Valdivia, were both seduced by their former math teacher as students at separate high schools. Hoffman was teaching the then 17 year old Balbuena at Tempe, AZ's Marcos de Niza High School. She was fired after police caught Balbuena with Hoffman's bra in a parked car in November 2006 . She then went to Chandler's El Dorado High School and started a sexual relationship with 18 year olf Valdivia.
On April 9, 2009, Balbuena left Naval Air Facility El Centro in California, where he was an aircraft mechanic, at about 9 p.m., after finishing his shift, and headed toward Chandler to visit his fiancee, Hoffman, then 48.
Phone records show that they exchanged cellphone calls several times that night as he made the 4 ½-hour drive. But when he reached her house, according to the attorneys' statements, Hoffman did not answer the door or her cellphone. Balbuena opened the front door.
Inside, he heard noises coming from the bedroom. He grabbed a knife from the kitchen. Then, he told police investigators - one of whom testified Thursday - he saw a shadowy figure and they tussled. Seventeen minutes after he arrived, Balbuena called police. Prosecutor Jason Kalish played the 911 call, in which Balbuena says that "some guy" had been stabbed. Hoffman can be heard sobbing in the background.
When police arrived, they found Balbuena and Hoffman sitting calmly in the living room and wondered if either had been stabbed. An officer then found Valdivia, wearing only boxer shorts, moaning on the bathroom floor, his internal organs protruding from an abdominal wound.
Valdivia, who played for El Dorado's baseball team and wrote songs, died at the scene. After the conviction, Julio Valdivia, Samuel's older brother, said "I don't know if he's going to pay enough. It's been tough. The pain is still there. I still feel like it happened yesterday. Sometimes, I feel like I need to talk to him. He made me think and kept me out of trouble." During the sentencing hearing, Balbuena said "I'm going to face them. I want to ask your forgiveness for all that has happened," but Valdivia's family did not believe he was sincere.
The victim's mother Placida Maldonado said "He said he didn't mean to hurt him, but I don't believe that." The victim's brother-in-law Julio Laurean said "He's going to do 10 years, but we will do a lifetime...It felt like he was just trying to get out of the hole, that's how I felt."
Valdivia's relatives also believe that Hoffman had a part in the killing. "There are two victims here. One is dead and the other now behind bars," Maldonado said. A sister said that "She's truly at fault. She's crazy and should not have been dating boys. She was 48 years old and my brother only 18."
TheArizona Board of Education investigation of Hoffman saw her surrender her teaching certificate on December 7, but she can reapply within 5 years of the surrender. No criminal chargers were ever filed regarding Hoffman.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Jackson Park rapist sentenced to 40 years for attacks
A convicted Chicago felon was held without bail for allegedly robbing and raping or fondling people at gunpoint who were visiting Jackson Park’s Osaka Japanese Garden. The rapes and robberies took place between June 24 and August 18. Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney George Canellis stated that the suspect, 40 year old Richard Martin often claimed he was robbed before robbing the victims of taking their cell phones, cash, and wallets. He accused some victims of robbing him before some attacks.
In all four attacks, women were either fondled or raped, according to Canellis. Once, Martin told a woman while fondling her that "she must keep money everywhere."
During an attack on Aug. 8, a woman ran to nearby bushes as her male friends, ages 26 and 17, gave Martin a cell phone, $250, a bank card and an ID, Canellis said. He then demanded to know where the woman, 25, went and used a flashlight to locate her. When he found her, he fondled her, Canellis said.
When Martin raped a 23-year-old woman in the June 24 incident, her frightened male friend jumped into a nearby lagoon, Canellis said. This distracted Martin assaulted the woman as she tried to retrieve her wallet, Canellis said. At that point, he told the woman, he “just wanted money anyway,” Canellis said.
Martin’s latest victims were a 50-year-old female and a 52-year-old male who had been walking over a bridge near a lagoon at the Osaka Japanese Garden, prosecutors sid.
Late Tuesday [August 18], he allegedly ordered the two to lie on the ground. Martin went through both victims’ pockets before raping the crying woman, Canellis said. He placed a gun at the woman’s throat when he assaulted her, Canellis said.
Jackson Park is located 7 miles to the south of downtown Chicago on Chicago's lakefront. It is close to the Hyde Park and South Shore neighborhoods.
(Update 8-6-10) Martin pleaded guilty yesterday in Cook County Circuit Court to 5 felonies - 3 counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Martin was sentenced to 40 years imprisonment, and will be required to serve 85%, or 34 years, before release.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Man forces wife and her "lover" to have sex after catching her cheating - both plead guilty
(Original Post 12-24-09)
A man whose wife cheated on him with another man allegedly forced the "lover" and his wife to have sex with each other in their Minnesota home. 52 year old Kevin Robert Thomas was charged in Cook County, MN court with kidnapping, second-degree assault, terroristic threats, false imprisonment, domestic assault and second-degree criminal sexual conduct. His wife, Susan Ann Thompson, 40, is charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping and false imprisonment.
According to the criminal complaint filed against Susan Thompson, the alleged victim believed that her husband had discovered the affair. When he turned down her invitation to her home on May 15, she became angry and threatened to tell her husband that the alleged victim had been bothering her. She said her husband would harm him by “peeling off his face or killing him,” the complaint alleges.
Susan Thompson is accused of calling the alleged victim several times on May 15 and demanding that he come to their house. He eventually acquiesced. When he arrived at the house, the woman invited him downstairs. The man told Cook County sheriff’s deputies that the woman told him: “You look hot. Take off your shirt and take something else off.” He was wearing only a T-shirt and his underwear when Kevin Thompson arrived home. Kevin Thompson came downstairs holding a crowbar and a hammer.
[Defense Attorney Richard] Holmstrom said his client came home and saw another vehicle in his driveway and didn’t know if someone might be burglarizing his house. He said Kevin Thompson put a handgun in his belt for his own protection, went downstairs and found his wife and the alleged victim engaged in sexual activity.
Susan Thompson was charged because she willingly accepted a sex toy and did not express surprise or concern about the events, but the victim did, especially after Kevin struggled with him and tied him up with plastic ties and duct tape. According to the complaint, Kevin uttered threats to the "lover" during the standoff, saying “We start with losing a digit here and there...I could turn that on and put your face in it [the electric oven.]...I want to ruin you financially. I don’t need your money. I’ve got five million in the bank.”
Richard Holmstrom, who represents Kevin, said that “The best way to sum this case up is if the prosecution wants to call [the alleged victim] a victim, the only thing he is a victim of is his own lust and his own illicit lust,” Holmstrom said. “He got caught in the act, and now they are trying to make it out that Kevin Thompson is some kind of a criminal here — and he’s just not.
"He came home and he’s presented with a situation where his wife is engaged in sexual activity with another man,” Holmstrom said. “He got mad, things happened during that night, but [the alleged victim] was not injured in any way physically. He was allowed to leave. … It’s our position that he committed no crime.”
Law enforcement alleges that they “found digital material on the Thompson’s computers and cell phones indicating that both husband and wife regularly search for ‘swinger’ relationships on the Internet … and have engaged in sexual relationships with multiple partners.”
[Susan Thompson's attorney Chris]Stocke describes Susan Thompson as “a very pretty woman, genteel, honest, well-spoken, professional.” He said she did volunteer work and had worked as a substitute teacher.
“That’s just speculation by police,” Holmstrom said. “They seized every computer they could get their hands on in the house. At least one of those computers had been used in Mr. Thompson’s business in the Chicago area.”
The Thompsons are the parents of an 11 year old boy, the only real victim, regardless of the outcome of this case.
(Update 5-14-10) Guilty Plea
The Thompsons plead guilty in Minnesota's Cook County District Court to kidnapping, false imprisonment, and criminal sexual conduct. Kevin Thompson also plead to second-degree assault and terroristic threats. Both appeared separately under 6th Judicial District Judge Kenneth Sandvik Tuesday, May 11.
Both testified that Kevin Thompson had learned of Susan's affair with another man about a week earlier, and that Kevin Thompson asked Susan to lure the victim to their residence. Susan Thompson, under questioning by her attorney, Christopher Stocke of Duluth, said she was no longer claiming that her husband forced her to take part in the scheme.
"He asked you to get (the victim) to come to your residence?" Stocke asked. "Yes," Susan Thompson said. "To really scare him?" "Yes." "Maybe threaten him?" "Yes."
