One of two men who were found guilty of raping a woman with a live snake last fall was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment by Eau Claire County Judge Paul Lenz on Tuesday, May 24, 2011. 24 year old John Bullock, of Altoona, earned the sentence after a jury convicted him and 25 year old Damonta Jones of Eau Claire, WI of two counts of 1st degree sexual assault last month.
According to the criminal complaint:
The woman told police she was at Jones' residence in the early morning hours of Nov. 11 with Jones, Bullock and two friends.The group was drinking alcohol and dancing. At one point, one of the friends left the residence while the second went to take a shower. Jones then invited the woman into a bedroom to see his children's pictures.
When she walked into the bedroom the woman said she was struck in the head with an unknown object and thrown on the floor before blacking out. The woman said she remembered Jones holding her while Bullock sexually assaulted her. She said she later was sexually assaulted with a live snake.
Bullock told police he had sexual contact with the woman but that it was consensual.
Besides 25 years imprisonment, Bullock will spend the rest of his life on extended supervision and the sex offender registry. He must stay away from the victim, Jones, minors, taverns, and alcohol. He also can't own pets.
The 25 year sentence falls in line with the pre-sentence investigation prepared by the Wisconsin Department Of Corrections, which recommended a 20-40 year sentence, but under Eau Claire County Assistant District Attorney Meri Larson's 30-40 year sentence suggestion. According to Larson, Bullock "attacked a defenseless woman in the most degrading way he and Mr. Jones could think of" and that Bullock "is a great threat to the community."
Before sentencing, Bullock said "I can't apologize about a crime I did not commit...My case is a case ... of media sensationalism and police misconduct. My case has been built on a foundation of lies. I am not a man that sexually assaults women."
Judge Lenz disagreed, saying "Just when you think you've seen every kind of depravity that comes into the mind of a man, there comes along another one."
Jones, still being held on $30,000 bail in the Eau Claire County Jail, will be sentenced August 3 after a pre-sentence investigation is run on him. Both Bullock and Jones have appealed their convictions.
Showing posts with label multiple perpetrators. Show all posts
Showing posts with label multiple perpetrators. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Man gets 12-25 years, woman gets 5 2/3 to 15 years for three way with developmentally disabled daughter
A Fruitland Township, MI man was sentenced to 12-25 years in prison Tuesday, April 12, 2011 after pleading to three counts of 1st degree criminal sexual conduct. He and a Manistee, MI woman were originally charged with three counts of 1st degree and 3rd degree criminal sexual conduct, respectively by Muskegon County officials.
The sexual assault charge stem from both perpetrators having sex with the woman's 21 year old developmentally disabled daughter, described as needing 9 to 16 hours of supervision a day by her case manager and as a girl with the mental capacity of a 10 to 13 year old. Both perpetrators were sentenced by Muskegon County 14th Circuit Judge William C. Marietti.
The victimization of the daughter by then 51 year old Mark Wayne Barnhard and her then 46 year old mother took place over several months in 2008, with the victim undergoing a sexual assault examination April 23, 2009. Both offenders were originally arraigned in May 2009.
According to a Muskegon County Sheriff's report, Barnhard -- using the alias "Mike Bradford" -- met the woman in an online chatroom more than a year and a half ago. He told police that the two later met in person and began having sex on numerous occasions at his Fruitland Township home.
At some point, Barnhard and the woman -- both married to other people -- decided they wanted to have a "three way" and the woman brought her 21-year-old mentally impaired daughter to Barnhard's house to participate, the report said.
Authorities were alerted to the alleged sexual abuse after the 21-year-old victim told her aunt that she might be pregnant by Barnhard. It turns out she was not, according to the report. Barnhard told investigators that both he and the victim's mother performed sex acts on the daughter.
"It was a secret life I had," he told investigators.
The mother was sentenced to 5 2/3 to 15 years imprisonment by Judge Marietti on September 15, 2009. The victim's aunt, now her guardian, said "when she gets dressed, there's not enough layers of shirts and sweaters."
When the young woman first arrived in her aunt and uncle's home, she barely spoke, and her family could see "fear in this young girl's eyes."
The victim's impact statement, read during the first sentencing by a family friend, said, "You did a very bad thing to me and let bad things happen to me...Why did you do this?" When the victim wanted the abuse to stop, instead of stopping,"you yelled at me and told me not to be a baby...You made me feel dirty and told many lies. I never want to be anything like you, Mom...I will never forgive or forget you, Mom... I hope you'll be gone for a long time."
Judge Marietti said that "this is probably the most outrageous and disgusting scenario that I have ever come across. It actually is beyond belief." Robert Hedges, a 22 year prosecutor in the Muskegon County court system, said "It's just awful. Even in the animal world, mothers care for their children."
Barnhard plead guilty to his three counts of 1st degree CSC on March 2, 2011, and was able to stay out on bond until his sentencing. At the sentencing, the family friend read another letter from the victim, this time directed at Barnhard. “Auntie wakes me up and I'm afraid to open my eyes, because I'm afraid it will be you. I scrub my skin until it's red and I can't feel clean. … Auntie and I moved far away and I still can't feel safe.” The aunt asked Barnhard, "Does it make you feel like a big man that this little girl's afraid of you? Calling you a monster is too good for you.”
The sexual assault charge stem from both perpetrators having sex with the woman's 21 year old developmentally disabled daughter, described as needing 9 to 16 hours of supervision a day by her case manager and as a girl with the mental capacity of a 10 to 13 year old. Both perpetrators were sentenced by Muskegon County 14th Circuit Judge William C. Marietti.
The victimization of the daughter by then 51 year old Mark Wayne Barnhard and her then 46 year old mother took place over several months in 2008, with the victim undergoing a sexual assault examination April 23, 2009. Both offenders were originally arraigned in May 2009.
According to a Muskegon County Sheriff's report, Barnhard -- using the alias "Mike Bradford" -- met the woman in an online chatroom more than a year and a half ago. He told police that the two later met in person and began having sex on numerous occasions at his Fruitland Township home.
At some point, Barnhard and the woman -- both married to other people -- decided they wanted to have a "three way" and the woman brought her 21-year-old mentally impaired daughter to Barnhard's house to participate, the report said.
Authorities were alerted to the alleged sexual abuse after the 21-year-old victim told her aunt that she might be pregnant by Barnhard. It turns out she was not, according to the report. Barnhard told investigators that both he and the victim's mother performed sex acts on the daughter.
"It was a secret life I had," he told investigators.
The mother was sentenced to 5 2/3 to 15 years imprisonment by Judge Marietti on September 15, 2009. The victim's aunt, now her guardian, said "when she gets dressed, there's not enough layers of shirts and sweaters."
When the young woman first arrived in her aunt and uncle's home, she barely spoke, and her family could see "fear in this young girl's eyes."
The victim's impact statement, read during the first sentencing by a family friend, said, "You did a very bad thing to me and let bad things happen to me...Why did you do this?" When the victim wanted the abuse to stop, instead of stopping,"you yelled at me and told me not to be a baby...You made me feel dirty and told many lies. I never want to be anything like you, Mom...I will never forgive or forget you, Mom... I hope you'll be gone for a long time."
Judge Marietti said that "this is probably the most outrageous and disgusting scenario that I have ever come across. It actually is beyond belief." Robert Hedges, a 22 year prosecutor in the Muskegon County court system, said "It's just awful. Even in the animal world, mothers care for their children."
Barnhard plead guilty to his three counts of 1st degree CSC on March 2, 2011, and was able to stay out on bond until his sentencing. At the sentencing, the family friend read another letter from the victim, this time directed at Barnhard. “Auntie wakes me up and I'm afraid to open my eyes, because I'm afraid it will be you. I scrub my skin until it's red and I can't feel clean. … Auntie and I moved far away and I still can't feel safe.” The aunt asked Barnhard, "Does it make you feel like a big man that this little girl's afraid of you? Calling you a monster is too good for you.”
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Enemies of (womankind)
(Original Post 3-23-08)
In international law, hosti humani generis, enemies of mankind, is the term given to those that torture, commit war crimes, genocide, piracy, and a host of other actions which violate jus cogens, or peremptory norms.
What happened to this 29 year old woman is nothing short of horrendous. It rivals the worst cases of child abuse and torture, including a case where the stepfather of a 7 year old girl was convicted of her murder. I'm reprinting this AP story in its entirety.
ALTON, Ill. - Banished to the basement, the 29-year-old mother with a childlike mind and another baby on the way had little more than a thin rug and a mattress to call her own on the chilly concrete floor.
Dorothy Dixon ate what she could forage from the refrigerator upstairs, where prosecutors say housemates used her for target practice with BBs, burned her with a glue gun and doused her with scalding liquid that peeled away her skin.
They torched what few clothes she had, authorities say, so she walked around naked. They often pummeled her with an aluminum bat or metal handle.
Dixon — six months pregnant — died after weeks of abuse. Police have charged two adults, three teenagers and a 12-year-old boy with murder in the case that has repulsed many in this Mississippi River town.
"This is heartbreaking," police Lt. David Hayes said. "It was almost as though they were making fun of the abuse they were administering. This woman was almost like living in a prison."
Investigators put much of the blame on Michelle Riley, 35, who they said befriended Dixon but pocketed monthly Social Security checks she got because of her developmental delays.
Dixon saw little, if any, of the money, Hayes said. For months she weathered the torment to keep a roof over her head and that of her year-old son, who weighed just 15 pounds when taken into state custody after his mom's death.
"I've never seen an almost conspiratorial effort by a group of people to continuously torture someone until she finally died, then not really show any remorse," Hayes said. "It was just a slow, torturous, tragic way to die. I highly doubt Dorothy Dixon even knew she was dying."
Riley, 43-year-old Judy Woods and three teenagers, including Riley's 15-year-old daughter, LeShelle McBride, are charged with first-degree murder, aggravated and heinous battery, intentional homicide of an unborn child, and unlawful restraint. Riley's 12-year-old son is charged as a juvenile.
Riley, her daughter, Woods and 16-year-old Benny Wilson have public defenders who did not immediately return messages for comment. An 18-year-old defendant, Michael Elliott, planned to get his own attorney, court records show. All remain in jail on $1 million bond.
Messages left with a Chicago-area sister of Dixon went unreturned, but neighbors, Hayes and newspaper accounts offer a mosaic of the months leading to Dixon's demise inside the small, white, blue-shuttered house.
Riley and Dixon, police said, had lived in Quincy, a Mississippi River town about 100 miles north of St. Louis, Mo. Quincy is where Riley worked as a coordinator for a regional center that helps the developmentally disabled with housing and other services. Dixon was a client.
For years, an impoverished Riley struggled raising her children. Her use of methamphetamine and cocaine brought drug convictions in 2002 and 2004. But with treatment and housing help from the Quincy YWCA, Riley put her life in order — so much that in February of last year, the Quincy Herald-Whig did a story on her comeback.
