Dean Cage Freed from Prison After Serving 12 Years for a Crime He Didn't Commit

May 30, 2008

DNA testing has exonerated a man who has served 12 years of a 40-year prison sentence. According to a spokesperson for the New York-based Innocence Project, which investigates wrongful convictions, the state attorney's office in Cook County, Illinois, has vacated the conviction of 41-year-old Dean Cage and has dismissed all charges against him stemming from the alleged rape of a teenage girl in 1994.

"I have my life back," Dean said during an interview with the Chicago Tribune. "It means the world to me. I never had a doubt. I am happy and blessed."

Dean's arrest and subsequent conviction came after the victim of an alleged rape identified him as her attacker.

According to court records, the victim, a 15-year-old girl, was walking to a school bus stop on the morning of November 14, 1994, when a man wearing a black leather jacket and hat grabbed her and pulled her into an alleyway. It was there, she later testified, that the man pushed her up against a wall and sexually assaulted her. Afterwards, the man fled on foot, and the girl notified police.

Using the girl's description of the attacker, police investigators created a computer-generated sketch of the suspect and circulated it throughout the neighborhood where the crime had occurred. Approximately one week later, police fielded a call from a tipster who told them that a man matching the description of the suspect was employed at a local meat-packing plant.

Armed with the tipster's information, police took the victim to Dean's place of work, and...

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Photo Credit: Illinois Department of Corrections

Police Identify Wealthy Family of Five Dead in California

May 28, 2008

The Orange County Sheriff's Department has positively identified the five family members who were found dead in an upscale California neighborhood last Sunday.

According to Lt. Erin Giudice, spokeswoman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department, the victims have been identified as Manas Ucar, 58, and his wife Margrit, 48; 21-year-old twin daughters, Margo and Grace; and the family's maternal grandmother, 72-year-old Fransuhi Kesisoglu.

ABC News is reporting that Manas Ucar was a former Syracuse University professor who, along with his wife, had emigrated from Turkey several years ago. According to The Southern Ledger, the couple's daughters had recently completed bachelor degrees in biology.

Giudice confirmed reports that Manas and Margrit had suffered gunshot wounds; however could not comment on how the remaining family members died pending the release of additional autopsy results.

Yesterday, Guidice said that Manas and Margrit were found in a downstairs closet, while Margo, Grace and Fransuhi were discovered in the attached bedroom. Guidice also said that two handguns were found at the scene, one of which was registered to the Margrit Ucar.

More details are expected in the coming days.

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Manas Ucar's Photo Curtsey of Orange County Sheriff's Department

Wealthy Family Found Dead in California; Police Investigate Possible Murder-Suicide

May 27, 2008

The Orange County Sheriff's Department is investigating the shooting deaths of five family members who were found dead in an upscale California neighborhood this past weekend.

According to Sheriff's Lt. Erin Guidice, a relative of the family was conducting a wellness check Sunday afternoon when they discovered the bodies inside their Sea Pointe Estates home, located approximately 65 miles southeast of Los Angeles.  Sheriff's deputies arrived on the scene at about 4 p.m., just 10 minutes after receiving the initial 9-1-1 call.

The names of the dead were not immediately released and investigators have not officially commented on a cause of death.  However, the Orange County Register has reported that the victims – two sisters in their early 20s, an elderly woman, and a man and woman in their 40s or 50s – were all shot to death.  The bodies of the middle-aged couple were found in a downstairs closet, while the three other victims were discovered in the attached bedroom.

Yesterday, Guidice told the Associated Press that two handguns were found...

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The Missing -- A Weekly Exposé of Lost Souls -- Issue #15

May 23, 2008

In this week's edition of "The Missing," we revisit the mysterious disappearance of Shelva Jean Rafte, a 44-year-old resident of Pittston, Pennsylvania, who went missing in May 2006.

"We are all baffled as to what may have happened, and the police have given up," Shelva's daughter, Janelle Brant, said in a recent email. "I am contacting you to possibly get her story out more so we might get an answer as to if she is still alive or not. Please help. We are running out of ideas."

According to Janelle, her mother has not been seen since May 28, 2006, at Janelle's college graduation party. At approximately 10:30 p.m., Shelva left the party with her boyfriend, John Para, and together they drove off in Para's blue Chevy pickup truck. When Shelva's friends went to visit her the following day, she was nowhere to be found. Concerned, Shelva's family reported her missing to the Pittston Police Department.

