Pat LaLama Reports: A Portrait Of Jealousy, Rage and Revenge

February 07, 2012

[ Pat LaLama's stellar career in broadcast journalism is a chronicle of some of the most iconic events in modern history.  Follow Pat's daily coverage of the Stephanie Lazarus Trial.    Read her Bio >> ]

 

 Read Pat LaLama's Past Reports On This Case

 

>>Day 2 of The Stephanie Lazarus Murder Trial<<

Watching bloody crime scene photos never gets any easier. Images of 29 year old Sherri Rasmussen’s beaten body, gunned down in the living room of her Los Angeles townhome flashed across a giant courtroom screen…three bullet holes in her chest…her statuesque frame lying lifeless on the ground. Her arms were positioned upward as if she were desperately trying to ward off a spray of bullets. I can see the anguish on Nels and Loretta Rasmussen’s faces. They are seated just inches away in the row behind me. Losing their daughter back in 1986, at the hands of a vicious murderer, seems to hurt as much today as ever.

 

On Tuesday, the prosecution in the murder trial of former LAPD detective Stehpanie Lazarus used crime scene photographs to try and paint a murderous portrait of jealousy, rage and revenge. The key motivation behind Lazarus’ ruthless vendetta, they say.

Prosecutors contend that while Lazarus was a young patrol officer 26 years ago, she murdered Rasmussen, the new bride of Lazarus’ ex-boyfriend, John Ruetten. Back then homicide investigators concluded the murder was the result of a botched burglary attempt. They based their decision on among other things, stereo equipment left at the bottom of a staircase and the drawer of a living room table that had been flung open. Other robberies in the same neighborhood solidified the burglary theory. Cops believed the suspects were two males.

Prosecutors on Tuesday, through a series of photographs tried to paint an entirely different picture. One of personal revenge. A photograph depicted speaker wires and a white blood stained rope that prosecutors believe Lazarus used to tie up Rasmussen. Another shows broken fingernails lying on the ground near the front door. Shelves on an entertainment center were collapsed. A lamp was knocked over. A ceramic vase crashed on the floor. It was a violent struggle. Prosecutors believe Sherri Rasmussen, who stood 5’10” tried desperately to defend herself from Lazarus whom she knew. Family members contend that Lazarus had harassed Rasmussen on many occasions while she was still alive.

The next photograph showed evidence that was essentially ignored by the lead detective in the case back in 1986.  It was a distinct bite mark on Sherri’s left inner forearm. A swab of saliva was taken and the evidence was stored away in the Coroner’s office.

Back then a second detective on the case opined that a bite mark is more symbolic of the work of a female accomplice. The lead detective dismissed the theory, insisting it was a burglary. (The jury hasn’t yet heard this part.) Twenty years after the fact new DNA analysis revealed the bite bark was in fact that of a woman. Prosecutors told the jury there is a 1 in 1.7 sextillion chance that the DNA belongs to someone besides Lazarus. “That’s 17 followed by 20 zeros”, says Prosecutor Shannon Presby.

Lazarus defense attorney Mark Overland is trying to prove that faulty memories on the part of witnesses, shoddy police work and compromised physical evidence will create all the reasonable doubt a jury needs.

 

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Photo Credit: Former Los Angeles Police Officer Stephanie Lazarus with her attorney Mark Overland at Los Angeles Superior hearing Wednesday, July 29, (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

The Powell Family Tragedy: Will There Ever Be Answers?

[ By Dr. Kenneth J. Ryan, a criminologist at California State University. Here's his take on the recent horrific crime making headline news this week. Read his Bio >> ] 

A little past noon on Sunday, February 5, 2012, Joshua Powell murdered his children, Braden, 5, and Charlie, 7,and took his own life in a deliberately set gas explosion.  According to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, the explosion that destroyed Powell’s Puyallup, Washington home was the result of a murder-suicide.  Moments before the explosion took the lives of Powell and his children he sent emails to his attorney, family and friends saying, “I’m sorry, goodbye.”  In voicemails left to relatives Powell said, I am not able to live without my sons.”

Autopsy results of the children later revealed that they perished of smoke inhalation; however, both boys had been attacked with a hatchet.  Charles suffered a hatchet wound to the neck and younger brother Braden had been struck in the neck and head by Powell.  According to autopsies, hatchet wounds were not the cause of death of either child.  It is speculated by authorities that after failing to kill the children with his hatchet, Powell ignited a five gallon can of gasoline at their feet and the explosion that followed caused their deaths.

 

Powell lost custody of his children following the disappearance of his wife Susan in December 2009 when the investigation led to the discovery of child pornography in the family home.  Powell’s father Steven was charged in the crime and was in custody at the time of the blast.

A custody battle raged between Powell and his missing wife’s parents Charles and Judith Cox who were given custody of the children following the grandfather’s arrest.  A petition to regain custody filed in a Washington State Superior Court was dismissed and Powell was ordered to be examined for psycho-sexual disorders. 

Early Sunday afternoon a contract worker for the state delivered the two little boys to the Powell home for a scheduled, supervised visit.  Apparently the children ran ahead of the case worker and Powell, who had been waiting outside, brought the boys into the house and locked the door behind them.  The case worker knocked on the door and smelled gas, but Powell never answered.  Apparently Powell attacked the children with his hatchet as soon as they entered the residence.  As the case worker was notifying her supervisor that Powell was alone with the children, the house exploded in a fireball, killing everyone inside.  The bodies of the children were found in a central room with their father.

 

According to CBS News, the children recently had begun to relate additional details regarding the disappearance of their mother Susan, 28.  Powell always maintained that his wife had walked away from the marriage when he and the children went on an impromptu camping excursion on a snowy, frozen Utah night in late 2009.  However, in published reports the boys told investigators that on the night of their mother’s disappearance, she had accompanied them “in the trunk” and later she walked into the desert with Powell.  When he returned alone, he is alleged to have told the children that “mommy got lost.”

With these revelations and presuming their veracity, it is easy to speculate that the single-most important witnesses in the disappearance of Susan Powell have been silenced.  The murders of these children are inexplicable, except that perhaps their father did not want them to testify against him in a criminal court.  Consider that Powell has been described as a narcissist and recently had been ordered to undergo a court-ordered psycho-sexual evaluation.  Given the recent revelations of the children, Powell surely was threatened with being charged as a murder suspect.  He may have seen no other way out than to murder the children and himself.  The witnesses against him are now forever silenced and he will never be tried for killing his wife as the children’s statements clearly infer.

West Valley, Utah police have issued a statement that they are not yet sure how these developments will impact the investigation into the disappearance of Susan Powell.  Josh Powell had always been a point of interest in the disappearance of his wife and all roads lead directly to him, according to investigators.  And now, but to find Susan Powell, there is little left to do but bury the children.

 

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Powell explosion credit:
Pierce County Sheriff's deputies and Graham Firefighters work around the smoldering remains of a house near Fredrickson, Wash., Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012, where, according to a sheriff's spokesman, three bodies were were found. The bodies are believed to be Josh Powell and his two sons. The explosion occurred moments after a Child Protective Services worker brought the two boys to the home for a supervised visit. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

Susan Powell credit:
A flier seeking information on the whereabouts of Susan Powell, who was reported missing Dec. 7, 2009, in Utah, is shown, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009, at a press conference in Puyallup, Wash. Powell's family said Thursday they are saddened but not surprised that her husband Josh Powell has been named a person of interest in the investigation. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Josh Powell credit:
In this Aug. 23, 2011 file photo, Josh Powell, husband of missing Utah woman Susan Cox Powell, walks to a court hearing in Tacoma, Wash. An explosion at a Washington state home has killed Josh Powell and the couple's two young sons, officials said Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

Pat LaLama Reports: The Murder Of Sherri Rasmussen

February 06, 2012

[ Pat LaLama's stellar career in broadcast journalism is a chronicle of some of the most iconic events in modern history.  Follow Pat's daily coverage of the Stephanie Lazarus Trial.    Read her Bio >> ]

 

 

>>Day 1 of The Stephanie Lazarus Murder Trial<<

 

“A bite, a bullet, a gun barrel and a broken heart.” That is the essence of the prosecution’s case against once revered LAPD detective Stephanie Lazarus, now on trial for the brutal murder of a beautiful nursing supervisor 26 years ago. Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Shannon Presby passionately delivered his opening statement Monday morning to a jury of 8 women and 4 men. “This killing was personal”, he told the panel.

Presby portrayed Lazarus as a ruthless killer, obsessed over a case of unrequited love.  In 1986, Lazarus was a patrol officer who prosecutors say was devastated over a breakup with her boyfriend, John Ruetten. When Ruetten married another woman, 29 year old Sherri Rasmussen, Presby says Lazarus showed up at Rasmussen’s townhome, brutally beat the newlywed, bit her on the arm and shot her three times at close range. Prosecutors say Lazarus, trained in lock picking, snuck into the home. They also contend that Lazarus used a gun she had purchased from the LAPD and utilized her police knowledge of fingerprints to destroy evidence at the crime scene. Presby also contends that Lazarus used a robe to muffle the sound of gunshots.

At the time, LAPD detectives concluded the crime was a burglary gone wrong. Lazarus continued as a police officer and worked her way up the ranks—ultimately becoming a detective in the LAPD elite Commercial Crimes division. She married a fellow cop and they adopted a little girl.

The case remained unsolved for nearly two decades, until cold case detectives took a second look. Now, using DNA analysis, they determined the bite mark belonged to a woman. Upon further analysis, Presby told the jury the DNA “matched to the exclusion of every other single person on this planet”.

As Presby laid out his case, photographs of a smiling Sherri Rasmussen flashed on a giant screen. They quickly dissolved into images of her battered body. Her father Nels, sitting behind me, broke into tears.

Lazarus didn’t look up from the counsel table where she is seated with her attorney Mark Overland. Her hair was neatly pulled back. She wore a black suit and glasses as she pored over documents and took notes. It was easy to imagine her as a diligent detective. She has the look. Except now, she is a murder defendant.

Overland used the morning in his opening statement to dispute the reliability of the evidence against Lazarus. He told the jury that over the years, the bite mark DNA has been compromised by a questionable chain of custody. “It violated every procedure”, Overland said. He showed the jury pictures of a torn evidence bag and an unsealed tube. In Overland’s words, “the prosecution utterly failed to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt. Not even close.”

First witnesses are up next.   

>>Read Pat's Day Two Coverage Of The Trial

 

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Photo credit: AP Photos

 

Pat LaLama Reports: Young Lee’s Not-So-Swirly Pinkberry Goodness

January 31, 2012

[ Pat LaLama's stellar career in broadcast journalism is a chronicle of some of the most iconic events in modern history.  Here's her take on a not so sweet Tinsel Town story.    Read her Bio >> ]

 

All you Pinkberry addicts know the hugely successful yogurt company promotes its product as “Swirly Goodness”. Fresh, natural, healthy—a vaulted secret recipe that reinvented the “cultured” craze.

I remember when the first shop opened in West Hollywood, California in 2005. Each day, throngs of salivating Pinkies (as I call them) lined Santa Monica Boulevard desperately waiting to purchase the tangy new treat. Some of my friends compare taking a taste of the frozen dessert to having a religious experience. People jokingly refer to the product as “Crackberry”. (I don’t get all the fuss, personally.)

In any event, Pinkberry has become an international empire of more than 170 stores. But as with most great Hollywood stories there are interesting characters… and dark chapters.

On Monday, I sat in Department 30 of Los Angeles Superior Court to watch the arraignment of 47 year old Young Lee. He’s the very wealthy co-founder of Pinkberry—and a man in a lot of trouble.

Bow tied and bespectacled, Lee is a fashion conscious vision of utter West Coast hipness. (He was known for his designer suits, fine cigars, Porsche’s and Malibu mansion.) He’s red carpet ready. Lee looks 20 years younger than his age— his demeanor is polite. The allegations against him are not…. Assault with a deadly weapon with the special allegation of causing great bodily injury.

The LAPD says Lee chased down a homeless man with a tire iron and beat him. The story goes like this according to cops:

Lee was driving a rented Range Rover in June of 2011. A passenger was seated next to him. Lee spots a transient at a freeway off ramp who was soliciting money from drivers. At one point--and here is where the story gets truly bizarre—the transient changed his shirt and revealed a sexually explicit tattoo. Lee was offended by the tattoo and began arguing with the homeless man. It didn’t stop there. Lee got out of his car, grabbed a tire iron, chased the man down the street and made him get down on his knees and apologize. The transient did as he was asked, but got a beating from Lee anyway. He was hospitalized with a broken arm and several cuts.

Witnesses got the license plate from Lee’s Range Rover and called the police. An investigation began, and Lee left the country. On January 16, Lee was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport upon his return to the U.S.

Keep in mind the above account comes from the LAPD.

A lawyer for Lee insists there is another side of the story. Philip Kent Cohen says Lee felt threatened by the transient who implied he had a weapon. Cohen promises that there are plenty more details that will exculpate his client.

Lee, who has struggled over the years with drug use and a violent temper, pleaded not guilty and is free on $60,000 bond. He’ll be back in court on March 5.

For the record, the other Pinkberry co-founder is Lee’s ex-wife Shelly Hwang. The company claims it has had no involvement with Lee since 2010 and that his present status with Pinkberry is that of an “inconsequential shareholder.”

Now with these latest allegations of a heinous assault, it seems this once idolized yogurt mogul, is headed for a meltdown.

 

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credit: Young Lee, one of the founders of the Pinkberry yogurt chain stands with his attorney Philip Kent Cohen, right, during
his arraignment in the Los Angeles Criminal Courts Building in Los Angeles, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. City News Service says Lee
was arraigned in the June 15 beating that left a homeless man with a broken forearm and cuts to his head. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Times, Al Seib, Pool)

 

 

 

 

Protect Yourself: How To Spot An Online Scam

January 17, 2012

Hemanshu Nigam is the founder of SSP Blue, the leading advisory firm for online safety, security, and privacy challenges facing corporations and governments. Read his bio here.

 

Criminals Are as Cyber Savvy as Ever

Shoppers are not the only ones looking for good deals on the Internet.  Hackers, scammers and fraudsters are shopping around for good deals too – deals like your personal information for free. Online scams are on the rise all over the country. According to the FBI supported 2010 Internet Crime Complaint Center Report, online fraud in the U.S. doubled to a reported $560 million in losses.

About 16 % of complaints covered in the above numbers for the FBI are attributed to email “phishing” scams (fraudulent emails sent for the purpose of information and/or identity theft). And the latest projections show that this year 40% of consumers will have their information misused.  Because hackers are becoming more savvy and using better tactics, consumers need to be more careful than ever before.

In the past, we’ve talked a lot about putting strong security measures in place by running anti-phishing and anti-virus software and keeping them updated.    

Now let’s talk about how to spot the scam in the first place. 

Here are some great tips on how to avoid being scammed, phished, wormed and otherwise duped.