Last summer, Dixon and Riley moved into the $800-a-month, three-bedroom rental in Alton about 15 miles north of St. Louis. From the start, neighbors Chad Hudson and Terri Brandt considered Riley trouble.
"Michelle was evil, vindictive. Manipulative," said Hudson, convinced the teenagers were Riley's powerless minions. "She was angry, vicious," added Brandt.
Riley considered Dixon her slave, making her rub Riley's feet until Riley fell asleep and forcing her to run naked around the house when she got in trouble, the neighbors said. "Being in their house was like being in a prison day room," Hudson said. "They just sat around the kitchen table and fought." There was little question that Riley ruled the roost.
While doing fix-ups on the home last fall, landlord Steve Atkins saw Riley "barking orders" at the children and everyone else. Atkins joked to her whether he needed to call the Army and see if they wanted their drill sergeant back.
"She didn't laugh about it at all," Atkins said. "Obviously, I hit a nerve."
Atkins said Dixon generally kept to herself "but was always nice when she spoke to you." He saw no hints she'd been suffering or tortured. "I would have never, ever suspected something like this," he said. "It's definitely shocking."
Police said Dixon was allowed out of the house but didn't say under what conditions. Hayes didn't know who the father of Dixon's fetus is.
Hayes said things apparently came to a head Jan. 30, when investigators believe that Woods, during a dispute, beat Dixon on the head with an object Hayes wouldn't identify. The next day Woods found her dead.
Hayes watched the autopsy and found her injuries disturbing. X-rays revealed roughly 30 BBs lodged in her. Deep-tissue burns covered about one-third of her body — her face, her chest, her arms and feet — and left her severely dehydrated. Her face and body showed signs of prolonged abuse. Many of her wounds were infected.
None of the injuries, Hayes said, proved singly fatal to Dixon. Her system already was taxed by her unborn baby. "The autopsy sort of indicates her immune system just shut down," he said. "It was not capable of fending off any more."
In the rental home's basement, Atkins said, he found spots of blood in a shower and tiny smears on the concrete floor, washer and dryer. "It's disgraceful the way this girl died, as kind and as sweet as this girl was," he said. "She didn't deserve to die the way she did. It's just terrible, senseless. It's just a total shame."
(Update 2-7-10) The ringleader of the torture, Michelle Riley, was sentenced to 45 years in prison for 1st degree murder Friday, February 5. This was the maximum sentence possible in a plea agreement made by Michelle Riley, 37 and Assistant State's Attorney Mike Stewart. Stewart believed that "I don't think 45 years is enough, but that's what we agreed to."
Riley, said in front of presiding Madison County Circuit Judge Charles Romani Jr, "I'm sorry that I can't take it back," but Romain said that that statement, along with Riley's history of substance abuse, was no excuse. "There were things done to this woman that you don't see done to animals, let alone human beings. This lady was tortured."
Riley will serve her sentence without parole, as she pled guilty to 1st degree murder. Her lawyer, Jon Delaney, said she took the plea deal to spare her daughter, 17 year old LeShelle, 1st degree murder charges in exchange for 2nd degree murder. The daughter and three others are scheduled to go on trial for 1st degree murder.
(Update 7-13-10) LeShelle McBride was spared a trial and 1st degree murder charges by pleading guilty to 2nd degree murder. WIth credit for time served, she could be out in 2 to 8 months. A 12 year old boy was found deliquent for 2nd degree murder and sentenced to juvenile detention. Others are either awaiting trial for or sentencing on 1st degree murder charges.
(Update 4-19-11) Benny Wilson, the last defendant in this case, was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for 1st degree murder. According to authorities, it was Wilson who repeatedly shot Dixon in the head with a BB gun. Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer Vucich asked for 45 years while defense attorney Rand Hale asked for 20 years. Vucich said that "Clearly what he did to Dorothy Dixon was despicable. I don't think anyone in the room can imagine the suffering she endured." Madison County Associate Judge James Hackett imposed sentence and presided over the guilty plea Friday, April 15.
Prosecutors have said that some of the other defendants received better deals because they were less culpable. Michelle Riley got a sentence of 45 years because she was believed to be the ringleader in the murder.
Michael Elliot and LeShelle McBride both pled to second degree murder and received sentences of eight years and six years respective; Judy Woods pled to aggravated battery and was sentenced to 18 months' periodic imprisonment.
Judge Hackett said that testimony was"some of the most horrific that could come before this court."
"It is stunning. It is at least remarkable, at most, overwhelming." However, Judge Hackett took into account the lack of previous criminal history, young age, and multiple perpetrators when sentencing WIlson.
In international law, hosti humani generis, enemies of mankind, is the term given to those that torture, commit war crimes, genocide, piracy, and a host of other actions which violate jus cogens, or peremptory norms.
What happened to this 29 year old woman is nothing short of horrendous. It rivals the worst cases of child abuse and torture, including a case where the stepfather of a 7 year old girl was convicted of her murder. I'm reprinting this AP story in its entirety.
ALTON, Ill. - Banished to the basement, the 29-year-old mother with a childlike mind and another baby on the way had little more than a thin rug and a mattress to call her own on the chilly concrete floor.
Dorothy Dixon ate what she could forage from the refrigerator upstairs, where prosecutors say housemates used her for target practice with BBs, burned her with a glue gun and doused her with scalding liquid that peeled away her skin.
They torched what few clothes she had, authorities say, so she walked around naked. They often pummeled her with an aluminum bat or metal handle.
Dixon — six months pregnant — died after weeks of abuse. Police have charged two adults, three teenagers and a 12-year-old boy with murder in the case that has repulsed many in this Mississippi River town.
"This is heartbreaking," police Lt. David Hayes said. "It was almost as though they were making fun of the abuse they were administering. This woman was almost like living in a prison."
Investigators put much of the blame on Michelle Riley, 35, who they said befriended Dixon but pocketed monthly Social Security checks she got because of her developmental delays.
Dixon saw little, if any, of the money, Hayes said. For months she weathered the torment to keep a roof over her head and that of her year-old son, who weighed just 15 pounds when taken into state custody after his mom's death.
"I've never seen an almost conspiratorial effort by a group of people to continuously torture someone until she finally died, then not really show any remorse," Hayes said. "It was just a slow, torturous, tragic way to die. I highly doubt Dorothy Dixon even knew she was dying."
Riley, 43-year-old Judy Woods and three teenagers, including Riley's 15-year-old daughter, LeShelle McBride, are charged with first-degree murder, aggravated and heinous battery, intentional homicide of an unborn child, and unlawful restraint. Riley's 12-year-old son is charged as a juvenile.
Riley, her daughter, Woods and 16-year-old Benny Wilson have public defenders who did not immediately return messages for comment. An 18-year-old defendant, Michael Elliott, planned to get his own attorney, court records show. All remain in jail on $1 million bond.
Messages left with a Chicago-area sister of Dixon went unreturned, but neighbors, Hayes and newspaper accounts offer a mosaic of the months leading to Dixon's demise inside the small, white, blue-shuttered house.
Riley and Dixon, police said, had lived in Quincy, a Mississippi River town about 100 miles north of St. Louis, Mo. Quincy is where Riley worked as a coordinator for a regional center that helps the developmentally disabled with housing and other services. Dixon was a client.
For years, an impoverished Riley struggled raising her children. Her use of methamphetamine and cocaine brought drug convictions in 2002 and 2004. But with treatment and housing help from the Quincy YWCA, Riley put her life in order — so much that in February of last year, the Quincy Herald-Whig did a story on her comeback.
Last summer, Dixon and Riley moved into the $800-a-month, three-bedroom rental in Alton about 15 miles north of St. Louis. From the start, neighbors Chad Hudson and Terri Brandt considered Riley trouble.
"Michelle was evil, vindictive. Manipulative," said Hudson, convinced the teenagers were Riley's powerless minions. "She was angry, vicious," added Brandt.
Riley considered Dixon her slave, making her rub Riley's feet until Riley fell asleep and forcing her to run naked around the house when she got in trouble, the neighbors said. "Being in their house was like being in a prison day room," Hudson said. "They just sat around the kitchen table and fought." There was little question that Riley ruled the roost.
While doing fix-ups on the home last fall, landlord Steve Atkins saw Riley "barking orders" at the children and everyone else. Atkins joked to her whether he needed to call the Army and see if they wanted their drill sergeant back.
"She didn't laugh about it at all," Atkins said. "Obviously, I hit a nerve."
Atkins said Dixon generally kept to herself "but was always nice when she spoke to you." He saw no hints she'd been suffering or tortured. "I would have never, ever suspected something like this," he said. "It's definitely shocking."
Police said Dixon was allowed out of the house but didn't say under what conditions. Hayes didn't know who the father of Dixon's fetus is.
Hayes said things apparently came to a head Jan. 30, when investigators believe that Woods, during a dispute, beat Dixon on the head with an object Hayes wouldn't identify. The next day Woods found her dead.
Hayes watched the autopsy and found her injuries disturbing. X-rays revealed roughly 30 BBs lodged in her. Deep-tissue burns covered about one-third of her body — her face, her chest, her arms and feet — and left her severely dehydrated. Her face and body showed signs of prolonged abuse. Many of her wounds were infected.
None of the injuries, Hayes said, proved singly fatal to Dixon. Her system already was taxed by her unborn baby. "The autopsy sort of indicates her immune system just shut down," he said. "It was not capable of fending off any more."
In the rental home's basement, Atkins said, he found spots of blood in a shower and tiny smears on the concrete floor, washer and dryer. "It's disgraceful the way this girl died, as kind and as sweet as this girl was," he said. "She didn't deserve to die the way she did. It's just terrible, senseless. It's just a total shame."
(Update 2-7-10) The ringleader of the torture, Michelle Riley, was sentenced to 45 years in prison for 1st degree murder Friday, February 5. This was the maximum sentence possible in a plea agreement made by Michelle Riley, 37 and Assistant State's Attorney Mike Stewart. Stewart believed that "I don't think 45 years is enough, but that's what we agreed to."
Riley, said in front of presiding Madison County Circuit Judge Charles Romani Jr, "I'm sorry that I can't take it back," but Romain said that that statement, along with Riley's history of substance abuse, was no excuse. "There were things done to this woman that you don't see done to animals, let alone human beings. This lady was tortured."
Riley will serve her sentence without parole, as she pled guilty to 1st degree murder. Her lawyer, Jon Delaney, said she took the plea deal to spare her daughter, 17 year old LeShelle, 1st degree murder charges in exchange for 2nd degree murder. The daughter and three others are scheduled to go on trial for 1st degree murder.
(Update 7-13-10) LeShelle McBride was spared a trial and 1st degree murder charges by pleading guilty to 2nd degree murder. WIth credit for time served, she could be out in 2 to 8 months. A 12 year old boy was found deliquent for 2nd degree murder and sentenced to juvenile detention. Others are either awaiting trial for or sentencing on 1st degree murder charges.