"Her boyfriend [John Para] stated that they had a fight and she left to walk home at around 1:00 a.m.," Janelle said, adding, "Her house was left exactly as it was when she left to come to my party. Her car was in the driveway, and her IRS tax refund was still in the mailbox."

Shelva's house is on Cleveland Street in Pittston, approximately one mile away from Para's Market Street home. After questioning Para, local investigators asked the FBI for assistance in the search. Together they combed the route between Shelva and Para's houses with tracking dogs, while the Pennsylvania State Police used a helicopter to search the surrounding area from above. Unfortunately, no clues were found, and the investigation quickly came to a standstill.

Shelva has four children ages 11, 16, 21, and 26. Prior to her disappearance, she worked in Scott, Pennsylvania at the Scott 60 truck stop. During media interviews, her neighbors said she appeared "stressed" in the days leading up to her disappearance.

Pittston police Assistant Chief James Noone later told Thetimes-tribune.com that his department was not classifying Para as a suspect. Noone told the Web site that his department did not have any suspects. However, he did say...

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Shelva's Photo Courtesy of Janelle Brant

The Justification of A Crime Writer; Not Everything is Black and White

May 22, 2008

When I was deciding what to write today, my mind kept wandering to something that happened earlier this week which had given me great satisfaction as a journalist and as a human being.  I debated for several hours about whether or not I wanted to write about it; I finally decided to go forward with it.

One of the questions that I am most frequently asked is whether being a writer who covers crime on a daily basis – everything from child rape to missing persons – ever gets to me.  The answer to that question is yes.  I don't think you could call yourself a human being if that subject matter didn't bother you.  However, a writer has to put all of that aside.  In my case, I have a strong desire to make some sort of difference, especially in the cases involving missing persons.  Sadly, of all the cases I have covered, I can think of maybe two that have had happy endings.  Nonetheless, the few that do turn out well make it all worthwhile.

In the story I am about to relate to you, I am going to change the person's name and the dates on which the incidents mentioned in the newspapers occurred in order to protect her identity.  In the end, those details are not as important as how the case turned out.

On Monday, I received an email from a young lady who I shall hereto refer to as Jane, who was trying to find her family.  It was not the typical type of request that I receive, but it was interesting, nonetheless. Jane said that she had been adopted and had spent the last year trying to locate the family of her biological father.

"I was adopted, and just recently found my birth-mother, and she told me that my biological father was <redacted>.  After almost a year of searching, I found out that he was murdered in 2000 … He never knew that I was born, let alone conceived because my mother never told him that she was pregnant."

Jane's mother told her that she did not know much about her father, and the police department that investigated her father's death would not share any of the details with her.  All Jane had to go on was her father's name and the fact that he had two brothers.  She had tried various methods and search engines to try to locate them, but to no avail.

I took the information that Jane gave me and I entered it into an online information database that is often used by the government and members of law enforcement.  Within about ten minutes, I was able to uncover what had actually happened to Jane's father.

According to the police reports, the bodies of Jane's father and that of another man were found inside a house.  The other man's body had been found in a bedroom, while Jane's father's body had been found in the basement of the house.  I had expected to find this information; however, I did not expect what I read next.  According to the police, the man in the bedroom had been dead for two days longer than Jane's father.  When officers found the body of Jane's father, they discovered a handgun lying next to it.  Jane's father, according to the police report, had murdered the other man and then later shot himself.  The motive for the murder-suicide was unknown.

Uncovering the truth about Jane's father was not a very pleasurable experience.  I thought about it for several minutes before coming to the conclusion that I had to tell her...

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Multiple Murderer, Sir Mario Owens, Claimed To Be "Pretty Cool" in MySpace Profile

May 21, 2008

There are currently 233,557,958 user profiles on MySpace.com. A quick search of the site reveals there are profiles for everyone from Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Even I maintain a profile on the Web site, which I use to keep in touch with friends and fans alike. Ask most users, and they will tell you MySpace can be a great place to make new connections, both business and personal. However, many of those same people will also warn you that not everyone on the Web site is as straightforward as they should be.