Kevin Thompson, under questioning from his attorney, Richard Holmstrom of Duluth, testified that he surprised the victim in the basement of their home that night, that the two men struggled, and that Thompson overpowered the victim.
"You forced him to stay in the home for the next, I would imagine, six to eight hours?" Holmstrom asked. "Yes," Kevin Thompson said. "You don't have any doubt that he was terrorized?" "That's correct." Thompson also testified that he displayed a firearm, and that he forced the victim to have sexual contact with his wife.
According to the plea agreement, Kevin will serve 2 years at the Northeast Regional Correction Center, another year under house arrest and 10 years probation. He'll be ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution and a $20,000 fine, undergo psychosexual evaluation and register as a sex offender. Susan will not have to register as a sex offender or spend time in prison, but will have to under a year or two of electronic monitoring, pay $10,000 fine, and otherwise abide by the same stipulations as her husband.
Cook County Attorney Timothy Scannell reached a plea agreement with both Thompsons separately. The lack of jail time for the wife was so their son, described as a straight A student by her attorney Chris Stocke, could be raised by at least one biological parent. "The main reason my client agreed to this is that (their child) would be able to be taken care of. If both of them were going to be incarcerated, this case would have gone to trial."
Scanell said that the involvement of the child factored into the prosecution's decision to plea. "I think that the impact of the child influenced their decision and the state's decision as well. I think it's an appropriate resolution, and I'm pleased that we're finally done with this case." Formal sentencing will be July 7.
(Update 7-11-10) As promised, the Thompsons were sentenced as indicated in their plea agreement Wednesday, July 7. The victim was present in their courtroom, and said in a statement, “The Thompsons are scurrilous individuals who show no shame, no remorse and no regret. It’s time for the Thompsons to realize that the gig is up.”
Judge Sandvik said that “You’re not here because you engaged in an alternative sexual lifestyle. You’re here because you engaged in violence and threats of violence … and they were sexual in nature.”
Kevin was ordered taken into custody immediately, while Susan was ordered under house arrest, which includes no guests without permission of her probation officer. Both Thompsons were ordered to enter sex offender treatment programs and pay restitution and court costs totaling $50,000.
A man whose wife cheated on him with another man allegedly forced the "lover" and his wife to have sex with each other in their Minnesota home. 52 year old Kevin Robert Thomas was charged in Cook County, MN court with kidnapping, second-degree assault, terroristic threats, false imprisonment, domestic assault and second-degree criminal sexual conduct. His wife, Susan Ann Thompson, 40, is charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping and false imprisonment.
According to the criminal complaint filed against Susan Thompson, the alleged victim believed that her husband had discovered the affair. When he turned down her invitation to her home on May 15, she became angry and threatened to tell her husband that the alleged victim had been bothering her. She said her husband would harm him by “peeling off his face or killing him,” the complaint alleges.
Susan Thompson is accused of calling the alleged victim several times on May 15 and demanding that he come to their house. He eventually acquiesced. When he arrived at the house, the woman invited him downstairs. The man told Cook County sheriff’s deputies that the woman told him: “You look hot. Take off your shirt and take something else off.” He was wearing only a T-shirt and his underwear when Kevin Thompson arrived home. Kevin Thompson came downstairs holding a crowbar and a hammer.
[Defense Attorney Richard] Holmstrom said his client came home and saw another vehicle in his driveway and didn’t know if someone might be burglarizing his house. He said Kevin Thompson put a handgun in his belt for his own protection, went downstairs and found his wife and the alleged victim engaged in sexual activity.
Susan Thompson was charged because she willingly accepted a sex toy and did not express surprise or concern about the events, but the victim did, especially after Kevin struggled with him and tied him up with plastic ties and duct tape. According to the complaint, Kevin uttered threats to the "lover" during the standoff, saying “We start with losing a digit here and there...I could turn that on and put your face in it [the electric oven.]...I want to ruin you financially. I don’t need your money. I’ve got five million in the bank.”
Richard Holmstrom, who represents Kevin, said that “The best way to sum this case up is if the prosecution wants to call [the alleged victim] a victim, the only thing he is a victim of is his own lust and his own illicit lust,” Holmstrom said. “He got caught in the act, and now they are trying to make it out that Kevin Thompson is some kind of a criminal here — and he’s just not.
"He came home and he’s presented with a situation where his wife is engaged in sexual activity with another man,” Holmstrom said. “He got mad, things happened during that night, but [the alleged victim] was not injured in any way physically. He was allowed to leave. … It’s our position that he committed no crime.”
Law enforcement alleges that they “found digital material on the Thompson’s computers and cell phones indicating that both husband and wife regularly search for ‘swinger’ relationships on the Internet … and have engaged in sexual relationships with multiple partners.”
[Susan Thompson's attorney Chris]Stocke describes Susan Thompson as “a very pretty woman, genteel, honest, well-spoken, professional.” He said she did volunteer work and had worked as a substitute teacher.
“That’s just speculation by police,” Holmstrom said. “They seized every computer they could get their hands on in the house. At least one of those computers had been used in Mr. Thompson’s business in the Chicago area.”
The Thompsons are the parents of an 11 year old boy, the only real victim, regardless of the outcome of this case.
(Update 5-14-10) Guilty Plea
The Thompsons plead guilty in Minnesota's Cook County District Court to kidnapping, false imprisonment, and criminal sexual conduct. Kevin Thompson also plead to second-degree assault and terroristic threats. Both appeared separately under 6th Judicial District Judge Kenneth Sandvik Tuesday, May 11.
Both testified that Kevin Thompson had learned of Susan's affair with another man about a week earlier, and that Kevin Thompson asked Susan to lure the victim to their residence. Susan Thompson, under questioning by her attorney, Christopher Stocke of Duluth, said she was no longer claiming that her husband forced her to take part in the scheme.
"He asked you to get (the victim) to come to your residence?" Stocke asked. "Yes," Susan Thompson said. "To really scare him?" "Yes." "Maybe threaten him?" "Yes."
Kevin Thompson, under questioning from his attorney, Richard Holmstrom of Duluth, testified that he surprised the victim in the basement of their home that night, that the two men struggled, and that Thompson overpowered the victim.
"You forced him to stay in the home for the next, I would imagine, six to eight hours?" Holmstrom asked. "Yes," Kevin Thompson said. "You don't have any doubt that he was terrorized?" "That's correct." Thompson also testified that he displayed a firearm, and that he forced the victim to have sexual contact with his wife.
According to the plea agreement, Kevin will serve 2 years at the Northeast Regional Correction Center, another year under house arrest and 10 years probation. He'll be ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution and a $20,000 fine, undergo psychosexual evaluation and register as a sex offender. Susan will not have to register as a sex offender or spend time in prison, but will have to under a year or two of electronic monitoring, pay $10,000 fine, and otherwise abide by the same stipulations as her husband.
Cook County Attorney Timothy Scannell reached a plea agreement with both Thompsons separately. The lack of jail time for the wife was so their son, described as a straight A student by her attorney Chris Stocke, could be raised by at least one biological parent. "The main reason my client agreed to this is that (their child) would be able to be taken care of. If both of them were going to be incarcerated, this case would have gone to trial."
Scanell said that the involvement of the child factored into the prosecution's decision to plea. "I think that the impact of the child influenced their decision and the state's decision as well. I think it's an appropriate resolution, and I'm pleased that we're finally done with this case." Formal sentencing will be July 7.
(Update 7-11-10) As promised, the Thompsons were sentenced as indicated in their plea agreement Wednesday, July 7. The victim was present in their courtroom, and said in a statement, “The Thompsons are scurrilous individuals who show no shame, no remorse and no regret. It’s time for the Thompsons to realize that the gig is up.”
Judge Sandvik said that “You’re not here because you engaged in an alternative sexual lifestyle. You’re here because you engaged in violence and threats of violence … and they were sexual in nature.”
Kevin was ordered taken into custody immediately, while Susan was ordered under house arrest, which includes no guests without permission of her probation officer. Both Thompsons were ordered to enter sex offender treatment programs and pay restitution and court costs totaling $50,000.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Entrepreneur & father of three killed - wife and employee charged in love triangle slaying
According to officials, the plot began when Morgan and Steve began to "fall in love" at the business that the victim and Morgan ran together, M.K.B. Property Management LLC. The company does landscaping for homeowners and other property owners.