Be wary of unsolicited emails that:

• Slightly altered web addresses resembling the names of legitimate companies, i.e.www.palpay.com or www.verify-paypal.com instead of www.paypal.com
• Come from someone you know but the content doesn’t sound like something they would write
• Request personal information such as your password, home address, social security number, birth date, mothers maiden name and etc.   (See example below)



Killing for Pleasure or Profit: Van der Sloot Gets 28 Years

[ By Dr. Kenneth J. Ryan, a criminologist at California State University.  Read his Bio >> ] 

 

Nervously fidgeting in a hot Lima courtroom, Joran Van der Sloot listened to his sentence at the end of a 2-hour hearing.  The 3-judge panel sentenced Van der Sloot to spend 28 years in prison and pay $74,000 in reparations to the heirs of his victim Stephany Flores.  The 2-hour hearing listed the charges and overviewed facts of the case.  In the end, Van der Sloot was found guilty of the most serious crime of Qualified Murder, which is “murder for profit or pleasure.”  Additionally, he was also found guilty of Simple Robbery for stealing the victim’s money, credit cards and vehicle after the murder.  Van der Sloot was given credit for time already served, and will be released 28 years from the date of his arrest, on June 10, 2038. Once he's released from prison, he will be deported.

On January 11, 2012, Van der Sloot pled guilty and offered a “sincere confession” to the judges.  Perhaps it was his smirking, his overt condescension of the proceedings, or perhaps it was his yawning throughout the hearing a few days before.  The judges must not have believed the defendant’s sincerity in his brief statement of remorse (“I feel bad”).  Or perhaps it was the way he beamed at the judges after pleading guilty to the brutal beating and strangulation of Stephany Flores.  Perhaps the judges saw the happy, jubilant Van der Sloot as being prideful of his acts.  And perhaps the judges were very correct in doing so.  Van der Sloot offered the world a master’s class in how not to behave in a courtroom if one actually expects leniency.  It rivals the American trial of Bob Ward, whose daughters pled for leniency in statements laced with profanities. 

The judge chairing the panel sat behind a large crucifix on the bench, which is more than a little ironic.  Jesus appeared as a criminal defendant only once in his short life and it did not work out well for him.  Most scholars agree that the sentence he received was unjust, the charges trumped up, the witnesses false.  Prominently displaying the image of an unjustly treated defendant in a modern courtroom probably is not the best message a panel of judges can convey.  Nevertheless, by all appearances, on this day a criminal defendant was rightfully sentenced and justice was done

Consider that it was possible the judges in the Flores murder trial could have reduced Van der Sloot’s sentence to as little as 7 years.  Instead, the sentenced was mitigated only 2 years from the maximum.  Therefore, the sentence was reduced for what the sincere confession was worth.  In America, we learn of this news with some satisfaction, knowing that the suspected murderer of Natalee Holloway has come to justice somewhere; however, at the cost of the life of another victim.  There may be justice for Stephanie Flores today but it is likely there will never be justice for Natalee Holloway

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>>Read: A Smirking Van der Sloot Pleads Guilty

 

 

Photo Credit: AP Photos

A Smirking Joran Van der Sloot Pleads Guilty

January 11, 2012

[ By Dr. Kenneth J. Ryan, a criminologist at California State University. Read his Bio >> ] 

 

Unable to refrain from smirking at the all-woman three judge panel, Joran Van der Sloot pled guilty to Murder today in Lima, Peru.  He was charged in the June 2010 murder of Stephany Flores, a 21 year-old student and daughter of a prominent Peruvian family. Van der Sloot, responding to questions from the bench said, “I want to give a sincere confession.  I am truly regretful for what I have done.  I feel very bad."  Van der Sloot did not make a narrative confession; however, attorney Luis Jimenez said on behalf of his client that, because it was the 5^th anniversary of the disappearance of 17 year-old Natalie Holloway on the island of Aruba, van der Sloot was very sensitive. 

When Flores was caught going through Van der Sloot’s computer, allegedly  to look for connections between Van der Sloot and Holloway’s disappearance, Van der Sloot was so sensitive that he snapped and killed Flores.  After van der Sloot answered questions from the judge, he sat down and beamed at them. 

With his “sincere confession” Van der Sloot enabled the judges to reduce his sentence.  The prosecutors cannot rebut a confession in this case; nor would they, since it is the end-product of negotiations between the state and the defense.  The defense blamed the murdered victim for inciting Van der Sloot to violence and with the full knowledge and acquiescence of the prosecutors.  Although the bench warned that facts of another case (meaning the Holloway case) cannot be considered in sentencing, the genie was out of the bottle and the judges heard Jimenez’ statement nonetheless. 

It is not a given that Van der Sloot’s sentence will be reduced to the minimum, but it is now virtually impossible for him to receive the 30 year maximum sentence.  Jimenez’ argument was also ill-placed before the panel of judges; it presumes they are unable to reason. 

Here’s why.  Jimenez told the judges that Joran Van der Sloot is such a sensitive young man that, when confronted with the possibility that he had killed a young American girl, he brutally strangled and beat a Peruvian girl to death, robbed her and then fled the country.  Frankly, that doesn’t sound like the kind of response one might expect from a sensitive guy falsely accused of a crime.  Anticipate the judges will be able to see through this display of smoke and mirrors.  On the other hand, one might also anticipate that Jimenez was trying to be as transparently contemptuous of his own client as his ethics would allow, offering a tissue thin excuse for murder.  However, Van der Sloot’s sentence will be reduced because he sincerely confessed, even to nonsense; and so, as his client’s lawyer, he provided adequate representation.

On a final note, it is entirely possible that Van der Sloot may serve more time in the United States for Extortion than he will in Peru for Murder.  If Van der Sloot serves only a few years for Murder, recall that he will be extradited to America thereafter to stand trial for extorting $25,000 from Natalie Holloway’s family.  And a conviction in that matter could lead to a 10 year sentence in a federal penitentiary.  After that, one can hope he will return to Aruba and live out his life without murdering anyone else.  Well, one can hope.

Van der Sloot will be sentenced in Lima on Friday the 13^th. 

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>>Read: Joran Van der Sloot: Is Justice Delayed Justice Denied?

 

 

 

Photo Credit: AP Photos

Joran Van der Sloot: Is Justice Delayed Justice Denied?

January 06, 2012

 [ By Dr. Kenneth J. Ryan, a criminologist at California State University.  Read his Bio >> ] 

 

A bored, yawning Joran Van der Sloot announced in a Peruvian court today that he was prepared to make a “sincere confession” but did not like the plea agreement that prosecutors had offered him.  Chastising the defendant for failing to show sufficient respect for the court proceedings, van der Sloot’s request for additional time to consider the government’s offer was granted by the three judge panel hearing the matter, the case continued until January 11th.

Van der Sloot is charged in the 2010 murder of Stephany Flores, 21, in his Lima hotel room.  Video surveillance shows van der Sloot meeting Flores in the hotel casino and then later both entering his room.  Van der Sloot is later shown exiting the room, but alone.  Flores was discovered later that day, beaten and strangled to death.

Van Der Sloot confessed to Peruvian police, following extradition from Chile.  He confessed that indeed he had committed the murder after having sex with the victim, first beating Flores in the head with his elbow until she bled and then strangling her with his hands for about a minute, “until she stopped breathing.”  According to Van der Sloot’s attorney Luis Jimenez, his client was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at the time of his confession, a result of being questioned by Aruban police in the disappearance and suspected murder of American Natalie Holloway five years earlier.

Under Peruvian law, motive is among the deciding factors in the severity of punishment for one convicted of Murder.  A “sincere confession” in Peru is often sufficient to reduce a Murder sentence substantially and a “spontaneous act” is a mitigating factor in sentencing under Peruvian law as well.  And so, sincerely confessing to a spontaneous act is what Van der Sloot was expected to do this morning.  Mr. Jimenez, who has affirmed his client’s guilt, speculated that his client would tell the court how, after having sex with Flores, van der Sloot caught her searching his computer, ostensibly to find evidence of other women in his life.  Outraged, van der Sloot attacked Flores and killed her.  Prosecutors paint a different picture, albeit an equally unbelievable one.

According to Peruvian authorities, and anticipating the official version of the state’s case regarding motive, Van der Sloot picked up Flores in the hotel casino, and then lured her to his bedroom to rob her of her winnings.  After the murder, he took Flores’ money and fled the country.  It is entirely possible that after the murder Van der Sloot took Flores’ winnings, and it’s equally probable that this is all the state can prove; but it appears that neither side has a grasp on a far more likely motive.

Van der Sloot displays many signs of a classic sociopathic sexual predator.  He has displayed a striking lack of empathy for his victim or victims, he has displayed no signs of remorse for his crimes and, at present, he is also under federal indictment in the U.S. for extorting money from the parents of Natalie Holloway (money received in exchange for confessing where he had disposed of the child’s body).  It is not uncommon for sexual predators to murder immediately after sexual contact (although in Ted Bundy’s case it was murder first, then sex).  In either case, the victim is considered an object by the sexual predator, to be used and then discarded.  Frankly, I would have liked to examine the decedent and look for bite marks or other signs of so-called sexual frenzy.

It crosses my mind that Van der Sloot is about to outsmart himself.  The prosecution is offering thirty years imprisonment and $73,000 in restitution, allowing his “sincere confession” to reduce the sentence, perhaps to as little as eight years.  Anticipating that van der Sloot rejects this offer and the case goes to trial, his attorney may present the PTSD defense before the judges.  Judges in Peru are surely wise enough to read into the defense that the accused standing before them in the Flores murder has been suspected of a similar crime elsewhere, the murder of a young girl.  Although this will not rise to the level of evidence against him, the inference is clear.  Van der Sloot is a killer, a dangerous predator of women who should be locked up for as long as the law allows.  One must consider that Mr. Jimenez is well aware of this too. 

For Joran Van der Sloot, delaying justice may actually keep him behind bars decades longer than he had hoped or expected.  And that surely is not justice denied.

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Aphrodite Jones Reports: Casey Anthony's 4 Minutes Of Fame

[ Aphrodite Jones gives her perspective on the latest sighting of Casey Anthony. Check in for her regular reports.   Read her Bio >> ]

 

The mystery around the "illegal" release of Casey Anthony's video blog offers more food for thought about Casey Anthony's plan to come back out into the spotlight and her hopes to get paid for TV or internet appearances. Sure, her lawyers say it was hacked via Skype -- but let's  recall the photos of Casey that appeared last fall -- those were orchestrated -- with careful placement of an Ohio ball cap on Casey's head and studious glasses that allowed people to recognize her eyes. Someone paid big money for those photos (that's my educated guess) because they were taken with Casey openly shopping in a store window on an empty sidewalk. If real paparazzi had been after her -- we would have seen photos of her fighting off the cameras, wearing dark shades, and covering her face. Right?? Now, on January 5, 2012, we see an October 14th video clip released to a Facebook site. Take a careful look at this "private video blog" and you will notice that this clip was edited in such a way that oddly, tells us nothing of significance, AND it's in black and white, which signals that it was doctored. Allegedly, someone leaked Casey's blog to a "Casey" Facebook site and wanted $3 per view.

IMO, Casey needs money, but moreover, she misses being a "star" and wants to test the waters to see how much attention she can garner.  After all Casey is, first and foremost, a narcissist. In the short four minute video clip she uses the word "me" or "mine" over 40 times. Casey's world is still all about HER. It's sick that she mentions her newly adopted dog, not her dead baby, not her wounded parents. She also mentions she wants to use the blog as a way to get used to the camera. Huh?

This woman has a PhD in mugging for the camera. Someone doctored and edited this "video blog" and I have a good hunch about who's behind it... More to come...

Pat LaLama Exclusive: New Sandusky Accuser Says Assault Involved Alcohol

December 23, 2011

[ Pat LaLama's stellar career in broadcast journalism is a chronicle of some of the most iconic events in modern history.  Here's her take on the Penn State sex scandal.    Read her Bio >> ]

 

A civil suit just filed in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas is the latest legal salvo fired at former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. The newest accuser in the schools sex abuse scandal has a shocking account of a 2004 sexual assault allegedly perpetrated by Sandusky.  It involves whiskey and sodomy. Investigation Discovery has exclusive details.

Attorney Charles Schmidt tells me his client, who will be 20 years old in January, was a participant in Sandusky’s charity, The Second Mile.  According to Schmidt, his client who was 12 years old at the time of the alleged incident was involved in an educational exercise where according to Schmidt, the children were answering questions about current affairs and history. Those who answered correctly were awarded a prize.

Schmidt told me that when his client correctly answered a question pertaining to a presidential quote, Sandusky announced that there were no more prizes but he would see what he could do.

According to Schmidt, Sandusky escorted the alleged victim to his office where the former coach began talking to the boy about his mother’s death the year before. (She suffered from severe diabetes and died as a result.) The boy was under a great deal of stress and still grief-stricken.

Schmidt says that after engaging the boy in conversation for a while, Sandusky brought out a bottle of whiskey, poured a glass and told the boy to drink it. Moments later, according to the accuser’s account, Sandusky “pulled his trunks down and sodomized him.” Then he says, Sandusky “cleaned him off”, gave him a couple of Penn State sports mementos, walked him back to the Second Mile area and handed him off to a counselor.

The accuser said he avoided Sandusky after the incident and never again had physical contact with him.  Schmidt says for years his client was agonized by the incident believing he was the only one who had experienced something so terrible.

When the alleged victim became aware last month of the grand jury indictment against Sandusky, he says he got the courage to tell his story to police. The accuser has been interviewed by the State Attorney General which is investigating the claims. At this point he is not part of the criminal case which involves 10 other accusers.

This latest case is the second civil suit filed against Sandusky.  Schmidt said he wanted to file the suit before the statute of limitations expires.

Other parties named in the suit include Penn State University and The Second Mile.  “We believe our case will hold up in court. Our witness is credible”, says Schmidt.  He adds, “When we interviewed him, he was in anguish. We could see the emotion in his face. It was hard to get him to talk to us. He relives the incident constantly.”

Schmidt says his client is apprehensive about moving forward with the lawsuit because of his fear of the publicity it will generate but “he’s doing it so he can get some sense of retribution. The assault took away part of his childhood.”

At the time of this posting,  Sandusky’s attorney, Joe Amendola could not be reached for comment.

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Related Links:

>>Read: Sandusky's Next Play In The Game
>>Read: Jerry Sandusky Back On The Streets
>>Read: Jerry Sandusky Back In Cuffs
>>Read: Penn State Scandal: A Case of David vs Goliath?

 

04 - The Second Mile, located in State College, PA, is a nonprofit organization for underprivileged youth founded in 1977 by Jerry Sandusky, a former assistant coach at Penn State University. Jerry Sandusky met all of the alleged victims through The Second Mile according to the Grand Jury Presentment. © Matthew O'Haren/Icon SMI/Corbis

Pat LaLama: Sandusky's Next Play In The Game

December 13, 2011

[ Pat LaLama's stellar career in broadcast journalism is a chronicle of some of the most iconic events in modern history.  Here's her take on the Penn State sex scandal.    Read her Bio >> ]

 

When I informed a prominent Los Angeles defense attorney that Jerry Sandusky waived his preliminary hearing today, I was surprised at his response… “That is so punk! He didn’t have the guts to face his accusers!” That’s exactly how I see it. Eleven witnesses mustered up courage-formed a united front—and prepared themselves for what would
have most certainly been a painful and grueling experience, especially for the alleged victims. But the accused child molester wasn’t up for the confrontation.