For the last five months, a profile purporting to belong to 23-year-old Sir Mario Owens has been among the millions of searchable profiles on the social networking Web site. The "About Me" section of the profile read:

"Wut it do ya'll!?!? My name is Sir Mario Owens! I'm from Shreveport, Louisiana. I reps Louisiana all day, every day, when ever I can. I'll also rep Texas sometimes since I got a lot of family there too. That 318 is where it's at though, ya digg! I moved to Colorado not too long ago, so that's where you'll find me right now. I'm a pretty cool and laid-back type of guy. I enjoy a lil laugh from time to time. I like to do the normal things like everybody else, such as listening to music, watching movies, shooting ball, and just hanging out with my peoples. I was recently caught up in some b/s, so ya boy on lockdown in Canon City, Colorado..." [Sic throughout].

An interesting aspect about Owens that was conveniently left out is the fact that he is currently serving a life sentence in Colorado for a 2004 murder. The "b/s" most likely refers to Owens' recent conviction on charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy in connection with two other slayings that could earn him the death penalty. A jury is currently deliberating on those cases, and a verdict is not expected for at least two weeks.

MySpace administrators removed Owens' profile Monday afternoon. However, a cache of it is still viewable here. According to KMGH-TV, Owens' cousin, a man identified only as D'Angelo, maintained Owens' MySpace page because Colorado inmates are not allowed to have access to the Internet.

It is not unusual to find an inmate's profile on MySpace. They have been invading the social network for several years. According to a November 2006 article at Wired.com, 34 death row inmates in Texas had profiles on MySpace that were maintained by either friends or family members. There is even a group on MySpace called "Inmate Penpals," which was founded in October 2005. The group consists of 294 members, which include several profiles that have been set up for prison inmates.

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Photo Credit: Colorado Department of Corrections

Erie Youth Sentenced For Role in Beating of 10-year-old Rikki Triana

May 20, 2008

A Pennsylvania judge has sentenced an 11-year-old girl for her role in the April beating of 10-year-old Rikki Triana, at the Pfeiffer Burleigh playground in Erie, Pennsylvania.

According to court records, Rikki was playing on a jungle gym on April 3 when she saw a group of girls picking on her 8-year-old sister. When Rikki attempted to intervene the 11-year-old, whose name is not being released due to her age, tossed a cup of water on her. The violence quickly escalated when another defendant in the case, aged 10, allegedly shoved Rikki to the ground and stomped on her head and legs so severely that it shattered Rikki's hip. As a result, Rikki was transported to a nearby hospital, where doctors had to insert three pins into her hip. She was later transported to Erie Shriners Hospital for Children, where she received intensive physical and occupational therapy.

During her sentencing hearing last Thursday, the 11-year-old girl formally apologized to Rikki for her part in the incident that has left Rikki permanently handicapped.

"I am sorry about what happened. I did not mean for you to break your hip," the 11-year-old

Judge John J. Trucilla dismissed a defense recommendation that he not adjudicate the 11-year-old girl delinquent, meaning that his ruling would remain on her record. Trucilla then found the girl guilty of harassment, a misdemeanor offense.

After making his ruling, Trucilla sentenced the girl to...

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New Leads Sought in D.B. Cooper Skyjacker Case

May 19, 2008

The advent of new technologies and DNA testing has resulted in renewed efforts by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to solve the 36-year-old mystery of the D.B. Cooper skyjacker case.

"Who was Cooper?  Did he survive the jump?  And what happened to the loot, only a small part of which has ever surfaced," reads a recent press release by the FBI.  "Would we still like to get our man?  Absolutely.  And we have reignited the case—thanks to a Seattle case agent named Larry Carr."

This case first began on November 24, 1971, when a man who identified himself on travel documents as Dan Cooper boarded Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305, in route from Portland, Oregon to Seattle, Washington.  Shortly after the flight took off Cooper handed a female flight attendant a note that read "I have a bomb in my briefcase.  I will use it if necessary.  I want you to sit next to me.  You are being hijacked."

Cooper had on his possession a briefcase that contained numerous wires, dynamite-like sticks and a large battery.

Cooper demanded $200,000, made up of all $20 bills with random serial numbers and four parachutes.  He then instructed the pilot to circle over Puget Sound.  Later that day, upon hearing confirmation from the pilot that his demands had been met, Cooper instructed him to land at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where he exchanged the passengers for the ransom.  Afterward cooper ordered the pilot to fly the jet toward Reno, Nevada.  Per his instructions the plane was to fly at a speed of 170 knots and an altitude of less than 10,000 feet, some 15,000 feet below the planes normal cruising altitude.

