Man who held 1st wife hostage in Florida in 1989 sentenced to 55 years for murder of 2nd wife

A man who had been imprisoned 15 years in a Florida prison for kidnapping and holding his first wife and daughter hostage was sentenced to 55 years without parole for killing his second wife. Lake County Circuit Court Theodore Potkonjak sentenced Clarence Weber Thursday, August 12 for the July 5, 2008 stabbing death of his estranged wife Adelina.

Adelina had filed for divorce on June 30, 2008. Weber made multiple trips to the restaurant Adelina worked at between July 1 to July 5 leaving notes to meet, Kalata said. For unknown reasons, Adelina agreed to meet Weber on July 5, 2008. It was at this meeting that Weber stabbed her to death and then fled, [State's Attorney Eric] Kalata said.

Weber has a history of violent behavior against women, Kalata said. In 1989, Weber choked his wife, put a knife to her throat and held their daughter hostage. Weber served 15 years in prison in Florida for the offenses against his first wife, Kalata said. "It was a horrible situation in Florida and it was a horrible situation here. At the center of both horrible situations was Mr. Weber," Potkonjak said.

While Kalata asked for the maximum 60 year sentence, Assistant Public Defender John Bailey said he and his client were "asking for some hope that someday, somehow, Mr. Weber might be released because a long prison sentence is a life sentence because Mr. Weber is 61 years old," Bailey said.

Judge Potkonjak sided with the prosecution and the victim's family, saying that anything closer to the lower end of the sentencing range (20 to 60 years for 1st degree murder in illinois) will" deprecate the seriousness of his actions."

The victim's sister, Cynthia Trujillo, said in her victim impact statement "All the therapy in the world will not stop the tears...It's unbelievable how one person can shatter so many hearts." After the sentence was meted out, she stated,"[the family is] definitely satisfied with the sentence. As long as he's locked up, we'll be better off."

Repeat felon sentenced to 2 decades in prison for pulling over, raping woman

A Frederick, MD native was sentenced to two decades in prison Wednesday, June 23 for raping a woman on her way to her cleaning job. His April trial on charges of  charges of second-degree rape, fourth-degree sexual offense, robbery, theft, false imprisonment and impersonating an officer ended after one of the jurors was unable to continue deliberations. Michael Allen Barnwell, 37, plead guilty in Washington County, MD circuit court to a charge of 2nd degree sex offense and was immediately sentenced to the 20 year term. Judge Daniel P. Dwyer presided over the sentencing and trial.

The sexual assault took place Feb. 23, 2009. Barnwell, driving a SUV, pulled up next to the woman at a traffic light in Hagerstown, MD at 4 AM. Barnwell flashed a badge, said he was a police officer and ordered her to pull over into a parking lot ordered her into his vehicle, where he made her peform oral sex and stole $100. After that, Barnwell raped her.

The woman was able to remember three numbers from the license plate of the vehicle, according to trial testimony. Hagerstown Police Detective Christopher Kayser testified at the trial that he attempted to identify the vehicle from those numbers and images captured on video surveillance cameras at the intersection where the assault began.

Barnwell was stopped in downtown Hagerstown on the morning of April 4, 2009, driving a Pontiac Torrent registered to his girlfriend, Kayser testified at the trial. As a result of an incident preceding the stop, he was charged with second-degree assault and indecent exposure, according to District Court records. He pleaded guilty to the second-degree assault charge and was sentenced to three years in prison, court records said.

According to Assistant State’s Attorney Gina Cirincion, the victim "is a woman from a foreign country where a crime of this kind is often blamed on the woman.” She did not initially report the crime and had to be coaxed into doing so by her grown daughter.  Judge Daniel P. Dwyer told Barnwell that he would have received a much stiffer sentence than 20 years if he had been convicted at trial. Barnwell is serving 8 years for a probation violation on a drug conviction in addition to the other sentences.

Serial rapist who absconded from halfway house caught, sentenced for breach of conditions

(Original Post 10-25-09)
A serial rapist and attacker of women is being sought on a Canada-wide warrant by the RCMP after absconding from a Calgary, AB halfway house. Dean Robert Zimmerman, 44, is believed to be heading back to the Abbottsford, BC area from Calgary.

According to RCMP Sgt. Rob Vermeulen, “Zimmerman has ties to both the British Columbia Interior and the Lower Mainland and there is a likelihood that he could attempt to reach these areas.”

Calgary police expect Zimmerman to offend again, citing his long history of sexual and physical assaults against women. Const. Jason Bobrowich, with the Calgary Police Service high risk offender unit, says that  "It's totally a matter of when; it's not even if. Eventually, he will come into contact with a female and he will target them. Past behaviour is a predictor of future behaviour."

Zimmenman was released to a halfway house under a curfew after serving 40 months of a prison sentence for sexual assault and forcible confinement. The victim was a 24 year old Edmonton, AB woman. The three Canada-wide warrants he's wanted on include two breach of release conditions, and a fraud charge. Authorities believe that this was always Zimmerman's plan.

Bobrowich says that "I don't think it was his intention ever to stay in the Calgary area and be monitored by us for two years. Probably he worked out as much as he could while in jail."

Zimmerman's sexual criminal history began in 1995, when he served three years for the rape of a Abbottsford, BC woman. It was there that his second wife met him, despite the rape conviction and despite the ongoing marraige to another woman.