That’s interesting when you consider the fightin’ words Sandusky spouted today. Wearing what seems like a perpetual “killer rabbit” smile, the former coach rattled off football terminology, vowing to “fight to the death”, “stay the course” and “fight for four quarters”. Really? It seems to me Sandusky forfeited the game “by running off the field” and having his lawyer, Joe Amendola hold an endless “Jerry is a victim” post-game news conference outside the courthouse.

Sure, I understand that legally it’s a tactical move. Imagine the horror stories the alleged victim’s would tell on the witness stand. Their accounts would be posted, tweeted and recounted all over the globe, further damaging Sandusky’s “image” and perhaps tainting the jury pool. This way, the public doesn’t get wind of the horrid details surrounding the allegations and his lawyer can spin, spin, and spin before the hordes of hungry reporters. Essentially, all you’re really going to remember today is the face of Amendola, preaching practically uninterrupted before the cameras.

This isn’t just a legal strategy—it’s a public relations tactic as well. Amendola is brilliant in his ability to control the narrative outside the courtroom, disparaging the credibility of Sandusky’s accusers by stating, “We’re pursuing a financial motivation. Finances and money are great motivators.”

Amendola praised the virtues of his client saying Sandusky is a “loving guy, an affectionate guy” who did nothing that violated the law. Amendola even drew comparisons to his own Italian-American heritage saying “everybody hugged and kissed each other.” As an Italian-American myself with lots of uncles, brothers and cousins, I can attest to the fact that everybody hugged and kissed each other. But showering together? Nope.

At least one of the accusers will not be discouraged by today’s events. He released a statement through his attorney Ben Andreozzi. It reads in part: "I can’t believe they put us through this until the last second. I will stand my ground, testify and speak the truth.”

Now the witnesses will save their testimony for the trial which will be held sometime next year. Unless of course, Sandusky agrees to a plea bargain before then. (His attorney insists there is no deal on the table.)

As of now, the beleaguered ex-coach remains under house arrest, facing more than 50 counts of sexually abusing ten boys over 12 years. His next court date is an arraignment scheduled for
January 11^th.

So here’s the question…

Is Sandusky gutless for waiving the preliminary hearing today?

(All along, while professing his innocence, Sandusky acknowledged that he couldn’t wait to face his accusers.) Or do we give Joe Amendola credit for masterminding the tactic that kept the accusers quiet and allowed him the lone pulpit?  Cowards or brilliant strategists? You be the judge.

 

Photo Credit/Caption: Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky,
second from left, and his wife Dottie Sandusky arrive for a preliminary hearing at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa., Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pat LaLama: Jerry Sandusky Back On The Streets

December 08, 2011

[ Pat LaLama's stellar career in broadcast journalism is a chronicle of some of the most iconic events in modern history.  Here's her take on the Penn State sex scandal.    Read her Bio >> ]

Accused child molester Jerry Sandusky has come up with the funds to get out of jail. Using $200,000 dollars in real estate holdings and a check for $50,000 from his wife Dorothy (more on her later) Sandusky will be able to go home—but his freedom won’t be absolute.

There are conditions attached—such as electronic monitoring.  And he’s not permitted to have any contact with victims or witnesses either.  ( I wish the order read that he can’t be near ANY CHILDREN).

In the wake of allegations from two new accusers, the charges against Sandusky are mounting. He faces more than 50 counts and will be in court next Tuesday for a preliminary hearing.

One accuser says Sandusky plied him with alcohol. The other alleges that while he was being assaulted in Sandusky’s basement, he screamed for help but no one came.

Sandusky of course insists it was all just horseplay…..

Discuss The Case On Facebook

Related Links:
>>Read: Jerry Sandusky Back In Cuffs
>>Read: Penn State Scandal: A Case of David vs Goliath?

 

 

 

Photo Caption/Credit: This Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011 photo provided by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General shows former Penn State football defensive coordinator Gerald "Jerry" Sandusky. Sandusky is charged with sexually abusing eight young men. Also, Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and Penn State vice president for finance and business Gary Schultz, 62, are expected to turn themselves in on Monday in Harrisburg, Pa., on charges of perjury and failure to report under PennsylvaniaÌs child protective services law in connection with the investigation into the abuse allegations against Sandusky. (credit: AP Photo/Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General)

Pat LaLama: Jerry Sandusky Back In Cuffs

December 07, 2011

[ Pat LaLama's stellar career in broadcast journalism is a chronicle of some of the most iconic events in modern history.  Here's her take on the Penn State sex scandal.    Read her Bio >> ]

 

Jerry Sandusky is back in handcuffs today, rearrested and charged with additional counts of sexual assault. Two new alleged victims told the Grand Jury they too met Sandusky through his charity, The Second Mile. One of the accusers said the assault took place as recently as 2004.The other in 1997.

The slew of new charges, added to the 40 he already faces, include involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor,
indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children and corruption of minors. 

Get ready to be dizzy with disgust regarding details of the alleged assault on one of the two new victims. It’s graphic.  According to the report, “Sandusky also attempted to engage in anal penetration of Victim 9 on at least sixteen occasions and at times did penetrate him”.  The victim said that on at least one occasion, while in Sandusky’s basement, he screamed for help, knowing that Sandusky’s wife was upstairs, but no one ever came to help him

Given the ever expanding laundry list of charges, I say any judge would be well within their right to find this man to be a clear and present danger to society and simply deny bail!  Or at the very least, set the bail so high, it would be the functional equivalent of no bail. (Assuming Jerry’s financially solvent buddy network doesn’t come to his rescue.) Prosecutors sought a $1million bond, but the judge set it at $250,000. As of this posting, Sandusky was not able to make bail and sits in jail.

And while Sandusky may think his well-placed interviews with various news media are helping his case, all his jabbering about being innocent doesn’t appear to be intimidating his accusers---it’s only serving to incense them.

The floodgates have opened, and accusers are finding strength in numbers. As of now, there are a total of ten.

 Meanwhile, if you read my post yesterday, I made the comment that if I saw anyone sexually assaulting a child “I would tackle the creep, scream like a crazy woman and call the cops.”

That statement prompted some of my friends and colleagues to ask themselves the question…
”What would I do?”

So now I pose the question to you. This requires some really honest self-analysis.  

Are you the type who simply cannot get involved?  

Would you do nothing? 

Would you not intervene, but tell someone in a position of authority, such as a teacher,
boss or coach?

Would you call the police?

Would you actually intervene?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. There are true consequences to getting involved or becoming a witness. It takes courage and willingness to be raked over the coals by the accused and his or her defenders. One’s reputation can be shredded. There can be a backlash. Think about it.

Back to Sandusky…he’ll be in court next Tuesday for a preliminary hearing. I ask you…should he be resting in the comfort of his own home until then, or should he be denied his freedom given the seriousness of the charges against him?

 

Related Links:
Pat LaLama Reports: Penn State Sex Scandal: A Case Of David vs. Goliath?
Sandusky's Charity, Second Mile, Announces Layoffs
In Photos: Who's Involved In The Scandal?
Scandals Reveal Sex Offender Laws' Limits

 

Photo Caption/Credit: This Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011 photo provided by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General shows former Penn State football defensive coordinator Gerald "Jerry" Sandusky. Sandusky is charged with sexually abusing eight young men. Also, Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and Penn State vice president for finance and business Gary Schultz, 62, are expected to turn themselves in on Monday in Harrisburg, Pa., on charges of perjury and failure to report under PennsylvaniaÌs child protective services law in connection with the investigation into the abuse allegations against Sandusky. (credit: AP Photo/Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General)

Pat LaLama: Penn State Sex Scandal: A Case Of David vs. Goliath?

December 06, 2011

[ Pat LaLama's stellar career in broadcast journalism is a chronicle of some of the most iconic events in modern history.  Here's her take on the Penn State sex scandal.    Read her Bio >> ]

 

As more alleged victims come forward, former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky finds himself swimming in an ever widening cesspool of heinous allegations. His attorney Joseph Amendola is denying reports that he will discuss the option of a plea bargain with his client. Amendola is continuing his media attack against the credibility of the accusers.  

One of the new alleged victims (not originally part of the criminal investigation) has filed a civil suit claiming Sandusky abused him more than 100 times over a four year period starting when he was ten years old. Equally sickening, the accuser claims Sandusky threatened to harm his family if he ever told. That’s standard operating procedure for child sex predators according to famed Los Angeles attorney, Robin Sax.  As a former sex crimes prosecutor, she knows the perpetrators method of operation. “There are two main ways to gain entrance and access to kids.

The first is to groom the victim through kindness, love, gifts and empty promises. The other is through fear, threats and blackmail. The predator uses them both and keeps the child conflicted”, says Sax.”

Sax is concerned about the timing of the newest accuser’s civil suit against Sandusky. “He’s certainly entitled to pursuit a civil lawsuit, but seeking monetary damage now has the potential to send the wrong message in a case that is an example of prolific, long term sexual abuse. Sax believes the criminal case against Sandusky is solid and worries a civil suit at this point might muddy the waters.

Leonard Levine, one of L.A.’s most successful sex crimes defense attorneys says a civil suit filed now can work against the alleged victim. “Every victim of alleged sexual molestation has a right to seek civil damages, but when it’s done prior to the conclusion of a criminal prosecution, it provides the defense with a claim that the accuser was motivated by financial gain and may be fabricating some or all of the allegations. The motives are less questionable if he agrees to become part of the criminal case and allows his allegations to be investigated and prosecuted.”

No doubt the alleged victims must prepare themselves for psychological warfare. Last week it was revealed that Jerry Sandusky’s first accuser was apparently bullied so badly for coming forward, he had to leave his high school. When it comes to fallout over the Penn State child sex-abuse scandal my biggest fear has been realized. The alleged victims will be victimized.

Fear, intimidation, smear campaigns, threats, taunting—it’s all part of the tactic and weaponry used in such scandals to crush those who dare to emerge from the secret painful darkness in order to shine the light of truth on their perpetrators.

I don’t know if Sandusky is guilty of any of the allegations against him. But I’ve covered enough of these cases to know what’s coming down the pike.

 

When I heard the former coach’s measured, seemingly emotionless response to Bob Costas’ brilliant questioning, I could feel a wave of dread pass over me. Why in the world would he speak to the media? Well, consider it the start of a well-crafted public relations campaign. Get into people’s living rooms. Call the vile allegations a matter of just “horsing around” with the kids. Discredit the whistleblower.

Today, Amendola is using terms like “jumping on the bandwagon” to describe those who are just now coming forward.  Sure, that makes a lot of sense. Fabricate some lies and false accusations, subject yourself to public humiliation and private ruination, get bullied, harassed and flogged…all for the sake of “jumping on the bandwagon”. But renowned attorney Thomas Mesereau, who successfully defended Michael Jackson against child molestation charges challenges my cynicism. He says these kinds of cases, when leaked to the public “whip up a frenzy” and open up a “Pandora’s Box of false accusations.”

I suppose Sandusky could argue that public access to the grand jury report is damaging to him—and that he has the right to defend himself in the same public arena. But Sandusky is part of what one might consider a bullet-proof machine and my fear is that the truth seekers will be blocked by the impenetrable two headed monster of denial and cover-up.

 

A MODERN DAY DAVID VS GOLIATH:

One might consider the case against Sandusky and the two Penn State top officials who are accused of lying, a modern day David and Goliath. The machine (Penn State) is flush with money, power, influence and prestige—a powerful defensive line—capable of rolling over an intimidated offense.

I read an article recently about Joe Paterno’s extraordinary rule at Penn State.  The former vice-president for student affairs, Vicky Triponey says she did battle with the coach over disciplinary issues involving his players. She claims he interfered in her probes and demanded and got favorable treatment for the team. It was a battle of wills and she was ultimately forced to resign. Football reigns supreme. Everything for the sake of the “program.”

I know this world. I grew up in football crazed Columbus, Ohio and graduated from The Ohio State University. We all knew the players lived in their own sovereign universe—with their own set of rules. Oh well, we shrugged… it was beloved BUCKEYE FOOTBALL after all. Scarlet and Gray all the way!

I can tell you this…if I had witnessed anyone in the pigskin hierarchy (or anyone else for that matter) violating a child, I would have tackled the creep, screamed like a crazy woman and called the cops. I know that’s easy for me to say—the proverbial armchair quarterback statement—but I’m pretty sure my outrage would supersede my love of the Buckeyes.

I am heartened by the fact that Penn State president Rodney Erickson promised yesterday that the university would raise the standard of ethics “to a new level”. The school is also pledging $1.5 million dollars to sex crimes advocacy organizations.

Jerry Sandusky and the alleged co-conspirators deserve media fairness and their day in court. But today I implore Penn State to allow transparency to prevail. That’s the only way to recover from the media beating your school has taken. Plus…it’s the right thing to do.

And most importantly, I implore the alleged victims to not buckle under any circumstances.

It’s going to be painful, emotionally searing, devastating, soul crunching and life-altering. But imagine what is to be gained by speaking up not just for yourselves, but for the millions who suffer in silence and need to hear your voices.

Barbara Dorris, who is a victim of child sexual assault, now runs the victim’s outreach program for SNAP. (The Survivors Network of those abused by Priests.) She tells me the phones have been ringing off the hook in support of Sandusky’s alleged victims. “It’s important for survivors to protect others. They want to do something”, says Dorris.  But Dorris is convinced there are countless silent witnesses who were “in the know” at Penn State and need to speak up. “We can’t put it all on the victim’s. We need witnesses and whistleblowers to come forward. Without their cooperation nothing changes and these kids who need help are trapped into being silent.”

 

ABUSE STATISTICS:

If you haven’t already heard the horrifying government statistics, ponder this: between one in four girls will be sexually abused by the age of 18. For boys, it’s one in six. Those statistics are more than likely low because they don’t take into consideration the countless victims who will never find the courage to report.

When I was a correspondent with “America’s Most Wanted” I interviewed a young convict who had molested over 100 boys by the time he was 21. He told me he preyed on “sad kids with slumped shoulders”, kids who needed a friend or mentor. He told me how easy it was to get past unsuspecting parents who had no idea what clues to look for when their children were being abused.

I also interviewed a former county sheriff who molested all five of his children…in the presence of his wife. Fifty percent of child sex abusers are married! There are all kinds of reasons why spouses don’t rat out the abusers. Some are legitimately fooled.   But in many cases says San Francisco clinical psychologist Dr. Carol Walser, “they are putting themselves above their child. They don’t want to threaten the stability and togetherness of the family, so they sacrifice their abused child to protect their own security. It is self-serving.” In my mind, that’s being an accessory to a crime. There’s just no excuse for looking the other way. The deniers are just as guilty as the perpetrators if you ask me.

So today, we’ve got a plethora of investigations into the Penn State scandal. Former FBI director Louis Freeh is heading up the schools internal investigation. There’s the NCAA, the State Attorney General and the federal Department of Education probes. Not good enough. I want more. I want the FBI on this. A big machine with as much firepower as Penn State.