Once the plane was back in the air, Cooper ordered a stewardess who remained on board to go into the cockpit.  Shortly thereafter, approximately 25 miles north of Portland, the pilot observed a warning light on his console that the jets aft door had been opened.  The flight crew decided not to investigate whether Cooper had jumped and the jet later landed in Reno, Nevada, where their suspicions were confirmed.  While there was no doubt Cooper had jumped, his exact landing zone remained a mystery and could only be based on the pilots account of when the jet door had been opened.

Despite massive ground searches of Ariel, Wash., and the Lake Merwin Dam of the Lewis River, no trace of evidence was found and the case remained a mystery.

The first break in the case came in February 1980, when an eight-year-old boy who was picnicking with his family found...

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D.B. Cooper Sketch Courtesy of the FBI

The Missing -- A Weekly Exposé of Lost Souls -- Issue #14

May 16, 2008

In this week's edition of "The Missing," we revisit the mysterious disappearance of Ahren Benjamin Barnard, a 35-year-old resident of Boise, Idaho, who went missing in December 2004.

"I live with this every single day," Ahren's mother, Vicki Barnard, said in a telephone interview with Investigation Discovery. "It's like this lead coat that you wear, this heavy thing that you can't put aside, unless you are a person willing to walk away from your loved one. Life goes on for everyone else and you can't fault them for that. It's good that people want to lead their life, but it is so hard to live in this gray area. Your life moves on but you still have one foot stuck in the gray."

Ahren was last seen around 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 4, 2004. According to Vicki, she spoke with her son on the telephone the night before he disappeared, and he was in a good mood. He was looking forward to the New Year and told her he was thinking about buying a limousine and obtaining a chauffeur license.

"We had a good conversation," Vicki remembered. "We started to make plans for Christmas and he said he was going to call me the next day."

When Ahren failed to call his mother the following day, she was concerned but told herself he probably got busy and forgot to call. However, with each passing day her concern turned to worry, and her stomach was soon in knots.

"It was highly unusual for him not to call me or to return my calls," Vicki said. "Ahren always carried his cell phone wherever he went. He could not live without it. He had even purchased a second identical phone, which he always kept plugged in and charging so that whenever he needed to he could swap the batteries. You have to understand-we have a very close bond. He's my only child; I raised him myself since he was a toddler, so when I didn't hear from him I knew something was wrong."

Vicki contacted all of Ahren's friends, but none of them had heard from him since the previous week. She then contacted his ex-girlfriend, the mother of his young child, but she had not heard from him, either. Vicki lived several hours away in another state, so she called the Boise Police Department and asked them to check on her son. Officers later gained entry into Ahren's house but saw nothing out of the ordinary to suggest foul play.  With few options left, Vicki decided to travel to Boise to investigate the situation herself...

Continue Reading About The Disappearance of Ahren Benjamin Barnard

Ahren's Photo Courtesy Vicki Barnard

Washington State Police Allege Sandra Dee Martinez Faked Cancer to Avoid Work

May 15, 2008

Have you ever called in sick to work or school because you didn't feel like going?  If you haven't, you probably know someone who has, and I'm sure you are familiar with all the standard excuses. However, I doubt you or your friends have ever been as inventive as 40-year-old Sandra Dee Martinez, a former employee of the Department of Social and Health Services in Arlington, Wash., who allegedly faked cancer to avoid going to work.

According to police, Martinez was cancer-free last spring, when she forged a letter from phony doctors and gave them to her employer. These letters stated that she had been diagnosed with brain cancer and would need several weeks off for treatment.  The letter also stated that Martinez would not be able to work full time for at least two years.

"When Sandra chooses, she can work and the days she can't she needs to stay home," read the phony letter, which purported to be from a doctor at the University of Washington Medical Center.

Martinez was immediately placed on sick leave and continued to receive her weekly paycheck. When she exhausted her sick days, Martinez then took advantage of her co-workers', who were more than eager to help out by donating their own sick days.