The second wife found out just how much of a criminal Zimmerman was in June 1998, when near Mission, BC he beat her, while pregnant, and allegedly raped her at knifpoint in a tent over a 12 hour period. In 2001, a jury convicted him of physical assault and obstruction of justice, bur acquitted him of sex assault charges. Zimmerman's last contact with British Columbia authorities came in 2005, as he was being sought for the Edmonton rape.

On Tuesday, [Calgary] police released new photos of Zimmerman, including ones that have been digitally altered to show how he would look with a beard or if he shaves off his goatee.

Bobrowich said the fugitive is known to alter his appearance and likely has changed his looks--growing out his hair for example -- to keep the public from recognizing him. Police also have photos of him leaving his home, dressed for the weather and with a backpack and duffel bag around 4 a. m. on Oct. 13.

Zimmerman has a limited amount of cash, so he may have hitchhiked out of town or taken a bus. He could be staying at a lower-rate hotel or motel, Bobrowich said. Police warned those staying or working at those accommodations to be wary.

Bobrowich worries that Zimmerman may con his way into a woman's life, get her to let him stay at her house or apartment, groom, then rape her. "His violent sexual offences have been as a result of him associating with women. It's very much a power and control, and slow manipulating and grooming process," he said.

Abbotsford Police Const. Ian MacDonald said every police officer in the department has received information on Zimmerman. “I would imagine given the nature of the crime we have a major crime detective who is liaising with other police agencies and an intelligence officer disseminating information,” said MacDonald.

Officers have made attempts to speak to various people in Abbotsford and check last known addresses for the offender, he said. He would not say if any of Zimmerman’s victims were still in the community or seeking police protection.

“We’re fully aware of the background and potential dangers that exist, and are conducting the appropriate inquiries, but due to the nature of his background we won’t be going into details.”

Calgary and Abbottford police are in contact working to apprehend Zimmerman. He is described as an extremely high risk to offend. He is bald, white, 5’9” in height, and weighing 205 pounds. Anyone spotting Zimmerman is urged not to approach him but to call local police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

(Update 6-25-10) Zimmerman was caught in Abbotsford, BC on December 7, 2009, carrying restraining devices (shoelaces which could be used as a ligature to strangle), and  was brought before Provincial court Judge Gerald Meagher Tuesday, June 22. Zimmenman admitted breaching six conditions of his peace bond, which he signed September 29. Those conditions were not abiding by a curfew, not living at a designated Calgary residence, not reporting to his probation officer, possessing a knife, possessing a weapon dangerous to the public peace and possessing shoe laces tied together that could be used as a ligature.

He was sentenced to 40 months in prison by Judge Meagher, who was concerned about the convicted rapist "continu[ing] to be a high risk for violent recidivism and sexual recidivism." Meagher's assessment of Zimmerman continues below.


  The breaches of the reporting, residency and curfew conditions were serious breaches, because they were part of the framework of supervision to manage the offender's risk to the community. His degree of violence appears to be escalating and he appears to be ambivalent to accepting responsibility for his offences and his victims...These same items, a knife and restraining devices (shoelaces tied with slip knots), had been used on his most recent victim who had been repeatedly sexually asaulted over a period of approximately nine hours of confinement. For these offences Zimmerman served his full sentence, the National Parole Board refusing to grant him parole because of the danger or risk that he presented to the community."

Remains of 25 year old Brooklyn woman missing since December 2008 found- repeat sex offender suspected

(Original Post 12-11-08)
A high ranking New York City MTA assistant police chief’s son, sandwich shop owner, and registered SO was arrested yesterday on suspicion of the kidnapping (and presumably rape and murder) of a 25 year old aspiring dancer from McAllen, TX after her disappearance a week ago today.

According to her family, 25 year old Laura Garza, shoe store worker and recent transplant to New York from Texas, Garza fell in love with NYC after a trip there earlier this year, and saw an opportunity to engage in two of her passions – designing and dance.

Garza's cousin, Isela Villalobos, told WNBC Monday from Mission, Texas, that Garza loved New York after moving there from McAllen. “She went there for a vacation this year and she came back and told her mother she was moving,” Villalobos said. “She loved fashion and she loved the dance, and where else but New York do you go for that?”

As the search for Garza continues, all her friends and family can do is hope and pray that she is found alive.

Garza’s aunt, Elma Esquivel, sat with other family members in their home in Texas, holding pictures of the missing woman and weeping. “He knows where she is,” she said of Mele. “How come he don't tell us where she is?”

“If you guys see her, please call the police and let the authorities know that you've seen her or try to help her out,” her friend Christy Torres told NBC News. “We really want her to come home. We want her to be safe.”

Unfortunately, it is probably too late, as Garza crossed paths with 23 year old Michael Melo, the Newburgh, NY area sex offender with a history of exposing himself to women, and either forcing sex on them, or jacking off in front of them.

Melo had been charged, then convicted of shopping mall parking lot sexual assaults in New Jersey, where he would run up to women, jack off in front of them, leaving semen on his victim’s clothing. One of the New Jersey victims was a 16 year old girl. These offenses were plead down to child endangerment and forcible touching, and Melo was sentenced to 6 years probation.

Garza was picked up at a Manhattan club a week ago today at 4 AM by Melo and another man, after going out with a friend, something that profiler Clint Van Zandt says protects from sexual predation of adults:

Garza came to the bar with a friend, but she left her friend to be with a man she had just met, someone she otherwise knew nothing about. As Tom Cruise's character learned in the movie "Top Gun," you never leave your wingman, the person who would have your best interest at heart, a lesson also learned by 18-year-old Natalee Holloway in Aruba and Imette St. Guillen, the 24-year-old criminal justice graduate student who in early 2006, made a fatal error in judgment; she too trusted the wrong man.