(Update 4-19-11) Benny Wilson, the last defendant in this case, was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for 1st degree murder. According to authorities, it was Wilson who repeatedly shot Dixon in the head with a BB gun. Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer Vucich asked for 45 years while defense attorney Rand Hale asked for 20 years. Vucich said that "Clearly what he did to Dorothy Dixon was despicable. I don't think anyone in the room can imagine the suffering she endured." Madison County Associate Judge James Hackett imposed sentence and presided over the guilty plea Friday, April 15.
Prosecutors have said that some of the other defendants received better deals because they were less culpable. Michelle Riley got a sentence of 45 years because she was believed to be the ringleader in the murder.
Michael Elliot and LeShelle McBride both pled to second degree murder and received sentences of eight years and six years respective; Judy Woods pled to aggravated battery and was sentenced to 18 months' periodic imprisonment.
Judge Hackett said that testimony was"some of the most horrific that could come before this court."
"It is stunning. It is at least remarkable, at most, overwhelming." However, Judge Hackett took into account the lack of previous criminal history, young age, and multiple perpetrators when sentencing WIlson.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Victoria, BC teens sentenced to 10 to life for rape slaying of 18 year old girl
By Louise Dickson, Postmedia News [Vancouver Sun]
Kruse Wellwood, one of two teens sentenced to life in prison for the brutal rape and murder of 18-year old Kimberly Proctor last year, is the son of a convicted murderer.
On Monday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Johnston sentenced Wellwood, 17, and Cameron Moffat, 18, as adults and lifted the publication ban that had been protecting their identities since their arrest last June. Proctor was lured to a home, then tortured, beaten and sexually assaulted before she was killed. Her body was dumped and burned on a hiking trail in March 2010.
In eerily similar circumstances, Wellwood's father, Robert Dezwaan, is serving a life sentence for the 2001 murder of 16-year-old Cherish Billy Oppenheim in Merritt. Dezwaan got her drunk, sexually assaulted her and beat her to death. He left her badly damaged body covered with rocks and debris off a deserted road -where he later took RCMP after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Dezwaan committed the crime while out on bail for a previous sexual assault.
At Monday's sentencing in a packed Victoria courtroom, Johnston ruled a youth sentence would not be long enough to hold the teens accountable for their crimes. He imposed the maximum adult sentence available for young offenders.
"It goes without saying first-degree murder with intent to kill is the most serious of offences. The circumstances of this murder as admitted by the young persons are so horrific that no words can adequately convey the inhumane cruelty these young men showed Miss Proctor," said Johnston. "They planned in advance to sexually assault and kill Miss Proctor. They chose her because they thought she would be an easy target, not necessarily because either of them had any ill will towards her."
Members of Proctor's family, including mother Lucia and father Fred, filled the front row of the courtroom. Lucia wiped away tears as Wellwood stood, hands clasped in front, with lawyer Bob Jones by his side as he was sentenced to life in prison.
Defence lawyer Steven Kelliher stood by Moffat, who appeared unemotional as he was sentenced to life in prison.
Outside court, Fred Proctor called the teens "animals" and said they deserve to die a long, slow, painful death."I don't even like to call them animals because Kim was such an animal lover," said Lucia. "To me they're just monsters and monsters are not rehabilitatable."
She lashed out at Wellwood's and Moffat's parents, saying they should have done something about their sons' risky behaviour before it escalated. "This didn't happen overnight this behaviour. You see the signs. You know when something is wrong with your child."
In October, Wellwood and Moffat pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of Proctor, whose badly burned body was found under a bridge on the Galloping Goose Trail on March 19, 2010. The two admitted they lured the Grade 12 student to Wellwood's home, tied her up, gagged her, sexually assaulted her, beat her, suffocated her and mutilated her body with a knife. They then put her body in a freezer. The next day, they put it in a duffel bag and took it by bus to the Galloping Goose Trail.
Kruse Wellwood, one of two teens sentenced to life in prison for the brutal rape and murder of 18-year old Kimberly Proctor last year, is the son of a convicted murderer.
On Monday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Johnston sentenced Wellwood, 17, and Cameron Moffat, 18, as adults and lifted the publication ban that had been protecting their identities since their arrest last June. Proctor was lured to a home, then tortured, beaten and sexually assaulted before she was killed. Her body was dumped and burned on a hiking trail in March 2010.
In eerily similar circumstances, Wellwood's father, Robert Dezwaan, is serving a life sentence for the 2001 murder of 16-year-old Cherish Billy Oppenheim in Merritt. Dezwaan got her drunk, sexually assaulted her and beat her to death. He left her badly damaged body covered with rocks and debris off a deserted road -where he later took RCMP after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Dezwaan committed the crime while out on bail for a previous sexual assault.
At Monday's sentencing in a packed Victoria courtroom, Johnston ruled a youth sentence would not be long enough to hold the teens accountable for their crimes. He imposed the maximum adult sentence available for young offenders.
"It goes without saying first-degree murder with intent to kill is the most serious of offences. The circumstances of this murder as admitted by the young persons are so horrific that no words can adequately convey the inhumane cruelty these young men showed Miss Proctor," said Johnston. "They planned in advance to sexually assault and kill Miss Proctor. They chose her because they thought she would be an easy target, not necessarily because either of them had any ill will towards her."
Members of Proctor's family, including mother Lucia and father Fred, filled the front row of the courtroom. Lucia wiped away tears as Wellwood stood, hands clasped in front, with lawyer Bob Jones by his side as he was sentenced to life in prison.
Defence lawyer Steven Kelliher stood by Moffat, who appeared unemotional as he was sentenced to life in prison.
Outside court, Fred Proctor called the teens "animals" and said they deserve to die a long, slow, painful death."I don't even like to call them animals because Kim was such an animal lover," said Lucia. "To me they're just monsters and monsters are not rehabilitatable."
She lashed out at Wellwood's and Moffat's parents, saying they should have done something about their sons' risky behaviour before it escalated. "This didn't happen overnight this behaviour. You see the signs. You know when something is wrong with your child."
In October, Wellwood and Moffat pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of Proctor, whose badly burned body was found under a bridge on the Galloping Goose Trail on March 19, 2010. The two admitted they lured the Grade 12 student to Wellwood's home, tied her up, gagged her, sexually assaulted her, beat her, suffocated her and mutilated her body with a knife. They then put her body in a freezer. The next day, they put it in a duffel bag and took it by bus to the Galloping Goose Trail.
Johnston also sentenced Wellwood and Moffat to five-year concurrent sentences on the charge of indignity to human remains, authorized the taking of DNA samples from the teens, and imposed a 10-year firearms prohibition.
Charges of sexual assault and unlawful confinement were stayed last week during the grim two-day sentencing hearing in which Crown prosecutor Peter Juk urged Johnston to impose adult sentences for the protection of the public.
Wellwood's father's crimes bear a striking similarity to the rape and murder of Proctor. The details of Dezwaan's offences can only be published now that the judge has lifted a publication ban on Wellwood's and Moffat's identities.
Before his murder conviction, Dezwaan had been arrested in March 2001 for sexual assault with a weapon, confinement, and robbery of a young woman in Kelowna. That followed a 1993 incident in which he was convicted of unlawful confinement and break and enter after he broke into a woman's home at night, climbed on her and tried to stuff a rag in her mouth.
A letter written by Wellwood and read in court last week, said: "As a child, I hated my father for what he had done. I felt I was less than him and now I find I have become a worse man. If you told me 10 years ago that I would commit one of the worst murders in British Columbia, I would not have believed you."
Court-ordered psychiatric and psychological reports on the teens show they are a high risk to reoffend violently and sexually. The reports also show there is little chance they can be rehabilitated.
Wellwood has been diagnosed as a sexual sadist -someone who derives sexual gratification from inflicting pain -with very strong psychopathic traits and strong indicators for necrophilia, an erotic attraction to corpses. A psychologist found he was aroused by the physical and psychological suffering of others, had rape fantasies and was interested in bondage and sexual asphyxia.
Moffat was not diagnosed as a sexual sadist but has a tendency to sexual deviance and the risk and thrill that go along with it. He has had conduct disorder problems since early childhood that involve defiant anti-social behaviour.
Charges of sexual assault and unlawful confinement were stayed last week during the grim two-day sentencing hearing in which Crown prosecutor Peter Juk urged Johnston to impose adult sentences for the protection of the public.
Wellwood's father's crimes bear a striking similarity to the rape and murder of Proctor. The details of Dezwaan's offences can only be published now that the judge has lifted a publication ban on Wellwood's and Moffat's identities.
Before his murder conviction, Dezwaan had been arrested in March 2001 for sexual assault with a weapon, confinement, and robbery of a young woman in Kelowna. That followed a 1993 incident in which he was convicted of unlawful confinement and break and enter after he broke into a woman's home at night, climbed on her and tried to stuff a rag in her mouth.
A letter written by Wellwood and read in court last week, said: "As a child, I hated my father for what he had done. I felt I was less than him and now I find I have become a worse man. If you told me 10 years ago that I would commit one of the worst murders in British Columbia, I would not have believed you."
Court-ordered psychiatric and psychological reports on the teens show they are a high risk to reoffend violently and sexually. The reports also show there is little chance they can be rehabilitated.
Wellwood has been diagnosed as a sexual sadist -someone who derives sexual gratification from inflicting pain -with very strong psychopathic traits and strong indicators for necrophilia, an erotic attraction to corpses. A psychologist found he was aroused by the physical and psychological suffering of others, had rape fantasies and was interested in bondage and sexual asphyxia.
Moffat was not diagnosed as a sexual sadist but has a tendency to sexual deviance and the risk and thrill that go along with it. He has had conduct disorder problems since early childhood that involve defiant anti-social behaviour.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Suburban St. Louis police officer sentenced to 25 years for forcing women into sex acts
A former Uplands Park, MO police officer was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for raping and robbing prostitutes. One attack occurred at his own police station. 32 year old Leon Pullen of Foley, MO was sentenced in a St. Louis federal court Friday, January 28 to the 300 month sentence after pleading guilty to nine federal felonies.
These felonies included conspiracy, deprivation of civil rights, witness tampering, and lying to the FBI. Federal prosecutors dropped ten other charges after Pullen pled guilty July 28, 2010. Pullen faced a sentence of 18 1/2 to 25 years of federal confinement.
These felonies included conspiracy, deprivation of civil rights, witness tampering, and lying to the FBI. Federal prosecutors dropped ten other charges after Pullen pled guilty July 28, 2010. Pullen faced a sentence of 18 1/2 to 25 years of federal confinement.