Martinez allegedly sent another phony letter to her employer in June 2007, stating that a blood vessel in her head had burst, causing her to go into a coma. Nonetheless, Martinez apparently made a rapid recovery, as just four days later her "doctor" sent another letter, this time stating Martinez could once again work regular hours, but would need to leave early on certain days so she could undergo chemotherapy. The letter also detailed the types of work Martinez would be capable of doing.

The charade continued until...

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Couple Indicted for Training a 12-Year-Old Girl to be a Dominatrix

May 14, 2008

On Monday, the office of John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a federal grand jury had indicted a man and woman on charges that the couple allegedly trained the woman's young daughter to be a dominatrix.

According to a news release issued by Wood's office, former Blue Springs, Mo., residents Todd B. Barkau, 35, of New York and an unnamed 44-year-old woman have been charged by a federal grand jury in a seven-count indictment.

"The federal indictment alleges that, from Jan. 1, 2000, to Feb. 20, 2005, Barkau participated in a venture to entice a minor to engage in commercial sex acts," the news release reads. "Barkau is also charged with one count of selling a child for sexual exploitation, two counts of inducing a child who was in his custody and control to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the production of visual depictions, one count of advertising and publishing a notice of images that involve the sexual exploitation of a child, one count of the enticement of a child to engage in prohibited sexual conduct and one count of transferring obscene material to a minor."

Barkau was arrested in New York on May 9 and made his first court appearance the following day.  The victim's mother was arrested in Dallas, Texas, on May 12 and made her first court appearance the same day.

"The victim's mother, who is not being identified in this release in order to protect the victim's identity, is also charged with participating in a venture to entice a minor to engage in commercial sex acts and with inducing a child who was in her custody and control to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the production of visual depictions. This indictment marks the first time nationwide that a parent of the victim has been charged with commercial sex trafficking of their own minor child in a human trafficking case."

According to the news release, Barkau began to engage in sexual intercourse with the child in 2000, when the girl was just 12 years old. The release further alleges that Barkau sexually groomed the child to become a BDSM dominatrix and forced her to engage in sexual activities with other men.  Barkau allegedly used sexually explicit Internet Web sites as a tool for training the child.

"When the child was 14 years old," the motion alleges, "Barkau created a business out of his home where he advertised the child over the Internet as the star 19-to-20-year-old BDSM dominatrix, 'Mistress Alisha,' on a Web site that he created. For two years, Barkau allegedly had the child, as 'Mistress Alisha,' sexually dominate men with BDSM performances during online video sessions and in-person sessions. This allegedly included sexual sessions, which involved, among other things, bondage, beatings, burning...

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The Truth You Don't Know About Sex Offenders

May 13, 2008

Despite reform efforts by victim's rights organizations and the enactment of new laws and procedures by the House and the Senate, sex crimes continue to rise in the U.S. In recent years, the introduction of the sex offender registry has proven helpful in locating and monitoring sex offenders; however, statistics show it has done little to avert future crimes and prevent convicted offenders from re-offending.

It is time for lawmakers in the United States to re-evaluate the sentencing guidelines for convicted sex offenders. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the average sentence for a convicted rapist is 7.4 years. Other studies suggest that number is somewhat higher, at 11.8 years. Regardless of the actual number, most of the offenders, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, serve as little as 5.4 years of the original sentence before being paroled back into society.

A Bureau of Justice Statistics report, released in 2002, shows that violent offenders accounted for 50 percent of all state prisoners. Among that percentage, 142,000 of those inmates were serving time for rape and other sexual assaults. Fast-forward to 2003, (the most recent statistics available) and that number increases to 148,800. According to the Center for Sex Offender Management (CSOM), the number of imprisoned sex offenders grows by more than 7 percent every year. Some say it is a minimal increase -- a mere 6,800 inmates in the most recent study. However, I think the victims of those 6,800 offenders would strongly disagree.

The recidivism rates of sex offenders remain unclear. Many studies have been conducted over the years; however, none of these studies seem to arrive at the same number. According to CSOM's Web site, "studies on sex offender recidivism vary widely in the quality and rigor of the research design, the sample of sex offenders and behaviors included in the study, the length of follow-up, and the criteria for success or failure. Due to these and other differences, there is often a perceived lack of consistency across studies of sex offender recidivism."