After the other man left, Garza was left alone with Melo, who was the last person who saw her alive. They went to Melo’s hometown of Newburgh, and that’s where the last reports of her alive were made. Though she hasn’t been found, profiler Clint van Zandt lays out his belief that Garza is probably dead, using available police evidence:

When Garza was reported as missing, the police quickly went looking for Mele. When they found him he had scratches on his neck, bite marks on his hands, and had allegedly scrubbed his car and apartment with bleach, this with the assistance of his unknowing girlfriend. He also cut out a large piece of his carpet, indicating that he had accidentally spilled bleach on it, a piece large enough to wrap around the body of a 5’2”, 120 lb. woman like Garza. Witnesses indicate Mele frantically cleaned and vacuumed his car and apartment the morning of Garza’s disappearance, eventually disposing of the vacuum cleaner, one that could contain physical evidence related to the missing woman.

In their search for Garza, police have found a machete, a woman’s shoe and other items of clothing that could be related to the victim, some of which were recovered from a nearby dumpster he was seen going through. Evidence of blood was found in Mele’s SUV, one he had parked at his parent’s home, and blood was also found by police in his apartment.

DNA should quickly tell police if the blood and other physical evidence confirm what investigators believe, that Mele took Garza to his apartment where he may have assaulted and murdered her, then took her remains to a yet to be discovered body disposal site. Should this be the case, investigators will attempt to determine where he car was the morning of Garza's disappearance and where a man in panic would go to dispose of a body.

Divers are in the pond behind his apartment in case he chose a close by site. Although now in police custody for violation of his probation, he is represented by counsel and is not discussing his role in the disappearance and possible death of Garza. I have no doubt that other young girls and women, after seeing Mele's photo and reading about his actions, will come forward to identify him as their previously unidentified assailant. Too late, I fear, for Laura Garza.

Melo was arrested yesterday and held on $50,000 bond by Rockland County police for parole violations, including skipping three sex offender classes, hanging out at bars, failing to met with his PO, and moving to his own apartment from his parents’ home. At least 10 other women have reported various sexual violations by Melo, and officials suspect that the number of victims is much higher.

Besides Paramus, NJ police officials, other law enforcement officers have investigated Melo. Police Detective William Fritz became interested in Melo 2 years ago after complaints of sexual aggression against young women. “His behavior can be described like a predator,” Fritz said.

When minors are kidnapped by sex offenders, most of the time, the first 72 hours are the most critical (and this is the reason why Amber Alerts are issued). If a victim has not been found in the first three days alive, they probably won’t be. There is no reason to doubt this applies to adult victims as well as child victims. However, Garza’s Texas family, including her aunt Elma Esquivel, are holding out hope that for one young woman, things might turn out differently.

“He knows where she is. How come he don't tell us where she is?”

(Update 4-26-10) Laura Garza's body was found in Pennsylvania. Her remains were discovered by two ATV riders in a field April 11 in Olyphant Township, PA, near Scranton.

By April 13, Pennsylvania investigators determined the remains didn’t belong to a missing person in that state’s database. They notified state police in New York, and that led investigators to travel to Pennsylvania and obtain sample to use for the DNA tests.

New York State Police Capt. Wayne Olson said that “That DNA evidence has concluded that the remains are definitely those of Laura Garza...We’ve got a lot of legwork to do here.”  Convicted sex offender Richard Mele is still the only suspect in her murder. "Michael Mele has never been cooperative in this investigation," Olson said.

Miss Garza's remains and a Michael Kors wristwatch were found in a remote wooded area more than a half-mile from the nearest home. Two days after the discovery, investigators in Pennsylvania contacted state police in Middletown, N.Y., to see if the remains could belong to Miss Garza.

Now that the remains have been identified, both New York and Pennsylvania investigators will begin trying to determine the circumstances surrounding Miss Garza's death. For now, New York investigators have taken the lead in the investigation, though Lackawanna County District Attorney Andy Jarbola said his office, the state police and the county coroner's office are still involved in the investigation.

"New York authorities have jurisdiction," he said. "It is possible she was killed here, but I believe the evidence will dictate otherwise." He declined to elaborate.

Lt. Pierce Gallagher said officials plan to interview residents in the Olyphant area regarding possible recollections of suspicious activity around the time of Garza's disappearence and death.

Repeat sex offender sentenced to 40 years for rape

A registered sex offender was sentenced in a suburban Denver courtroom to 40 years in prison for burglarizing a house and raping a 59 year old woman inside. 23 year old Ryan Ray Iliff was sentenced Friday, February 19 to 40 years imprisonment in Jefferson County District Court. Iliff pled guilty January 4 to kidnapping with sexual assault, attempted sexual assault, and 1st degree criminal trespass.

In the hours prior to the early-morning assault, the 23-year-old Iliff got drunk following a fight with his girlfriend. Iliff then drove into a residential neighborhood in south Jefferson County carrying duct tape and rope in a backpack.Iliff failed to get into the first home he tried to invade: He pried out window screens, cut the phone line and attempted unsuccessfully to pry the metal security bar out of the track of a sliding glass door.

He went next door and was able to get in. Inside the second home, the woman awoke to find Iliff with his hand over her mouth. He sexually assaulted the victim and then ran from the home. The victim immediately called 911 and was careful not to disturb any evidence left by her assailant, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department.

Law enforcement lifted Iliff's fingerprints from the crime scene, leading to his arrest.

Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey priased the victim, saying, "The victim in the case showed extraordinary courage. She has serious health issues that have been exacerbated by the trauma of the sexual assault. In this case, with her full agreement, we let the defendant plead guilty to avoid going to trial and having to put the victim through the difficult process."

Rapist released from prison charged with new rape after cutting off monitoring bracelet

A convicted Massachusetts rapist, who was out on probation after serving 8 to 9 years imprisonment for a previous rape, was charged with raping another woman last Thursday evening at about 11:30 PM local time. 29 year old William French had been released June 24 to his grandparents' custody in Framingham, MA for what was supposed to have been 6 years of parole, which he immediately violated January 4. Middlesex Superior Court Judge Howard Whitehead could have sent French back to prison, but ordered him to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet during a February 16 hearing.

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.

Sunday School teacher stabbed to death outside of Wal-Mart - convicted sex offender suspect

A registered sex offender with a long criminal history in Arkansas was arrested outside his Oklahoma City trailer Saturday, February 6 and charged with the 1st degree murder of a 26 year old Sunday School teacher. Family members said that the victim, Nelly Pelts, made a habit of shopping lat at night inside the Del City Wal-Mart, all the while, witnessing and telling folks about her church, located next to the murder scene.

This habit turned tragic when Platts met James Allen O'Berry, 53, around 12:20 AM Saturday. The video shows O'Berry approaching Pelts and them leaving the store parking lot at 12:35 AM. According to O'Berry, they went outside of their cars then left with her. Next thing, according to O'Berry, he "blacked out" and at around 12:50 AM Saturday,  O'Berry stabbed the woman to death and struck her with his car. He was later found inside his Oklahoma City mobile home.

James Allen O'Berry, 53, was taken into custody late Saturday evening after surveillance video from the Del City Walmart was aired on several local television stations and two separate tipsters called with O'Berry's name and address.

When detectives and officers from Midwest City and Oklahoma City Police Department arrived at O'Berry's mobile home, 2401 SE 44th, Lot No. 50 in Oklahoma City, his 1997 Lincoln Towne car was parked outside.

The car matched the description given by the witness who saw the attack and also had damage to the left front and driver's side rear view mirror. Evidence gathered at the murder scene from the suspect's car was linked to O'Berry's Lincoln. The car also had blood inside.

Investigators recovered O'Berry's clothing which had been discarded and dumped in a trash bin near I-35 and SW 44th Street.

 

Search warrants have been conducted on O'Berry's home and car in which additional evidence has been recovered. O'Berry had changed his appearance by cutting his hair and also suffered a laceration to his left arm during the attack which required medical treatment prior to him being jailed.

Del City Police Chief  Brandon Clabes' statement is below.

  We are extremely grateful to Walmart for providing photos of our suspect, to the media for airing those almost instantaneously, and to our tipsters who called in which lead to O'Berry's identification .A tremendous amount of manpower was allocated to solve this brutal homicide, and everyone worked tirelessly for justice. You have a young, innocent woman who devotes her life to her faith and because of this, becomes targeted by a sexual predator and ultimately killed. Basically within a time span of twenty minutes, James O'Berry tracked his prey and viciously killed her.

Brian Bates, the "Video Vigilante" who prevents johns from picking up prostitutes on a particular stretch of Oklahoma City highway, said that O'Berry tried to assault him, and heard from people who knew the convict after posting the video online. "All of those emails came with a warning he's a very violent man," Bates said.

Bates said he filed a complaint with the police department. But in the meantime, he tried to prevent O'Berry from soliciting prostitutes.

"My only fear is since the police didn't act on my video and didn't charge this guy with some sort of probation violation, he was then allowed to perpetrate this murder," Bates said.

District Attorney David Prate said he's been in contact with Brian Bates about the complaint he filed at the police department. Prater said he's trying to find out what happened and if O'Berry's probation could have been revoked, which may have prevented the murder of Nelly Pelts.

The Midwest City police department is currently holding O'Berry on a 1st degree murder complaint and is questioning him to see if more crimes can be traced to him.

Besides this case, O'Berry is named as a suspect in two other Oklahoma City police cases. In one, a 26 year old women complained that she started to be stalked after O'Bery met her at her southeast Oklahoma City church. A second woman alleges that as a police impersonator, O'Berry pulled her over in her car and raped her.

Formerly committed serial rapist almost strikes again - sentenced to at least 20 years

(Original Post 10-25-09)
A serial rapist, confined at a state mental hospital after convictions of five rapes in the 1970's, was arrested for trying to rape a jogger at a Massachusetts state park September 28. Fifty-one year old Scott Gagnon, of Tewksbury, will be arraigned in Salem Superior Court for attempted rape and indecent assault and battery. Gagnon faces life in prison for the new charges, and is being held without bond as a danger to women.

The indictments, which were expected, were handed up late Wednesday by an Essex County grand jury. They move the case out of Ipswich District Court. Prosecutor Gerald Shea said he expects Gagnon to be rearraigned in Salem Superior Court within the next several weeks.

Gagnon was arrested on Sept. 28 after a woman jogging at the Sandy Point State Reservation at the southern tip of Plum Island reported that she was grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground. The woman managed to escape her attacker's grasp and ran, flagging down two men, who then drove her to a security gate to report the incident. Gagnon was found in a truck a short time later.

Gagnon was released from Bridgewater State Hospital in 2007 after being committed there in 1980 for the 70's rapes. Experts pronounced him "cured" even though Gagnon admitted to 20 other rapes before institutionalization. Only a week before the rape attempt, Gagnon, along with 40 other men, was busted in a john sting held by Haverhill, MA police, and released after paying a $500 fine.

