School of Crime: Killer Morris Goldberg, 78, Shows How To Talk Your Way Back into Prison Cell

12-18-2009 Washington:

Getting out of prison early takes a special effort, and Morris "Mel" Goldberg has provided his fellow prisoners with a lesson on how not to make it.

"If you feel it is better for me to remain incarcerated," the 78-year-old Monroe inmate recently told the state Clemency and Pardons Board, "so be it."

Goldberg was seeking a pardon from a 26-year-term, based on his age, health and promise he is a changed man. He was convicted with his wife of the Nov. 18, 1991 Spokane murder of their son-in-law Peter Zeihen, who they - without proof - suspected was a child molester.

But Goldberg, via phone to the board, seemed to drum up little sympathy and provided some classically lame responses - explaining he'd been asleep a few moments earlier.

About "this homicide that occurred," he said, "I errored in my judgment." He was sorry, but he wasn't the "one who actually performed the function," his wife did, blowing most of Zeihen's head off with a shotgun. (Zeihen was wearing a bullet-proof vest after the grandmother and grandfather tried but failed to shoot him earlier).

Board chair Margaret Smith pointed out that at his trial, Goldberg admitted to his role in the shooting and said "I'd do it again." Goldberg responded: "I was still under the influence of my ex-wife at the time." He now regrets participating. "I would gladly yield up my own life if he could have his [back]..." he said. His Heavenly Father, Goldberg said, has changed him from "that creature that I was."

When told the board had received many letters in opposition to his release because he "had struck fear in the heart of people," Goldberg responded: "I have? Should have been my wife!"

The now-grown daughter whom Zeihen allegedly molested gave a brief, dramatic statement supporting her grandfather: "Words are cheap," she said sitting before the board, "and you may not believe what I have to say, but he was right. The abuse did happen. The evidence was thrown out of court. That man saved my life. I wouldn't of had him do anything different."

But Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker told the board there was "no evidence ever found of any child molestation" and the grandparents were "wrongly and mistakenly" informed. He also noted that Goldberg's wife Joann Peterson (now doing 25 years) wanted Zeihen to see who was about to kill him, and made him look down the barrel as she fired. Because Zeihen was given no mercy, said Tucker, neither of the killers have earned it.

Goldberg still wanted out - maybe. "Whether I remain in prison or not is irrelevant to me, because I'm going to wind up, in too few short years, underground anyway. So all these things are just temporal, my life is temporal, just like yours [the board's]. So was Peter Zeihen's, apparently."

Cough.

"If you feel it is better for me to remain incarcerated, so be it. I am tired. I am tired of life itself. I really have no more comments to make. You make your decision."

They quickly did, stamping his file "Don't pardon." It was unanimous. ..Source.. by Rick Anderson in Crime & Punishment



Killer should remain behind bars – pass it on

11-5-2009 Washington:

Today’s column in three easy steps.

1. Morris “Mel” Goldberg should rot in prison.

2. I want to do all I can to make that happen.

3. Help me advocate for Goldberg’s continued incarceration in a letter to the Washington attorney general’s office. The deadline is Nov. 13. Sign your name “concerned citizen” if you have any worries about identifying yourself.

Then mail your letter to …

Spokane County Prosecutor
c/o Annette Ingham
Victim/Witness Manager
1100 W. Mallon Ave.
Spokane, WA 99260

Internet users should put their remarks to the attorney general in a Word file and e-mail it to Ingham at aingham@ spokanecounty.org. She will forward the correspondence she receives to the AG’s office.

Now, while you’re thinking over my call to action, let me tell you about this slug, Mel Goldberg.

He drove the stolen getaway car the night JoAnn Peterson, his ex-wife, hid in darkness outside her son-in-law’s Spokane Valley apartment.

It was Nov. 18, 1991.

Peter Zeihen drove his Audi into his carport. Peterson stepped up to the car window toting a 12-gauge shotgun and calmly blew the man’s face off.

Zeihen, 40, never had a chance.

This killing was as calculated as any mob rub-out. Peterson and Goldberg, who also helped with the planning, are cold-blooded monsters.

It was the second attempt on Zeihen’s life. Two weeks earlier, Peterson, masked and dressed like a man, shot at Zeihen six times with a handgun – and missed.

Zeihen started wearing body armor. It wasn’t enough.

Finally ratted out by family members, Peterson was sentenced to 25 years in 2001 after pleading guilty to premeditated murder.

The Inland Northwest’s version of Ma Barker had her own ridiculous request for clemency rejected in 2004.

Now, just as ludicrous, Goldberg seeks a pardon from the 261/2-years he was given after his previous life sentence was overturned on appeal.

In December, the state Board of Clemency and Pardons will meet in Olympia to examine Goldberg’s request and vote on the outcome. Either way, Gov. Chris Gregoire will make the final call.