On June 17, she reportedly said, Shappell placed "some sort of drug" in a lemon Snapple, which Morgan Mengel then left on the hood of the pickup truck for Kevin Mengel to find. No one else who worked at the business drank Snapple, she reportedly told police, and she knew Kevin Mengel would drink it.
A short time later, according to court documents, she received a text from Shappell that said he had struck Kevin Mengel in the head with a shovel.
She reportedly asked if he was serious and he replied, "Dead serious." She then asked if there was a "pulse," police reports said, to which he replied "Get down here now." Morgan Mengel reportedly told police that Shappell told her he buried Kevin Mengel's body approximately 150 yards behind Marple Newtown High School, where he had been a student.
The beginning of the end for Morgan Mengel and Shappell's freedom came on Father's Day, when Kathleen Barton reported her son missing. She noted that her daughter-in-law told her that she had seen Kevin move out of their West Goshen, PA apartment on June 18. Still suspicious, Kathleen monitored her son's Facebook page and told West Goshen detectives about the affair. After her son's Facebook page was updated in a different style than he would use on June 23, detectives went to the victim's apartment.
While Morgan gave police the same story that she gave her mother-in-law, detectives saw the victim's clothes and toothbrush in the apartment. After being taken to the police station for an interview, Morgan Mengel admitted the affair and the murder.
According to West Goshen Police Department Chief Michael J. Carroll, "Normally a report of a missing person who's a 33-year-old adult male is sometimes not taken as seriously because they have the absolute right to be missing, they can go wherever they want to go. During the course of the week it became clear to our department that this was more than just a missing person case."
We were able to identify and locate the victim by the use of a cadaver dog that was brought to us by the Search and Rescue Dogs of Pennsylvania in Malvern. I can tell you without the use of this dog, we would not have been able to find this body.
It's a very tragic case. The victim was the father of three children. Obviously the children have lost their father and with what has gone on so far they're going to lose their mother for an extended period of time.
Shappell was arrested in Denver the evening of Sunday, June 27. Carroll said "This was a direct result of cooperation between departments. It was through an investigation here. We knew where to look for him."
It is unknown what charges he'll face when he is extradited to Pennsylvania, but Morgan Mengel will be facing 1st degree murder and criminal homicide.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Molest victim shoots attacker, pleads guilty to voluntary manslaughter
He told [his family] McNeill began molesting him while they were on a fishing trip when Vargas was 11 years old. McNeill continued to psychologically harass Vargas into adulthood, the Vargas family said.
McNeill would drop by the house Vargas shared with his fiancee at all hours, call frequently and ask to baby-sit Vargas’ newborn daughter, his sister [Mindy Galliani] said. Galliani believes her brother snapped on the night he drove to NcNeill’s home outside of Fort Bragg carrying a .44 caliber cap and ball pistol.
The men argued and Vargas shot McNeill once in the chest, then stayed at the home for 20 minutes to make sure he was dead, preventing Liz McNeill from phoning for help, law enforcement officers said. After the shooting, Vargas disassembled the gun and divulged his accusations for the first time.
Liz McNeill and her sons have written letters urging Humboldt County, CA prosecutors to charge Vargas with lesser charges that murder, and according to Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Norman and Vargas’ attorney, Tom Hudson. Three men and a woman contacted the DA's office alleging molestation by McNeill, and Norman said the plea agreement was “a fair resolution in light of all the facts.”
Vargas has became a celebrity of sorts since his arrest immediately after the killing. His sister’s unflagging outreach efforts garnered nationwide media attention and support from the Fort Bragg community and beyond for Vargas, who many consider to be the victim in this case.
More than 2,000 people signed an online petition seeking a reduction in the charges or dismissal of the case. A dozen people claim McNeill also molested them, said Vargas’ sister, Mindy Galliani.
Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Ron Brown took into account the plea of the victim's family in accepting the plea agreement, but not the public support for Vargas, shown by a petition urging charges be dropped. “That is the reason we’re not guided by public opinion,” Judge Brown said.
Brown will sentence Vargas after an April 20 stipulated facts hearing. There is a chance that Vargas can be sentenced to more than 10 years by Judge Brown. Voluntary manslaughter carries a 21 year maximum sentence, and Vargas can retract his plea if Brown sentences him to 10-21 years.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
18 year old accused of sexual coercion, blackmail of HS students pleads guilty in suburban MIlwaukee courtroom, gets 15 years prison
(Original Post 2-5-09)
An 18 year old man originally investigated for a bomb scare at the New Berlin High School was charged with sexual assault, and other offenses for coercing fellow male students into sex using Facebook. If found guilty on all charges, he faces 293 years in prison.
Anthony "Tony" Stancl, 18 was charged with posing as a girl to trick 31 boys, ranging in age from 13 to 19, into posing for nude pitcures. The boys, all Stancl's former classmates, were contacted through their Facebook pages. While posing as a girl, Stancl threatened to release the nude photos to the public unless the victims agreed to perform sex acts.
The sexual assaults occurred in 2008 in a bathroom at the high school, the school parking lot, a New Berlin Public Library restroom, parks and at some of the victims' homes, according to the criminal complaint. At least seven boys, 15 to 17, were forced into performing sex acts, the complaint says.
Police learned of Stancl's alleged activities after he was accused in a bomb threat that closed Eisenhower and one victim came forward to police.
Police learned of Stancl's alleged activities after he was accused in a bomb threat that closed Eisenhower and one victim came forward to police.
Stancl, who was expelled after the bomb scare, is charged with a bomb threat, plus repeated sexual assault of same child (at least three violations of first- or second-degree sexual assault), possession of child pornography, second- and third-degree sexual assaults and five counts of child enticement.
The child porn charges stem from 600 photos of both commercial porn and about 300 photos/movie clips of the New Berlin victims found on Stancl's computer.
(Update 7-16-09) Waukesha County Circuit Judge J. Mac Davis lowered Stancl's bail from $250,000 to $75,000, a move which puts his release within reach. Defense attorney Craig M. Kuhary said that Stancl's parents were able to access $75,000 in their retirement funds. Stancl's parents will also pay the $20 per day electronic monitoring fee.
Kuhary said Stancl would like to get his high school diploma, possibly from New Berlin West or Waukesha County Technical College. Davis said he will allow Stancl to complete his education but he can be on school grounds only for scheduled purposes and with adult supervision.
Davis said Stancl would be allowed to go to the homes of his grandparents in West Allis and Hartland, his attorney's office, police departments and court. Stancl would not be permitted to use the library, access the Internet, or possess a cell phone.
District Attorney Brad Schimel objected to the bail reduction due to the severity of the charges and the potential maximum sentence in convicted. The New Berlin School District, through its Superintendent Paul Kreutzer, released a statement saying, in its entirety, "Mr. Anthony Stancl, under no circumstances, will be involved at any level with the School District of New Berlin."
GQ has a story, "Sextortion At Eisenhower High," which gives much more background into this case.
(Update 12-22-09) Tony Stancl pled guilty before Waukesha County Circuit Judge James R. Kieffer to 2 counts of sexual assault on a child in a Waukesha County, WI courtroom today. 10 other charges against him were dropped by prosecutors as a result of the plea agreement. District Attorney Brad Schimel is asking for a substantial prison sentence, which could be as long as 30 years with 20 years of extended supervision after release. If Stancl had went to trial and been convicted on all charges, he would have faced 176 1/2 years in prison.
Schimel's view about the agreement and outcome of the case is below.
I contacted each and every one of the victims in this matter and each of them felt that this was a very positive resolution of the case. It was important for them that this be resolved before the holidays....I've never had a case where victims and parents have been more apprehensive about testifying than in this case. There has been an enormous amount of publicity, maybe unprecedented in a child sexual assault case, and all happening in a school where all of the victims went, along with the defendant.
This resolution is something that is going to set them at ease in the coming weeks. This was going to continue to get more troubling to them as we approached trial. So this resolution is something that I view as a fair resolution and from the victims' perspective, they are relieved that we are doing this.
I think a lot of parents learned something from this. Usually in child sexual assault cases...the media attention is relatively minor...This one has just attracted a lot of attention because it's bigger than what just happened here. There are people all over the country looking at this, I hope, and questioning what are kids up to. What are kids doing with their photo phones? What are they doing on their computers? There's been this other message beyond just dealing with the defendant and the victims.