Accuser number one may have been bullied at school and that breaks my heart and fills me with anger, but according to his mom, he has no intention of backing down from his story. Remember, the truth is your slingshot. If you are telling the truth, the giant will be slayed!

 

Related Links:
Sandusky's Lawyer's Ready To Question Victims
All Eight Victims To Testify Against Sandusky
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

Photo Credit: Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan speaks during a news conference Monday afternoon inside the Capitol Media Center at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, PA. to discuss the child abuse investigation against former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. © Matthew O'Haren/Icon SMI/Corbis

Conrad Murray Had No Remorse For His Patient, Michael Jackson

November 29, 2011

A personal friend and physician of Michael Jackson, Dr. Patrick Treacy offers his thoughts on the today's sentencing of Dr. Conrad Murray.  (Read his bio)

 

 

 Dr. Murray has just received four years for his involvement in the death of Michael Jackson. He will also have to pay substantial restitution to the young family and estate of the late singer. During the weeks of the trial and the utterly tasteless documentary in which he later participated, the doctor expressed no remorse for his patient's death and attempted to blame his client and others instead for his passing. This was of concern to many people as his total lack of empathy for his victim was considered contrary to the normal doctor-patient relationship.

At times, especially during the post trial documentary , Murray's self-serving behaviour, his grandiose sense of self, his pathological lying, as well as his lack of remorse shame or guilt caused many commentators to feel that the doctor displayed possible sociopathic type tendencies. 

I felt Judge Pastor gave the appropriate sentence with a sense of fairness and decency. He said "There are those who feel Dr. Murray is a saint," "There are those who feel Dr. Murray is the devil. He's neither. He's a human being. He stands convicted of the death of another human being'. These words were indeed profound and gave a great sense of humanity to the proceedings. The amount of money that Dr. Murray has to pay Michael's young family and his estate means he is very unlikely to profit in the future from book sales etc. The Judge reminded everyone that Murray worked as a doctor for 20 years, with "no prior contacts with the law," and many of his patients were elderly in low-income, under-served communities. It does seems reasonable that the transgression for which he is to be judged should be viewed within the context of the larger life of which it is a part. .

The judge also said that while he had considered the entire "book" of Murray's life, he also had "read the book of Michael Jackson's life." "Regrettably, as far as Dr. Murray is concerned, the most significant chapter, as it relates to this case, is the chapter involving the treatment, or lack of treatment, of Michael Jackson." and those words summed up the reality of the situation. Whatever justice Michael may have now legally, this sad episode will never bring him back and the world will have to get used to a world without him. He will be forever remembered in his musical legacy and as I sit here writing this comment in Ailesbury, at times I think I can hear his gentle laughter still in the air. 'Treacy, I don't know whether you're trying to wind me up or not'

 

Alas, poor Michael, until we all meet again....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related Links:
Conrad Murray: Wreckless and a danger
Timeline: Michael Jackson's Legal Woes

Conrad Murray: Reckless And Dangerous

>>NEWS UPDATE<<

Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s physician, found guilty this month for involuntary manslaughter has been sentenced to four years imprisonment L.A. County Jail Tuesday in the Los Angeles Superior Court.

 

Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s physician, found guilty this month for involuntary manslaughter will be sentenced Tuesday in the Los Angeles Superior Court. 

Murray, 58, has spent the last three weeks of the six-week trial behind bars. The trial presented the most detailed account yet of the popstar’s final hours but left many questions about Murray's treatment of Jackson with an operating-room anesthetic as he battled chronic insomnia.

Under new statewide policies in California, certain nonviolent offenders are held in county to lessen inmate overcrowding. In L.A., jail terms are often cut significantly, as county facilities are overfull.

Prosecutors emphasized the vulnerability of Michael Jackson, created by Dr. Murray and said: “this is a crime in which the end result was the death of a human being.” They asked the judge to consider Murray’s “lack of remorse” in his sentencing and asked the judge for the maximum sentencing of four year in state prison.

>>A Look Back At Murray's Trial<<

Murray’s lawyers contested the King of Pop’s vulnerability and said Michael Jackson was a “drug seeker” and though Dr. Murray was wrong in providing it, he was not the only one at fault. They asked for the most lenient sentence, arguing that the physician has already been punished enough with the loss of his medical license and public contempt.

>>Timeline: Michael Jackson's Legal Woes<<

"I do wonder, though, to what extent the court considers the entirety of a man's book of life, as opposed to just one chapter," defense attorney Ed Chernoff said. He described Dr. Murray’s life as coming from a poor childhood to becoming a cardiologist who helped treat the poor.

“Does any of that matter?” Chernoff asked.

The judge said that the Murray’s lawyers’ argument that if it wasn’t for Dr. Murray someone else might have done the same was, an “insult to the medical profession” and disregarded good deeds done by Dr. Murray before the treatment of Michael Jackson. 

>>Dr. Patrick Treacy: Murray Had No Remorse For Jackson

The judge found that Dr. Murray was the one at fault in the death of Michael Jackson and said “that’s the chapter to which I refer.”

The judge also talked about the lies that Dr. Murray had told, including attempts to hide evidence and found that Dr. Murray continues to be a danger to society.

 

Pat LaLama: Everyone Loves A Tinsel Town Mystery

November 21, 2011

[ Pat LaLama's stellar career in broadcast journalism is a chronicle of some of the most iconic events in modern history.  Here's her take on the just reopened Natalie Wood case.    Read her Bio >> ]

We Los Angeles based journalists love a great Tinsel Town mystery. News that the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department is reopening the case involving Hollywood darling Natalie Wood—after 30 years—has shaken this “industry” town like a good old fashioned West Coast earthquake.

Having covered nearly every big celebrity case of the last 25 years, I too am salivating like Pavlov’s dog at the prospect of a compelling new chapter in the great enigma surrounding the great film star’s drowning.

Read All About Natalie Wood's Death

One might believe there’s something substantial for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department to investigate. It’s the largest, busiest Sheriff’s department in the world—not known for wasting time, energy or resources on frivolous bits of salacious innuendo, rumor or conjecture. Lt. John Corina said the new credible information is coming from “several sources”, not just flip-flopping yacht captain Dennis Davern. He’s got a credibility problem. Was he lying then or is he lying now?

Even though the very capable Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca is sometimes accused by the media of being star struck, I’m certain he isn’t the slightest bit motivated by the fact that it’s the thirty year anniversary of the tragedy off Catalina Island. Nor is he interested in playing off the CBS/Vanity Fair collaboration airing this weekend which examines the mystery. I don’t think he cares much about helping Davern sell a few books, either. If the Sheriff has credible info, then it’s a duty to look at the case with fresh eyes. And that’s exactly what they’re doing.

However, let’s cut through the fog of excitement and look at what we have. What’s really changed? We’ve got a boat skipper who claims now that he lied three decades ago. But he hasn’t really told us what exactly he’s lied about. Nor has he told us what the truth is (or his version of it.) When asked specific questions, his answers are coy and vague...as if he’s toying with us. Have we the media and the police taken the bait? Are we unwitting accomplices in his efforts to make waves? And more to the point is this a desperate attempt on Davern’s part to reinvigorate sales of his book?

The talk is that state of the art DNA technology could help solve the mystery. I doubt it. Investigators say they plan to examine the yacht, “Splendour” which is now in Hawaii. While it’s true such technology has advanced light years since Wood’s death, how would DNA be relevant in this particular case? There’s no issue as to who was on the boat and who died. We know there was arguing among all the parties. There doesn’t seem to be any disputed facts that DNA testing would solve. Does anyone really believe there’s a blood-stained fishing knife lying around on the deck thirty years later?

It’s one thing to look for new evidence and hear possible new witness accounts of the circumstances on that horrible night, but we’re a long way away from seeing concrete evidence that would lead to a winnable case. So I wouldn’t hold my breath for another “trial of the century”-- this time starring Robert Wagner or Christopher Walken.

At this point all we have is yet another alcohol fueled, celebrity party gone wrong. Unfortunately in this case, the party ended with the loss of a true Hollywood legend.

 

Photo Credits: Wireimage/Getty Images - Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood during AFI Salute to Fred Astaire at Beverly Hilton Hotel, 1981

Michael Jackson's Other Doctor Lends His Thoughts on the Verdict and His Dear Friend

November 07, 2011

A personal friend and physician of Michael Jackson, Dr. Patrick Treacy offers his thoughts on the Dr. Conrad Murray trial and the verdict that was reached today. (Read his bio)

The jury in the trial of The People v Conrad Murray have just returned a Guilty verdict. While it is sad to see another doctor incarcerated for a period of many years, I feel that Dr. Murray was indeed guilty of not providing an adequate standard of medical care and his reckless behaviour and neglectful actions led directly to the death of another human being, who was also a father, brother, son and in my personal instance a friend.

 

>>Videos - Dr. Treacy Questions Michael's Drug Use

I would like to express my gratitude to the honorable Judge Pastor, who ensured this trial was conducted in a fair manner – Michael deserved this after the disgrace that was the Santa Maria trial of 2005. Respect should also be given to DDA David Walgren and DDA Deborah Brazil for the outstanding case they presented

In reaching this result, the Californian Court has attempted to give some dignity back to a gentle soul who had his reputation, his respect and ultimately his very life taken from him by greedy people who cared only about themselves.

 

>>Videos - The Conrad Murray Defense

 

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Sleep my friend! For the dawn will come again in another time, And your kindly soul can find some solitude at last, Rest, as your seedlings grow and sparkle from the vine, And children laugh and play as God above looks down.

On that other morn, as sun strikes the earth with shafts of light,And ripened grapes shake and gently tremble on the boughs, As mountain streams stall and turn around their paths,The heavens open and each man falls prostrate on the ground.

Jesus comes amongst us, as prophecies of the past did fortell Your rested body then wakes from the slumber of the age,
Rose scented petals fill the Temple, falling, circling all around,
And you shall rise and take your rightly place by his side.

And man shall then forever know all the evil that was done,
To fellow man, to starving children and also to you alone,
The destitute shall then arise, the sickly smile again,
And each shall know your beauty in judgment of the age.

(Patrick Treacy)

Meet The Bleep: He Almost Got Away with Framing His Girlfriend for Armed Robbery

August 01, 2011

Stories of downright dirty deception, exposed

Credit: Darrin Klimek/Digital Vision/Thinkstock

 

Meet the Bleep: Jerry Ramrattan

 

The Betrayal:
Jerry was loaded with rage. His ex-girlfriend, Seemona Sumasar, refused to drop charges against him for rape. When threats from his friends didn’t intimidate her, Jerry decided to pull out the big guns of revenge. In his mind, the only way to silence her was to frame her for committing a crime, too.

The scorned lover recruited and trained several “victims” who reported they’d been robbed by an armed woman who looked like Seemona and drove a getaway vehicle that matched the description of her Jeep.

Jerry’s trail of false evidence seemed convincing enough to authorities, who arrested Seemona, a woman with no prior criminal history. She was locked up in jail, and bail was set at $1 million.

The Break:
The truths from others eventually set Seemona free, shortly before her trial was set to begin. One of the so-called victims admitted his part in Jerry’s ruthless plot. Now facing charges that include conspiracy, rape and perjury, Jerry is currently smoldering behind bars at Rikers.

Set the Full Story Free

 

Related Links:
Who the (Bleep!) Did I Marry?
Dare to Share - ID Ex Files

Meet The Bleep: Male Pastor Poses as Female to Solicit Nude Pictures of Young Boys

July 25, 2011

Stories of downright dirty deception, exposed

credit: Thinkstock

 

Meet the Bleep: Daniel Leslie Mooneyham

 

The Betrayal:
Youth pastor Daniel Leslie Mooneyham was seeking more than confessions from his church. Under the guise of a fake Facebook profile, Mooneyham transformed into teenage girl “Terri Smith,” baiting young boys with naked pictures of a topless female in the hopes they’d send naked pictures in return.

Mooneyham even targeted some of the boys in his own congregation.

The Break:
Determined to beat her husband at his own game, his wife Jami created a fake Facebook account of her own, posing as a teenage boy to send messages to her husband. She shuttered his operation by reporting him to the FBI, and then filed for divorce in a flash.

 Get The Full Story

 

Related Links:
ID Ex Files: Share Your Story
Who The (Bleep!) Did I Marry?

Meet The Bleep: Sleazy Stash of Cash Stowed in the Gun Safe

July 18, 2011

Stories of downright dirty deception, exposed

(Photo Credit: PolkaDot Images)

Meet the Bleep:  Harold

The Betrayal:
Harold stowed away a stash of $100 bills to support his addiction to internet porn and prostitutes. Harold attended “business meetings” turned cheap hotel meet-ups, and sent thank you notes for ladies’ “services".

When first confronted by his wife, Kathryn, about his addiction, Harold pointed the finger at their two sons, claiming they were to blame for the naughty websites that appeared on his computer.

The Break:
Determined to expose the man for his kinky crusades, his family collected a binder full of evidence, and traced Harold’s X-rated online adventures. When Harold claimed he wasn’t interested in counseling, Kathryn kicked the perv to the curb with a divorce notice.

The Full Story Exposed

 

Related Links:
Saved on the Strip: Sex, Lies and the Raw Truth
Who The (Bleep!) Did I Marry?
Dare to Share Your Story: ID Ex Files

Casey Anthony: Jury Selection 'Harry Potter' Style : Guest Blog by Ivy Bigbee

April 22, 2011

[Ivy Bigbee is a Washington, D.C.-based photographer-writer-poet. Visit Bigbee’s website at: www.ivybigbee.com]

Prior to jury selection for Casey Anthony's murder trial, lawyers for both sides may wish to rescreen the movie, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." After Judge Belvin Perry denied defense attorney Jose Baez’s request for jury consultant funding, Sarah Murray, an acclaimed jury expert with Trial Behavior Consulting, and who is not associated with the capital case, recalled one enchanted Potter character when spelling  out what’s needed to pick a jury.

Observing, "Attorneys have to be a 'sorting hat'" to pick jurors that will align with their respective case, Murray may be inferring that skilful questioning, intuition, and utmost sensitivity are needed during the selection. 

A sorting what? Beginning with the first movie introducing Harry Potter's enchanted world, a shabby, brown wizard hat reasons, talks, sings and "sorts," magically floating over new students' heads while divining their talent and probing their character. Ceremoniously, the all-knowing hat's soul-searching abilities determine to which of four houses in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that students will belong. As do lawyers with potential jurors in voir dire, the sorting hat speaks to the student during the process.

Magic aside, aims of a lawyerly "sorting hat" might include helping to identify, respectively, a potential juror that appears to be pro-prosecution, pro-defense, untruthful, or possibly, to out a "stealth" juror packing a hidden agenda. During voir dire, with prosecutors seeking the death penalty against Anthony, lawyers must question potential jurors about their capital punishment stance: so-called "death-qualification."

Beginning with a jury pool questionnaire drafted by both prosecution and defense, then presented to the judge, the questions will help to elucidate life experiences that might shape potential jurors' attitudes toward police, whether they have children, their education and occupation, etc.: factors any one of which could prompt a juror to lean toward acquittal or a guilty verdict.