(Update 2-6-10) Gagnon was sentenced to 20 to 25 years in prison for the rape attempt last fall by Judge John Lu. The sentencing took place Thursday, February 4, just after he took a plea deal on attempted rape and indecent assault and battery charges. Gangon will spend 20 years on probation and lifetime community supervision if he's released from prison. Ironically, Gagnon's minimum sentence is longer than it would have been if he was sentenced to life under Massachusetts law.

More details about that attempt are posted below. He can still be designated a sexually violent predator at the conclusion of his sentence.

Prosecutor Gerald Shea described to the judge the details of what happened on the afternoon of Sept. 28 at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, a seven-mile stretch of wilderness with hiking trails and beaches that stretches from Newbury to Ipswich.

The woman had gone to the southern end of the island, and was on the beach at the Sandy Point State Reservation in Ipswich when she first noticed Gagnon.

He stood out because of his attire, dressed more like a construction worker than a typical visitor to the refuge, Shea said. As he walked around, he was making her uncomfortable, Shea said. She realized that he was watching her.

So the woman went into a bathroom and changed into some running clothes, then started jogging on the wet sand. As she looked over her shoulder, she quickly realized that Gagnon was following behind her.

After a while Gagnon moved up toward the road and seemed to disappear. The woman kept running, about two miles, Shea said. Then, suddenly, Gagnon appeared again, trying to start a conversation. He asked her about the temperature of the water. She kept running.

Moments later, she felt someone come up fast behind her. Gagnon grabbed her around the chest and threw her to the ground. The woman screamed and resisted as waves of water broke over them. She was able to break away and began running. Gagnon ran, too, in the opposite direction.

A father and his daughter who were planning to spend the afternoon surfcasting on the island happened to drive by and the woman flagged them down, Shea said. That driver, Jeffrey Shaw, told police that the woman was "terrified." He called for help and drove her to the main gate of the refuge, where police were waiting.

Meanwhile, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife officer at the parking lot at the end of the island had spotted and detained Gagnon. Gagnon claimed he'd been jogging on the beach, and the woman was "in his way," so he "just grabbed her to move her out of his way."

Carol Cahill, Gagnon's atorney, said that "Mr. Gagnon, in all likelihood, is never going to be free again."

Rapist, killer of "girlfriend" sentenced to 20-60 years for molesting 7 year old

A convicted rapist and murderer who served prison time for killing his "girlfriend" will now spend an additional 20 to 60 years in the New Hampshire State Prison for molesting a seven year old girl. Forty-four year old George Quintero, formerly of Salem, NH was found April 1 of aggravated felonious sexual assault and felonious sexual assault for molesting a seven year old girl at his house in February 2007.

Assistant County Attorney Karen Springer said that Quintero's past needed to be taken into consideration when sentencing. "I don't think we're trying to make an analogy, but I do think this defendant picked both of these victims," she said.

The judge in Quintero's case agreed, because her statement to the perpetrator was "If ever there was a case that deserved the maximum sentence, this is the case," said Judge Tina Nadeau, who said that Quintero had a proven history of preying on adults and children.

In 1984, Quintero was in the military, stationed in Germany, when he went to his 20-year-old girlfriend's home drunk wanting her to take care of him, Springer said. When she refused, he went to a friend's home. Quintero and his friend decided to return to the woman's home and murder her, she said.

"He punched her in her face four or five times. She tried to scream, tried to yell out. He responded by slicing both sides of her neck," Springer said. "After that, he raped her and so did his friend." The two men stabbed the woman with a knife repeatedly, Springer said.

After admitting to the rape and murder, Quintero was sentenced to 27 years, but got out of prison in May 2001 after serving 17 - a decision that according to the prosecutor, led to the molestation. "Had he done 27 years, it would have taken him into 2012 and we wouldn't be here."

The girl's mother, arguing for the maximum sentence, "She is a typical 10-year-old (now) with scars for the rest of her life. (She) was a victim because of this rapist and murderer."

Richard Samdperil, Quitero's attorney, said that his client had a productive life after release from prison and may have another chance of contributing to society. "When he was released from prison, he worked, he established a new relationship with a girlfriend. He still has the ability to work and contribute to society. All that should be considered."

Salem police Sgt. Michael Kelly, the investigator in the molestation case, said  "He received what he deserved for a sentence. I'm happy for the mother and father of the victim and hope they can all move on with their lives."

Repeat voyeur sentenced to 12 years, sex offender treatment

Posted: August 15, 2009 [Indianapolis Star]

A Marion Superior Court judge Friday sentenced a repeated Peeping Tom to 12 years in prison and two years in community corrections.

William Newhouse, 51, was accused of spying into a woman'sbedroom several times from September to February in an apartment complex on Indianapolis' Far Southside. He pleaded guilty to all counts against him, including two counts of burglary, voyeurism, stalking and public indecency.

Newhouse broke into a screened-in porch adjacent to the woman's bedroom, according to charging documents.

He had three previous voyeurism or trespassing convictions, Deputy Prosecutor Eric Schmadeke said. Judge Kurt Eisgruber gave Newhouse a 24-year sentence, suspending 10 years. Newhouse also will be put on probation for three years and was ordered to get sex-offender treatment.

Repeat offender charged with raping, beating prostitute

Daryl Norris, who police said shared consensual sex and crack cocaine with a 35 year old woman recently convicted of prostitution, has now been charged with kidnapping, two counts of second degree sexual assault and one count of second degree reckless endangerment for raping, beating, and offering her services to another man.