(Update 2-25-10) Stancl was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 13 years of extended supervision this afternoon by Waukesha County Circuit Judge J. Mac Davis because as someone who has proven to been manipulative and self-centered, he was still potentially dangerous and "I am afraid of what he can and might do."
District Attorney Brad Schimel asked for "substantial" prison time, without being specific. No victims spoke at the sentencing, but some had sent letters asking for substantial prison time. Some of the victims required hospitalization for suicidal thoughts, medication or have had to undergo therapy, Schimel said.
Schimel said substantial prison time was needed because of the number of victims, the scheming nature of the crime and the impact on victims. He also said that the very nature of the crime - repeatedly coercing sex by extortion - was a pattern of deviant sexual behavior. Schimel also cited a 2004 juvenile case in which Stancl, then 13, was found delinquent for sexual assault of a 3-year old in a home where he was a babysitter.
Defense attorney Craig Kuhary suggested 5 years in prison with a decade of extended supervision, stating that Stancl's problems began after he was outed as gay by a former "lover" who went to his school. "Once word got out that he was gay, everything shut down," Kuhary said.
Stancl's uncle, Al Turk, from California spoke on behalf of the family saying his nephew and godson was loving, intelligent, athletic, a former altar boy and a technological whiz kid who worked at a software company while going to school and maintaining good grades.
"Like many young men his age, he's made a serious mistake," Turk said. Emphasizing his Catholic upbringing in a supportive and forgiving family, Turk said he remains a joy to his family who'll be there for him when his "penance" is served.
Stancl himself made a statement saying that he needed to treat others the way he wanted to be treated, and that after prison, "I am determined to become once again a productive and law-abiding citizen."
Schimel explained his role in the prosecution of Stancl. "I had two jobs here. I had a job to get him locked up for some reasonable amount of time to protect the community, but I also had to look out for the welfare of these seven kids, and I think we struck that balance. I asked for substantial prison, and 15 years of initial confinement followed by 13 years of extended supervision is a substantial prison sentence that takes away Anthony Stancl's youth," said Schimel.
He also reiterated that parents must be on guard when it comes to electronic devices and protection from sexual predation. "They have to know that the more capability they give their kids electronically with this stuff, the less control they have over their kid's safety."
Last, but certainly not least, Schimel reminded parents that this was how most sex offenders work. "This is how sex offenders work. They compromise their victims. Very few of the sexual assaults we see involve some sort of person jumping out of the bushes and grabbing someone. Most of the time, it's someone that the victim knows, and they get manipulated into a position where it becomes difficult to say something, to speak out. That's what happened with these kids."
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Brevard County Detention Center inmate gets 2 years for role in gang rape
Brevard County Detention Center inmate Phillip McCullough, 24, was sentenced to 2 years in prison Friday, February 12, for helping three other jail inmates restrain and rape a fourth inmate.
According to Brevard County Sheriff's Office reports, the victim twice lost consciousness as the four men hogtied him in his cell with bed linens, slammed his head against a wall and choked him with a mesh laundry bag while one of them assaulted him.
Spokeswoman Lynne Bumpus-Hooper of the Florida state's attorney's office said that "the victim wasn't interested in testifying. He said he would be satisfied if Mr. McCullough received some punishment for the act."
The 2 years for the rape conviction - actually felony counts of battery and false imprisonment - will be served concurrently to other sentences for felony convictions. These sentenes include 40 years for attempted murder and five years for helping a convicted triple murderer smuggle a gun into the Brevard County Detention Center.
Court records show that McCullough still faces prosecution on a felony home invasion charge.
He rejected a plea deal last month that would have allowed him to serve 40 years for six felony cases and shielded him from additional prison time on four homicides he's suspected in as long as he cooperates with investigations in those cases.
Another inmate has also pled guilty in the case. Terrance Coles, 22, of Jacksonville Beach, was sentenced to 19 months in prison. Two other inmates - Emanuel Edwards, 19, of Mims and Justin Heyne, 28, of Titusville, are awiating trial.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Life without parole for murder of estranged wife, friend by estranged husband
A man who shot his estranged wife and her friend was sentenced to life without parole in a Humboldt County, Iowa courtroom on Monday, December 21. Kyle Deemer, 29, was sentenced to two consecutive life without parole sentences for the shotgun slayings of Jessica Deemer and Bryce Mercer. Judge Baker said that Kyle made a series of decisions to kill the couple, and he thought that "You seem to be convinced that what you did was justified."
Deemer followed his wife and Mercer from Des Moines to a point north of Marshalltown on Highway 14. Jessica and Mercer were going to Mercer's family reunion in Gladbrook for the weekend. On Highway 14, Deemer forced them off the road with his vehicle, then shot both of them. The judge described how Deemer had to expel the expended shell and re-load after shooting Mercer, before he could shoot Jessica.
This was Judge Baker's rationale for making the murder sentences consecutive instead of concurrent. Jessica's sister, Jamie Luedke, said that "I despise you, Kyle, for so many reasons. I hope you will experience the same sadness and suffering every day of your life."
Her father, Kevin Luedtke, asked this question of the killer. "Kyle, after all this family has done [for] you, I cannot understand why you would return the favor with such cruelty. What on Earth did you have to gain by killing Jessica?" After the sentencing, he went on to say that "As of this day forward, Kyle Deemer ceases to exist for our entire family. If you're lucky, you'll never see Ty again," Kevin said. "But don't be surprised, when he's an adult, if he looks you up and says, 'How could you do this to me?'"
Ty is the Deemer's 6 year old son who is being raised by the victim's relatives.
Deemer followed his wife and Mercer from Des Moines to a point north of Marshalltown on Highway 14. Jessica and Mercer were going to Mercer's family reunion in Gladbrook for the weekend. On Highway 14, Deemer forced them off the road with his vehicle, then shot both of them. The judge described how Deemer had to expel the expended shell and re-load after shooting Mercer, before he could shoot Jessica.
This was Judge Baker's rationale for making the murder sentences consecutive instead of concurrent. Jessica's sister, Jamie Luedke, said that "I despise you, Kyle, for so many reasons. I hope you will experience the same sadness and suffering every day of your life."
Her father, Kevin Luedtke, asked this question of the killer. "Kyle, after all this family has done [for] you, I cannot understand why you would return the favor with such cruelty. What on Earth did you have to gain by killing Jessica?" After the sentencing, he went on to say that "As of this day forward, Kyle Deemer ceases to exist for our entire family. If you're lucky, you'll never see Ty again," Kevin said. "But don't be surprised, when he's an adult, if he looks you up and says, 'How could you do this to me?'"
Ty is the Deemer's 6 year old son who is being raised by the victim's relatives.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Anchorage man sentenced to 48 years after slashing man to death after sex
Hunter killed Randall Roe, 47, after Roe picked him up on Fourth Avenue early one morning in November 2006. Roe, who had brain damage from a bicycle accident, was high on cocaine and had his own history of trouble. Something went wrong during the encounter, the men struggled, and Hunter pulled out a knife and killed Roe in the cab of Roe's pickup, according to trial testimony.
Hunter testified at both his trials that he acted in self-defense and that he was not himself because he was so intoxicated on malt beer and vodka the morning of the murder. The first jury couldn't reach a verdict. The second jury acquitted him of first-degree murder but convicted him of the lesser second-degree murder charge.
At the sentencing, the defense and prosecution argued over whether Hunter was just intoxicated that night and acting out or if he is a dangerous man with mental health problems who cannot be controlled. Prosecutor John Skidmore asked Volland to send Hunter away for 60 years, saying he was a danger to the community. Defense attorney Paul Maslakowski asked for the minimum 10 years.
One aspect of the trial which helped Judge Volland determine the character and mental state of Hunter was his two hour long statement, read to the courtroom after his conviction. Volland said that the statement told him more about the defendant than the evidence and statements from officials.
That allocution was telling me more about Mr. Hunter than anything else in this case...[It was] a rambling, disjointed discourse largely irrelevant to sentencing in which Mr. Hunter both simultaneously admitted to his various mental health and addiction problems and denied them...This is a man in denial of his problems. This is a man who has some significant cognitive problems. This is a man not completely in touch with his surroundings and the world.