Jury makeup, Murray explains, in the end will be a "skewed, [non]-representative sample of the population whose average age is 45, whose jury members are age 50-55, and have children."

Murray, who has picked over 200 juries, views the Casey Anthony trial as being "almost a morality play" about a mother accused of killing her child. "Arousing strong emotions ... at the heart of the story," Murray adds, "lies a horrible betrayal of a mother against her child."

Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder of her daughter, Caylee, age 2. The trial begins May 9 in Orlando.

Related Links:
Discuss The Caylee Anthony Case
Full Coverage : Casey Anthony Case

Photo Credit: Casey Anthony Flag: Judge Stan Strickland/public domain

Please note that Investigation Discovery does not necessarily endorse any of the views expressed by guest bloggers and Investigation Discovery is not responsible for the information contained in guest posts.

Do Law Enforcement Officers Contribute to Crime? : Guest Blog by Adrienne Carlson

October 07, 2009

[Adrienne Carlson regularly writes on the topic of forensic science. She welcomes your comments and questions and can be contacted via email at: adrienne.carlson83@yahoo.com]

I must admit, I'm a fan of television series that feature detectives, forensic science, cops and robbers, and any other kind of whodunit mystery. So you can guess that Bones, Shark, Criminal Minds, CSI (the original and all the spin-offs), Numbers and various other shows are featured on my list of favorites. I also don't mind watching the re-runs - if I haven't caught the show on the original air date that is. It was one such re-run of Criminal Minds that raised the question in my mind – do law enforcement officers contribute to the perpetration of crime?

The incident in question featured a press conference by the spokesperson of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, which appealed to the public to provide information on a suspect based on a profile. For the perpetrator who is mentally deranged because of a trauma, the appeal triggers off another bout of killing, and the spokesperson feels that she is to blame for the murder. So, would you say that it was true and that cops and others in the law enforcement field are sometimes responsible, albeit by accident, for the perpetration of a crime?

In my mind, the answer is a definite no, unless the officer in question is directly responsible for the crime. They cannot be held responsible for doing their job, and if criminals go off on a tangent and go on another murderous spree because the cops were doing their job, then it's just another unfortunate incident that we have no control over.

Click here to continue reading this story >

No Family Left Behind

The Keys to Healing may be in your hands.

By: Kelly Jolkowski, Mother of Missing Jason Jolkowski
President and Founder, Project Jason

Yes, you. Why, you ask?

Imagine one of the people you love most disappears. There is no goodbye, no letter or last phone call. There is only silence and an empty place in your heart that can’t be filled by anything or anyone but that person.

There are fear, guilt, anxiety, loneliness, and frustration as you spend every waking minute on the search. You've registered your missing loved on every website you can find and sought the advice of several trained nonprofits. You’ve worked with your law enforcement to do everything in your power to bring him/her home. Searches have taken place and media came to your aid. There is nothing left to do right now but wait and hope for the lead to come in that will resolve this awful situation.

Help may come for the search, but there is little help for your emotional needs.  No counselor in your area has experience with this situation. There are no local support groups for families of the missing, and you feel alienated in victims’ or grief groups -- they have answers. You don’t.

Then you hear about the Keys to Healing retreat where you can learn why you feel as you do and how to best live in your new reality. At this place, you’ll meet people just like you, people who understand how you feel. This is what you need in order to go on because you’re at the end of your rope and no one is listening.

Your heart leaps at the thought of the relief the retreat has brought to others Then you look at your bank account balance and pile of bills on the table. You spent your savings on a reward fund, billboards, posters and private investigators. You paid his/her bills, never predicting this would go on so long. You may, as many, have taken a second job to compensate for the loss of their paycheck. You also have no vacation pay left, and those bills keep piling up.

Suddenly, you are overwhelmed with the weight of it all. You need this retreat but without the money, you can’t go. The thought of yet another day like this brings you to your knees. The tears come, slowly at first, but then erupt into sobs. And no one hears you.

Families of the Missing Need Emotional Support

This isn’t just a sad story....this was reality for numerous families who wanted…no, needed to come to our 2009 retreat but could not afford it.

While some online support is available, there is no substitute for an in-person gathering like Project Jason’s Keys to Healing retreat. We have the very best and most knowledgeable counselor in the country explaining why attendees they feel as they do and detailing what they can do about it. For three days, families of the missing are enveloped in mental, physical, and spiritual health guidance, massage therapy, peaceful, quiet surroundings, and much more. They meet others who truly understand, and they forge bonds that will help them with support long after the retreat ends.

We asked you to imagine a life in their situation. We now ask you to find it in your heart to help us help them. We need your help to be able to bring as many families to the 2010 retreat as possible. You hold the Keys to Healing for these families in your hands.

Last year, 20 families came to the first Keys to Healing retreat. On the first day, Friday, the pain of their loss and the weight of the situation was clearly etched upon their faces. By the end of the second day, we witnessed the families bonding, and even heard laughter now and then. By the time they left Sunday, there were smiles on those same faces. They were transformed both inside and out. We wondered if we were imagining what we witnessed, but we weren’t.

See for yourself by watching this video. Observe the faces at the beginning and at the end.

What Attendees Have to Say

The families who attended the 2009 retreat will tell you in their own words how life was for them and how the retreat helped them know they can go on.

"On June 26, 2007 my entire life changed, my 26 year old son disappeared. This began a new chapter that altered the path of my life completely.  Through the beginning days of darkness I struggled, and with the instruction from Law Enforcement that they have limited resources and that they would do all they could but that the family must do the rest ringing in my head.

"Every aspect of the retreat had impact on me personally, and I took away from it tools that will help me over the coming months and years to not only cope, but to move forward with more strength, health and armed with knowledge that not only I can use, but that I can share with others to help in their walk."

Christy Davis, Mother of missing Michael Austin Davis

"I feel as though the Keys to Healing Retreat made such a major impact on my life and family! Before the retreat I was going down a negative and destructive path. I was devastated by the loss and presumed death of my loved one. Because of the retreat, I have started making better choices, and my husband and I are working on our marriage instead of being determined to end our marriage. I felt so alone and afraid...I felt incapable of dealing with the pain and emotion of losing my loved one.  Because of the retreat, I feel like my family is on the road to healing....although I don’t know when, or even if this traumatic event will end...I know that my husband, child, and I will survive and hopefully even thrive."

Carolyn Johnson, Mother of missing Clinton Nelson

"During the early days of my daughter's disappearance, I was frantic for something to do, or someone to connect with who could help us. The only resources I was finding were located in Australia! I think I gave up. I was struggling personally, not only with my guilt and fears for my missing child, but also with cancer. The latter two are history, but my missing child is always there. The few people that I could share with were helpless and sometimes cruel, so I just closed up. I had no money for reward or a trip to the state where she disappeared, and I just got angrier and angrier!

"Through the experience of the retreat I had to come to terms with that anger and frustration. Yes 'dumping all this' may not resolve my daughter's fate but the process certainly was enlightening. I didn't realize how destructive my silence and anger were. Also, the strength of the other families affected me profoundly. The education at the retreat reinforced what I was experiencing but also provided insight and constructive things I can practice to become a better 'me', even a 'me not knowing what has become of my child.'"

Malinda Hoyt, Mother of missing Emillie Hoyt

Click here to continue reading this story >

Most "Fascinating" Sociopaths of 2008 : Guest Blog by Michelle Simonsen

December 20, 2008

[Michelle Simonsen is a true crime blogger who writes for Michelle Says So and Boycott Aruba-Justice for Natalee Holloway. She is also a contributing writer for the citizen journalist website, NowPublic]

It's the end of the year, and just like Barbara Walters picks her "Most Fascinating People" of the year, I think we should point out the top (some alleged) sociopaths of 2008.

Some have evaded justice.  Some are being charged for their crimes. Some are finally paying their price. Some have been ignored.

Top Five Sociopaths (some alleged) of 2008 (In no particular order)

• Joran van der Sloot
• Drew Peterson
• O.J. Simpson
• Casey Anthony
• Gary Michael Hilton

Joran van der Sloot

Joran van der Sloot, a Dutch 21-year-old has evaded Aruban and Dutch authorities for alleged crimes involving sex trafficking in Thailand and secretly confessing to killing 18-year-old Alabama honor student, Natalee Holloway in May 2005, while Holloway was vacationing in Aruba with her high school graduation class.

For over three years, Joran van der Sloot has reportedly sent the family of Natalee and the media on a wild goose chase trying to obtain the truth as to what happened to Natalee. During his initial incarceration in Aruba, he allegedly gave some 20 different stories as to what happened. After being released for lack of evidence by the Aruban/Dutch Judges, Joran fled to the Netherlands to attend college.

However, Joran didn't do much studying.  He started hanging out with an undercover drug friend named Patrick van der Eem who was hired by Dutch crime reporter, Peter De Vries. Joran was secretly videotaped confessing as to how Natalee died and what he did with her body. He stated that he believed she was overdosing - foaming at the mouth - and even mimicked her shaking. He revealed to Van der Eem that he had a "friend" with a boat that took her approximately 2 miles out to sea and dumped her body in the ocean.

When Peter de Vries reported the case and showed the hidden videos, Joran claimed he lied in order to impress Van der Eem and said that he was high on pot.  He was then trailed by crime fighter Peter de Vries to Thailand, where he allegedly set up a sex trafficking operation in Bangkok. Most recently, he was caught on hidden video, allegedly setting up girls to move and work in the Netherlands, in the sex trade business. The most recent case is still pending and Joran remains on the loose.

Immediately after the sex trafficking scandal, Joran went on Fox TV and told Greta van Susteren that he didn't kill Natalee, but had arranged for the sale of Natalee, in the amount of $10,000, to a man he had met in the casino in Aruba several times. He also said that his father, Paulus van der Sloot, had paid the police $50,000 to keep their mouths shut after Natalee went missing.

Eight hours later, Joran emailed Greta and told her he made the entire story up.

Terrorist Bull's Eye on India: A Threat to the West : Guest Blog by Dr. Deborah Schurman-Kauflin

November 26, 2008

[Dr. Deborah Schurman-Kauflin is an expert criminal profiler who has studied and investigated serial killers for over 20 years. At the request of police agencies around the world, Dr. Schurman-Kauflin has profiled hundreds of serial murders, aberrant sex crimes, sadistic murders, serial rapes, stalking, abductions, and other unusual cases. Visit Dr. Deborah Schurman-Kauflin's Website at: www.drdsk.com]

November 26, 2008, it has been reported that terrorists have struck at 7 sites in India. Gunmen have attacked targets which include hotels in Mumbai. At least 20 people are dead. This brings a very important threat to light. In my book Disturbed: Terrorist Behavioral Profiles,  I discussed this risk in the conclusion section because based on what I have seen, India is at a great risk.

Israel, Russia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Spain, U.K.,  United States, and so many oher countries face the growing threat of terrorism. And then there is India. Interestingly, India has seen a dramatic increase in these crimes.  As the years have passed, India has argued with Pakistan over Kashmir.  As a result, terror attacks within India have risen.  Some say that Pakistan is behind the attacks which have rocked the fast growing country.  There is a jihad against Hindus in Kashmir, and this carries to India.  Radical Muslims are angered by many things about Hindus.  One, they are descendants of a Jewish tribe.  Second, they are considered idolaters because they worship the cow.  And of course, Muslims feel persecuted in India because of their religion.  The anger can carry over and produce violent attacks.

Abu Salem was involved in the 1993 Mumbai bombings which killed 278 victims.  These bombings were attributed to revenge against the killings of hundreds of Muslims by the Hindu Shiv Sena political party (BBC, 2005).  Muslims felt that they were being treated unfairly and even thrown off sports teams due to their allegiance to Islam.  Specifically, Mohammad Azharuddin was fired from his position of captain of the Cricket team.  Additionally, Muslims were angry because Hindus would not allow Muslims to be elected to power positions.  There is still anger between lower cast Indians and the Muslims who have been flocking into India with oil money (Ashraf, 1999). 

In 2005, terrorists blew up a Janpur commuter train and killed 13 victims.  Similarly, October 29, 2005, terrorists set off several bombs in New Dehli killing 61 victims.  In March 2006, terrorists blew up Varanasi which is the Hindu holy city.  In the multiple bombings, 28 people were killed and over 100 injured.  Within four months, another series of bombings targeted commuter trains again in Mumbai.  At least 209 people were killed and over 700 victims were harmed.  This particular attack was linked to al-Qaeda which was said to fund the attack.  Mohammad Atta, the leader of the martyrs who carried out the 9/11 terrorist attacks trained with 3 men who were involved in the Mumbai attack (South Asian Intelligence Review, 2006).  And the bombings continued as the terrorists returned to a religious target and set off a bomb at a Hindu temple close to Imphal.  Nearly 50 people were wounded and 5 were killed. 

The next attack occurred on September 8, 2006, terrorists targeted a Muslim cemetery in Malegaon during Shab-e-Baraat.  Shab-e-Baraat is a very holy night in Islam when Muslims travel to the cemetery to pray for their ancestors.  The three bombs (rigged to bicycles) killed 37 people.

In August 2007, there were simultaneous bombings at Hyderabad killing 44 and injuring 54.  On October 14th, a bomb went off at the Shingar Cinema and killed 6 people.  Government officials blame Islamic extremists and suggest that the extremists want to exacerbate relations between Muslims and Hindus. Again, Pakistan's involvement is questioned. 

The Elusive Pursuit of Justice : Guest Blog by James Hart

August 30, 2008

[James Hart is a reporter for The Kansas City Star, where he writes Crime Scene KC, a blog about crime and public safety]

One of the most important things I learned as a police reporter: A lot of murderers never go to prison.

In Kansas City, Mo., where I live, we're relatively lucky. Our homicide detectives cleared about 87 percent of their cases last year. There are other cities, like Chicago and Detroit, that face bigger deficits. About 36 and 33 percent of their homicides were solved last year, respectively. And those are just the arrests -- we're not even talking about actual convictions.

Nationally? In 2006, 60.7 percent of homicides were cleared. Meaning the average killer stood an almost 40 percent chance of never getting caught. Not great odds, but decent. (Feel like creeping yourself out? Just imagine the murderers who continue to circulate, unknown and unpunished, in free society.)

Forty feels like a much bigger number when it's one of your loved ones who's been taken. Writing a crime blog, I've met a lot of families in this situation. They've waited weeks, months, sometimes years, and never seen an arrest. But they don't give up. They call the homicide unit every week. They hold garage sales and motorcycle runs to raise cash for the reward fund. They call reporters and ask them to right about their cases, in the hope -- however slender -- that someone might see the report and call the Crime Stoppers hotline.

Last week, I talked to a woman named Bridget McKeown about the sixth anniversary of her mother's disappearance. Shirley McKeown, 71, was driving to her daughter's house when she vanished on Aug. 24, 2002. Days later, police found her car. So much of her blood was spilled in the interior, investigators concluded, there was no way that she could still be alive. In the years since, they've never discovered exactly what happened to her. Despite the best efforts of police, her killer has never been held to account.