If he’s turned down, Goldberg could be released with good behavior in 2022.

Let’s keep it that way. He’d be in his 90s if he can last that long.

The bottom line is that this louse doesn’t deserve any breaks.

During a sentencing Goldberg told the judge he felt no remorse for the role he played in Zeihen’s murder and would do the same thing all over again.

Zeihen had been embroiled in a vicious custody battle with his estranged wife over their 2-year-old daughter.

Goldberg and Peterson contend Zeihen had molested the little girl. That’s how the pair tries to justify their assassination.

But the claim against Zeihen was thoroughly investigated at the time.

And guess what? Nobody bought it.

Not one shred of evidence ever surfaced to support the charge as anything but empty and malicious.

I can’t imagine a sane human being ever wanting to let Goldberg go free.

But weird things have been known to happen. That’s why it’s important to let the clemency board know that we’re keeping an eye on what they do.

It’s also important to support Jewel Zeihen. Now in her 80s, the Chewelah woman told me Wednesday that she thinks about her son, Peter, every single day.

And every day she asks herself the same question.

Why?

Pardon Morris “Mel” Goldberg?

Let me paraphrase what Jewel’s late husband, Frank, once said about Peterson.

Goldberg should get out of prison when Peter Zeihen gets out of his grave. ..Source.. by Doug Clark is a columnist for The Spokesman-Review.

Birmingham sex offender 'killed after attack by vigilantes'

8-9-2009 United Kingdom:

Man died after being kicked and punched in his home

A SEX offender who died after being beaten at his home may have been the target of vigilantes who had learned of his previous convictions.

Dennis Golding, 49, who had a string of offences for indecent exposure, was found covered in blood at his Birmingham flat in January.

He had suffered serious injuries to his body and head, consistent with having been repeatedly kicked and punched in a prolonged attack which police believe may have lasted up to two hours.

Serial flasher Golding, from Small Heath, died three weeks later.

Now it has emerged that he may have been targeted by vigilantes after rumours circulated locally that he had been spotted in the sex offenders’ wing of a Midland prison.

Police sources said it was “no secret” Golding was well-known in the community as a convicted sex offender. It is believed there had been a number of earlier incidents when his property may have been damaged.

Golding, who was unemployed, had a total of nine sex offence-related convictions stretching back five years and was on the Sex Offenders’ Register.

His first conviction was in 2004, when he was sentenced to a 24-month rehabilitation order after pleading guilty to indecent exposure. He was put on the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years.

In September 2005, Golding received a one-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, after admitting four new charges of flashing.

His name was also added to the register for a further seven years.

A month later he was convicted of a further four counts of indecent exposure and of breaching the terms of the register after failing to report a change of address to West Midlands Police. He received 12 weeks in prison.

In March 2006 Golding was sentenced to 18 months for an attempted robbery.

Then in July 2007 he was locked up for four months after again being convicted of breaching the register’s conditions by not telling police he had moved address.

Community sources revealed that middle-aged Golding was set upon in his flat in Mansel Road, Small Heath, on the evening of January 25 this year. He was found with serious head injuries and was bleeding profusely.

Golding was rushed to hospital at about 11.30pm but remained in a critical condition.

It is believed he never regained consciousness.

Two men, aged 22 and 29, and a 19-year-old woman have pleaded not guilty to murder and are due to stand trial in November.

There have been a succession of vigilante attacks against paedophiles in recent years.

William Malcolm, a child sex attacker, was shot in the head on his doorstep in north-east London in 2000. Others have been hounded from homes and hostels by groups of vigilantes.

Despite public campaigns that dangerous paedophiles must remain in prison, child sex offenders are released regularly and many reoffend.

Each attack reignites the debate over whether vigilantism could drive offenders into hiding, making police surveillance even more difficult and increasing the chances that they will strike again. ..Source.. by Jeanette Oldham, Sunday Mercury

Pinckneyville Correctional Center hostage situation ends in inmate death

12-15-2009 Illinois:

PINCKNEYVILLE - An inmate of the Pinckneyville Correctional Center has been shot and killed, the end result of a nearly seven-hour hostage situation involving a female employee of the prison.

The offender, a 37-year-old black male, serving a sentence for aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping out of Cook County, was shot and pronounced dead at the scene at 5:03 p.m., according to a release from the Illinois Department of Corrections.

The hostage, a 62-year-old female employee, was rescued and is currently being evaluated by medical personnel. She will be transported to a local hospital for further evaluation, IDOC said.

Illinois State Police Division of Internal Investigation will be investigating the incident.

The facility remains on lockdown at this hour. ..Source.. by TheSouthern.com


Family: Slain inmate feared guards were going to kill him

The family of an Illinois prison inmate shot and killed after taking an employee hostage says he had long feared that guards were going to have him killed.