Pullen's MO was to respond to online escort ads, then after the women responded, he would identify himself as a police officer, pull out his gun, then force the victims to perform sex acts on him. Two of the victims were forced into sex at gunpoint. Pullen was arrested by the FBI on Saturday, September 19, 2009.
The affidavit goes on to say that Pullen called the woman, said his name was "Jimmy," and agreed to pay $400 for a sexual act and that he had her and another woman meet him in Uplands Park on July 15, 2009.
At the meeting, the affidavit said, Pullen rubbed himself against one woman and told her that she had two choices: to give him all her money or get naked, LaCombe wrote. Another officer was present, [FBI special agent Greg]LaCombe wrote, but that officer is not named in the complaint.
Pullen then ordered her and the other woman back in their car and told them to follow him to the police station, where he took the victim to an office in the rear of the station, forced her to undress and then forcibly performed oral sex on her.
The woman, afraid that Pullen would call in the other officer to have sex with her, tried to end the attack by offering to meet Pullen later, LaCombe wrote. Pullen gave her his contact information, and then she left, later calling the FBI.
The victim of that encounter, identified as D.S., gave a victim impact statement and said the sexual assault left her with PTSD and a back injury. "I've always considered myself a very strong woman until that day," she said. The attack had also affected her ability to parent her four children.
Judge Rodney Sippel gave Pullen the 25 year sentence, stating "[People] trust law enforcement to make sure they're safe," Sippel said. "For law enforcement to turn on them and take from them that sense of safety . . . it's hard to comprehend." Pullen was also ordered to pay thousands of dollars in restitution, with the exact amount being disputed.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Former beauty queen pleads guilty to soliciting kidnapping of "boyfriend," sentenced to 2 years in prison, 6 years probation
(Original Post 12-10-09)
A former beauty queen has plead guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping and aggravated assault Tuesday, December 8. Twenty-seven year old Kumari Fulbright's guilty plea was heard and accepted by Pima County Superior Court Judge Richard Nichols, who will formally sentence her to two years in prison for aggravated assault and seven years probation for kidnapping.
Fulbright and three other defendants, Larry Hammond, Robert Ergonis, and David Wayne Radde planned and carried out the attack, according to law enforcement. The motive for the attack, according to prosecutors, was Fulbright's anger at her jewelry being pawned off to settle a $16,000 drug debt.
Defense attorney Steve Weiss told Judge Richard Nichols that Fulbright conspired with others to restrain her former boyfriend in December 2007 and brandished a knife near his ear, threatening to cut it. Although she signed a plea agreement, Fulbright was reluctant to verbally acknowledge her actions and accept the terms in court, as required, saying she did not agree with her attorney's description of the crime.
Each time Nichols asked Fulbright if she committed a particular act, she refused to answer directly. Instead answering yes or no, Fulbright told the judge such things as "I agree I'm pleading guilty" or "I am guilty" or "The evidence shows that."
At one point, Fulbright also snapped that she reads, writes and understands English and she signed the plea agreement. Eventually, Fulbright said, "OK, yes" when asked if she conspired to have the man restrained, she brandished the knife and she threatened him with it.
Fulbright was a law clerk for a federal court and a law student at the University of Arizona. She won the Miss Pima County pageant in 2005 and the Miss Desert Sun pageant in 2006. Hammond plead guilty to aggravated assault, and faces a sentence of as much as 8 3/4 years in prison. Radde also plead guilty to kidnapping conspiracy charges and faces 3 to 12 1/2 years in this case as well as another 3 to 12 1/2 years for unrelated drugs and weapons charges. All sentences will be handed down after the trial of Ergonis.
(Update 12-13-10) The former law clerk was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment and 6 years probation for her role in the kidnapping of her "boyfriend." Pima County Superior Court Judge Michael Miller handed down the sentence after Fulbright pled guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping and aggravated assault in a Tuscon, AZ courtroom Thursday, December 9.
Defense attorney Steve Sherick asked for 18 months of probation. Prosecutor Michael Jette didn’t specify how long he thought she should be placed on probation, but told Miller she didn’t live up to the terms of her plea agreement and almost had it revoked.Jette told Miller Fulbright has done “anything and everything” to protect Ergonis, thus violating her promise to tell the truth on the stand. She also told Radde what he should testify, Jette said.
[The victim]’s desire to move on with his life is the only reason Fulbright was extended a plea agreement in the first place and it’s the only reason it hasn’t been revoked, Jette said. Fulbright still hasn’t accepted responsibility for her actions or shown remorse, Jette said.
Sherick told Miller his client’s testimony was truthful and consistent with police statements and defense interviews she’s given. The defense attorney cited Fulbright’s remorse and behavior while on pretrial release and while in jail as reasons for a short term of probation.
Besides the prison sentence, Fulbright was also ordered to pay $15,000 restitution to her victim. Ergonis will be sentenced later this week.
(Update 1-12-11) Ergonis was sentenced to 22 1/2 years imprisonment on December 16, 2010. He was convicted in November 2010 by a Pima County jury of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, armed robbery and aggravated robbery. It was revealed that Fulbright had been "dating" Ergonis for months, writing him while he was on tril to tell him that the prosecution had no case and that she did not want to testify against him.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Craigslist rapists get 60 to life - ad seeking someone with "no regard for women" led to rape
Both men involved in the rape of a woman after a Craigslist ad was placed to solicit it were sentenced to 60 years to life in the Wyoming prison system. Natrona County District Judge David Park sentenced both Jebidiah James Stipe, now 28, and 26 year old Ty Oliver McDowell to 60 years to life for their role in the brutal attack, an attack which left the victim, a woman Stipe once dated, traumatized.
Stipe plead guilty to 5 felonies including conspiracy to commit sexual assault. McDowell also plead guilty to 5 felonies, including 3 counts of 1st degree sexual assault. Stipe's sentencing was held Monday, June 28 and McDowell's sentenced was handed down Tuesday, June 29. The ad solicited the rape of a woman seeking a "real aggressive man with no concerns for women well being interested let me know."
Stipe, a 28-year-old Carbon County native, paid for the ad that led McDowell to a 25-year-old woman's west Casper residence and impersonated the woman in online communications with McDowell. The ad appeared on Dec. 5, reading, in part, "Need a real aggressive man with no concerns for women well being interested let me know," according to an affidavit from the case.
Less than a week later [On December 11, 2009], McDowell showed up at the victim's west Casper residence. Once inside, the victim -- weighing less than 100 pounds -- struggled to fight, biting and scratching McDowell. Unable to escape, she was raped by a penis and a knife sharpener found in the home after the assault. Her wrists were bound so tightly together a nurse later thought they were broken. Then she was raped and left naked and tied in her living room, bruised from head to toe. An investigation by the Natrona County Sheriff's Office revealed Ty Oliver McDowell, who carried out the rape, was led to the 25-year-old victim's Casper home after responding the bogus Craigslist ad Stipe posted.
During the sentencing, the victim said that "It's very hard for me to trust people and not question what their intentions are.[Stipe] turned my world upside-down. I don't understand why someone would do something as violent and as vicious as he did." Sgt. Michael Steinberg testified that Stipe had requested that similar things happen to other women, including his ex-wife. The ex-wife, according to Steinberg, had to change vehicles and move back into her parents' house.
George Doherty, a witness presented by Stipe's defense attorney Vaughn Neubauer, said that he believed Stipe, an ex-Marine who served in Iraq, suffered from PTSD. Neubauer said that "Something happened inside Mr. Stipe. Something happened. But that something can be addressed, he can be salvaged."
District Attorney Michael Blonigen showed how the rape was planned and that Stipe had a change to back out of the devious (and deviant) scheme, but did not. "This defendant had every opportunity in the world to stop this. Mr. Stipe could have pulled back. Instead, he pushed the throttle forward."
After Stipe's sentencing, Blonigen said that the Craigslist rape was the worst he had seen over his 27 years as a prosecutor. "We were satisfied with the sentence. Sixty years to life for a 28-year-old man is virtually a life sentence. I really think that it's because of the courage of the victim that we're here today."
Ty Oliver McDowell was a technician for a hospital who lived in Bar Nunn, Wyoming when he raped the woman. Just before his 60 year to life sentence, he addressed Judge Park, the victim, and Stipe. "I am terribly sorry that (she) had to go through this nightmare. I'm sorry that I put her through it...I forgive [Stipe]for tricking me and deceiving me into doing this."
After McDowell made his statement, the victim went to the front of the court and addressed how the rape impacted her life. "This is something I will never get over. My family have been the ones to pick up the pieces of something he tore apart for something he thought was a game."
Toward the end of her statement, choked with tears, she said, "I'm sorry." "That's all right," Natrona County District Judge David Park told her. "You don't need to apologize."
District Attorney Michael Blonigen, speaking at McDowell's sentencing Tuesday, said if someone is going to solicit a rape, "He has to find a rapist...I don't see a dime's worth of difference between the two," he said of McDowell and Stipe.
The prosecutor argued that McDowell's act were premeditated. He took pictures of the victim's home with his cellular telephone; communicated with Stipe in the days leading up to the rape; on another occasion checked the home's front and back door, finding them locked; and, on the day he committed the rape, carried with him a blindfold and rope to bind the victim's hands.
Blonigen said that McDowell's actions were that of someone who had not accepted accountability for his actions. "I do not see how any rational person can insist -- like Mr. McDowell continues to insist -- that this was a terrible misunderstanding. He has taken the charge, but he has not taken responsibility."
Both McDowell's attorney Tim Cotton and McDowell's parents described a man who was raised with good morals and to shun alcohol and drugs, but had "really began to lose touch." Cotton asked for a sentenced of 20 years, stating that it would allow his client to rehabilitate himself eventually while also "satisfying the demands of justice."
After McDowell's sentencing Blonigen stated that while Craigslist cooperated throughout the investigation, "I would like them to not take those sort of ads. But, as someone else has said, if they don't, someone else will. It boils down to personal (responsibility)."
He also reiterated that both Stipe and McDowell earned the identical 60 to life sentences and shared equal accountability. "Either one of these people could have stopped it at any time. The only person who couldn't have stopped it is [the victim]."
Stipe plead guilty to 5 felonies including conspiracy to commit sexual assault. McDowell also plead guilty to 5 felonies, including 3 counts of 1st degree sexual assault. Stipe's sentencing was held Monday, June 28 and McDowell's sentenced was handed down Tuesday, June 29. The ad solicited the rape of a woman seeking a "real aggressive man with no concerns for women well being interested let me know."
Stipe, a 28-year-old Carbon County native, paid for the ad that led McDowell to a 25-year-old woman's west Casper residence and impersonated the woman in online communications with McDowell. The ad appeared on Dec. 5, reading, in part, "Need a real aggressive man with no concerns for women well being interested let me know," according to an affidavit from the case.