Two rapists sentenced to de facto life terms in New Hanover County courts
Last Thursday, December 10, 2009, two separate rapists were convicted by New Hanover County juries of separate sex and kidnapping crimes against mainly adult victims. Nicholas Lee Lofton, a 28 year old resicent of Rocky Point, NC, was convicted of robbery, two counts of kidnapping, burglary and two counts of assaulting a child under 12 years old, malicious castration, one count of attempted sex offense and two counts of sex offense. Lofton was sentenced to 84-115 years in prison. The second rapist, 51 year old Douglas Job Smith, was sentenced to 94-115 years in prison after convictions of rape, sex offense and kidnapping. The New Hanover County District Attorney's Office prosecuted both cases.
In the Lofton case, a man and woman testified that three men, including Lofton, burst into their bedroom on Oct. 5, 2007 while they slept in a home in the 600 block of Sharease Circle and pointed guns at them. The attackers punched and kicked the man, and burned his neck and genitals with hot pliers, said prosecutor Barrett Temple. The attackers bound the man and his girlfriend, she said. During the attack, all three attackers sexually assaulted the man's girlfriend in front of the man's two young girls, whose eyes were duct-taped, Temple said. “The girls were awake the whole time and aware of what was going on."
The attackers, who were known by their victims, rummaged through the house and grabbed $400 in cash and jewelry. Lofton was caught because the victims knew his voice and saw his face. Temple said that “It was a tough case for us, and we were pleased with the verdict.”
On December 10, 2007, Smith pulled up in his vehicle and offered a 32 year old woman a ride home, but instead of taking her home, he took her to his house, a 8' x 27' camped behind a Castle Hayne business, according to prosecutor Connie Jordan.
When the woman asked to use the bathroom, she couldn't because the room was littered with feces. That's when Smith pulled out a butcher knife and forced her to take off her clothes. He bound her wrists and ankles and duct-taped her mouth before raping and sexually assaulting her over six hours, Jordan said.
It wasn't until workers at the business arrived the following morning that they asked Smith to move his truck because it was parked across several parking spaces. He moved his vehicle and returned to the residence where the woman eventually managed to undo the duct tape on her ankles and run outside to an automotive business where workers contacted 911, Jordan said.
Police found the woman's clothes inside a garbage bag in the camper, and arrested Smith in Columbus County, NC. According to Jordan, “The jury's verdict will really help her attempt to put this behind her more. Not only has she been trying to forget it for two years, I really feel like their verdict is a powerful healing tool for her...This will be with her for the rest of her life. I don't see any way around that. It's a devastating crime. I can't even begin to understand how you cope with this.”
In the Lofton case, a man and woman testified that three men, including Lofton, burst into their bedroom on Oct. 5, 2007 while they slept in a home in the 600 block of Sharease Circle and pointed guns at them. The attackers punched and kicked the man, and burned his neck and genitals with hot pliers, said prosecutor Barrett Temple. The attackers bound the man and his girlfriend, she said. During the attack, all three attackers sexually assaulted the man's girlfriend in front of the man's two young girls, whose eyes were duct-taped, Temple said. “The girls were awake the whole time and aware of what was going on."
The attackers, who were known by their victims, rummaged through the house and grabbed $400 in cash and jewelry. Lofton was caught because the victims knew his voice and saw his face. Temple said that “It was a tough case for us, and we were pleased with the verdict.”
On December 10, 2007, Smith pulled up in his vehicle and offered a 32 year old woman a ride home, but instead of taking her home, he took her to his house, a 8' x 27' camped behind a Castle Hayne business, according to prosecutor Connie Jordan.
When the woman asked to use the bathroom, she couldn't because the room was littered with feces. That's when Smith pulled out a butcher knife and forced her to take off her clothes. He bound her wrists and ankles and duct-taped her mouth before raping and sexually assaulting her over six hours, Jordan said.
It wasn't until workers at the business arrived the following morning that they asked Smith to move his truck because it was parked across several parking spaces. He moved his vehicle and returned to the residence where the woman eventually managed to undo the duct tape on her ankles and run outside to an automotive business where workers contacted 911, Jordan said.
Police found the woman's clothes inside a garbage bag in the camper, and arrested Smith in Columbus County, NC. According to Jordan, “The jury's verdict will really help her attempt to put this behind her more. Not only has she been trying to forget it for two years, I really feel like their verdict is a powerful healing tool for her...This will be with her for the rest of her life. I don't see any way around that. It's a devastating crime. I can't even begin to understand how you cope with this.”
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Baseball bat attacker of woman, child sentenced to 40 years behind bars
A man who beat his "girlfriend" and her son, leaving the woman's mother as her grandson's guardian and her daughter's caregiver was sentenced to 40 years in prison Thursday, December 3, in an Alachua County, FL courtroom. Daniel Steven Fucci, 46, was sentenced for the baseball bat attack on Debra Charlene Wyrosdick, 45, and her son Andrew, 7, leaving them both in a pool of blood.
Earlier, Fucci plead guilty to attempted murder, aggravated child abuse, and felony fleeing. He plead to , in his words, spare the child from having to testify in a jury trial. Fucci also atempted to justify his attack on the woman and her child, saying that "It was 50-50. She attacked me and I fought back," Fucci told Judge James Nilon. "We'd both been drinking a lot and arguing. I had no intention of hurting her - I was trying to get the knife away from her."
When an ambulance crew arrived, they reported finding Wyrosdick unconscious on the floor with Andrew on top of her and both appeared to be dying in the kitchen that was covered in blood.
Wyrosdick's mother, Ruby Wyrosdick, who is now Debra's caretaker and guardian of her son, testified that Debra received massive brain injuries and "still needs more therapy than we can afford. She will likely need assistance for the rest of her life."
Ruby Wyrosdick also said that her daughter remained in a coma until late 2008 and then spent about 10 months in an assisted living facility before moving in with Ruby. "Half of her head appears caved in," Ruby Wyrosdick said.
Fucci claimed that he still "loves" his victim, saying that "I would be her slave for life because I still love her," Fucci said. "I accidentally hit her in the head. It was self-defense. I was trying to stop her from coming at me with a knife." Judge Nilon said that the baseball bat injuries were too forceful to be self-defense, and that Fucci's behavior pattern was entrenched for 10 years, and he was "certainly old enough to have sought and received help for this pattern of behavior."
Among the other factors that Nilon said he considered before sentencing Fucci was a pre-sentence investigation showing that Fucci had a long history of violent behavior and statements from two of Fucci's sisters who asked for leniency.
The sisters told Nilon that Fucci had been physically, mentally and sexually abused by another of their brothers while they were growing up and that Fucci had a history of getting involved with damaged women who drew him into their dramas.
Psychologist Dr. Harry Krop testified that he had examined Fucci three times since the crimes and determined that Fucci abused alcohol, has a personality disorder with narcissistic and obsessive traits, had indicators of bipolar disorder and that there were apparent features of post traumatic stress disorder.
Because all inmates must serve at least 85% of their prison sentences, Fucci will serve at least 34 years and will be 80 when he gets out.
Earlier, Fucci plead guilty to attempted murder, aggravated child abuse, and felony fleeing. He plead to , in his words, spare the child from having to testify in a jury trial. Fucci also atempted to justify his attack on the woman and her child, saying that "It was 50-50. She attacked me and I fought back," Fucci told Judge James Nilon. "We'd both been drinking a lot and arguing. I had no intention of hurting her - I was trying to get the knife away from her."
When an ambulance crew arrived, they reported finding Wyrosdick unconscious on the floor with Andrew on top of her and both appeared to be dying in the kitchen that was covered in blood.
Wyrosdick's mother, Ruby Wyrosdick, who is now Debra's caretaker and guardian of her son, testified that Debra received massive brain injuries and "still needs more therapy than we can afford. She will likely need assistance for the rest of her life."
Ruby Wyrosdick also said that her daughter remained in a coma until late 2008 and then spent about 10 months in an assisted living facility before moving in with Ruby. "Half of her head appears caved in," Ruby Wyrosdick said.
Fucci claimed that he still "loves" his victim, saying that "I would be her slave for life because I still love her," Fucci said. "I accidentally hit her in the head. It was self-defense. I was trying to stop her from coming at me with a knife." Judge Nilon said that the baseball bat injuries were too forceful to be self-defense, and that Fucci's behavior pattern was entrenched for 10 years, and he was "certainly old enough to have sought and received help for this pattern of behavior."