Alonje Walton, 37, was convicted of raping a 16-year-old girl in Cook County in 1995. The Illinois Department of Corrections said he was serving time at the Pinckneyville Correctional Center for aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping.

Walton was shot Monday evening after taking a 62-year-old female employee hostage during a nearly seven-hour standoff at the prison, officials said. The employee was rescued.

But his mother and sister said in an interview with WGN Radio this morning that they don't believe the account provided by prison officials and demanded an investigation.

They said they had filed formal complaints earlier this year with state officials after Walton told them in telephone conversationsand by letter that guards were trying to get other inmates to kill him because of the nature of his crime.

"He was calling me crying," said his mother, Rachel Hollimon. "...Mom, these people are trying to kill me," he said.

She said she felt prison officials wanted to keep her son quiet about the threats against him and concocted the story about him holding someone hostage. "They killed my son," she said.

Walton's sister, Lakithia Walton, said her brother had served seven years of a 10-year sentence and would have been released in 2011. She complained that prison officials only told family members that Walton had been involved in a hostage situation and did not tell them them that he had been killed five hours earlier. They said they learned of his death through media reports.

Walton was arrested in 1995 when a news crew riding with Cook County sheriff's police spotted a schoolgirl struggling with Walton, according to officials. The police arrested him. ..Source.. by WGN News

Killer Targeted Sex Offenders

Be sure to see the video in the first story. To summerize this story: Chrisopher Lunz claimed he was abused as a child by father, and that is why he killed him. However, before he was imprisoned he claims he targeted other child molesters. One is Gerald Estes -from Georgia- who is missing to this date. Authorities have no proof of that claim but Lunz's word. Now, after being convicted of killing his father while in prison he also killed his cellmate (Nathaniel Taylor) who was a convicted child molester.

12-9-2009 Florida:

Before he killed himself a convicted murderer claimed he targeted child molesters here in the mountains. Christopher Lunz served time in prison for killing his own father.

Now Macon County investigators believe he killed Gerald Estes. Estes was accused of molesting young boys.

Chrisopher Lunz sent a letter to a Macon County detective going into graphic detail of how he and another man tortuted and killed Estes then burned his remains.


Lunz claims he targeted child molesters.

During his trial for murdering his father he said he'd been molested as a child.

This may explain why he targeted suspected pedophiles like Estes.

After getting the letter, admitting he killed Estes, the Macon County Sheriff's Office tried to reach Lunz at a Florida prison.

But he'd already killed himself after killing another prisoner who was also a convicted child molester. They believe there may be more victims out there. ..Source.. by News ABC13


IN LETTER, CONVICTED MURDERED SAYS HE KILLED A MACON COUNTY MAN

FRANKLIN-New details have surfaced in the case involving a convicted murderer who killed himself.

Christopher Lunz, a North Carolina resident made headlines a few years ago after being convicted for the murder of his own father, who he claimed sexually abused him during his childhood and was serving life in prison in a north Florida facility.

However, the case took another turn in September when the 41 year old Lunz allegedly took his own life while in prison. He had also allegedly killed a cell mate of his who was charged with child sex crimes.

But now the case becomes more startling as local authorities say they received a letter from Lunz in which he claims he killed a Macon County man awaiting trial on child sex crimes.

We spoke with Macon County Sheriff Robbie Holland who has more details on this bizarre case, “When we received the letter we met with the District Attorney’s Office the same day and then we attempted to make contact with Lunz the following day. The problem was between the time he wrote the letter and it was delivered to us he had been involved in another homicide within the prison system and had also committed suicide.”

The letter stated that Lunz had picked up Gerald Estes from the Franklin motel then proceeded to torture and kill him.

Holland says Lunz actually confessed to the killing of Estes to the Sheriff’s Office before writing the letter, but after an investigation no hard evidence was uncovered, “We conducted searches and the SBI was involved as well.

We looked in various locations where he claimed to have burned and discarded the body. The problem was we were unable to find any kind of evidence related to Gerald Estes.”

Authorities say they did discover what was concluded to be human hair during the investigation, but it still wasn’t enough to prove Estes is dead.

Sheriff Holland goes on to say the letter states Lunz wanted to come back to North Carolina and lead investigators to the body if they would ensure he got the death penalty.

Holland said that wasn’t possible.

He adds another individual was involved in the alleged killing of Estes and that person did pass a polygraph test.

As for whether or not Estes was actually killed that is unknown but no one has reportedly seen him since he left the motel, “Mr. Estes did not check out of the hotel, but he did leave his belongings behind. Now we know that the reason he left them behind is because he was with Christopher Lunz,” Holland said.