Less than a week later [On December 11, 2009], McDowell showed up at the victim's west Casper residence. Once inside, the victim -- weighing less than 100 pounds -- struggled to fight, biting and scratching McDowell. Unable to escape, she was raped by a penis and a knife sharpener found in the home after the assault. Her wrists were bound so tightly together a nurse later thought they were broken. Then she was raped and left naked and tied in her living room, bruised from head to toe. An investigation by the Natrona County Sheriff's Office revealed Ty Oliver McDowell, who carried out the rape, was led to the 25-year-old victim's Casper home after responding the bogus Craigslist ad Stipe posted.
During the sentencing, the victim said that "It's very hard for me to trust people and not question what their intentions are.[Stipe] turned my world upside-down. I don't understand why someone would do something as violent and as vicious as he did." Sgt. Michael Steinberg testified that Stipe had requested that similar things happen to other women, including his ex-wife. The ex-wife, according to Steinberg, had to change vehicles and move back into her parents' house.
George Doherty, a witness presented by Stipe's defense attorney Vaughn Neubauer, said that he believed Stipe, an ex-Marine who served in Iraq, suffered from PTSD. Neubauer said that "Something happened inside Mr. Stipe. Something happened. But that something can be addressed, he can be salvaged."
District Attorney Michael Blonigen showed how the rape was planned and that Stipe had a change to back out of the devious (and deviant) scheme, but did not. "This defendant had every opportunity in the world to stop this. Mr. Stipe could have pulled back. Instead, he pushed the throttle forward."
After Stipe's sentencing, Blonigen said that the Craigslist rape was the worst he had seen over his 27 years as a prosecutor. "We were satisfied with the sentence. Sixty years to life for a 28-year-old man is virtually a life sentence. I really think that it's because of the courage of the victim that we're here today."
Ty Oliver McDowell was a technician for a hospital who lived in Bar Nunn, Wyoming when he raped the woman. Just before his 60 year to life sentence, he addressed Judge Park, the victim, and Stipe. "I am terribly sorry that (she) had to go through this nightmare. I'm sorry that I put her through it...I forgive [Stipe]for tricking me and deceiving me into doing this."
After McDowell made his statement, the victim went to the front of the court and addressed how the rape impacted her life. "This is something I will never get over. My family have been the ones to pick up the pieces of something he tore apart for something he thought was a game."
Toward the end of her statement, choked with tears, she said, "I'm sorry." "That's all right," Natrona County District Judge David Park told her. "You don't need to apologize."
District Attorney Michael Blonigen, speaking at McDowell's sentencing Tuesday, said if someone is going to solicit a rape, "He has to find a rapist...I don't see a dime's worth of difference between the two," he said of McDowell and Stipe.
The prosecutor argued that McDowell's act were premeditated. He took pictures of the victim's home with his cellular telephone; communicated with Stipe in the days leading up to the rape; on another occasion checked the home's front and back door, finding them locked; and, on the day he committed the rape, carried with him a blindfold and rope to bind the victim's hands.
Blonigen said that McDowell's actions were that of someone who had not accepted accountability for his actions. "I do not see how any rational person can insist -- like Mr. McDowell continues to insist -- that this was a terrible misunderstanding. He has taken the charge, but he has not taken responsibility."
Both McDowell's attorney Tim Cotton and McDowell's parents described a man who was raised with good morals and to shun alcohol and drugs, but had "really began to lose touch." Cotton asked for a sentenced of 20 years, stating that it would allow his client to rehabilitate himself eventually while also "satisfying the demands of justice."
After McDowell's sentencing Blonigen stated that while Craigslist cooperated throughout the investigation, "I would like them to not take those sort of ads. But, as someone else has said, if they don't, someone else will. It boils down to personal (responsibility)."
He also reiterated that both Stipe and McDowell earned the identical 60 to life sentences and shared equal accountability. "Either one of these people could have stopped it at any time. The only person who couldn't have stopped it is [the victim]."
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Former Pennsylvania National Guardsman sentenced to prison for assault
By LES STEWART [Lebanon, PA Daily News]
A Pennsylvania National Guardsman was sentenced Wednesday [April 21] to Lebanon County prison for three months to two years for sexually assaulting a woman in a Fort Indiantown Gap barracks in December 2007. He was one of three soldiers charged in the case.
President Judge John C. Tylwalk sentenced 28-year-old Alan W. Ledford Jr. of South Coopersburg on misdemeanor charges of indecent assault and simple assault. Ledford pleaded guilty in February as part of a plea agreement with the office of the Lebanon County District Attorney. In exchange for his guilty plea, a more serious felony charge of sexual assault filed was dismissed.
Sean P. McMenamin, 25, of Pottstown was also scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday, but his defense attorney is involved in defending another client in a homicide trial in another county this week, Tylwalk said. McMenamin will be sentenced at a later date. Ledford and McMenamin were scheduled to go on trial in February, but both pleaded guilty.
A third defendant in the case, Matthew S. Taggart, 25, of Springfield, Delaware County, pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced in June to three months to two years in Lebanon County prison for indecent assault and simple assault.
They were charged with sexually assaulting a then-36-year-old Lebanon County woman at a Fort Indiantown Gap barracks on Dec. 15, 2007. On Wednesday, defense attorney Ari Weitzman said alcohol played a role in the events of Dec. 15, 2007. He asked Tylwalk to sentence Ledford to probation.
He said his client was "extremely intoxicated" that night, and Ledford did not plan for the victim to be sexually assaulted by three men. "This happened spontaneously," Weitzman said.
What began as consensual sex between Ledford and the victim in a bathroom utility room in a barracks escalated into the sexual assault of the victim, the defense attorney said. "This is not the way Mr. Ledford typically conducts himself," Weitzman said. Ledford has served in the military for 11 or 12 years and hopes to spend the rest of his life in the service, the defense attorney said. His guilty plea may jeopardize that, he added.
Ledford enlisted in the military at the age of 17 and has served since then, Weitzman said. He has earned the rank of sergeant, he added. He served 14 months in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 and 2005, the defense attorney said. At the time of their arrest, McMenamin, Ledford and Taggert were scheduled to be deployed to Iraq but were ordered to remain in the United States to face the criminal charges. None was deployed.
When he was arrested, Ledford was a member of Detachment 1, Company A, 628th Aviation Support Battalion, which is based at the Gap.
On Wednesday, Megan Ryland-Tanner, the assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case, said she has been in contact with the military and said she is not sure how Ledford's case will be handled by military authorities. Tanner agreed that alcohol played a role, but said that does not excuse the conduct of the three men.
"These three men engaged in sexual contact with (the victim) without her consent," Tanner said.
The victim said the judgment she used the night of the assault was out of character for her. She had met four men at a Union Township bar and went to the Gap along with two other women. She said she has been undergoing counseling since the sexual assault. "It's something that continues to follow me," she said.
Ledford faced the woman and apologized. "It's something that should have never happened," he said. "I'm truly sorry for that." The judge said the victim had acknowledged she had not shown the best judgment the night of the assault. "But that does not excuse what you did," Tylwalk told Ledford.
In addition to the prison sentence, Ledford was ordered to pay fines of $900.
A Pennsylvania National Guardsman was sentenced Wednesday [April 21] to Lebanon County prison for three months to two years for sexually assaulting a woman in a Fort Indiantown Gap barracks in December 2007. He was one of three soldiers charged in the case.
President Judge John C. Tylwalk sentenced 28-year-old Alan W. Ledford Jr. of South Coopersburg on misdemeanor charges of indecent assault and simple assault. Ledford pleaded guilty in February as part of a plea agreement with the office of the Lebanon County District Attorney. In exchange for his guilty plea, a more serious felony charge of sexual assault filed was dismissed.
Sean P. McMenamin, 25, of Pottstown was also scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday, but his defense attorney is involved in defending another client in a homicide trial in another county this week, Tylwalk said. McMenamin will be sentenced at a later date. Ledford and McMenamin were scheduled to go on trial in February, but both pleaded guilty.
A third defendant in the case, Matthew S. Taggart, 25, of Springfield, Delaware County, pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced in June to three months to two years in Lebanon County prison for indecent assault and simple assault.
They were charged with sexually assaulting a then-36-year-old Lebanon County woman at a Fort Indiantown Gap barracks on Dec. 15, 2007. On Wednesday, defense attorney Ari Weitzman said alcohol played a role in the events of Dec. 15, 2007. He asked Tylwalk to sentence Ledford to probation.
He said his client was "extremely intoxicated" that night, and Ledford did not plan for the victim to be sexually assaulted by three men. "This happened spontaneously," Weitzman said.
What began as consensual sex between Ledford and the victim in a bathroom utility room in a barracks escalated into the sexual assault of the victim, the defense attorney said. "This is not the way Mr. Ledford typically conducts himself," Weitzman said. Ledford has served in the military for 11 or 12 years and hopes to spend the rest of his life in the service, the defense attorney said. His guilty plea may jeopardize that, he added.
Ledford enlisted in the military at the age of 17 and has served since then, Weitzman said. He has earned the rank of sergeant, he added. He served 14 months in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 and 2005, the defense attorney said. At the time of their arrest, McMenamin, Ledford and Taggert were scheduled to be deployed to Iraq but were ordered to remain in the United States to face the criminal charges. None was deployed.
When he was arrested, Ledford was a member of Detachment 1, Company A, 628th Aviation Support Battalion, which is based at the Gap.
On Wednesday, Megan Ryland-Tanner, the assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case, said she has been in contact with the military and said she is not sure how Ledford's case will be handled by military authorities. Tanner agreed that alcohol played a role, but said that does not excuse the conduct of the three men.
"These three men engaged in sexual contact with (the victim) without her consent," Tanner said.
The victim said the judgment she used the night of the assault was out of character for her. She had met four men at a Union Township bar and went to the Gap along with two other women. She said she has been undergoing counseling since the sexual assault. "It's something that continues to follow me," she said.
Ledford faced the woman and apologized. "It's something that should have never happened," he said. "I'm truly sorry for that." The judge said the victim had acknowledged she had not shown the best judgment the night of the assault. "But that does not excuse what you did," Tylwalk told Ledford.
In addition to the prison sentence, Ledford was ordered to pay fines of $900.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Rapist released from prison charged with new rape after cutting off monitoring bracelet
The terms of French’s six-year probation require him to stay drug- and alcohol-free, submit to random drug screens, undergo sex offender treatment and have no contact with the victim.
In the prior rape case, French told the victim he had a gun and threatened to kill her and her 13-year-old daughter, who was sleeping in another room, if she did not comply, court records show. French’s record also includes a string of prior arrests for larceny, assault, threats, and burglary.
On Thursday at about 11:25 p.m., probation officials received an alert indicating that French had removed the GPS monitor from his leg, and an arrest warrant was issued at 11:45 p.m., the DA’s office said.