Shirley was a retired nurse with two kids, a lady who liked stopping at yard sales and flea markets. At the very least, she deserved to be buried with dignity, by people who loved her.

The reward in her case stands at $10,000. Bridget put up the bulk of it herself. Money well spent, she figures, if it leads to the killer. When I interviewed her about the investigation, she wasn't optimistic. There hadn't been any developments for years. But she had to keep trying.

I don't know if there will ever be justice for Shirley McKeown. You see so many cases, and every day, a new one -- seemingly more impossible -- comes along. (And I'm just a professional bystander. I have no idea how the investigators, the people on the front line, deal with this.)

But I've seen miracles happen, too. Mysteries that I thought would NEVER be resolved have suddenly crystallized and cleared. Somebody calls the hotline. A DNA sample finally gets run through the database. The bad guys lose.

It's good to know the odds. It's good to know hope, too.

Photo Credit: Freefoto.com

Please note that Investigation Discovery does not necessarily endorse any of the views expressed by guest bloggers and Investigation Discovery is not responsible for the information contained in guest posts.

Toto, I Don't Think We Are in Kansas Anymore : Guest Blog by Michelle Simonsen

August 23, 2008

[Michelle Simonsen is a true crime blogger who writes for Michelle Says So and Boycott Aruba-Justice for Natalee Holloway. She is also a contributing writer for the citizen journalist website, NowPublic]

An American, traveling outside of the country, has always held some sort of inert danger, but in recent years it has become more apparent that no one is safe when on vacation, and justice is usually never likely when something bad happens. We tend to "let down our hair" and throw caution to the wind because all of the smiling foreign faces seem harmless and safe. We've all heard stories about vacationers being robbed, assaulted, even killed, yet it is still a popular belief that something like that would never happen to them. 

How can we forget the infamous case of 18-year-old Alabama native, Natalee Holloway, who went missing while on the island of Aruba in May 2005, while celebrating her high school graduation with her fellow classmates? Let's also not forget about 24-year-old Amy Bradley, who was last seen in March 1998, while vacationing with her family on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship after docking in Curacao, Netherland Antilles. Most recently, in April 2007, Phylicia Moore, an 18-year-old New Jersey native was with her high school class traveling to Ghana on a good-will mission when she was mysteriously found dead in her Ghana hotel pool. There were no witnesses, no clues, and no answers for her family.

When we leave our borders we are subject to the laws of the country we are staying in. For victims of crime, this can become a living nightmare due to lackadaisical laws, police corruption, blatant cover-ups, and the lack of proper resources.

Rebecca Sinnott, a married 38-year-old North Carolina mother, thought she had hit the jackpot when her 19-year-old niece, Ashley won a vacation of a lifetime - a five day trip to Cancun, Mexico.  Rebecca had never been out of the country, let alone on a plane. This was going to be the trip of her dreams - a trip to paradise. Little did she know it would turn out to be a rape in paradise.

When Ashley won the trip to Cancun, Rebecca thought it would only be natural for her to join her as a chaperone. Rebecca had raised Ashley and their family agreed it would be safer for Rebecca to accompany her, instead of Ashley taking a college friend. Rebecca would be the chaperone, the adult, the one in charge, and the one that made sure Ashley would be safe from harm. Little did she know, she would be the prey and not her naïve 20-year-old niece.

On May 6, 2007, Rebecca and Ashley flew towards their idyllic vacation spot of Cancun, Mexico, ready to take in the ocean air, the warm sun, and beauty. She was ready to relax and enjoy the opportunity for the vacation of a lifetime.

On their third night, Tuesday, May 8, 2007, Rebecca and Ashley decided to enjoy dinner and drinks on one of the many popular dinner/party cruises that Cancun offered. From approximately 7:00 p.m. until 11:30 p.m., they enjoyed their dinner, drinks, music, the beautiful boat, and the serenity of the ocean around them. The experience gave her a new vitality and when the cruise ended, Rebecca and Ashley decided to check out some of the night clubs that were near their hotel.

At approximately 3:00 a.m., on Wednesday, May 9, 2007, Rebecca and Ashley walked back to their hotel after an enjoyable evening. As they walked along the streets, breathing in the fresh and warm night air, they decided to stop at a convenience store that was next to their hotel. As they walked towards the store, two security guards befriended them. The guards, who identified themselves as Carlos and Javier, offered to accompany Rebecca and Ashley to a table in front of the store, where they could relax and chat. To Rebecca, Carlos and Javier seemed to be friendly locals, so they all chatted for the next hour, about how much they were enjoying their vacation, how lovely Cancun was and even exchanged stories about their families and children. 

Carlos explained that he and Javier were security guards for a nearby night club. Rebecca was not familiar with the club, so Carlos offered to show her the inside the closed club, telling her stories of how American bands such as Guns-n-Roses had previously played there.

At this time, Rebecca and Ashley mentioned that it was getting late and they were going to leave.  Ashley told Rebecca to go ahead and look inside and said she would meet her in their room in a few minutes. They separated for what could have been the final time.

Rebecca recalls the next moments vividly.

"I remember going into the club and looking around with Carlos and up until this point, no warning, no hint, no flirting, no touching, nothing to make me think anything other than I had met a nice gentleman security guard in Cancun," Rebecca said. "After we came out of the club I remember saying 'thank you' and how nice it was to meet him, so when he offered to walk me to the hotel for my safety, I never thought anything of it. And when he said, 'Here, let's cut through the club, it comes out in the back of the lobby,' I never doubted him. Once inside the club, we walked down a hallway and when I was in the back of the club, I remember coming to a locked door and asking him to unlock it."

Rebecca continues her story.

"I remember him saying, 'Give me what I want and I'll take you where you want to go!' I remember him wailing on my head with his fist and saying 'American Tourista' and 'you know you want it'. At one point, I could clearly see his face standing in the doorway and he was smiling at me, while he backhanded me across the face and knocked me to the floor. I remember him tearing at my top; I remember pushing him and saying, 'NO!  Don't do this!'  I remember grabbing his genitals and how his jeans tore at my fingernails as I tried desperately to hurt him enough to get him off me. I remember his face and his rage and his right hand coming at me and knocking me into a wall. Then I remember telling myself to lay still and act like I'm dead and maybe he'll go away. I remember the colors of the walls; I remember the blood, so much blood."

The next thing Rebecca remembers is being in her hotel lobby and seeing her niece screaming and passing out at the sight of the blood and her appalling injuries. Rebecca started screaming, "Go get Carlos!  He did this! Ashley knows where he is! Tell them! Go get him! Help me!" Little did Rebecca know, through her swollen and bloody face all they could make out were moans.

The next 24 hours were a blur for Rebecca. Ashley recollects no one being able to speak English except for the ambulance driver, who quickly asked her, "How much money do you have?" as her Aunt laid on the ground screaming and bleeding profusely. A credit card was her only ticket to the hospital, where they immediately did a rape kit, and started prepping her for an operation on her battered and broken body. She remembers speaking to her crying husband on the phone, who was screaming, "Get out of there before they kill you! Get out of Mexico! Just come home no matter what! They are going to kill you! Don't trust anyone, come home!"

With those words, from her husband of 20 years, Rebecca got up, signed some paperwork that she couldn't see, let alone read, and her hotel concierge immediately put her in a wheelchair and told her he would get her on a flight home back to the states right away.

As soon as Rebecca was back in North Carolina, she was rushed to a hospital, where she learned the extent of her injuries. She had lost three teeth, both of her eye sockets and cheek bones were broken, her nose was broken and she had several broken ribs. When the doctors were finished, she was also left with over a dozen stitches, both inside and outside of her mouth, and another dozen around her left eye.

"By all rights my face should have caved in from the pressure on the plane and why it did not is a mystery," Rebecca said, adding, "I was in a hell of a shape, but I was ALIVE."

A Life Forever Changed

Since the alleged incident, Rebecca's life has never been the same. It has caused her to develop severe depression and post traumatic stress, for which she had to start taking medication and seek intense therapy. Due to the depression and stress, Rebecca lost her job because she could not perform her duties the way she used to.

Rebecca vowed to herself, and to countless other victims, that Mexico would not forget her name. She began to speak to anyone who would listen to her story - lawyers, politicians, the media, and the Mexican authorities.

In August 2007, North Carolina Senator Elizabeth Dole referred Rebecca's case to the U.S. Department of State and they sent her a letter stating that the U.S. Consular Agency in Cancun inquired with local police on her behalf and learned that a suspect had not been apprehended in connection with her case; however her case remains open.

Rebecca eventually got in touch with a Mexican woman named Lydia Cacho, who runs an organization called CIAM, which helps abused, battered, and raped women of Mexico. She also helps dozens of American women who are raped every year in Cancun. Rebecca is currently working with Lydia and has started her own website, Ithappenedinmexico.com, to help others who, like her, were victimized in Cancun. Rebecca wanted to give the victims a place to come together so that they share their stories and realize that they are not alone.

Rebecca has become a crusader and continues to fight her case with the Mexican authorities and has no intention of giving up the hunt for her rapist and those who helped cover it up.

Photo Credits:
Airplane: Freeimages.co.uk
All others: Courtesy of Rebecca Sinnott

Please note that Investigation Discovery does not necessarily endorse any of the views expressed by guest bloggers and Investigation Discovery is not responsible for the information contained in guest posts.

When Justice Comes To Charlotte : Guest Blog by Julianne Wallace

August 16, 2008

[Julianne Wallace is a freelance writer and aspiring author who is currently working on two books at once. She has blogged in multiple genres, but currently writes true crime as her alter ego, Imp Queen. Julianne is also co-author of the true crime website The Dreamin' Demon]

June 3, 1993 was a balmy, humid Thursday night in Charlotte, North Carolina. Tasha Lopes was seventeen. Her friend Raylynn Chelton was two years younger. Both girls were pretty, with long, dark curly hair and striking eyes.

Raylynn and her mother lived at the Emerald Bay Apartments. The complex was known for teenage partying, and Tasha and Raylynn were hanging out in the parking lot that night. At first, Raylynn's mother thought the girls had gone to Tasha's house. They did that sometimes, and Olympic High School was already out for the summer, so she wasn't too worried. The last Tasha's mother had heard, the pair was at Raylynn's house. Most of a day went by before the mothers realized their girls were gone.

Five days later, Tasha Lopes and Raylynn Chelton were found dead, left naked in a field at the Chemway Industrial Park in northwest Charlotte. Both girls had been sexually assaulted and shot in the head. Tasha had one bullet wound; Raylynn had been shot three times at close range.

As the summer went by, rumors flew, but no real information seemed forthcoming. Two local thugs, Robert Chevelle Friday and Myron Terrell Burris, were the best suspects, but there wasn't enough evidence to charge the men. Over months and then years, the case went cold. Tasha Lopes and Raylynn Chelton were all but forgotten, except by their families, and no clear leads emerged in either case for over a decade.

In 2003, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department formed its Cold Case Division. At the time of its formation, the cold case squad was faced with nearly 300 unsolved murders over four decades. One of the first cases investigated was the double murder of Tasha and Raylynn. Within months, witnesses began to surface, and the case began to come together. One witness described seeing the girls forced into a Nissan Sentra at gunpoint. And police finally had enough forensic evidence on Burris and Friday to make their move. In October 2003, Robert Chevelle Friday and Myron Terrell Burris were charged with murder.

Enter Antwan Maurice Sanders. Burris and Friday were not going to go down without their partner in crime, and forensic evidence seemed clear that a third person was involved. When Sanders was brought in for questioning, he was happy to talk about what he said were the actions of Burris and Friday. In a taped statement to police, Antwan Sanders had plenty to say.

According to Sanders, Burris and Friday had gone to the Emerald Bay Apartments on the night of June 3, 1993 to rob a drug dealer. The dealer wasn't home, Sanders said, so they picked Tasha and Raylynn at random. Sanders told investigators, "They were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

The three men lured the girls to the car with promises of marijuana, said Sanders, but then abducted the girls at gunpoint, forcing them into the backseat of the Sentra. From there, they drove to the Chemway Industrial Park and made the girls get out of the car and strip, telling them that if they complied, their lives would be spared.

After all three men sexually assaulted the frightened girls, Sanders said he went to wait in the car while the other two men told the girls to stop crying.  If they'd just stop crying, Sanders reported the men saying, they could go home. Tasha and Raylynn begged for their lives, tears running down their faces, crying, "Please don't kill me!"

According to Sanders, Burris and Friday killed them anyway. The men stole the girls' jewelry and left the bodies in the field to rot. But of course, the way Antwan Sanders told it, he didn't do any shooting, he didn't do any gun pointing, and he only did a little bit of raping - and that after the other guys started it. In fact, Sanders whined, Robert Chevelle Friday had threatened to kill him twice that night, just for being there.

Investigators didn't buy it, and went to talk to suspect Myron Terrell Burris. After presenting their case to suspect Burris, he cut a deal. He'd plead guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, if sentencing could wait until after he testified against Friday and Sanders. The prosecution agreed.

Finally, on July 31, 2008, Antwan Sanders went on trial for the murders of Tasha Lopes and Raylynn Chelton. He was charged with two counts each of first-degree murder, sexual offense, robbery and kidnapping. The prosecution's star witness? Myron Terrell Burris.

As I write, the jury is deliberating in the case against Antwan Sanders. If he is convicted, he faces up to life in prison. Robert Chevelle Friday's trial is still pending. But fifteen years after the brutal murders of Tasha Lopes and Raylynn Chelton, this trial brings a glimmer of hope to two families who had begun to think this day would never come.

Thanks to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Cold Case Division, there may be justice coming to Charlotte.

Please note that Investigation Discovery does not necessarily endorse any of the views expressed by guest bloggers and Investigation Discovery is not responsible for the information contained in guest posts.

Ghosts and Murder : Guest Blog by Leslie Rule

August 09, 2008

[Leslie Rule is the best-selling author of two suspense novels and four nonfiction books of ghost stories. She has published dozens of articles in national magazines, including Reader's Digest. Leslie is also a photographer and has photographed many cops and killers for her mother's (true crime author Ann Rule) books. Her ghost books are filled with dramatic black and white photos of the haunted locations she investigates. Leslie grew up in a haunted house in the Seattle area. Her latest book, Ghost In The Mirror - Real Life Cases of Spirit Encounters, will be in stores later this month]

When true crime writer, David Lohr, emailed me an invitation to blog at ID, I asked him if he had me confused with my mother, author Ann Rule. While she writes about murder, I write about ghosts. David wrote back and assured me that he knows who I am and is well aware of the fact that I write about ghosts. As an author of seven books and numerous magazine articles, I've covered a variety of topics, but always swore that I would never write true crime. That, after all, is my mother's genre and I wanted to develop my own. But as I began researching the first of my four books of true ghost stories, I realized that the most haunted locations were the sites of violent crimes. My genre has collided with my mother's, and many of the cases I cover involve murder. I've also noted that the sites with the most paranormal activity are the ones where the murders remain unsolved. Restless spirits of the dead seem to want justice for they often settle down once their killers are caught and punished.