Holland is hopeful that the investigation being conducted by the state of Florida will reveal more evidence on Gerald Estes. He says he will stay in the system until more evidence is produced, but they are not actively searching for a body. ..Source.. by WFSC Radio News/Keith Giles, November 23, 2009



Pinellas murderer commits suicide after fatally stabbing cellmate

9-22-2009 Florida:

NEW PORT RICHEY - If taken at his word, Christopher Lunz wanted to die.

After being convicted of first-degree murder in the slaying of his father, Lunz begged a Pinellas County jury to sentence him to death in 2006. Instead, jurors recommended life in prison.

But Lunz, 41, made good on his death wish today, killing himself inside Florida State Prison in Raiford. His suicide came roughly 30 hours after he stabbed his cellmate to death and injured a second inmate while at Franklin Correctional Institution in Carrabelle, authorities say.

Lunz had been housed at Franklin since August 2006. He was only taken to the more secure Raiford facility after prison officials found convicted child molester Nathaniel Taylor dead Monday morning in the cell he shared with Lunz.

Taylor, 46, was serving time for violating parole on convictions out of Volusia County. He was scheduled to be released in 2016.

Prison officers opened cell doors at 4:55 a.m. Monday and immediately heard Lunz say he had a hostage and warn officers to stay back, said Department of Corrections spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger. An officer talked Lunz into surrendering a shank and noticed Taylor's body.

Officials did not identify the injured inmate but said his injuries were not life-threatening.

Plessinger said she didn't know how Lunz made the shank or the manner of his suicide.

"The details are all pretty sketchy until the investigation gets a little further along," she said.

Lunz and co-defendant William Westerman were charged with first-degree murder in 2005. Authorities said the men drove from their home in North Carolina to Palm Harbor in March 2003 to kill 56-year-old David Lunz. Investigators said Christopher Lunz wanted his father dead so he could inherit his estate, which was valued at nearly $400,000.

The case made headlines when it went to trial in June 2006, partly because Lunz acted as his own attorney for most of the proceedings. Westerman made a deal with prosecutors and testified against his former mentor and roommate, admitting that he shot David Lunz but saying he did so on Christopher Lunz's orders.

Westerman, 29, is serving a 30-year sentence.

Lunz brimmed with confidence during his trial, even planning a press conference to announce what he thought would be a not guilty verdict. It wasn't to be. His dream of vindication shattered, Lunz pleaded for a death sentence during the trial's penalty phase.

"I don't mind," he testified. "I'm not too happy. I'm 38 years old, and I've never been in love, never been on a date."

He also testified that his father was killed for raping him as a child and beating his mother. Lunz called himself a serial killer and said he had killed more than 20 other men who had raped children.

The jury still refused to recommend death.

"I should have known better," Lunz said after he received the life sentence. "I should have known if you ask for death, they give you life." ..Source.. by TODD LESKANIC | The Tampa Tribune


Christopher Lunz Found Guilty In Dad's Killing

6-9-2006 Florida:

CLEARWATER - A man who orchestrated his father's slaying was convicted of first-degree murder Thursday, quashing his plans for a victory celebration.

Instead, jurors return to court today to hear evidence before recommending whether Christopher Lunz should be executed for the March 2003 murder of David Lunz in his Palm Harbor home.

Lunz, 38, represented himself and was so sure he convinced jurors of his innocence that he was planning a news conference to discuss his victory, said two defense attorneys appointed to assist him.

They acknowledged - as did many watching the case - that Lunz did a remarkable job representing himself, despite having demanded that his trial be staged quickly before the defense team had a chance to examine all the evidence and interview all the witnesses.

"From an attorney's standpoint, I don't think the case was fully developed. We never followed up on his [possible] alibi," defense lawyer Keith Hammond said. "As for all the evidence on the table, he did as well as any attorney could do. But I don't think we had all the evidence and the state had three years to prepare."

Lunz and the man who pulled the trigger were charged with his father's murder late last year after a gun stolen from David Lunz's home was found on the bank of a lake near where the killers lived in North Carolina.

William Westerman, 26, quickly confessed to the crime and said Lunz ordered him to shoot his father with a sawed-off shotgun after the son attacked his father during what Westerman thought was supposed to be a friendly visit, authorities said. He testified against his former roommate and mentor and will receive a 30-year prison term in exchange for his cooperation.

Assistant State Attorney Mark McGarry told jurors Lunz hoped to inherit an estate worth nearly $400,000 from his father, whom he had not seen or visited for decades. It turned out the elder Lunz did not include his son in his will.

In opening statements earlier this week, Lunz told jurors Westerman acted alone and that prosecutors had no evidence he ever visited Florida in March 2003. The lack of evidence tying him to the murder scene turned out to be true, but Lunz apologized to the jury during his closing arguments Thursday for failing to present any alibi witnesses.