French was arrested early Friday morning, while the victim was treated and released from a local hospital. He was arraigned in Framingham District Court Friday afternoon by Judge Sara Singer and charged with the following - 2 counts of aggravated rape, kidnapping, assault and battery, unarmed robbery, threats to commit a crime, and removing the GPS monitoring device. He is currently being held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled February 25.
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, February 14, 2010
Wyoming sex assault case highlights kids are not the only targets of online sexual predators
(AP) CASPER, Wyo. - Authorities say a Casper woman was assaulted at her front door, raped at knifepoint in her living room and left bound on the floor, and they say one of the men charged in the brutal attack claimed that he thought it was invited.
Two men are accused in the crime. One is charged with carrying out the rape. The other, the woman's ex-boyfriend, stands accused of posing as the victim online and claiming she harbored a rape fantasy and wanted to be assaulted.
The case in the central Wyoming city of Casper, population 54,000, illustrates that middle America isn't immune to the dangers of Internet anonymity and predators who target victims through online ads that hint at sex and prostitution.
Prosecutor Mike Blonigen, the Natrona County district attorney, declined to comment on the specifics of the ongoing rape case. But he said Internet cases generally pose a challenge to law enforcement.
"Tracking down who's involved is relatively difficult," Blonigen said. "It's pretty easy to set up a false identity in cyberspace, so that's always an issue. And of course, they have to make some overt act to actually accomplish any of these things. We're not the thought police."
In the Casper case, Blonigen's office has charged Ty Oliver McDowell, 26, of Bar Nunn, a Casper suburb, with three counts of first-degree sexual assault, one count of kidnapping and one count of aggravated burglary. Jebidiah James Stipe, 27, a Marine based in Twentynine Palms, Calif., is charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree sexual assault. Lawyers representing McDowell and Stipe declined comment.
A few days before the Casper woman was raped, she had complained to the Natrona County Sheriff's Department that someone had made a false Craigslist posting about her, including photographs and personal information. The ad read, "Need a real aggressive man with no concern for women," authorities said.
Craigslist took the advertisement down when the woman complained. Yet prosecutors say it was posted long enough to catch the attention of McDowell, a medical technologist.
According to a statement filed in court by Natrona County Sheriff's Deputy Todd Sexton, McDowell waived his right to remain silent and talked to deputies investigating the case. "McDowell admitted to going to the victim's residence ... and having sexual contact with (the woman) to fulfill a 'rape fantasy' for her," Sexton wrote.
McDowell told investigators that he had corresponded with a person he thought was the woman at an e-mail address featured on the advertisement, Sexton wrote. However, prosecutors charge that McDowell was actually communicating by e-mail with Stipe, the woman's former boyfriend. They say Stipe posted the ad to set the woman up for the attack without her knowledge.
The San Bernardino County (Calif.) Sheriff's Department on Dec. 16 arrested Stipe, a private first-class in the U.S. Marine Corps then stationed at Twentynine Palms. A spokeswoman for the Marine Corps said Stipe enlisted in July 2001 and, "was being processed for administrative separation as a result of a pattern of misconduct at the time of his arrest."
The Casper case is one of several sex crimes to grab headlines recently in which the Internet linked perpetrators and victims. Law enforcement officials around the country also have in the past accused Craigslist of promoting prostitution.
Scrutiny of Craigslist increased significantly when prosecutors in Boston last year charged that former medical student Philip Markoff used Craigslist to arrange a meeting with masseuse Julissa Brisman. He's accused of shooting her to death last April and of attacking other women he met through the site.
In 2008, Craigslist agreed to tighten its adult services advertisements as part of an agreement with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and with the attorneys general for 43 states and territories, including Wyoming.
Under the agreement, Craigslist started requiring a working telephone number and charging a small credit card fee for each such ad. "Requiring credit card verification and charging a fee to post in this category raises accountability to a point where we expect few illicit ads will remain," Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster said in November 2008 in a joint statement with the state prosecutors and the children's center.
Craigslist didn't respond to an e-mail sent to their San Francisco headquarters seeking comment on the Wyoming rape case, although a company phone message requests that press inquiries be made by e-mail.
Blonigen, the Casper prosecutor, said Craigslist was cooperative with Wyoming investigators. "I would prefer that they maybe not run these ads," Blonigen said. "You know somebody's going to do it even if they don't."
Wyoming State Sen. Tony Ross, R-Cheyenne, is a criminal defense attorney and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the state Legislature. He said the committee may have to consider whether state law is up to the challenge of dealing with sexual predators who prowl the Internet. "The world is changing so rapidly here, particularly with regard to Internet, cyber crimes, and things like that, that we're going to see a whole new evolution of law, it seems to me," Ross said.
(Update 2-14-10) Last Tuesday, Ty Oliver McDowell, the alleged actual rapist, appeared before Judge Scott Skavdahl and entered a not-guilty plea in Natrona County District Court. He is being charged with conspiracy to commit sexual assault, which carries a maximum life sentence. He's being held on $250,000 bond in the Natrona County Detention Center and his trial is scheduled for late April.
His codefendant, Jebidiah James Stipe, the victim's ex-"boyfriend," is being held on $500,000 bond. He's yet to be arraigned.
Two men are accused in the crime. One is charged with carrying out the rape. The other, the woman's ex-boyfriend, stands accused of posing as the victim online and claiming she harbored a rape fantasy and wanted to be assaulted.
The case in the central Wyoming city of Casper, population 54,000, illustrates that middle America isn't immune to the dangers of Internet anonymity and predators who target victims through online ads that hint at sex and prostitution.
Prosecutor Mike Blonigen, the Natrona County district attorney, declined to comment on the specifics of the ongoing rape case. But he said Internet cases generally pose a challenge to law enforcement.
"Tracking down who's involved is relatively difficult," Blonigen said. "It's pretty easy to set up a false identity in cyberspace, so that's always an issue. And of course, they have to make some overt act to actually accomplish any of these things. We're not the thought police."
In the Casper case, Blonigen's office has charged Ty Oliver McDowell, 26, of Bar Nunn, a Casper suburb, with three counts of first-degree sexual assault, one count of kidnapping and one count of aggravated burglary. Jebidiah James Stipe, 27, a Marine based in Twentynine Palms, Calif., is charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree sexual assault. Lawyers representing McDowell and Stipe declined comment.
A few days before the Casper woman was raped, she had complained to the Natrona County Sheriff's Department that someone had made a false Craigslist posting about her, including photographs and personal information. The ad read, "Need a real aggressive man with no concern for women," authorities said.
Craigslist took the advertisement down when the woman complained. Yet prosecutors say it was posted long enough to catch the attention of McDowell, a medical technologist.
According to a statement filed in court by Natrona County Sheriff's Deputy Todd Sexton, McDowell waived his right to remain silent and talked to deputies investigating the case. "McDowell admitted to going to the victim's residence ... and having sexual contact with (the woman) to fulfill a 'rape fantasy' for her," Sexton wrote.
McDowell told investigators that he had corresponded with a person he thought was the woman at an e-mail address featured on the advertisement, Sexton wrote. However, prosecutors charge that McDowell was actually communicating by e-mail with Stipe, the woman's former boyfriend. They say Stipe posted the ad to set the woman up for the attack without her knowledge.
The San Bernardino County (Calif.) Sheriff's Department on Dec. 16 arrested Stipe, a private first-class in the U.S. Marine Corps then stationed at Twentynine Palms. A spokeswoman for the Marine Corps said Stipe enlisted in July 2001 and, "was being processed for administrative separation as a result of a pattern of misconduct at the time of his arrest."
The Casper case is one of several sex crimes to grab headlines recently in which the Internet linked perpetrators and victims. Law enforcement officials around the country also have in the past accused Craigslist of promoting prostitution.
Scrutiny of Craigslist increased significantly when prosecutors in Boston last year charged that former medical student Philip Markoff used Craigslist to arrange a meeting with masseuse Julissa Brisman. He's accused of shooting her to death last April and of attacking other women he met through the site.
In 2008, Craigslist agreed to tighten its adult services advertisements as part of an agreement with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and with the attorneys general for 43 states and territories, including Wyoming.
Under the agreement, Craigslist started requiring a working telephone number and charging a small credit card fee for each such ad. "Requiring credit card verification and charging a fee to post in this category raises accountability to a point where we expect few illicit ads will remain," Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster said in November 2008 in a joint statement with the state prosecutors and the children's center.
Craigslist didn't respond to an e-mail sent to their San Francisco headquarters seeking comment on the Wyoming rape case, although a company phone message requests that press inquiries be made by e-mail.
Blonigen, the Casper prosecutor, said Craigslist was cooperative with Wyoming investigators. "I would prefer that they maybe not run these ads," Blonigen said. "You know somebody's going to do it even if they don't."
Wyoming State Sen. Tony Ross, R-Cheyenne, is a criminal defense attorney and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the state Legislature. He said the committee may have to consider whether state law is up to the challenge of dealing with sexual predators who prowl the Internet. "The world is changing so rapidly here, particularly with regard to Internet, cyber crimes, and things like that, that we're going to see a whole new evolution of law, it seems to me," Ross said.
(Update 2-14-10) Last Tuesday, Ty Oliver McDowell, the alleged actual rapist, appeared before Judge Scott Skavdahl and entered a not-guilty plea in Natrona County District Court. He is being charged with conspiracy to commit sexual assault, which carries a maximum life sentence. He's being held on $250,000 bond in the Natrona County Detention Center and his trial is scheduled for late April.
His codefendant, Jebidiah James Stipe, the victim's ex-"boyfriend," is being held on $500,000 bond. He's yet to be arraigned.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Scorned "lovers" get probation, community service for gluing man's members to stomach
For women who admitted to gluing their "lover's" penis to his stomach were sentenced to probation Tuesday in a Calument County, WI courtroom. Therese Ziemann, 48, of Menasha; Michelle Belliveau, 43, of Neenah; Wendy Sewell, 44, of Kaukauna; and 31-year-old Tracy Hood-Davis of Fond du Lac were all sentenced to a year on probation after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct charges. Ziemann was also convicted of battery in the incident. Judge Donald Poppy heard the women's pleas and meted out punishments in separate hearings. The defendants also have to serve out community service.
Prosecutors say Ziemann lured Donessa Davis, 37, Hood-Davis' husband, to a Stockbridge motel on July 30. After tying him to the bed under the pretense of sex, Ziemann called the other women to the room. The women berated him before Ziemann struck him and glued his penis to his body.
Belliveau was the lone defendant of the four who didn't have a sexual relationship with Davis.
The case garnered attention from media outlets around the world. Belliveau's attorney, Ralph Sczygelski, criticized the coverage, saying it was driven by "sex, sex, sex in the media." The defendants and their lawyers said the events in the motel room went beyond anything they had planned.