Among the other factors that Nilon said he considered before sentencing Fucci was a pre-sentence investigation showing that Fucci had a long history of violent behavior and statements from two of Fucci's sisters who asked for leniency.
The sisters told Nilon that Fucci had been physically, mentally and sexually abused by another of their brothers while they were growing up and that Fucci had a history of getting involved with damaged women who drew him into their dramas.
Psychologist Dr. Harry Krop testified that he had examined Fucci three times since the crimes and determined that Fucci abused alcohol, has a personality disorder with narcissistic and obsessive traits, had indicators of bipolar disorder and that there were apparent features of post traumatic stress disorder.
Because all inmates must serve at least 85% of their prison sentences, Fucci will serve at least 34 years and will be 80 when he gets out.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Fresno man sentenced to 50 to life for murdering estranged wife, brother-in-law
Stepdaughters speak of trauma after guilty plea by a Fresno man.
Published online on Friday, Nov. 13, 2009
By Pablo Lopez / The Fresno Bee
A Fresno man was sentenced Friday to 50 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of his estranged wife and her brother in August 2007. Moses Mejia, 40, sobbed in Fresno County Superior Court as his three stepdaughters, who witnessed the shooting, and several other relatives tearfully described how Mejia ruined their lives.
"We all live with a pill, a depression pill, so we can keep on living," said Ofilia Perez, the mother of the two slain victims -- Sandra Luevano and Javier Castro.
Police said Mejia took a cab to Luevano's home on North Crystal Avenue, entered the residence, shot the two victims and then left in the same cab on Aug. 31, 2007. Luevano's daughters were 15, 13 and 11 at the time of the shooting. Friday, the three sisters told Judge Gary Orozco that they suffer from depression, anxiety and fear. In my nightmares, I hear Javier scream," said Jasmine Nagra. "I hear the gunshots."
Daniela Luevano said she still can vividly see her mother and uncle dead on the floor. "I remember it as if it happened yesterday," she said. Monica Luevano said she remembers feeling helpless and calling 911.
The three girls told the judge that Mejia deserves a long prison term, but said they don't harbor hate for him. Instead, they have forgiven him. "I hope he finds the help he needs," Jasmine Nagra said. Javier Castro's two school-age sons, Michael and Daniel, told the judge that they also feel a huge loss. "The only time I can see him is in my dreams," Daniel Castro said.
Police said Mejia and Luevano were married about five years, but were separated when the shooting happened. She had obtained an emergency protective order against Mejia, but the order never was served because he could not be found, police said.
Attorney Michael Aed, who represented Mejia, said Friday that his client admitted guilt during his trial last month to spare Luevano's daughters from testifying. Mejia admitted guilt against his attorney's advice. "It was a crime-of-passion shooting," Aed said. Now, Mejia will be nearly 90 years old before he is eligible for parole, Aed said.
Mejia did not speak in court, but in a letter, he wrote that he was sorry. If the death penalty was an option, Mejia would have taken it, Aed said. "He knows what he did was wrong," Aed said. "And he knows he can't take away their pain."
Published online on Friday, Nov. 13, 2009
By Pablo Lopez / The Fresno Bee
A Fresno man was sentenced Friday to 50 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of his estranged wife and her brother in August 2007. Moses Mejia, 40, sobbed in Fresno County Superior Court as his three stepdaughters, who witnessed the shooting, and several other relatives tearfully described how Mejia ruined their lives.
"We all live with a pill, a depression pill, so we can keep on living," said Ofilia Perez, the mother of the two slain victims -- Sandra Luevano and Javier Castro.
Police said Mejia took a cab to Luevano's home on North Crystal Avenue, entered the residence, shot the two victims and then left in the same cab on Aug. 31, 2007. Luevano's daughters were 15, 13 and 11 at the time of the shooting. Friday, the three sisters told Judge Gary Orozco that they suffer from depression, anxiety and fear. In my nightmares, I hear Javier scream," said Jasmine Nagra. "I hear the gunshots."
Daniela Luevano said she still can vividly see her mother and uncle dead on the floor. "I remember it as if it happened yesterday," she said. Monica Luevano said she remembers feeling helpless and calling 911.
The three girls told the judge that Mejia deserves a long prison term, but said they don't harbor hate for him. Instead, they have forgiven him. "I hope he finds the help he needs," Jasmine Nagra said. Javier Castro's two school-age sons, Michael and Daniel, told the judge that they also feel a huge loss. "The only time I can see him is in my dreams," Daniel Castro said.
Police said Mejia and Luevano were married about five years, but were separated when the shooting happened. She had obtained an emergency protective order against Mejia, but the order never was served because he could not be found, police said.
Attorney Michael Aed, who represented Mejia, said Friday that his client admitted guilt during his trial last month to spare Luevano's daughters from testifying. Mejia admitted guilt against his attorney's advice. "It was a crime-of-passion shooting," Aed said. Now, Mejia will be nearly 90 years old before he is eligible for parole, Aed said.
Mejia did not speak in court, but in a letter, he wrote that he was sorry. If the death penalty was an option, Mejia would have taken it, Aed said. "He knows what he did was wrong," Aed said. "And he knows he can't take away their pain."
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Dunbar Village rapists sentenced to life
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Three men convicted of the gang rape of a West Palm Beach woman and the beating of her young son were sentenced to life in prison Tuesday.
Palm Beach Circuit Judge Krista Marx sentenced Jakaris Taylor, 17, and Nathan Walker, 18, to life in prison while Tommy Poindexter, 20, was sentenced to life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison. A fourth defendant, Avion Lawson, 16, pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in December.
The four were convicted of barging into the then-35-year-old woman's West Palm Beach apartment in 2007 and raping her repeatedly, then beating her then-12-year-old son and forcing her to perform oral sex on him. They then doused the two in chemicals and left when they could not find a match.
Authorities say fingerprints and DNA found on clothing and condoms in the apartment identified the defendants, who were juveniles at the time of the crime.
The courtroom, packed with family members of the defendants, erupted after the sentence was read, despite Marx's admonishment that those who could not control themselves should leave beforehand. After Poindexter scuffled with a corrections officer, his brother, Masterson Poindexter, yelled out, "What the (expletive) are you doing to my brother."
Then the 13-year-old half brother of Taylor ran past stunned officers and deputies and opened a back door where his brother had been led in shackles. The crying boy was detained by deputies but later freed.
Defense lawyers had argued that the men were juveniles at the time of the crime and sentencing juveniles to life in prison amounts to cruel and unusual punishment — something that does not even occur in Iraq and North Korea. They noted that two similar cases are currently before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Both Public Defender Carey Haughwout, who represents Poindexter, and Robert Gershman, who represents Walker, said they would file motions for new trials and appeal.
Haughwout said she was "disappointed" with the sentence but Gershman said he was not surprised. "I was expecting life based on the facts of the case," he said.
In a statement, State Attorney Michael McAuliffe said, "Today, justice was done for the mother and child who were the victims of a brutal, vicious attack on their bodies and their characters. The blameless in this case are the victims who will likely never fully move beyond one's worst nightmare made all too real."
McAuliffe commended the victim for her "great courage and resolve" in aiding the investigation.
The victim was not present at the sentencing. However, prosecutor Aleathea McRoberts read a letter from her in which she said she and her son were still suffering greatly. In the letter, the victim said she is afraid to leave the house, seeing a psychologist and has been treated for cervical cancer — which she believes is due to the chemicals the defendants put inside her. She said her son is also seeing a psychologist and feels guilty that he could not protect his mother.
The defense attorneys and two psychologists who testified for them argued that the youths were products of troubled upbringings. One was born cocaine addicted, another lost his father at a young age and another was constantly beaten by his grandmother.
Taylor's mother testified that she had been treated for mental illness and alcoholism, and herself was raped twice. "I don't want him to get life," she told Marx. "Every child deserves a second chance."
Taylor's father testified that he was in and out of recovery for drug addiction, saying, "I've battled my own demons." "I'm asking you to give him a second chance and take into account what he has endured," said Nathan Taylor Sr.
But McRoberts countered that, "there is a huge population of kids who were raised by single moms without much money who don't have jobs that never go on to commit crimes."