Late Wednesday, Hammond told Circuit Judge Dee Anna Farnell the defense team was awaiting word from a North Carolina couple who might have testified Lunz was visiting their home the day his father was killed. But Lunz chose to rest his case without calling any witnesses, even though Farnell offered to give him time to contact the couple.

Instead, Lunz chose to focus on the lack of physical evidence tying him to the murder scene.

His father died after a violent struggle, and there was blood all though his house, Lunz told the jury in his closing argument.

Westerman testified Lunz attacked his father and struggled with him, yet there was no DNA, not a single hair or fingerprint left behind, he said.

"There was not one single piece of evidence to put me there, but there was of William Westerman," he said.

When Lunz returns to court today, it will be under extraordinary security. Nine bailiffs surrounded him as the verdict was read Thursday, and Lunz has been wearing a harness that can deliver an electrical shock, if needed, by a bailiff.

At a hearing last week, security officials told the judge they had evidence Lunz may have been planning an escape, said Dyril Flanagan, a second defense attorney assisting during the trial. Also, the judge was told Lunz is under investigation for five other murders, although no details were provided, Flanagan said. ..Source.. by DAVID SOMMER


Murderer, now dead, said he ‘did in’ accused molester

11-25-2009 Georgia:

Estes awaiting trial when Lunz nabbed, killed him, Lunz wrote

Macon County Sheriff Robbie Holland confirmed details surrounding some bizarre twists in the case of a convicted murderer who apparently killed himself a few weeks ago after allegedly committing additional murders in a Florida prison.

Christopher Lunz was living here when sheriff’s deputies arrested him in the murder of his father in Florida in 2003. He had claimed his father had sexually abused him when he was a child. Lunz was extradited to Florida and was convicted in 2006 and was serving a life term there when he allegedly killed one inmate, stabbed another and left him for dead, then killed himself the next day, Holland said. At least one of his latest alleged victims was a convicted sex molester.

Before the recent slayings and his own death, Lunz sent local authorities a letter in which he claimed also to have killed Gerald Estes, who was awaiting trial here on charges of sex crimes against a minor. Holland said he believed the Estes proceedings dated to 2006.

“He’s still listed as missing, we’re still trying to locate him,” Holland said, though, “We don’t have an investigator working on it full-time.

“There’s still an outstanding warrant for [Estes’] arrest and failure to appear,” Holland said. “Until we find definite evidence [of his demise], he’ll remain that way.”

Authorities have searched sites Lunz pointed them to in looking for Estes’ remains, but no evidence was found of his death.

Holland confirmed that an accomplice in the murder of Lunz’s father, who is also serving a life term in Florida, took and passed a polygraph test in which he claimed he assisted Lunz in Estes’ murder, which supposedly took place after they picked Estes up from the Franklin hotel where he’d been staying.

Reports said Lunz wrote his recent letter restating his claim to have killed Estes and offering to help locate the body in order to make a deal to be executed, but Holland said that wouldn’t have been possible.

Estes’ belongings were left behind at the hotel where he was last seen and were never claimed by him, the sheriff said. ..Source.. by David Tell , Staff Writer

Utah inmate charged in killing of cellmate

12-6-2009 Utah:

Prosecutors have filed an aggravated murder charge against a Utah State Prison inmate accused of killing his cellmate.

The first-degree felony charge against Athian Kuot Mawien could lead to a possible death sentence.

Mawien, 29, is accused of strangling Mark Helms, 47, inside the cell they shared at the prison's Draper site.

The Nov. 22 slaying sprang from a disagreement and teasing between the men that escalated into a fistfight, said Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Don Hutson.

After Helm was punched several times in the head, he was strangled with a "ligature made from a laundry bag," according to jail records.

Corrections officers were made aware of the fight after other inmates notified them of a disturbance and an unresponsive inmate. Helms was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after the altercation.

Both inmates were housed in a section of the prison typically reserved for sex offenders. They had been cellmates since Nov. 6, according to the prison.

Mawien was convicted in 2004 of two amended charges of attempted aggravated sex assault, a first-degree felony; and forcible sex abuse, a second-degree felony. He was sentenced to serve seven years to life in prison.

Helms pleaded guilty in 1998 to child sex abuse and dealing in harmful materials to a minor. He received a suspended prison term and was sentenced to one year in the Davis County Jail. The following year, however, he was charged with 13 additional crimes relating to child sex abuse. He was later sentenced to six years to life in prison.

Mawien made his initial court appearance on the aggravated murder charge Thursday. Once he is arraigned, prosecutors have 60 days to decide whether they will seek the death penalty. ..Source.. by Geoff Liesik, Deseret News

Inmate at federal lockup in southern Illinois dies in apparent homicide

12-3-2009 Illinois:

MARION, Ill. (AP) — The FBI is investigating the death of an inmate at the federal penitentiary in Marion that appears to be a homicide.