Ziemann said she was angry because her minor daughter's number was in Davis' cell phone and that the penis gluing was a spur of the momnet action. "I just wish that this never happened. It's taken a toll on everybody involved," she said to Judge Poppy. Sewell's attorney, Nila Robinson, stated that her client "wanted him to see her face and see how much pain he caused her,"
In closing, Judge Poppy berated Hood-Davis, stating the women whose husbands cheat on them tend to handle their business in divorce court, not by messing with members. "They don't set things in motion so people get all messed up with glue."
Prosecutors say Ziemann lured Donessa Davis, 37, Hood-Davis' husband, to a Stockbridge motel on July 30. After tying him to the bed under the pretense of sex, Ziemann called the other women to the room. The women berated him before Ziemann struck him and glued his penis to his body.
Belliveau was the lone defendant of the four who didn't have a sexual relationship with Davis.
The case garnered attention from media outlets around the world. Belliveau's attorney, Ralph Sczygelski, criticized the coverage, saying it was driven by "sex, sex, sex in the media." The defendants and their lawyers said the events in the motel room went beyond anything they had planned.
Ziemann said she was angry because her minor daughter's number was in Davis' cell phone and that the penis gluing was a spur of the momnet action. "I just wish that this never happened. It's taken a toll on everybody involved," she said to Judge Poppy. Sewell's attorney, Nila Robinson, stated that her client "wanted him to see her face and see how much pain he caused her,"
In closing, Judge Poppy berated Hood-Davis, stating the women whose husbands cheat on them tend to handle their business in divorce court, not by messing with members. "They don't set things in motion so people get all messed up with glue."
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Meredith Kercher killer Guede gets sentence reduced
By Ariel David in Rome, AP
An Italian court of appeal [December 22] reduced the prison sentence for the first person convicted of the murder of Meredith Kercher from 30 years to 16.
But after four hours of deliberations, the eight-member jury upheld the conviction of of Rudy Hermann Guede on charges of murder and sexual violence. Guede, who is from Ivory Coast, was sentenced to 30 years last year after requesting a fast-track trial, but denies killing the British student.
The two others who were convicted earlier this month of her killing are Amanda Knox, the US student who was the victim's roommate in Perugia, and Raffaele Sollecito, Knox's boyfriend at the time. Knox and Sollecito both deny wrongdoing and are expected to appeal against their convictions. They were sentenced to 26 and 25 years in prison, respectively.
Kercher, a student at Leeds University, was killed in November 2007. Guede, who was arrested in Germany shortly after the killing, has admitted he was at the scene of the crime on the night of the murder, but said that he did not kill Kercher.
Guede was in court yesterday when the verdict was delivered and told reporters afterwards: "I am not happy because I am innocent."
The Kerchers' family lawyer Francesco Maresca said he was satisfied that Guede was found guilty but was "surprised" the sentence was almost halved. He added that the ruling recognised some extenuating circumstances for Guede. The court is expected to give its reasons for the decision within 90 days.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
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.”
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Final defendants in Meredith Kercher sex slay sentenced to decades behind bars
The case of the murder of Meredith Kercher came to an end, but not the end when the last defendants, Amanda Knox and her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito were convicted of her murder and rape in a Perugia, Italy courtroom yesterday. Perugia, the capital of Italy's Umbria region, is 125 miles north of Rome. The jury, which consisted of six lay jurors guided by two judges, found Knox and Sollecito guilty of the rape and murder of Kercher, from Coulsdon, Surrey, England just after midnight local time (5 PM Central Standard Time). They deliberated for 11 hours straight. Knox was sentenced to 26 years and Sollecito was sentenced to 25 years immediately after the verdict was rendered. Knox and Kerchner were students at Perugia's University For Foriegners.
Miss Kercher had spent the evening of November 1 [2007], at the home of her friend Sophie Purton, watching the romantic drama The Notebook before returning home at around 9pm, saying she was tired. Her flatmates were all staying elsewhere that night and she was alone in the house.
Her body was discovered at 1.15pm the next day, by which time Knox and her Italian boyfriend, Sollecito, had arrived at the house. "It is something I never hope to see again," Sollecito told reporters the following day. "There was blood everywhere and I couldn't take it all in. My girlfriend (Knox) was crying and screaming, 'How could anyone do this?'"
Finding the front door open, a window broken and bloodstains in a bathroom, [police] forced open the locked door of Miss Kercher's bedroom to find her body in a pool of blood on the floor, mostly hidden under a duvet and naked except for a T-shirt yanked up around her armpits.
The injuries on her body suggested she had been forced to kneel, with her face pushed into the floor, and raped at knifepoint before being killed by a combination of strangulation and three deep stab wounds to her neck.
Police were under immense pressure to solve the murder, and within three days suspicion had begun to fall on Knox, whose behaviour had struck police as distinctly odd when she was asked to give a witness statement.
While Miss Kercher's other friends had been distraught and tearful, Knox appeared entirely detached and showed no signs of distress, even performing cartwheels and doing the splits while she was waiting to be questioned.
She also changed her mind about where she had been on the night of the murder - at first she said she had been at Sollecito's flat, smoking marijuana and watching a film. Then she said she was confused and might have been at the flat at the same time as Miss Kercher. Put under pressure by police, who had discovered text messages on her phone to bar owner Patrick Lumumba, she eventually said she had been in the flat when Miss Kercher was murdered, and heard her scream after Mr Lumumba went into the bedroom with her.
Mr Lumumba was immediately arrested on suspicion of murder, as was Sollecito, whose shoes appeared to match a bloody footprint found at the scene.
But less than a fortnight later, the investigation took another incredible turn. Police announced that they were looking for a fourth suspect, a local drifter called Rudy Guede, whose DNA had been found all over the murder scene, including in a bloody fingerprint and in samples which showed he had either raped Miss Kercher or had consensual sex with her.
Guede, now 22, was convicted of murder and sexual assault at a fast-track trial last year, while Mr Lumumba, who had a cast-iron alibi, was released after police admitted he was entirely innocent.
Jurors accepted the prosecution's arguments that Knox, who called herself "Foxy Knoxy," recruited her "boyfriend," who she had met only a week prior to Kercher's murder, and 22 year old Guede to take part in a sex game. The "manipulative, narcissistic, sexual thrill-seeker" did this as revenge for criticism that she wasn't pulling her weight doing chores and homework, and was bringing strange men back to the house they all shared. Kercher was held down by Sollecito while Guede tried to rape her. Kercher was killed by Knox with a knife that Knox held to the victim's neck.
The conflicting accounts of the events surrounding the murder, as well as the DNA evidence were enough to bring Meredith's killers to justice. Knox claimed that she had been at Sollecito's house, but cell phone records showed ther were near the murder scene, with their phones turned off around the time of the slaying. Sollecito claimed that he couldn't remember if he was at the crime scene with Knox, but others confirmed that there were in the house at the time of the murder.
In addition, Knox's DNA was found on the alleged murder weapon, a knife which was washed shortly after the murders, Sollecito's DNA was found on Kercher's bra, and Guede's DNA was found all over the crime scene, including inside's Kerchner's vagina. Guede was found guilty of raping and murdering Kercher last year at a fast track trial and sentenced to 30 years. He opted for the fast track to get his maximum sentence slashed by 2/3 over a regular Italian trial. Guede's separate trial also prevented the other defendant's lawyers from trying to get their clients off by accusing him during a joint trial.
Besides murder and rape, Knox and Sollecito were convicted of unlawful possession of a weapon (the knife) and staging a crime scene (the crime scene was staged to look like an intruder had broke in). They were ordered to pay a million euros to Kercher's parents and 800,000 euros to Kerchner's three siblings as compensation. Knox was also ordered to pay 40,000 euros to her boss, the bartender Patrick Lumumba for defamation.
At a conference held earlier this morning, Kercher's family said that they were pleased with the verdict, but it would not bring back their daughter and sister.
Meredith's brother Lyle said at the press conference, "Ultimately we are pleased with the verdict... It's not a time for celebration. It's not a moment of triumph. We are all gathered here because our sister was brutally murdered and taken away from us. Of course, there were two very young people who have been sentenced yesterday to a very long time behind bars."
Her other brother John said "Everyone in this room associates Meredith with a tragic event but we would prefer not to remember her in that way. We would like to concentrate on the 21 years that we had with her."
Meredith's mother Arline thanked the judge, jury, and prosecutors for giving her daughter justice, but said that "At the end of the day you have to go on the evidence because there's nothing else."
Knox's mother, Edda Mellas, said that "Amanda like the rest is extremely disappointed, upset about the decision. We told her that she's gonna get out of here. It's gonna take a little longer." Her father Curt Knox said that "I just looked at them; I looked at the jurors."
He then said he thought to himself: "'How could you even do this with what was presented in the court of law?'"
"She couldn't sleep all night," said lawyer Luciano Ghirga, who spent an hour with Knox at her jail just outside Perugia on Saturday morning. "She's worried for her parents, too, but she is keeping the faith needed for the next steps."
Knox's father said that he would fight for his daughter when asked by a reporter. That fight will come in an appeal, which in Italy, is conducted with the same judge and jury (but different prosecutors) as the original trial. Italian appeals can not start until 90 days after the trial, and can take up to 2 years. Alessandro Canali, a Seattle Lawyer who practices in Rome, said that "She got four years less without the benefit of the short trial. Someone on the jury thought she was not on the same level as Guede."
Italian juries have only to reach majority consensus. Each of the eight jurors imposes a sentence they believe proper, from life down to acquittal, Canali said. The ultimate sentence given is the maximum that at least five of the jurors will support.
Sollecito is also appealing his sentence.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Videotaped rapes net men 6 years in California's prison system
A woman who was videotaped while being raped recieved justice yesterday when her attackers were sentenced to 6 years in California prisons. Michael Alexander Clemmons, 20, of Tustin, and John Paul Foster II, 23, of Seaside, Ca plead uilty in September to eight sex charges, including including rape of an unconscious person unable to resist due to an intoxicating substance. Yesterday, Luster Mitchell Lewis, 21, of Irvine, plead guilty to similar charges. All defendants received 6 years in prison, a sentenced handed down by Ornage County Superior Court Judge Frank F. Fasel.
The three became friends while attending Tustin High School in Tustin, CA. Clemmons and Foster played football for Santa Ana City College, while Lewis moved elsewhere in California.
In July 2008, the men were partying at the Key Inn, a motel at 1611 El Camino Real in Tustin, with the 18-year-old acquaintance, who was intoxicated but expecting the defendants to take care of her, according to Deputy District Attorney Robert Mestman. But instead, Mestman said, the three men took advantage of her sexually after she passed out while using a video camera to record the action.
The victim was non-responsive throughout the sexual assault, and did not resist – even when Clemmons slapped her in the face, told her to wake up, and held her nose closed to suffocate her in order to wake her up, Mestman said.
The videotape was discovered by a third party in December 2008 and turned over as evidence to Tustin Police, prosecutors said. Tustin Detectives located the victim, who said that she was unaware of the sexual assaults because she was passed out from too much to drink.