In 1990, W. L. Marshall, D. R. Laws, and H. E. Barbaree released their studies in the Handbook of Sexual Assault. They found that the recidivism rate for specific types of offenders varied. According to their research, incest offenders ranged between 4 and 10 percent, rapists between 7 and 35 percent, child molesters with female victims between 10 and 29 percent, child molesters with male victims between 13 and 40 percent, and exhibitionists between 41 and 71 percent.

In a follow-up study conducted that same year by M. E. Rice, G. T. Harris, and V. L. Quinsey, which was published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, the researchers looked at 54 rapists who had been released from prison. Of those 54 convicts, 28 percent were reconvicted of a sex offense and 43 percent went on to be convicted of a violent offense.

Continue Reading The Truth You Don't Know About Sex Offenders

Two Adults and Three Children Found Dead in Houston Home

May 12, 2008

Police in Houston, Texas are investigating the mysterious deaths of a family of five in the 10100 block of Stonewood Street today. Investigators say the victims are two adults and three young children.

On Saturday afternoon, Winston Brisko noticed that his neighbors' bull was wandering around his yard unattended. Concerned, Brisko and another family member walked up to their neighbors' house and Brisko peered through the fence. It was then that he quickly realized something was seriously wrong something far worse than a wandering bull.

"We saw a body, but we couldn't see a face and there was a rifle next to him," Brisko told the Associated Press.

It did not appear to Brisko that his neighbor was alive, so he ran home and dialed 9-1-1. The Houston Police Department logged his emergency call at 3:30 p.m. Within minutes several patrol cars had arrived at the scene and officers cautiously made their way to the house.

Investigators found the body of a man on the front porch, in the area Brisko had described in his 9-1-1 call. A 22-caliber rifle lay near his body, along with several shell casings. Inside, police first found the body of a woman, believed to be the victim's wife, and the body of a boy, approximately eight years old, in a room adjoining the porch. In another room, police found the bodies of two other children, a boy, who appeared to be five years old and a girl who appeared to be four years old.

"I've been a police officer for 25 years and this is the [call] you just hope you never have to make," Sgt. John Chomiak told ABC13.com.

Police believe the family had been dead for at least 48 hours before their bodies were discovered. Investigators will not comment on how the family died or if they suspect that their deaths were a murder-suicide. They have only said that there were no obvious signs of a struggle inside the home.

Investigators have not released the names of the victims; however a reverse directory search of the address leads to a home owned by...

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The Missing - A Weekly Exposé of Lost Souls - Issue #12

May 09, 2008

In this week's edition of "The Missing," we revisit the sudden and mysterious disappearance of Trevor Paul Morse, a 30-year-old resident of Las Vegas, Nevada, who vanished in May 2007.

"I am the father of a missing adult male," Trevor's father, Rick Morse, wrote in a recent e-mail. "To say a little about Trevor Morse, and affirm who he was—and our prayers and hopes that he still is—Trevor was born and welcomed into our loving family in El Paso, Texas, on October 20, 1976. Trevor attended Irvin High School in El Paso and graduated in 1996. In 1999, he proudly completed his State of Texas Journeyman's requirements and started his career, which eventually took him to Nevada in 2006, where he worked as an electrician for a major contractor. It was there that he disappeared on Sunday, May 6, 2007, from an affluent, upscale neighborhood located on the west side of Las Vegas."

According to Rick, Trevor had gone out clubbing with some friends on the night before his disappearance. He returned home that night, and the following morning he wrote checks for his utility bills and did his laundry. He continued normally with his day until 3:00 p.m., when he called a local taxi service and requested a ride to the Red Rock Canyon area. Roughly 30 minutes later, the driver dropped Trevor off in the 3800 block of South Town Center Drive at West Flamingo. The taxi driver later said that Trevor had mentioned he was supposed to meet an acquaintance. Surveillance footage from a nearby shopping center showed Trevor pacing outside the building, but he eventually walked southwest, out of the camera's view, and disappeared. He has not been seen or heard from since.

"I can't even explain what we have endured and continue to endure on a daily basis," Rick says. "To make matters worse, in the midst of this emotional upheaval, this emotional roller coaster, we also have to endure what we perceive as a lack of cooperation by the very public officials that we put our trust in. Those very people we sought out and put our faith in to find our missing loved one do not answer phone calls, letters, and emails. How can these public officials not keep us in the loop? We, Trevor's parents, and his family and friends are asking...