Prison spokesman Jeffrey Baney says staff found the body of 32-year-old Robert Running Bear Jr. on Wednesday morning.

Baney says an autopsy will be conducted.

Running Bear was sentenced in South Dakota to 24 months in prison for failure to report as a sex offender. He was scheduled to be released in September 2010.

Marion is a medium-security federal prison in southern Illinois. It has about 990 inmates. ..Source.. QUAD.com

Investigators: Inmate Kills Another Inmate

11-20-2009 Colorado:

A prisoner (Sex Offender) was murdered by another prisoner, that's according to investigators. It happened Thursday night at the Territorial Prison in Canon City.

A prisoner was murdered by another prisoner according to investigators. It happened at the Territorial Prison in Canon City.

While the details can't be released since the incident is under investigation, the Colorado Department of Corrections tells 11 News that Kevin Lust killed Ronald Ferguson.

Lust is serving time right now for murder, sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. No word yet on any potential charges he may now face.

Ferguson was convicted of sex assault on a child. He was supposed to get out by November 2012. ..Source.. Lauri Martin



Grim details emerge in prison death of sex offender

12-4-2009 Colorado:

Last week, we reported on the bludgeoning death of inmate Ronald Ferguson, a convicted child molester, at the Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility outside of Canon City.

A fifty-year-old habitual offender serving time for kidnapping and sexual assault on a child, Ferguson was struck repeatedly in the head with a metal bar; his alleged assailant, Kevin Lust, is serving a life sentence for the murders of his wife and ex-fiancee.

Now, inmate sources have come forward with more details that raise questions about general security issues at Territorial and whether Ferguson was being set up for attack. If their reports are correct, Ferguson begged corrections officers to protect him from Lust, given a history of altercations between the two, but was ignored.

"Apparently, these guys got into a fight some 7-8 months ago in the kitchen," one inmate writes. "They were separated and sent to different units."

According to some accounts, Lust vowed to kill Ferguson the next time he saw him. That kind of information typically goes into an offender's file, along with orders to keep the individuals involved housed in separate areas. Inmates claim Ferguson was inexplicably moved into Lust's pod the same day he was killed, when there were other empty cells that could have been used.

But Colorado Department of Corrections spokeswoman Katherine Sanguinetti disputes this version. Ferguson and Lust had been in the same pod for months, she says, before the attack took place.

According to the inmates, Ferguson reportedly went to a sergeant on November 18 and asked to be moved to another pod. He was told he'd have to talk to another officer the next day. He didn't live that long.

Although the coroner described the instrument that was used to kill Ferguson as a dumbbell, inmates say that it was "a homemade bar that had a string attached to it so inmate recreation workers could do exercises for their forearms." In other words, it wasn't an authorized piece of equipment "and did not have to be accounted for."

Inmates say violence has increased at Territorial since the Department of Corrections has started housing more high-security inmates in what is supposed to be a medium-security facility. (The latest population report shows 257 "close" inmates at Territorial, or roughly 28 percent of the total.) They complain that the state is double-bunking in small cells, in violation of a 1980 court order, and that up to 96 inmates share three toilets, two urinals and five showers, in violation of health standards. Sanguinetti says the facility recently passed an American Correctional Association accreditation inspection and meets required standards. ..Source.. by Alan Prendergast

Man shot, then killed by hit-run vehicle

11-16-2009 Illinois:

Chicago police Sunday were continuing their search for the person who shot a convicted sex offender and struck him with a vehicle near a lounge in the city's Chatham neighborhood.

An autopsy Sunday showed that the man -- identified as Howard Hodges, 34 -- died from injuries caused by the vehicle, according to a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Two other men also were shot in the incident, which happened near 83rd Street and Vincennes Avenue. Those victims did not suffer life-threatening injuries, police said.

At about 1:58 a.m. Sunday, police responded to shots fired in the 8100 block of South Vincennes Avenue, said Chicago Police Officer Laura Kubiak. About two blocks south, near 83rd and Vincennes, they found Hodges lying in the street; he appeared to have been struck by a car. Police didn't have a description of the vehicle, Kubiak said.

Paramedics arrived and found that Hodges had been shot in the abdomen. He was pronounced dead on the scene, police said.

When police interviewed the two other men at St. Bernard Hospital, they learned that they were standing in the 8200 block of South Vincennes when they heard gunshots and were hit, one man in a leg, the other in a shoulder, Kubiak said.

They told police Hodges was shot and ran into the street, where he was struck by an unknown vehicle, police said.

Court records show that Hodges, of the 300 block of East Indiana Street in Park Forest, had a long criminal history with several felony convictions including a 1997 conviction for aggravated criminal sexual assault with a weapon. In 2003, he was acquitted of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery.

Hodges, who had at least four aliases, was listed as compliant on the state's sex offender registry, though he had previously violated registry rules, records show.