"This community has a right to be protected from these juveniles," she said. "Short of killing this woman and her son, there is not much worse they could have done."
Judge Marx agreed.
"This was not a garden variety crime by any means." She said. "It was designed to instill fear and invoke terror and gave you all pleasure and excitement. Most of us have a moral code and refrain from wrongdoing. I can only surmise that none of you have a moral code."
Palm Beach Circuit Judge Krista Marx sentenced Jakaris Taylor, 17, and Nathan Walker, 18, to life in prison while Tommy Poindexter, 20, was sentenced to life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison. A fourth defendant, Avion Lawson, 16, pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in December.
The four were convicted of barging into the then-35-year-old woman's West Palm Beach apartment in 2007 and raping her repeatedly, then beating her then-12-year-old son and forcing her to perform oral sex on him. They then doused the two in chemicals and left when they could not find a match.
Authorities say fingerprints and DNA found on clothing and condoms in the apartment identified the defendants, who were juveniles at the time of the crime.
The courtroom, packed with family members of the defendants, erupted after the sentence was read, despite Marx's admonishment that those who could not control themselves should leave beforehand. After Poindexter scuffled with a corrections officer, his brother, Masterson Poindexter, yelled out, "What the (expletive) are you doing to my brother."
Then the 13-year-old half brother of Taylor ran past stunned officers and deputies and opened a back door where his brother had been led in shackles. The crying boy was detained by deputies but later freed.
Defense lawyers had argued that the men were juveniles at the time of the crime and sentencing juveniles to life in prison amounts to cruel and unusual punishment — something that does not even occur in Iraq and North Korea. They noted that two similar cases are currently before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Both Public Defender Carey Haughwout, who represents Poindexter, and Robert Gershman, who represents Walker, said they would file motions for new trials and appeal.
Haughwout said she was "disappointed" with the sentence but Gershman said he was not surprised. "I was expecting life based on the facts of the case," he said.
In a statement, State Attorney Michael McAuliffe said, "Today, justice was done for the mother and child who were the victims of a brutal, vicious attack on their bodies and their characters. The blameless in this case are the victims who will likely never fully move beyond one's worst nightmare made all too real."
McAuliffe commended the victim for her "great courage and resolve" in aiding the investigation.
The victim was not present at the sentencing. However, prosecutor Aleathea McRoberts read a letter from her in which she said she and her son were still suffering greatly. In the letter, the victim said she is afraid to leave the house, seeing a psychologist and has been treated for cervical cancer — which she believes is due to the chemicals the defendants put inside her. She said her son is also seeing a psychologist and feels guilty that he could not protect his mother.
The defense attorneys and two psychologists who testified for them argued that the youths were products of troubled upbringings. One was born cocaine addicted, another lost his father at a young age and another was constantly beaten by his grandmother.
Taylor's mother testified that she had been treated for mental illness and alcoholism, and herself was raped twice. "I don't want him to get life," she told Marx. "Every child deserves a second chance."
Taylor's father testified that he was in and out of recovery for drug addiction, saying, "I've battled my own demons." "I'm asking you to give him a second chance and take into account what he has endured," said Nathan Taylor Sr.
But McRoberts countered that, "there is a huge population of kids who were raised by single moms without much money who don't have jobs that never go on to commit crimes."
"This community has a right to be protected from these juveniles," she said. "Short of killing this woman and her son, there is not much worse they could have done."
Judge Marx agreed.
"This was not a garden variety crime by any means." She said. "It was designed to instill fear and invoke terror and gave you all pleasure and excitement. Most of us have a moral code and refrain from wrongdoing. I can only surmise that none of you have a moral code."
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Minimum sentence raised to 15 from 10 years for killer
The Alberta Court of Appeal has hiked the parole ineligibility for an Edmonton man serving life in prison for cutting up his estranged wife's face and killing her boyfriend after finding them in bed.
In a decision released Ŵednesday, September 23ç, the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled the sentencing judge had erred in giving killer Kham Tran, 45, a "demonstrably unfit" sentence by handing him a life term with no chance of parole for 10 years. Instead, the three-judge panel ordered that Tran must serve at least 15 years before being eligible for parole.
"Given the nature of the offence and the circumstances of this murder, a 10-year period of parole ineligibility is demonstrably unfit," says the written decision.
"The deceased was stabbed 37 times. He crawled from the bedroom to escape. (Tran) kicked him. (Tran) also placed a knife in the deceased's hand, presumably to infer that the deceased had attacked (him).
"We also conclude that the sentencing judge erred when she failed to consider the other offences as aggravating factors. (Tran) was convicted of aggravated assault on his estranged wife. He sliced her face from ear to jaw and deep to the bone, and she is permanently disfigured. He told her that she would no longer be beautiful. He threatened to kill her children. These were separate offences and ought to have been considered as aggravating."
In 2006, Tran was sentenced to nearly nine years in prison after being found guilty of manslaughter and aggravated assault for the Feb. 10, 2004, slaying.
However, the Alberta Court of Appeal overturned the manslaughter conviction and instead substituted a conviction for second-degree murder. The appeal court ruled the trial judge had erred in accepting a defence of provocation and was mistaken when she found Tran had been provoked by the "insult" of catching his naked wife in bed with another man.
The case was sent back to the same judge for sentencing and she gave Tran a life term with no parole for 10 years. At trial, court heard Tran and his wife had been separated for months, he had already suspected his wife of being in a relationship and had said he knew who the man was.
Court heard Tran stabbed An Quoc Tran, a 41-year-old father of four who is not related, 37 times and sliced the face and hands of his estranged wife, Hoa Le Duong, 38. Duong testified she and An Tran were napping after having sex when they heard someone open the door and then Kham Tran was scratching An's face and kicking him.
She said he punched her and tried to claw out her eyeballs and then ran out and returned with two butcher knives as the terrified pair tried to grab their clothes.
Duong said her estranged husband stabbed her boyfriend in the chest and then came over to her and chopped her hand several times and grabbed her by the face.
"He said, 'Are you beautiful,' and he cut my face," she said, adding he then followed An Tran to the living room and repeatedly stabbed and kicked him.
In a decision released Ŵednesday, September 23ç, the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled the sentencing judge had erred in giving killer Kham Tran, 45, a "demonstrably unfit" sentence by handing him a life term with no chance of parole for 10 years. Instead, the three-judge panel ordered that Tran must serve at least 15 years before being eligible for parole.
"Given the nature of the offence and the circumstances of this murder, a 10-year period of parole ineligibility is demonstrably unfit," says the written decision.
"The deceased was stabbed 37 times. He crawled from the bedroom to escape. (Tran) kicked him. (Tran) also placed a knife in the deceased's hand, presumably to infer that the deceased had attacked (him).
"We also conclude that the sentencing judge erred when she failed to consider the other offences as aggravating factors. (Tran) was convicted of aggravated assault on his estranged wife. He sliced her face from ear to jaw and deep to the bone, and she is permanently disfigured. He told her that she would no longer be beautiful. He threatened to kill her children. These were separate offences and ought to have been considered as aggravating."
In 2006, Tran was sentenced to nearly nine years in prison after being found guilty of manslaughter and aggravated assault for the Feb. 10, 2004, slaying.
However, the Alberta Court of Appeal overturned the manslaughter conviction and instead substituted a conviction for second-degree murder. The appeal court ruled the trial judge had erred in accepting a defence of provocation and was mistaken when she found Tran had been provoked by the "insult" of catching his naked wife in bed with another man.
The case was sent back to the same judge for sentencing and she gave Tran a life term with no parole for 10 years. At trial, court heard Tran and his wife had been separated for months, he had already suspected his wife of being in a relationship and had said he knew who the man was.
Court heard Tran stabbed An Quoc Tran, a 41-year-old father of four who is not related, 37 times and sliced the face and hands of his estranged wife, Hoa Le Duong, 38. Duong testified she and An Tran were napping after having sex when they heard someone open the door and then Kham Tran was scratching An's face and kicking him.
She said he punched her and tried to claw out her eyeballs and then ran out and returned with two butcher knives as the terrified pair tried to grab their clothes.
Duong said her estranged husband stabbed her boyfriend in the chest and then came over to her and chopped her hand several times and grabbed her by the face.