The 35-year-old victim was repeatedly beaten and kicked by Norris and thrown down a flight of stairs, the complaint says.

The complaint quotes Madison Police Detective Lisa Wing as saying "she has never seen an adult with such extensive bruising," as the victim had. "She had extensive bruising, swelling and abrasions on her entire head and body," the complaint says.

Eventually, when Norris fell asleep, the victim was able to escape at about 4:30 a.m. on May 17 through the front door after removing a make-shift barricade made out of a chair, table, hand weights and a piece of wood.

The victim fled nude to the nearby Lake Point Road area where she pounded on windows to attract attention and gained the help of residents there.

According to the complaint, the victim agreed to go with Norris to share crack cocaine and when they got to his house they had consensual sex, the woman said, and then smoked some crack Norris had bought. The victim would later tell police Norris acted strangely after ingesting the crack.

"He made growling noises and talked about the bible while he smoked the crack cocaine," the complaint says.

The woman wanted to leave, but Norris persuaded her to stay with the promise of more crack, according to the complaint. He then forced her to have sex with him, dragged her around the basement of his house, and beat and kicked her. He also offered her services to another man who declined.

The victim said she was knocked out during the beatings and doesn't remember some of it "because the defendant beat her viciously and repeatedly about her head and face," according to the complaint.

Norris, who is charged as an repeat offender, faces 152 years of both prison and extended supervision for all charges.

Repeat offender convicted on rape and kidnapping in NJ - paroled from VA on same charges

After a jury found a Lakewood, NJ man guilty of an abduction which occurred back in 2004, Executive Assistant State’s Attorney Ocean County Prosecutor Michel A. Paulhus filed papers seeking a life sentence based on the rapist’s prior record.

James L. Calhoun’s trial in the courtroom of Superior Court Wendel E. Daniels began on May 14, and continued until 3:30 PM Tuesday, when after two days of deliberation, a jury returned a guilty verdict on multiple counts. Calhoun commited the crimes while absconding from Virginia parole supervision for the same crimes - kidnapping and sex assault.

The jury found Calhoun, 30, of Lakewood, NJ was found guilty carjacking, aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping, burglary, robbery and sexual assault. The panel, however, acquitted Calhoun of possessing a knife for an unlawful purpose and unlawfully possessing the knife.
Calhoun was on parole in Virginia from a 10-year prison term imposed in 2002 for sexual battery and abduction, according to the court papers. Calhoun also has prior convictions in New Jersey for burglary and theft.

The victim in the Lakewood case testified at trial that Calhoun abducted her at knifepoint from the Seagull Square shopping plaza on Route 9 in Lakewood on Oct. 3, 2004. He forced her into her car and drove to Vine Street in Lakewood, where he repeatedly raped her, she said. Then, he drove to a series of three ATMs, where he forced her to tell him her personal identification number so that he could withdraw $700 from her accounts, she said.

The victim also testified Calhoun drove around Lakewood and South Toms River to buy marijuana and other drugs. She said she smoked marijuana with him in hopes of gaining his trust and her eventual release.

Defense attorney Paul Zager contended that the victim had consensual sex with Calhoun, although prosecutor’s Investigator Kenneth Hess testified that Calhoun confessed to the rape.

In the confession, Calhoun told Hess he placed a knife to a woman’s throat at the shopping plaza, forced her into the back seat of her car, drove her around, tied her up with socks and raped her. After that, he demanded the victim’s ATM card and drove to several cash machines to withdraw money he later used to buy marijuana, heroin and cocaine.

After almost five hours of holding the woman captive, Calhoun apologized to her and told her to drop him off, according to Hess. Another state witness, Sgt. Eugene Thatcher of the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office, testified at the trial that Calhoun’s fingerprint was recovered from inside the victim’s car.

Calhoun will undergo a pre sentencing sex offender evaluation at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Avenal, NJ to determine if his sex offending is repetitive and compulsive.

Because Calhoun is a repeat offender, he faces life in prison on either the carjacking or sexual assault charge, and Paulhaus intends to seek such a sentence. If the judge does not sentence him to life, he faces 10 to 20 years in prison for each offense. For the other crimes, Calhoun faces 5 to 10 years.

Anchorage repeat rapist sentenced to 25 years

A repeat rapist was sentenced to 25 years in prison and 10 years probation for raping a woman after he finished a sentences for another rape.

Mark Abrell, 50, was convicted of first-degree sexual assault in December for the 2005 attack, Adrienne Bachman[Anchorage District Attorney] said. Abrell was already a registered sex offender at the time of the rape -- he was convicted in 1982 on multiple sexual assault counts. The victims in both attacks were strangers, Bachman said.

Abrell raped a woman in a wooded area in Anchorage back in 2005. Surveillance cameras captured the woman and her attacker just before the sex assault, and DNA evidence linked Abrell to the rape. He was sentenced by Judge John Suddock.

Repeat peeper rearrested on similar charges

Bruce E. Weese, 52, a voyeur previously convicted of the crime, was ordered held on misdemeanor video voyeurism charges for taping up the skirt of a visiting airline stewardess at a Bealls Department Store on the north side of St. Petersburg. He also faces charges for the same behavior, but with a 11 year old girl. It looks like he'll just miss felony charges, since a bill making peeping on minors a felony is sitting on the Florida Governor's desk. The incident involving the women occurred April 5.

The victim — a woman in her 30s from Illinois visiting relatives — was unaware of what Weese was doing, but security guards had seen him behaving oddly outside the store, authorities said. Weese left before security guards could arrest him.