No arrests had been made late Sunday, police said. ..Source.. by Deanese Williams-Harris, Andrew L. Wang and William Lee

Sexual predator shot dead in Town 'N Country

12-1-2009 Florida:

TAMPA — A registered sexual predator was shot dead steps from his home Monday morning in the middle of a residential street in Town 'N Country. Hillsborough sheriff's deputies are searching for three young men suspected of killing him.

Miguel Antonio Gomez, 57, was in a confrontation with several men about 11:45 a.m. at the corner of Hanna Avenue and Eden Lane when he was shot, deputies said. Gomez collapsed in the street. An ambulance took him to Town & Country Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Deputies describe the three suspects as white or Hispanic, ages 18 to 24. One had a dark beard; one was wearing a dark skullcap; and one had long, curly hair, deputies said.

They think the three fled in a dark green, 1996 to 2000 Honda two-door coupe.

The car was last seen speeding away from the scene, going west on Willow Wood Lane.

On Monday afternoon, a black T-shirt, a baseball cap and what looked like a pastel, printed bedspread remained strewn in the street. Investigators examined a hole in a window at 6409 Eden Lane.

Gomez lived a few houses away, at 6417 Eden Lane. State sex offender records show he was convicted in 1997 on charges of false imprisonment of a child under 13 while committing sexual battery; sexual battery of a child under 16; and an attempted lewd and lascivious act on a child under 16. Less than a month ago, he was convicted on a marijuana possession charge.

A man who answered the phone at his house Monday night declined to comment.

Anyone with information about the case was asked to call Cpl. O'Neal Jackson of the Homicide Unit at (813) 247-8649. ..Source.. Alexandra Zayas, Times Staff Writer

Utica man, 66, shot dead after answering door

11-27-2009 New York:

State: Garrow also convicted sex offender

UTICA — .George Garrow and his roommate had just spent Wednesday evening baking pies and sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner when they heard a knock at the door of their Dudley Avenue apartment shortly before midnight.

Having only one leg, Garrow, 66, grabbed his crutch and made his way to the door. The roommate said he next overheard Garrow talking with what sounded like a man and a woman.

The unknown visitors then demanded money from Garrow, the roommate recalled, but Garrow refused.

Suddenly, shots rang out.

Moments later at 11:53 p.m., Garrow, a previously convicted sex offender, would be found dead in his first-floor doorway, said his roommate, who asked not to be named. By Friday morning, his killer or killers remained at large, Utica police said.

When officers arrived, they said the smell of nutmeg and cinnamon still wafted through the air inside 1139 Dudley Ave.

While police officials did not dispute the roommate’s account of what happened, investigators spent the Thanksgiving holiday trying to piece together who might have killed Garrow, and for what reason.

“I do know that there was a conversation at the door, and I do know that there were gunshots,” Utica police Capt. James Watson said. “That lends itself for us to believe that the victim may know the offender.”

Garrow appeared to be shot in the head, according to the roommate, but police would not confirm where Garrow was shot on his body or how many times. Officials said an autopsy most likely will take place early next week.

Interviews conducted at the scene of the homicide earlier that morning offered few clues about the culprits, Watson said.

“Based on the people we’ve spoken to, we need to do some follow-up interviews with people before we can even come remotely close to developing suspect information,” Watson said.

Shortly after the shooting, area police agencies were put on alert for an older white jeep occupied by two men and two women that reportedly drove away from the scene north on Dudley Avenue toward Eagle Street.

‘He didn't deserve to die this way'

Several hours after Garrow was killed, his crutch remained propped up against the porch near the front door, which still was stained with blood.

For those who knew Garrow, it was those crutches and a mobilized wheelchair that they most often saw him use to move throughout the Cornhill neighborhood.

And although Garrow spent more than 15 years in prison for sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy in the late 1980s in Otsego County, his status as a registered Level 3 sex offender wasn’t mentioned as they recalled their neighbor.

“I was a good friend of his,” neighbor Judith Torres said Thanksgiving Day afternoon in front of the first-floor apartment where Garrow was killed. “He didn’t deserve to die this way. God took a good man.”

Despite having only one leg, Garrow still offered to cut lawns for his neighbors, while using one hand to push the mower and the other hand to balance himself on a crutch.

He also drove a tractor that towed a small trailer throughout the neighborhood to collect scrap metal that he would sell for cash, friends said.

Garrow, they said, enjoyed bird-watching in his backyard, where a row of leafy collard greens still grew in the ground Thursday as a reminder of Garrow’s love of gardening.

“On his birthday, he would say God gave him another chance," Torres said.

Garrow did have a number of children that he hasn’t talked to for years, according to the roommate, who has lived with Garrow since July.