"He said, 'Are you beautiful,' and he cut my face," she said, adding he then followed An Tran to the living room and repeatedly stabbed and kicked him.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Woman gets 33 years in prison for having kids kill husband
Lake Superior Court (Ind.) Judge Salvador Vasquez sentenced a mother who enlisted her two children to kill her husband to 33 years in prison Thursday, August 20. Parker, formerly of Crown Point, IN, and currently of Clawson, MI, had tried to kill her husband many times, including by putting ecstacy in his food.
The plot to murder John M. Parker, a Kirby vacuum salesman, finally came together after she had her 17 year old daughter, Christina Hicks Grabski, buy a pistol for her then 15 year old son, Daniel Hicks, with the son shooting the father to death execution style outside of his Merillville, IN office April 17, 2003.
The victim's father, also named John, stated that he had "to forgive her for what she did. It's the Christian thing to do." He remembered his son as a positive human being who provided for his family. However, his granddaughter Tiffany, 11 at the time of the killing, said that once when the family lived in southwest Michigan, her father came to the dinner table and beat her over a book report. "It wasn't what everybody saw -- the perfect family," she said.
Defense attorneys Richard Kammen and Nick Thiros also presented testimony by Douglas Caruana, a licensed clinical psychologist, who said Parker fit the battered woman profile. In two interviews at the jail, Caruana said Parker told him of being sexually and physically abused as a girl. She married her abusive first husband at age 15. While the couple was divorcing in 1991, she met Parker but had extramarital affairs during their 10-year marriage.By all accounts, John Parker was a successful businessman and at one time ran the fifth best Kirby distributorship in the world, deputy prosecutor John Burke said.
Judy Parker's journey from her impoverished childhood in Texas to a life of jewelry, new cars, luxury vacations and nice homes apparently didn't buy happiness. Her daughter Tiffany testified that a month or two before her father was killed, her mother told her she was saving money so she could divorce John Parker.
In reality, Judy Parker was scheming with her two oldest children, Christina Hicks Grabski and Daniel Hicks, on how to carry out her husband's execution. They later would agree to testify against their mother in exchange for more lenient sentences.
Grabski, then 17, called the couple and had them stop by the office after dinner at the Patio restaurant under the guise of picking up something she needed for homework on that Thursday before Easter 2003. Fifteen-year-old Hicks, wearing dark clothing his mother furnished, was waiting when they pulled up in their Cadillac.
Hicks, 21, of Phoenix, AZ, faces a sentence of between 20 and 25 years when he is sentenced September 14. Grabski, 23, of Gary, faces an eight year sentence for assisting a criminal three days later on September 17. But the harshest sentence will go to Parker, who faces 28 to 35 years in prison for using her kids "in such a way you have jeopardized their liberty, their happiness, their livelihood."
The plot to murder John M. Parker, a Kirby vacuum salesman, finally came together after she had her 17 year old daughter, Christina Hicks Grabski, buy a pistol for her then 15 year old son, Daniel Hicks, with the son shooting the father to death execution style outside of his Merillville, IN office April 17, 2003.
The victim's father, also named John, stated that he had "to forgive her for what she did. It's the Christian thing to do." He remembered his son as a positive human being who provided for his family. However, his granddaughter Tiffany, 11 at the time of the killing, said that once when the family lived in southwest Michigan, her father came to the dinner table and beat her over a book report. "It wasn't what everybody saw -- the perfect family," she said.
Defense attorneys Richard Kammen and Nick Thiros also presented testimony by Douglas Caruana, a licensed clinical psychologist, who said Parker fit the battered woman profile. In two interviews at the jail, Caruana said Parker told him of being sexually and physically abused as a girl. She married her abusive first husband at age 15. While the couple was divorcing in 1991, she met Parker but had extramarital affairs during their 10-year marriage.By all accounts, John Parker was a successful businessman and at one time ran the fifth best Kirby distributorship in the world, deputy prosecutor John Burke said.
Judy Parker's journey from her impoverished childhood in Texas to a life of jewelry, new cars, luxury vacations and nice homes apparently didn't buy happiness. Her daughter Tiffany testified that a month or two before her father was killed, her mother told her she was saving money so she could divorce John Parker.
In reality, Judy Parker was scheming with her two oldest children, Christina Hicks Grabski and Daniel Hicks, on how to carry out her husband's execution. They later would agree to testify against their mother in exchange for more lenient sentences.
Grabski, then 17, called the couple and had them stop by the office after dinner at the Patio restaurant under the guise of picking up something she needed for homework on that Thursday before Easter 2003. Fifteen-year-old Hicks, wearing dark clothing his mother furnished, was waiting when they pulled up in their Cadillac.
Hicks, 21, of Phoenix, AZ, faces a sentence of between 20 and 25 years when he is sentenced September 14. Grabski, 23, of Gary, faces an eight year sentence for assisting a criminal three days later on September 17. But the harshest sentence will go to Parker, who faces 28 to 35 years in prison for using her kids "in such a way you have jeopardized their liberty, their happiness, their livelihood."
Monday, July 20, 2009
Husband kills wife, 5 others in two state rampage
A man seperated from his wife killed her, her child and 4 others in a rampage stretching across Tennessee and Alabama. Jacob Shaffer, 30 is charged with killing his 38 year old wife Traci Shaffer, her son Devin Brooks, and neighbor, Robert Berber at Traci's home in Fayetteville, TN, a comunnity of around 7000 near the Tennessee, Alabama border.
Robert and Devin were both 16. Devin and a 9 year old girl who wasn't home at the time of the killings were from a previous relationship - a 4 year old girl that Shaffer and Traci had was found unharmed at the crime scene. According to neighbors, the Shaffers moved into the home earlier this year.
After killing those 3, Shaffer went across the street and killed Traci's brother Chris Hall, 34, and Billy Hall, 58. Shaffer went 30 miles south to Huntsville, AL and killed someone at Hall Cultured Marble Granite, a business which Traci's family owns.
The Shaffers were no longer sharing a home but had not filed for separation, said 29-year-old James Wilson, who was gathering belongings from Traci's home in Lincoln County. He said he is the boyfriend of Shaffer's sister, Jennifer.
The Shaffers had a 4-year-old daughter, and Wilson said police told him the girl was home during the killings but wasn't hurt. Wilson told the AP that he met Jacob Shaffer when they were installing drywall, but they had stopped being friends about a year and a half ago.
Lincoln County Sheriff Murray Blackwelder said Saturday that his department was investigating three crime scenes and would not confirm the causes of death in what he called "horrendous" killings and "one of the worst crimes Lincoln County has seen." Autopsies were being performed Sunday and Wilson said police wouldn't tell him how the family was killed.
Helm said the family members died Friday night or early Saturday and that Jacob Shaffer was sitting on the porch of one of the houses when authorities first arrived. Huntsville police said information from him led them to the body at the granite business. They have not released the name of the sixth victim.
Shaffer is currently being held without bond at the Lincoln County Jail.
Robert and Devin were both 16. Devin and a 9 year old girl who wasn't home at the time of the killings were from a previous relationship - a 4 year old girl that Shaffer and Traci had was found unharmed at the crime scene. According to neighbors, the Shaffers moved into the home earlier this year.
After killing those 3, Shaffer went across the street and killed Traci's brother Chris Hall, 34, and Billy Hall, 58. Shaffer went 30 miles south to Huntsville, AL and killed someone at Hall Cultured Marble Granite, a business which Traci's family owns.
The Shaffers were no longer sharing a home but had not filed for separation, said 29-year-old James Wilson, who was gathering belongings from Traci's home in Lincoln County. He said he is the boyfriend of Shaffer's sister, Jennifer.
The Shaffers had a 4-year-old daughter, and Wilson said police told him the girl was home during the killings but wasn't hurt. Wilson told the AP that he met Jacob Shaffer when they were installing drywall, but they had stopped being friends about a year and a half ago.
Lincoln County Sheriff Murray Blackwelder said Saturday that his department was investigating three crime scenes and would not confirm the causes of death in what he called "horrendous" killings and "one of the worst crimes Lincoln County has seen." Autopsies were being performed Sunday and Wilson said police wouldn't tell him how the family was killed.
Helm said the family members died Friday night or early Saturday and that Jacob Shaffer was sitting on the porch of one of the houses when authorities first arrived. Huntsville police said information from him led them to the body at the granite business. They have not released the name of the sixth victim.
Shaffer is currently being held without bond at the Lincoln County Jail.
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