In her victim impact statement, the woman told the court that the assault left her with emotional issues and unable to trust. The inability to trust is not limited to the actual attackers, but also included her "friends," who did not believe that she had been raped, and her "boyfriend," who when she told the story of her attack, sided with the attackkers, his longtime friend rather than his "girlfriend."
"He said he didn't want to have to choose between his friends of 12 years and a girl who he's been dating for four months...I don't know why I stayed with him. I had hope it would get better."
In addition, after the rapes, the defendants refused to take her home, so "they told me to take the bus. I was angry and confused and I didn't know why they wouldn't help me.
Deputy Alternate Defender Kenneth Morrison offered this statement of remorse on Foster's behalf.
John has never attempted to justify or excuse in any way anything he did that night, but there are some things that may help to explain why he acted as he did," Morrison said. John has dealt with deep emotional feelings of abandonment since childhood due to tragedies in his family life," he said. "As a result, he has been somewhat of a follower in order to be accepted and fit in with people who have befriended him …
John sincerely believes that but for the influence of alcohol and that desire to be accepted and fit in, he would not have been deluded into believing that the contact was in any way consensual and he would have stepped in and tried to stop the others when inappropriate touching began," Morrison said
The three became friends while attending Tustin High School in Tustin, CA. Clemmons and Foster played football for Santa Ana City College, while Lewis moved elsewhere in California.
In July 2008, the men were partying at the Key Inn, a motel at 1611 El Camino Real in Tustin, with the 18-year-old acquaintance, who was intoxicated but expecting the defendants to take care of her, according to Deputy District Attorney Robert Mestman. But instead, Mestman said, the three men took advantage of her sexually after she passed out while using a video camera to record the action.
The victim was non-responsive throughout the sexual assault, and did not resist – even when Clemmons slapped her in the face, told her to wake up, and held her nose closed to suffocate her in order to wake her up, Mestman said.
The videotape was discovered by a third party in December 2008 and turned over as evidence to Tustin Police, prosecutors said. Tustin Detectives located the victim, who said that she was unaware of the sexual assaults because she was passed out from too much to drink.
In her victim impact statement, the woman told the court that the assault left her with emotional issues and unable to trust. The inability to trust is not limited to the actual attackers, but also included her "friends," who did not believe that she had been raped, and her "boyfriend," who when she told the story of her attack, sided with the attackkers, his longtime friend rather than his "girlfriend."
"He said he didn't want to have to choose between his friends of 12 years and a girl who he's been dating for four months...I don't know why I stayed with him. I had hope it would get better."
In addition, after the rapes, the defendants refused to take her home, so "they told me to take the bus. I was angry and confused and I didn't know why they wouldn't help me.
Deputy Alternate Defender Kenneth Morrison offered this statement of remorse on Foster's behalf.
John has never attempted to justify or excuse in any way anything he did that night, but there are some things that may help to explain why he acted as he did," Morrison said. John has dealt with deep emotional feelings of abandonment since childhood due to tragedies in his family life," he said. "As a result, he has been somewhat of a follower in order to be accepted and fit in with people who have befriended him …
John sincerely believes that but for the influence of alcohol and that desire to be accepted and fit in, he would not have been deluded into believing that the contact was in any way consensual and he would have stepped in and tried to stop the others when inappropriate touching began," Morrison said
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Husband, brother allegedly murder woman to cover up rape, gain $100k in insurance
Two brothers are being held without bail in the Cook County Jail for the murder of a woman who was one of the brother's wives. Dujuan Powe, 20, staged the carjacking of his brother, sister in law, and nieces and nephews a week ago today on Chicago's Northwest Side. As they were filling up at a gas station, Dujuan had carjacked the family, ordering the woman, Kenyatae Collier-Brewer, 22, into the trunk of the car. Dujuan wore a mask from the movie "Scream" while committing the crime.
Twenty-two year old Darron Brewer drove home while his estranged wife was in the trunk of the car. Dujuan went to the 2200 block of North Tripp Avenue and shot Collier-Brewer twice in the head, killing her. The gun used in the murder was traced back to Dujuan's house, where he lived with his girlfriend. Brewer reported his wife missing Monday, October 26.
According to prosecutors, the murder was dome to cover up the rape of the woman, who threatened to go to police. Also, there was the little matter of the $100,000 (or $150,000) life insurance policy that Brewer and his brother would collect on if his wife died.
Emotions ran high Friday during a bond hearing for Brewer, who was charged Thursday with first-degree murder. Moments after Brewer was escorted by sheriff's deputies into the courtroom, Collier-Brewer's aunt, Tanisha Peppers, rushed from a spectator area through glass doors into the courtroom, glaring at him. A deputy took her by the arm and had her return to the public viewing area. Brewer kept his head bowed, ignoring about a half-dozen in-laws.
As the gruesome details of the slaying were read by Assistant State's Attorney Jodi Peterson, the victim's mother, Theresa Jones, sobbed and ran to the back of the spectator area, where she was comforted by her sister.
The aunt said that the couple, who met in preschool, had troubles, with attempts on Collier-Brewer's life. She began coming home hurt, and was shot in a robbery while pregnant with her youngest son. The victim moved out of the home she used to share with Brewer three months ago, but when she was hit over the head with a glass bottle and needed eight stitches, she explained away the incident as gang violence.
The victim leaves behind two kids, 9 month old Darron, and 1 1/2 year old Darriona. 1st degree murder normally carries a 20 to 60 year sentence without parole, but when comitted with a gun, the minimum sentence is 45 years without parole.
Twenty-two year old Darron Brewer drove home while his estranged wife was in the trunk of the car. Dujuan went to the 2200 block of North Tripp Avenue and shot Collier-Brewer twice in the head, killing her. The gun used in the murder was traced back to Dujuan's house, where he lived with his girlfriend. Brewer reported his wife missing Monday, October 26.
According to prosecutors, the murder was dome to cover up the rape of the woman, who threatened to go to police. Also, there was the little matter of the $100,000 (or $150,000) life insurance policy that Brewer and his brother would collect on if his wife died.
Emotions ran high Friday during a bond hearing for Brewer, who was charged Thursday with first-degree murder. Moments after Brewer was escorted by sheriff's deputies into the courtroom, Collier-Brewer's aunt, Tanisha Peppers, rushed from a spectator area through glass doors into the courtroom, glaring at him. A deputy took her by the arm and had her return to the public viewing area. Brewer kept his head bowed, ignoring about a half-dozen in-laws.
As the gruesome details of the slaying were read by Assistant State's Attorney Jodi Peterson, the victim's mother, Theresa Jones, sobbed and ran to the back of the spectator area, where she was comforted by her sister.
The aunt said that the couple, who met in preschool, had troubles, with attempts on Collier-Brewer's life. She began coming home hurt, and was shot in a robbery while pregnant with her youngest son. The victim moved out of the home she used to share with Brewer three months ago, but when she was hit over the head with a glass bottle and needed eight stitches, she explained away the incident as gang violence.
The victim leaves behind two kids, 9 month old Darron, and 1 1/2 year old Darriona. 1st degree murder normally carries a 20 to 60 year sentence without parole, but when comitted with a gun, the minimum sentence is 45 years without parole.
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, August 29, 2009
First two Dunbar Village rapists found guilty
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Separate Palm Beach County juries have convicted two men in the gang rape and assault of a mother and her son during a home invasion two years ago.
The first jury deliberated 5 1/2 hours Friday before convicting 20-year-old Tommy Poindexter of rape, kidnapping, assault and burglary. He faces multiple life terms. A second jury returned less than two hours later, convicting 18-year-old Nathan Walker of similar charges.
The two were tried together but with separate juries. A third defendant, 16-year-old Avion Lawson, pleaded guilty and testified against Poindexter and Walker. A fourth defendant, 17-year-old Jakaris Taylor, is set for trial next month. Authorities say they identified the defendants with fingerprints and DNA. They are still seeking additional suspects.
The defendants made limited admissions to the attack, but also tried to deflect blame. Lawson claims he raped the woman once, then left soon after. Poindexter's attorney says her client raped the woman, but didn't participate in any other crimes. Walker's attorney hasn't acknowledged any guilt.
Authorities say fingerprints and DNA found on clothing and condoms inside the apartment identified the defendants. They are still seeking additional suspects.
The prosecutor told jurors that it doesn't matter how many of the crimes each defendant actually participated in — they are all equally responsible for the entire episode. Defense attorneys had argued the juries don't have to find guilt on all counts just because the suspects may have committed some of the crimes.
Earlier in the week, the female victim described for jurors the terrifying night of June 18, 2007, in her public housing complex apartment a few miles from downtown West Palm Beach.
She recounted how she prayed for her life and cried in pain as she was repeatedly raped and her son beaten by 10 masked, gun-toting teens. Then she testified about being forced to perform oral sex on her son. The victims were then doused with chemicals in an attempt to clean the crime scene.
Throughout the attack, the suspects demanded money, but she had none. The victims had fled even worse poverty in their native Haiti several years earlier, landing in the crime-plagued Dunbar Village housing complex where the attack occurred.
The first jury deliberated 5 1/2 hours Friday before convicting 20-year-old Tommy Poindexter of rape, kidnapping, assault and burglary. He faces multiple life terms. A second jury returned less than two hours later, convicting 18-year-old Nathan Walker of similar charges.
The two were tried together but with separate juries. A third defendant, 16-year-old Avion Lawson, pleaded guilty and testified against Poindexter and Walker. A fourth defendant, 17-year-old Jakaris Taylor, is set for trial next month. Authorities say they identified the defendants with fingerprints and DNA. They are still seeking additional suspects.
The defendants made limited admissions to the attack, but also tried to deflect blame. Lawson claims he raped the woman once, then left soon after. Poindexter's attorney says her client raped the woman, but didn't participate in any other crimes. Walker's attorney hasn't acknowledged any guilt.
Authorities say fingerprints and DNA found on clothing and condoms inside the apartment identified the defendants. They are still seeking additional suspects.
The prosecutor told jurors that it doesn't matter how many of the crimes each defendant actually participated in — they are all equally responsible for the entire episode. Defense attorneys had argued the juries don't have to find guilt on all counts just because the suspects may have committed some of the crimes.
Earlier in the week, the female victim described for jurors the terrifying night of June 18, 2007, in her public housing complex apartment a few miles from downtown West Palm Beach.
She recounted how she prayed for her life and cried in pain as she was repeatedly raped and her son beaten by 10 masked, gun-toting teens. Then she testified about being forced to perform oral sex on her son. The victims were then doused with chemicals in an attempt to clean the crime scene.
Throughout the attack, the suspects demanded money, but she had none. The victims had fled even worse poverty in their native Haiti several years earlier, landing in the crime-plagued Dunbar Village housing complex where the attack occurred.
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."
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