Weese also is suspected of going into the women's bathroom at the store April 16 and sliding his cell phone under a stall to photograph an 11-year-old girl, but he has not been charged in that incident, St. Petersburg police Detective Peter Venero said.

Investigators confiscated Weese's cell phone and were putting together a search warrant today so they could view the pictures on it, Venero said.

After the surveillance video was released, police received tips identifying the man as Weese, Venero said.

Weese was charged and pled no contest to voyeurism back in 2006, when his victim was a woman whose bathroom stall he peeked under. He served a year of probation. Voyeurism is a misdemeanor if done less than three times and a felony when done three times or more in Florida. A bill seeks to make voyeurs who prey on kids under 16 liable for a felony conviction is on Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's desk, after the case of a coach who victimized more than 50 of his high school swimming students. In Illinois, voyeurism is a felony regardless of the victim's age.

Serial rapist pleads guilty,confesses to more repes.

Clifford Jones, a Cleveland-area rapist, confessed to five unsloved rapes from the 1980s as well as the rapes of young women in the mid 2000s. The unsolved rapes occured before the imprisonment for raping a relative.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason said, "This monster terrorized Cleveland Heights. Today's plea brings justice to four victims and closes an ugly chapter in the lives of five others."According to the prosecutor's office Jones, 49, of Cleveland, was convicted of raping a young relative in 1985. He was imprisoned for 15 years. After getting out of prison in 2000, Jones raped and sexually assaulted four young women.

On September 16, 2004, Jones attempted to rape a 22-year-old female on Edgehill Drive in Cleveland Heights, after she had parked her car.

He raped a second 22 year old woman, this time a Case Western Reserve student into the woods on October 8, 2004. Jones will be sentenced May 7.

Philly man with previous convictions pleads guilty to rape

A 44 year old Philadelphia man with a previous conviction for robbery and previous rape arrests where the victim did not press charges pled guilty to attempted rape and armed robbery. He faces a mandatory minimum of 10 to 20 years when he is sentenced July 14 by Judge Earl W. Trent Jr.

About 10 a.m. Feb. 20, 2007, Wooden entered the dry cleaners with his hand in his coat pocket, as if he had a gun, Assistant District Attorney Bill Davis said in court yesterday.

Wooden swiped $40 from the cash register, then pushed the woman owner to the back of the store, forced her on the floor and attempted to rape her, Davis said.

Wooden was arrested June 14 in a building on Woodland Avenue near 70th Street in Southwest Philadelphia.

In court yesterday, Wooden, wearing a buttoned-down shirt and glasses, cried after pleading guilty.

Wooden faces a maximum of 20 to 40 years. Attempted rape and robbery are 1st degree felonies in Pennsylvania.

Already convicted felon sentenced to 40 years for rape and robbery

Brad Max Lamar, a 20 year old Macon, GA man, was sentenced to 40 years in prison, 25 years for rape and 15 years for armed robbery, for an attack on a Macon woman last October.

[He] entered a guilty plea in Bibb County Superior Court. He was indicted in November on charges of rape, armed robbery, kidnapping, burglary, theft by receiving a motor vehicle, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and two counts of aggravated sodomy, according to court records.

In exchange for his guilty plea, all charges except rape and armed robbery were dismissed. Lamar was sentenced to 25 years in prison on the rape charge and 15 for armed robbery.
Assistant district attorney Nancy Scott Malcor said the woman was at home Oct. 2 waiting on a repairman when she heard a knock at the door.

When she opened the door, expecting to see the repairman, Lamar asked for water for his overheating car. The woman retrieved a gallon jug of water and returned to the door, where Lamar attacked her, Malcor said. Lamar dragged the woman back into her house, demanding money. A neighbor heard her screams and called for help, Malcor said.

Lamar brandished a gun and at one point, and demanded money and jewelry. He choked her before the sexual assault. He bound the woman's hands and feet with her pantyhose and struck her with the gun before fleeing, when he was arrested by police.

California cousins allegedly pimp disabled woman

Two cousins, one of wich is a suspect in a juvenile prostion ring, have been arrested for allegedly pimping a 19 year old develpmentally disabled woman. Della Silva, 19, along with her boyfriend, was identified as a suspect in pimping and pandering a 14 year old girl in an incident which occured last year.

Police continued an investigation into Silva when, in January, a 19-year-old developmentally disabled woman alleged that Silva's cousin raped her and that Silva had forced her into acts of prostitution with strangers, according to police.Police served a search warrant at Silva's Vallejo home Tuesday, arresting Silva and turning her 21-month-old daughter over to Solano County Child Protective Services, according to the Police Department.

Silva's cousin, San Francisco resident Dwayne Fitch, was arrested a short time later in Napa, Vallejo police reported. During interviews with police, Fitch allegedly admitted to taking part in the rape of the 19-year-old victim, police reported. Fitch also reportedly described how Silva allegedly sought out clients for the victim and drove the woman to meet the clients and engage in sex acts in exchange for money, according to the Police Department.

Bpth suspects were booked on charges of pimping, rape of a person with a mental disorder, sodomy, lewd and lascivious acts, and conspiracy. Police believe that there were additional victims, and anyone with any information should call Vallejo police Detective Cpl. Les Bottomley at (707) 648-4533.

Man sentenced to 17-40 years for assault of girlfriend

The girlfriend told the court that she had made up the story about the domestic violence she suffered at the hands of her boyfriend to get back at him for beating her while she was pregnant with their child, now a 10 month old boy.