Continue Reading About The Mysterious Disappearance of Trevor Paul Morse

Trevor's Photo Courtesy of Rick Morse

Walter Ferri Guns Down Family in Apparent Murder-Suicide

May 08, 2008

Police say Ferri killed himself, along with Stacy and Sherry Lee and James Glass

On Monday, nineteen-year-old James Glass of Long Beach, Mississippi, was engaged to the love of his life, 19-year-old Stacy Lee, of Gulfport. Not only were the two set to be married, they were also expecting the birth of their first child. Today, James and Stacy are dead.  No wedding, no child, and no life to look forward to. All of that was stolen from them on Tuesday, when Stacy's stepfather shot them dead, along with Stacy's sister, 17-year-old Sherry Lee, in an apparent murder-suicide.

The Harrison County Sheriff's Department received an emergency 911 call at approximately 3:22 a.m., Tuesday, from a female caller who said that her stepfather, 50-year-old Walter Ferri, was holding a gun on her mother inside their Andre Drive home. As officers were dispatched to the scene, a second 911 call was received from the female caller at 3:37 a.m., notifying the dispatcher that someone had been shot. Further details from that conversation have not yet been released.

Details remain sketchy. However, at some point during the incident, the girls' mother, Sonja Ferri, managed to crawl out of a window in the back of the home and ran for help. Shortly thereafter, roughly 12 minutes after the first 911 call was received, five sheriff's deputies arrived on the scene.  Aware there was an armed suspect inside, but unaware of the current situation, the deputies maintained their distance while attempting to negotiate with Walter Ferri.

When deputies failed to make any progress with Ferri, they ordered him to come out of the house with his hands up. The time was 4:40 a.m. In response to their demands, Ferri yelled out, "No, I'm going to kill myself."  Moments later, a single gunshot rang out.

When deputies entered the home, they discovered Ferri's body slumped on the floor, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.  A revolver and handgun lay close by. In the living room, deputies found the lifeless body of James Glass.  As they made their way to the back of the home, the smell of gunpowder still lingering in the air, deputies found the bodies of Stacy and Sherry inside a bathroom.

"One sister was laying up against the bathtub, and the other sister was laying on top of her," Harrison County Coroner Gary Hargrove told WLOX.com.

When recounting the scene to the media, deputies later said it appeared as though the sisters were attempting to hide when they were shot and that they had been huddling together in an apparent attempt to protect and comfort each other...

Continue Reading Walter Ferri Guns Down Family in Apparent Murder-Suicide

Photo Courtesy of Harrison County Sheriff's Department

Stay Tuned for Posts Resuming Thursday

May 06, 2008

I will be posting to The Criminal Report Daily again beginning on Thursday.  In the meantime, check out Investigation Discovery's other blogs including Bizarre Crimes of the Week and Hollywood on Trial.

Nineteen-year-old Jessica Vasquez Arrested in Beating of Eighty-One-Year-Old Woman

May 05, 2008

"I guess I was born, naturally born, born bad. Born bad, it's such as sin . . . I'll never be the same again. I'm naturally born to be, bad as a girl can be. . . ."

When I read the initial report on today's case, it reminded me of those lyrics, which were sung by actress Juliette Lewis in the Oliver Stone film Natural Born Killers. While this case does not come close to the measure of crimes committed by Juliette's fictional character, Mallory Knox, they seem to share a similar attitude.

April 30th started out as a typical day for 81-year-old Indianapolis resident Evelyn Page (photo here), who, along with three young children--perhaps grandchildren, police have yet to specify--got into her car and headed out for a trip to the local drug store. Unfortunately for Evelyn, her day quickly took a very dramatic and ultimately painful twist.

Shortly after turning onto South Meridian Street, Evelyn was surprised when another vehicle, driven by 19-year-old Jessica Vasquez, swerved in front of her and forced her to bring her vehicle to a stop.

"She said I was going too slow," Evelyn later said in an interview with WTHR.com. "She said, 'You put me in jeopardy' because she had to stop real quick. I thought she was just going to get out and bawl me out, but she reached in and popped me a good one. I imagine she's been eating spinach. I saw stars."

When Evelyn attempted to get out of her car to seek help, Vasquez continued to assault the stunned grandmother.