Tragic souls around the world remain earthbound, tethered to the spots where they took their last, desperate breaths. I've covered many of these cases, including a chilling mass murder in 1912 in a little farmhouse in Villisca, Iowa. The killer (or killers) attacked a sleeping family with an axe. Joe and Sarah Moore, their four children and two of their friends were violently slain. Investigators were stumped. Of course, it didn't help that a crowd of curious onlookers had pushed their way into the home to gawk at the mutilated victims. They destroyed the crime scene before police could arrive.

Today the house is a museum where fans of the macabre can tour and even spend the night. When I interviewed Brenda Marble, from the Miller Paranormal Team, she confided that their group had heard the distinctive sound of dripping blood during their overnight stay. The psychic imprint is powerful, despite the fact that the unknown murder or murderers are long dead by now. Perhaps time stands still for the ghosts. They may be unaware of the passing years.

While it is far too late for the Villisca killers to be prosecuted, many other murderers roam freely among us. And their victims, too, cry out for justice. In fact, one Pennsylvania victim materialized on several separate occasions, startling an office worker, Katie Furman, who had arrived at her job before dawn and was working alone in the building. The weeping apparition with the wet hair appeared so solid that Katie at first assumed she was a live human being. The next time the ghost floated by, Katie was shocked to see that she had no legs. She was so disturbed by the crying lady that she wrote to me for advice. Though no one can say for certain who the ghost is, Katie felt that the anguished spirit belonged to a murdered woman who had been dumped nearby. The victim was found in a maroon suitcase on July 11, 1995. She was in a puddle, her hair wet and her legs missing.

I flew to Pennsylvania to investigate. Acclaimed forensic sculpture Frank Bender had done the reconstruction bust of the Jane Doe and he accompanied me to meet with Corporal Mark Healey of the Embreeville Police Department. Coporal Healey took us to the dumpsite on Valley Creek Road. We all hoped that publicizing the case would bring new leads. I included the story in my book, Ghosts Among Us - True Stories of Spirit Encounters.

The book was published in 2004, but no one has come forward with new information. The case still niggles at me--especially since I found a similar case in Las Vegas that I suspect is related. In each case, a woman with severed legs was found in a suitcase. The Jane Does were discovered on opposite sides of the country within nine weeks of each other. Each site is in the vicinity of a railroad track. While an autopsy revealed that the Nevada victim is Hispanic, the Pennsylvania victim may also be Hispanic.

Maybe both women are from Mexico. Perhaps a bilingual crime buff will do some online research and compare these victims to missing women from Mexico.

The case profiles are listed on the doe network at Doenetwork.org.

The doe network is a nonprofit, volunteer powered website devoted to  thousands of lost and found people. For more information on the two victims above, look for case files 147UFPA and 338UFNV. If these homicides are the work of a serial killer, Hot Case 618 may also be connected. It was 2007 when, once again, remains were found in a suitcase.

I do not know if the Pennsylvania ghost still appears in the office building. Katie Furman now works elsewhere, and no others have contacted me to say they have seen a crying spirit there. But even if no one can see her, the sad, lost ghost may wander there. Perhaps with your help, this case can be solved and the troubled spirit can find the peace she deserves.

Email Leslie Rule through her website at: Ghostygirl.com.

Author's note: For those of you who get more involved with the Doe Network and think you see a match while perusing it, please contact Todd Matthews rather than detectives. Todd has records of possible matches already ruled out. If you come up with something new, he can quickly get the information to the correct authorities. Another caveat:  Though body photos are never used on the Doe Network, this site can be disturbing.

Leslie Rule's photo courtesy of Leslie Rule.

Caylee Anthony Weekend Update: By: Gary C. King

August 02, 2008

The question of whether there are any new leads in the case of missing 2-year-old Caylee Anthony, who purportedly disappeared on or around June 9, 2008, seems to be on many peoples' minds this weekend, particularly after crime scene investigators paid a visit to Casey Anthony's parents' home yesterday, August 1, 2008.  According to reports in various Orlando, Florida media outlets, CSI personnel only stayed for about five minutes at Caylee's maternal grandparents' home, but were seen leaving the house with two large paper bags.  The Orange County Sheriff's Office, recently under fire from the district attorney's office for leaking information about the case to the media, would not reveal what was taken from the home but indicated that the family was being cooperative with investigators.

Although the cops seemed to have clammed up with regard to revealing details about their investigation, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that there is something wrong with the date(s) of Caylee's alleged disappearance.  In addition to the June 9th date, family members claim that Caylee was last seen on June 15th, and Casey's ex-fiancé claims to have heard Caylee's voice in the background during a telephone conversation he had with Casey on June 24th, the same date that Caylee's grandfather, George Anthony, reported the gas cans that he believes were stolen from his shed.  Someone, it would seem, could provide a precise date when Caylee was last seen, and that most likely someone would be Caylee's mother.

Orange County investigators believe that the biggest obstruction to finding out the truth about what happened to Caylee is her mother, who claimed at one point that she had left Caylee with a babysitter, Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez.

"Casey has the key to this," Orange County Deputy Sheriff Carlos Padilla has said.  "Casey was the last person to be seen with the child and we still believe that Casey knows more than what she's telling us and she's the only one who can tell us something that can turn this around."

Investigators remain hopeful that results of DNA and other evidence taken from Casey's home, her parents' home, and the trunk of the car Casey was driving recently will provide the missing pieces to this puzzle.  They expect some of the results as early as next week.

In other news related to the case, a fundraiser for the Kid Finders Network was held on Friday, August 1, at Speed Park Motorsports in Daytona Beach. Proceeds from the fundraising event will go toward helping locate all missing children in Florida.

And a night earlier, Cindy Anthony appeared on CNN's Larry King Live to tell King and his viewers that she was not a liar, an apparent reference to what she had initially said to the police about her car having been stolen. She spoke briefly about her meeting with federal investigators on Wednesday, but would not reveal what she told them. She told King that she thinks she knows who has Caylee.

"I said whatever I needed to do to get the authorities to come help me," Cindy Anthony said on King's show. "I worked on whatever I could to get them out there, so I'm not a liar. I just stretched the truth a little bit. The car wasn't where it was supposed to be, so I said it was stolen because I didn't have any reason (for police) to come to my house. That doesn't make me a liar or a murderer, and that doesn't make my daughter (one) either, just because she had some mistruths."

Caylee also made the cover of People magazine's August 11, 2008 edition, which has already hit the newsstands in many locations around the country. Sheriff's Deputy Carlos Padilla told reporters for the magazine that there was no evidence that can prove that Caylee is dead, though most people believe that she is. He said that investigators are closely watching the extensive media coverage surrounding the case as one way to help them form a clearer picture of what may have happened.

"I can honestly say we've had other cases that made the national media, (but) I don't recall anything more than this," Padilla said to reporters for a local television station. "It's something that's been phenomenal, unbelievable…keep in mind, we have a whole unit and also have civilian personnel taking down tips and turning them over to police."

He also reiterated that Casey, if she would talk to investigators, could be instrumental in determining what happened to Caylee.

"We truly believe she has information that could help us find her little daughter," Padilla said.

Related Links:
Full Coverage : Casey Anthony Case
Bizarre Crime of the Week, by Gary C. King

The Craigslist Rapist : Guest Blog by Trench Reynolds

[Trench Reynolds blogs about Craigslist related crime at Craigs Crime List and is co-founder of the Coalition of Crime Bloggers]

I'm sure most of you are familiar with the Website Craigslist. In case you're not, it's a massive online classifieds site that has regional sites in most of the United States and major cities around the world. It was started in 1995, in San Francisco, California, by Craig Newmark and was originally intended as a personal site for him and his friends to communicate. Over a decade later, it's a multi-million dollar business.

You can get just about anything you want on Craigslist - furniture, jobs, dates, even concert tickets; however, Mark Antonio Humphries was looking for something a little different on Craigslist - Humphries was looking for victims.

Before we get to Humpheries, let me tell you about the other things you can get on Craigslist.

Craigslist has section called "erotic services". This is where the ads for "escort services" and "massages" reside. In other words, it's where Craigslist allows anyone to post ads for prostitution.

Humpheries, of Prince Georges County, Maryland, picked his victims from the erotic services section. Humpheries was otherwise known as the "Craigslist Rapist". From October, 2007 through July, 2008 Humpheries raped nine women that he met through Craigslist. The women were either escorts or were looking for one night stands. Humpheries would set up the meetings at empty apartments or motel rooms.

Humpheries slipped through the grasp of police more than once and at at one point he even went to the police himself, to fish for information.

On July 23, police finally caught up with Humpheries at an apartment in Hyattsville, Maryland. After police evacuated the building, Humpheries shot himself in the head. He died later that night.

Humpheries may go down in infamy as "the" Craigslist rapist, since he struck in an area near media-centric Washington, D.C.; however he is not the only one.

In DeKalb County, Georgia, 18-year-old Allen Jamar McDowell was arrested for the rape of two women he met through Craigslist. McDowell is also HIV positive.

In Tigard, Oregon, 52-year-old Ronald M. Leistiko was arrested for luring several women to his home through Craigslist and raping them.

In California, 24-year-old Waymon Livingston was arrested for raping a masseuse he contacted through Craigslist. The DNA from the rape linked him to a murder for which he is now facing life without parole.

Rape is not the only crime being committed through Craigslist. 19-year-old college student Donna Jou disappeared after leaving on a date with a man she met on Craigslist and 22-year-old nanny Katherine Ann Olson was killed after answering an employment ad. Her killer took out the ad allegedly just so he could kill someone.

Craigslist is also a hive for various scammers, fences, and thieves. Not that these crimes haven't been occurring since the dawn of the Internet, but I've never heard of so much crime being connected to one Website.

Please note that Investigation Discovery does not necessarily endorse any of the views expressed by guest bloggers and Investigation Discovery is not responsible for the information contained in guest posts.

From One Girl's Tragedy, Comes Hope for a New Future : Guest Blog by Stephen McCaskill

July 26, 2008

[Stephen McCaskill is the author of Crime Scene Blog]

From the smallest acorn grows the mighty oak, or so the saying goes.  And with the death of 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown (photo here), we may be seeing the development of a movement that might grow to become a powerful force for child safety.

The body of Nixzmary was found in her home in Brooklyn, New York, on January 12, 2006. She apparently had been bound to a chair, tortured, sexually molested, and went without food for weeks. Finally she received a massive blow to the head and was killed. The death was ruled a homicide after an autopsy found the child died from a brain hemorrhage caused by blunt impact to the head, said medical examiner's office spokeswoman Ellen Borakove.

On the evening of January 11, 2006, Nixzmary's siblings were given a treat of yogurt, but she was not to have any.  According to her stepfather, Cesar Rodriguez, she was being punished.  And when a cup of yogurt was found missing from the refrigerator, he naturally blamed her.  He took the 36 pound girl into the bathroom where he repeatedly dunked her head under water in the bathtub.  When he pulled her up the last time, her head slammed against the faucet, which would become the final blow she would suffer in her short life.  He took Nixzmary and put her on the mattress in her room and left her there.  Her mother came in shortly after and changed her into dry clothes, but apparently did not check on her injuries.  She left to attend to her youngest child.

At 4:30 a.m., Nixzaliz Santiago found her daughter unconscious and called 911. Emergency medical technicians who responded to the call pronounced her dead at the scene. They found indications of abuse, citing both older and more recent bruises. There were also ligature marks on her ankles and wrists, indicating she had been tied up.

Police arrested both Santiago and Rodriguez, charging them with a host of crimes, including second-degree murder. 

Click here to continue reading this story >

Don't Blame Me, I'm Just The Criminal : Guest Blog by Tami Tator

July 19, 2008

[Tami Tator is an aspiring writer and the author of the true crime blog: Crime, Interrupted]

In Tucson, Arizona, three 17-year-old girls are headed home after a day of hanging out during summer vacation. Its approximately10:00 p.m. and they are waiting to take their bus home. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a man with a bandana covering his face and a machete in hand proceeds to slash one of the girls' faces. One of her friends attempts to intervene, but she was also attacked. The alleged perpetrator, Rickey Russell, flees the scene, but his alleged crimes do not end with these girls. He allegedly goes out again later that night and attempts to rob and carjack two other people at two different locations.

It should come as no surprise that Russell has a criminal history that includes disorderly conduct, criminal damage, assault, marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.

As a mom and a true crime blogger, these are the types of cases that hit me hardest -- the ones involving kids just innocently doing the things that kids do. I imagine my own daughter at that age, just innocently hanging out with friends, waiting for the bus to take them home and then being confronted by a criminal who wants to harm her without reason or provocation. Truthfully, it makes you never want to let your children out of your sight.

Whenever I read about these cases on the net, I almost always browse the reader comments so I can get an idea of where most people stand on cases like this. In this particular case, which I originally found at Tucsoncitizen.com, I agreed with the majority of the comments, as most were sympathetic toward the victims, but as usual there were also a select few that blamed both the victims and their parents. None of those posters mentioned the heinous nature of the crime or the criminal. While the people who comment never come right out and say, "It's their own fault for being out so late," the message is implied. So for all intent and purposes, they are blaming the victims.

It seems like no matter what the case, or who the victims are, there are always a handful of people who blame them.

Another great example is the Jessica Lunsford case. When 9-year-old Jessica went missing from her bed in February 2005, a great number of people focused on Mark Lunsford and his family. They were convinced that the Lunsford's had something to do with Jessica's disappearance. After all, who would be brazen enough to pull a child from their own home and kidnap them? Yet, even after Jessica's body was found and John Evander Couey was named a suspect, some people still focused on the Lunsford's, questioning their lifestyle, and essentially blaming Mark Lunsford for not being home when his daughter disappeared.

We seem to live in a world where picking apart the victim or their family has become the norm. It seems as though there are people who never accept the victims at face value for what they truly are -- victims. Instead, we live in a world where people criticize victims and their families. Their typical phrases are "I would never," "I could never," or "It won't happen to me because...."

I suspect there will always be people who misplace blame. There will always be people who scrutinize every little detail of the victim and their family's lives, instead of focusing on the criminal. My hope is that one person will read this and say, "Yeah, this could happen to me."

We all have the potential to become victims and we all have the potential to be blamed for that victimization.

Rickey Russell's Photo Courtesy of Tucson Police Department

Please note that Investigation Discovery does not necessarily endorse any of the views expressed by guest bloggers and Investigation Discovery is not responsible for the information contained in guest posts.

I Shouldn't Be Alive : Guest Blog by Laura James

July 12, 2008

[Laura James is an attorney and crime historian. To read more of her work, visit CLEWS, a blog about historic true crime]

The Discovery Channel has a fascinating show called "I Shouldn't Be Alive." The program profiles people who found themselves in do-or-die situations and somehow managed to survive:

A man who crashed his small airplane in an African desert...

A family stranded in a blizzard in a remote area...

Travelers who got lost in the Amazon jungle.

The true crime genre likewise offers tales of people who managed to survive their executions - people who likewise truly could say "I shouldn't be alive."

One such story was recently relayed by The Scotsman, which tells the tale of "Half Hanged Maggie Dickson." She was found guilty of "concealment of pregnancy" in 1728 (and presumably committed infanticide as well). After she was hanged in the customary fashion and her body was on its way to the churchyard, she managed to return to life in her coffin. Under Scottish law, Maggie was considered dead, so she was free to go about her business thereafter.