But according to The Daily Local, Defendant sentenced for rape, assault:

The jury rejected her story and found [Jose] Zavala Rodriguez guilty of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated assault and aggravated assault of an unborn child.
Judge Howard F. Riley Jr. said he wanted to ensure that Rodriguez Zavala, 29, remain incarcerated for the bulk of his adult life as a punishment for a long time of anti-social behavior.

“I find there is nothing other than long-term incarceration to satisfy the needs of this case,” Riley said in handing down his sentence. “I see no other choice.”
The prosecutor in the case, Assistant District Attorney Michelle Frei, had asked Riley to send the defendant to state prison for no less than 20 years. After the sentencing however, she said she was ultimately happy with the prison term he received. “I think it takes into account the seriousness of his conduct and sends a message to domestic violence offenders that their conduct will be punished,” Frei said.

The assault occured on September 19, 2006, when the then 26 year old woman was 14 weeks pregnant with their child John. Zavala beat the woman so severely that both of her eyes were swollen shut and bruised. Hopspital photographs shw numerous bruises and scretches. She escaped the home along with her 4 year old son after her perp fell asleep, and was found sitting at a relative's home in Kennett Square.

When the relative took her to work at the Kaolin Mushroom Co., an administrator there said her injuries were so severe that she was unrecognizable. The woman later told police Rodriguez Zavala had punched her repeatedly and had sat on her stomach. He then forced her to have sex, she told police.

The woman, however, maintained that she wasn't raped and the sex that they had that night was consensual. She has maintained contact with her attacker even after the guilty verdict, and has asked the courts for leniency.

To ask why she would forgive the man who beat her and raped her redirects the blame for the violence, Frei said. “The focus should be on the defendant,” she told Riley. “This is about holding the defendant responsible for his actions.”

Frei, who has been handling domestic violence cases in the county district attorney’s office for more than seven years, said the assault on the woman was worse than a shooting because of the repeated nature of the blows she suffered.

“I can honestly say that in 7½ years this is the worst domestic violence case that I have ever seen where the victim lived,” she said. She noted that the woman suffered orbital fractures in both here eyes and a skull fracture.

Zavala has a history of arrests and other convictions for other acts of violence against women.

In 1999, he was found guilty of simple assault for an attack on another girlfriend. After he was paroled from county prison, he attacked a woman who had picked him up hitchhiking on Christmas Day, then threatened to kill her and robbed her of $100. I addition, he was found guilty of beating the victim in this case in February 2006 when they lived in Oxford.
Frei noted that Rodriguez Zavala also had a history of association with criminal street gangs in his past.

Rodriguez Zavala’s attorney, veteran defense lawyer Howard Brown of Coatesville, acknowledged that his client had acted badly but urged Riley not to accept Frei’s recommended sentence, which he called “excessive.” “This is not a hopeless case,” he said. Most of the crimes that he committed in the past were not against the community in general but against people who Rodriguez Zavala knew and was intimate with.

For the sake of his son and the woman who is that child’s mother, Brown asked Riley to fashion a sentence that would allow him to establish a relationship with them after release.
“Certainly Mr. Zavala regards this as an ugly, bad situation,” Brown said. “But to make it a hopeless situation for him is not a productive way to address this problem.”

Because the conviction was Zavala's second strike, he faced a minimum sentence of 10 to 20 years, and because of the rape, he will be reauired to register as a sex offender under Pennsylvania's Megan's Law.

Iraq war veteran sentenced to 25 years for prostitute rape

A Kansas soldier who served time in Iraq before being charged then convicted of raping and cutting a prostitute has been sentenced to serve the next quarter-century in prison.

The Kansas City Star has more in the article "Man sentenced to 25 years for sexual assault".

Judge Brian Wimes said James D. Baldwin thought he could get away with attacking such victims because most prostitutes would not complain and no one would believe or care if they did.

“That jury cared and this court cared,” Wimes told him.

A jury convicted Baldwin last year of rape, sodomy and two counts of second-degree assault for the Nov. 1, 2004, assault. He originally was charged with attacks on three women that year. Sexual assault charges involving another prostitute were dropped after she died of a drug overdose. A weapons charge is pending against him related to the third woman.

All three women were attacked by a man in a white van. The trial victim and the woman who died both were picked up at Ninth and Genessee streets, driven elsewhere and assaulted in the van.

Baldwin, who lived in Olathe, KS, was a suspect, and he later went into the Army and fought in Iraq, but was sent directly to the county jail after his arrest. This was made possible when Baldwin's DNA was proven to be a match with DNA found on the jeans of the trial victim. That victim also wrote down his license plate.

On Friday, Baldwin told the judge he was innocent and is a nonviolent person. Several members of his church and his wife testified in his favor. Leonardo Balderes said that Baldwin had been active in church and that he had never seen him drink or curse.

Assistant prosecutor Tricia Lacey countered that court records show Baldwin has a history of consorting with prostitutes and once was robbed by one. When he attacked them, she said, he counted on them not telling or no one caring if they did.

The 39-year-old rape victim told someone a week after her attack because she hoped police would stop the van driver from assaulting others, Lacey said, and the woman has since quit drugs and crime and is a productive citizen.

The sentence is not about the victim’s past choices, Lacey said. “It is about the choice he made.” She asked for a 27-year prison term for Baldwin.

Defense lawyer Molly Hastings asked for a sentence of either probation or 10 years because that would tie into the argument than everyone is redeemable. Judge Wimes, however, said that Baldwin failed to show his dark side. "“You were a predator.”