"She either shoved me or hit me and I fell backwards, and I landed on my rear and my leg was underneath me, and it crunched and--oh--I tried to get up, and I could tell them bones were touching [and] I knew I couldn't."

Onlookers rushed to help Evelyn, left lying in the median, as Vasquez sped off in her car. After paramedics arrived on the scene, Evelyn was transported to a local hospital, where doctors discovered her leg was broken in 14 places. As a result of her injuries, doctors had to perform replacement surgery on her left knee.

The granny-beater might have managed a clean getaway were it not for a Good Samaritan who had managed to jot down her license plate number. Police later used that number to track Vasquez down and...

Continue Reading About Jessica Vasquez's Road Rage

Photo Courtesy of Indianapolis Police Department

Outrage Over DUI Arrest of Expectant Mother Nicole Marie Vanneil

May 02, 2008

In this day and age it is common knowledge that drugs and alcohol don't mix well with pregnancy. Unfortunately, common sense is not a virtue, and in this case it appears that intelligence was also a sparse commodity. The combination of the two makes for a perfect example of why some people should have to obtain a license to breed.

Case in point, the recent arrest of Nicole Marie Vanneil, a 22-year-old resident of Lutz, Florida, who recently racked up her third DUI arrest. The case would normally not merit much attention; however, in Vanneil's case she was 8 months pregnant when police arrested her earlier last month. To her chagrin, police have now released the dashcam footage from that arrest, which shows an obviously pregnant Vanneil failing miserably to make it through a field sobriety test.

According to police, a Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy was en route to another call at 10:49 p.m. on April 17 when he spotted Vanneil's van swerving in front of him on Hanna Road in Lutz.

"The van ran off the road; actually crossed the center line a couple of times," sheriff's spokesman J. D. Callaway told The Tampa Tribune.

After shadowing the vehicle for a few miles, the deputy tripped the switch to his siren and conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle. According to police, the deputy smelled the odor of marijuana when he approached the vehicle, and upon making contact with Vanneil, he observed that her eyes were droopy. As a result, the deputy requested assistance from another patrol unit so he could conduct a field sobriety test (video here).

Police say Vanneil failed the test and that she refused to give consent for blood and urine tests. When the deputies searched Vanneil's car, they found marijuana and drug paraphernalia hidden both under the seat and inside the vehicle's center console. As a result, Vanneil was taken to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, where she was booked and charged with DUI, possession of less than 20 grams of cannabis, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

"You're not just affecting your pregnancy now, but you're affecting the rest of the child's life," TGH/USF Health Maternal Medicine Professor Victoria Belogolovkin told Foxnews.com yesterday. "There really are two people. There's a mom and a baby."

Yesterday, Vanneil spoke briefly about her arrest with Baynews9.com (video here). When asked whether she was under the influence of drugs or alcohol when police stopped her, Vanneil responded...

Continue Reading Outrage Over DUI Arrest of Expectant Mother Nicole Vanneil

Photo's Courtesy of Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office

The Missing - A Weekly Exposé of Lost Souls - Issue #11

May 01, 2008

In this week's edition of "The Missing," we revisit the mysterious disappearance of Robert Stephen Brown, a 49-year-old resident of Fort Worth, Texas, who went missing in March 2007.

"It has been a long year since his disappearance," Robert's sister, Deborah Lohr, wrote in a recent e-mail, adding, "Our mother is very ill, and her heart is broken."

According to Deborah, Robert suffers from diabetes, a chronic disease that has severely damaged his eyesight.  As a result, he was on a state funded program that helped him pay his utility bills and household expenses.

In the days leading up to his disappearance, an acquaintance of Robert's allegedly stole his state assistance card and made several purchases with it.

"On March 10, 2007, Robert left on a city bus for River Oaks, to confront the people who had taken his card," Deborah said.  "He arrived at the friends house, but no one knows what happened after he arrived.  His friends say they took him back to the bus stop, but there is no indication he took the return bus trip home.  His 14-year-old daughter was at the house when he left and waited all day into the evening for his return but he never came back."

When Fort Worth Police questioned Robert's friend, he told them someone else had the card and that he had not seen Robert.  He then volunteered to take a polygraph test, which police say he passed.

The mystery surrounding Robert's disappearance deepened on March 19, 2007, when someone...

Continue Reading The Weekly exposé of Lost Souls