In a similar vein, author James Farr relayed a story in his recent book A Tale of Two Murders. Farr tells the tale of Helene Gillet, who was also convicted of infanticide but this time in 16th-century France. Since she was of noble blood, her fate was beheading and not hanging. But the executioner, trying to accomplish the bloody deed with a broadsword, swung -- and missed. He struck her shoulder. A second blow went high and slashed her head.

The crowd went crazy. The executioner's wife leapt forward and tried to end Gillet's life with a garrotte, but by then the crowd was throwing stones in protest.

The executioner's wife tried slashing Gillet's throat with a pair of scissors. Still the girl would not die.

Finally the crowd -- sensing a miracle in the making -- rescued Gillet and rushed her to a surgeon. The capitally condemned woman eventually managed not only to survive her execution but to obtain a pardon from the king and retire to a convent.

Anne Greene was yet another woman condemned for infanticide who somehow managed to survive her hanging in Oxford in 1650.

It's one thing to survive an awful situation when Mother Nature wants you dead. But when it is man who is determined to end your life -- and yet you somehow come out of it alive -- now that is an impressive story of survival against the odds.

Please note that Investigation Discovery does not necessarily endorse any of the views expressed by guest bloggers and Investigation Discovery is not responsible for the information contained in guest posts.

Is it really that easy? : Guest Blog by Star LaBranche

July 05, 2008

[Star LaBranche writes for the student newspaper at Mary Baldwin College and is a contributing writer for In Cold Blog and the True Crime Blogroll]

Looking at the National Sex Offender Registry is a very, very scary thing to do. While researching this article I decided to plug in my zip code and take a look at the results. I was quite disturbed to find that among the 40 registered offenders in my hometown one lives a few blocks up the road from me and another lives .22 miles from Waller Mill Elementary school where a friend of my family taught 5th grade.

I'm not a parent, so I won't even pretend to know how it feels to see that sex offenders are living in your area. Especially when several of them have committed crimes against children. This attributes to the stereotype of a sex offender being a dirty old man touching youngsters. But is it really that uncomplicated?

The idea that an offender abused children is true the majority of the time. However, according to the Bureau of Justice, while the median age for sexual assault victims is 13 years old, the median age of rape victims is 22. It's also not as easy as warning kids not to take candy from strangers. Up to 90% of sex crimes are committed by a person that the child knows. The stereotype of a sex offender being an older man who leaps out of bushes and abducts children is unrealistic. Dangerously so.

The title of sex offender includes anyone who has committed or attempted to commit a sexual crime. This ranges from rape and sexual battery to two teenagers having sex. There are flaws in every law, but the term "sex offender" is not as rigid as it may seem.

Frank Rodriguez, then 19, had consensual sex with his girlfriend Nikki Prescott, then 15. The age of consent in Texas was 17 at that time. One evening after an argument, Prescott's mother, Melissa Wiederhald, informed the police of the pairs activities.

The police immediately went into action despite Rodriguez's and Prescott's protests that the sex was entirely consensual. Eventually Wiederhald realized just what she had done and attempted to have the charges dropped. But it was too late.

Rodriguez is now on the sex offender registry for life and also has the full restrictions of an offender. He is not allowed to life near a park or school, he couldn't live in his family home after the offense because his 12 year old sister resided there. Rodriguez and Prescott are now married and have four children.

Jason Fleming, a former army Sergeant, was forced to register as a sex offender for 20 years after engaging in consensual sex with another military officer. Because the pair had consumed alcohol prior to the events, the act was deemed forceful and Fleming then became a registered offender.

These laws also have no room when the victim has lied about their age. Even with proof that the the victim deceived the offender. The perpetrator is now in the same position as someone who was completely aware of how old the person was.

But even among sex offenders who have been found guilty of engaging in non-consensual sex, knowing fully well what they were doing, there are more distinctions. Sex offenders are relegated to three different risk levels. While all of the victims of these offenders will be notified of their release, the three levels dictate who else will be alerted to their presence.

Level 1 includes the two men listed above. They are not likely to re-offend and while their information is still on record, the communities that they live in most likely won't be told about their conviction.

Level 2 are at a moderate risk to re-offend. If the offender has developed a pattern in choosing his victims, then relevant organizations, such as schools and daycares, may be alerted to his presence in the community.

Level 3 is considered high risk to re-offend. If a level 3 offender moves into an area the entire community can be alerted and given materials regarding where the offender lives, his past crimes and his vital statistics.

One level 3 offender, William Baldwin, was assaulted with a baseball bat by Tammy Gibson after Gibson claimed that she saw Baldwin talking to her daughter. While the 40 year old mother was arrested for the assault the entire community showed their support and offered to pay her bail money.

Which also brings up another twist. While the community has a right to know about the offenders in their area it also opens the offenders up to crimes such as the assault that Baldwin faced. A child molester beaten senseless with an aluminum bat will hardly garner sympathy, however assaulting a sex offender is still assault and the perpetrator will still be arrested, no matter how justified they feel.

There are the exceptions to the "sex offender" label, however these are exceptions and certainly not the rule. There are people convicted of sex offenses that don't pose a danger to society and there are people who aren't convicted of sex offenses that are.

Please note that Investigation Discovery does not necessarily endorse any of the views expressed by guest bloggers and Investigation Discovery is not responsible for the information contained in guest posts.

Photo Credit: www.freeimages.co.uk

When Mommy Fakes It: Guest Blog by Michelle Gray

June 28, 2008

[Michelle Gray writes for National Lampoon! and is the editor and a contributing writer for In Cold Blog]

It's hard for a rational individual to fathom harming a child, let alone their own child.  It's even harder to comprehend callous premeditated actions conducted for the sole purpose of causing a child to appear chronically ill and suffer through needless medical procedures and surgeries, or even death.  Yet, that is exactly what takes place when the form of child abuse is Munchausen by Proxy.

A perpetrator of Munchausen by proxy is often times referred to as having a "mental illness."  They are described as being driven by an uncontrollable compulsion to make their children sick in order to gratify their own personal desire for attention.  Attention that might take shape in the form of sympathy from family, friends and co-workers or perhaps by being perceived as a strong dedicated mother - a champion fighter for the chronically ill child. 

Dr. Marc Feldman, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, is an international expert on Munchausen Syndrome by proxy (MBP).  It is his position that Munchausen by proxy is not a mental illness.  It is, instead, a behavior that is driven not by compulsion, but is instead carried out by choice. 

"Munchausen by proxy, isn't really an illness, as I see it. It as a form of child abuse, not something a perpetrator suffers from. In the same way that a mother doesn't have shaken baby syndrome, a mother doesn't have Munchausen by Proxy.

"Some people with Munchausen syndrome [not to be confused with MBP] do say that they feel a compulsion to lie, whether about illness or other things.  But this doesn't rise to the level of an irresistible impulse" says Dr. Feldman.

So, what is the difference between having the mental illness called Munchausen Syndrome and perpetrating the abuse known as Munchausen by proxy? 

The easy answer is individuals with Munchausen Syndrome want to be unwell and will feign or exaggerate illness in themselves so that they may garner attention by assuming the sick role.  Munchausen Syndrome itself is a form of Factitious Disorder which is a mental illness.  Factitious Disorder is characterized by "the feigning, exaggerating, or self-inducing of physical or psychological signs and symptoms to assume the sick role."  Munchausen Syndrome boils down to "chronic and severe factitious disorder," faking it to the nth degree, so to speak.

The form of child abuse called Munchausen syndrome by proxy involves a parent or caretaker convincing the medical community that the child in their care is suffering from a chronic and debilitating illness.  The abuser is usually a mother and the victim is usually their child, often times preverbal.  The behavior is driven by the abuser's self-gratifying need for attention.

Perpetrators of Munchausen by proxy have been found suffocating their children, poisoning them, injecting foreign matter into their child's intravenous tubing - quite frequently a mixture of water and fecal matter - fabricating symptoms, starving them, putting drops of blood in their urine samples, effecting unnecessary surgeries such as shunts, colostomy bags, G-buttons and implants to control non-existent seizures.  That’s the short list.

How is it possible that the medical community could be easily fooled into believing that a child who is not actually sick is suffering from a chronic illness?  According to Dr. Feldman the answer would seem to lie within the way the medical community is taught their profession in med. school. 

"Physicians are taught nothing about medical deception in medical school or residency" Says Dr. Feldman.  "Doctors are taught [correctly] that the best clue to what is going on with a patient is what the patient and family have to say about it and that we must form an alliance. We are not taught ever to doubt what is being said. It doesn't surprise me that doctors can not only be gullible but also wind up being, as one author put it, 'professional participants' in MBP maltreatment."

In addition to not questioning the honesty of the patient, or in the case of Munchausen by proxy the patient's mother, it has also been found that even though medical professionals never witnessed the symptoms being expressed by some MBP mothers regarding their child, nor having test results that substantiate the mother's allegations, surgical procedures have been preformed regardless.

Munchausen by proxy perpetrators will frequently doctor shop.  If there is suspicion of MBP the perpetrator will move on to a new doctor, clinic or hospital.  The moving, and in some cases complete geographic relocation, makes it difficult for a new treating physician to do anything other than believe the litany of symptoms being provided by the MBP abuser.  Their training tells them that they must believe.

Trying to rationalize in one's own mind that Munchausen by proxy is not an actual mental illness can be difficult, to say the least.  Not only does one have to ask themselves what kind of sane person would intentionally induce debilitating illness in their child, causing needless surgeries, invasive medical procedures and unneeded medications, just so that their psychological need for attention can be quelled.  It also seems to beg the question that if Munchausen syndrome itself is a mental illness than how can a component of it not also be a mental illness?  Dr. Feldman explains it like this:  "If someone kills himself/herself, we assume that they are depressed and/or substance dependent or that they have some other mental disorder.  We assume they are mentally ill, and that assumption is usually valid.  But if someone kills someone else, we don't assume they're mentally ill--we prosecute them.  The same holds true for Factitious Disorder, Munchausen Syndrome and Munchausen by proxy.  If someone sickens himself/herself, it's a mental illness.  But if they sicken someone else, it's not.  That's my opinion, anyway, but some in the field do sharply disagree, and consider factitious disorder by proxy to be a mental illness like any other.  The debates about this can get heated."

The debate as to whether Munchausen by proxy is a real phenomenon or simply a witch hunt perpetrated by over zealous medical professionals and untrained social service workers is ongoing.  While there is little doubt that there have been individuals who have been wrongly accused of being Munchausen by proxy abusers there is also plenty of video taped evidence to demonstrate that this form of child abuse does exist.  To deny its existence altogether is, I think, to be intellectually dishonest with not only one's self, but to also be dishonest with the public and the medical and social services community - not to mention victims who know through their own experience that Munchausen by proxy is very real.

According to Dr. Feldman, "It has been estimated by one researcher that there are around 1,200 new cases each year in the U.S., but that statistic makes a lot of assumptions that might not all be true. MBP is a form of abuse/neglect that is bathed in secrecy and I have the feeling that most--yes, most--cases are never identified."

With the medical profession being so willing to do invasive procedures at the behest of a Munchausen mom when test results don't necessarily support the symptoms described, I don't find it at all surprising that MBP cases would likely be under-reported.  In fact, I would imagine the deaths associated with MBP are also underreported.  Says Dr. Feldman, "it has been estimated that 9-10 percent of MBP victims eventually die, either as a direct result of the abuse or the iatrogenic complications caused by misdirected treatment efforts."

When will the torture and death of a child as a result of deliberate medical malfeasance on the part of a parent be considered significant enough for a decision to be made that this form of child abuse is worthy of study?  "Very little formal research into MBP has ever been performed and government and private foundations in the U.S. have never contributed a dime in grant monies for these issues," says Dr. Feldman. 

There is an unjustifiable lack of research into the phenomenon of Munchausen by proxy maltreatment.  As a result the medical community is ill-informed, social services programs are ill-informed, and the public is ill-informed.   Because of the lack of information victims of Munchausen by proxy will continue to suffer and die, and parents of real chronically ill children will be wrongly accused.  There is no lesser of two evils here, neither should be considered a better option than the other.  Children should not suffer because bureaucrats are afraid of the consequences of wrongly accusing parents of MBP and parents with real chronically ill children need to be at their side, and their children need them there. 

The lack of research and information has created a poorly educated community on how to effectively handle and recognize this type of abuse.  Continued failure to adequately study and address Munchausen by proxy is not going to make this form of abuse go away, and it certainly isn't going to save anyone's child.

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Corey Mitchell's Pure Murder Virtual Book Tour

June 04, 2008

Yesterday was the official release of Corey Mitchell's latest book, Pure Murder. It was also the beginning of his 15-date Virtual Book Tour and word scramble contest.

At the bottom of every interview will be a "Word of the Day." Participants will need to follow the tour to collect all fifteen words, which they will then need to unscramble to form a quote. The first person to submit the exact quote, along with the name of the original person who said it, will win signed and personalized copies of all five of Corey's Kensington/Pinnacle books.

The tour and interviews began yesterday at In Cold Blog and continues here today. For my interview with Corey I chose to focus on his life as a crime writer.

How did you get started in true crime?

When I lived in Los Angeles during the late 90's/early 00's, I went to the L.A. Times Book Fair to see an author by the name of Dennis McDougal. He writes Hollywood biographies and true crime books and I was a huge fan of his writing. I brought of all his books with me, had him sign them all, and then stood around chatting with him about his work. I asked him if he ever needed a research assistant that I would be more than happy to help him out. Three weeks later he called to tell me he had just signed a contract with a major publishing house to write a book on The Yosemite Park serial killer, Cary Stayner and he needed some help with research. Of course, we did not know it was Stayner at the time because the killer was still out there while we were researching in the park. In fact, just a couple of weeks after we went up to Yosemite, Stayner decapitated Joie Armstrong inside the park.

I helped Dennis with most of his research and took photographs for his book, The Yosemite Murders. At the same time, I had already written the book proposal for what would become my first book, Hollywood Death Scenes. I asked Dennis if he would be interested in writing the introduction to the book. He agreed, and the rest is history.

What authors do you like to read and which book would you consider your all-time favorite?

For the past several years I have been mainly interested in liberal-based political books by such noted authors as Robert Reich, Al Franken, David Sirota, Eric Alterman, and George Lakoff. I have always been a political junkie and the current administration has provided plenty of fodder, both serious and humorous, to ponder.

For my personal enjoyment, I love, and have always loved, the horror genre. Clive Barker, Poppy Z. Brite, Joe Lansdale, Brian Keene, Richard Laymon, Caitlin Kiernan, Lucy Taylor, Phil Nutman, Tim Lucas, Dennis Etchison, John Skipp and Craig Spector, H.P. Lovecraft, Algernon Blackwood, Edgar Allen Poe, Shirley Jackson, and Ed Gorman are just a few of the many brilliant horror novelists I admire.

I actually don't read much true crime any more now that I write it for a living. I am, however, a huge fan of...

Continue Reading Corey Mitchell's Interview