But shortly before Garrow was killed, he had just spoken on the phone with a son he hadn’t seen in about 14 years, the roommate said. Garrow also recently had made contact with another son living in Texas that he hasn’t seen for nearly 30 years.

After the roommate was questioned by police until about 6 a.m. Thursday, he was not immediately allowed to go back inside his apartment because it was a crime scene.

‘Like light bulbs dropping’

When police officers responded to the call, they already had been notified that multiple shots had been fired. The sound of gunfire had clearly been heard by nearby residents.

“It sounded like light bulbs dropping to the floor,” Torres said from her nearby home.

In the early morning hours after the shooting, area police agencies were put on alert for an older white jeep occupied by two men and two women that reportedly drove away from the scene south on Dudley Avenue toward Eagle Street

The city police forensic truck spent hours parked in the middle of the block with its spotlights shining on the 2-1/2 story house as evidence was collected.

As word of Garrow’s death spread, the Thanksgiving eve killing brought shock and fear to neighbors such as Jessenia Lopez, 19, who moved to the block with her three children about eight months ago.

Lopez was decorating a Christmas tree when she noticed the police activity on the street, she said.

“This is not what I want for my kids. ... Now I'm scared to even close my eyes,” Lopez said about an hour after the homicide.

This is Utica’s fourth homicide of the year.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call police at 223-3510.

All calls will be kept confidential. ..Source.. ROCCO LaDUCA, JENNIFER BOGDAN and EMERSON CLARRIDGE, Observer-Dispatch

Ogden man killed in his cell at Utah State Prison

11-24-2009 Utah:

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office is investigating why a fight between two cellmates resulted in the death of an Ogden man at Utah State Prison.

Mark Helms, 47, was pronounced dead at the scene Sunday, said Salt Lake Sheriff's Lt. Don Hutson.

The sheriff's office has an agreement with the Department of Corrections to investigate any incident that results in bodily injury or death at the prison, he said.

Salt Lake County sheriff's officers were called to the prison after corrections officers were made aware of an unresponsive inmate.

"He was locked in a cell with another prisoner," Hutson said.

Emergency personnel attempted to revive Helms, but were unsuccessful, Hutson said.

"It appears the two got into a verbal argument, which escalated to a physical altercation," he said.

Athian Kuot Mawien punched Helms in the face several times, then used "common materials found in the cell to strangle him," Hutson said.

An autopsy on Helms had not been completed by Monday afternoon, Hutson said, but Helms had suffered traumatic injuries to his head and face.

Mawien, 29, was arrested and booked in Salt Lake County Jail on murder charges.

Hutson said the D Block, where the two inmates were housed, was in lockdown when the fight occurred, "so we didn't have to look far for a suspect."

The D Block is mostly occupied by sex offenders.

Helms pleaded guilty to second-degree felony sexual abuse of a child and third- degree felony dealing in materials harmful to a minor in 1998 in 2nd District Court in Farmington.

He was sentenced to serve one year in Davis County Jail.

In 1999, he was arrested and charged with 13 felonies relating to child sex abuse.

He pleaded guilty to five counts and was sentenced in 2000 to serve six years to life in prison.

Mawien was sentenced to serve seven years to life in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree felony attempted aggravated sex assault and second-degree felony forcible sex abuse. ..Source.. by Loretta Park (Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau )

Detroit man accused of marching naked 15-year-old son into lot, killing him over dispute

11-18-2009 Michigan:

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (AP) — A 37-year-old father irate over hearing his 15-year-old son had sexual contact with a 3-year-old girl made the teen strip at gunpoint, marched him to a vacant lot and shot him to death despite pleas from the boy and his mother, a relative said.

Michigan authorities filed a first-degree murder charge Wednesday against Jamar Pinkney Sr. in the shooting death Monday of Jamar Pinkney Jr. in the Detroit enclave of Highland Park.

Defense attorney Corbett O'Meara said prosecutors should consider evidence of the father's state of mind over the sex abuse report.

"If something were to happen that would cause a reasonable person to lose control of himself, that is something the prosecution would have to take into account," O'Meara said outside Highland Park District Court.

Tensions were high in the courtroom Wednesday as the handcuffed suspect was led into the room for the arraignment, which lasted less than a minute.

"No, No, No," one female relative cried before a police officer escorted her out.

Judge Brigette Officer entered a not guilty plea for Pinkney, who's also charged with assault, and ordered him jailed without bond until a preliminary examination Dec. 1.

"This is something that's hard to deal with for all the parties concerned, including the police," police Chief Ted Caldwell said afterward. "Highland Park is a small city. These are people who have been members of the community for years."

Caldwell said the sexual misconduct allegation that led to the confrontation wasn't part of the police investigation.

The shooting happened Monday night in a vacant lot in the once-prosperous city of 16,000, where decay, abandonment, fires and demolition have eaten away at many of the sprawling homes. Highland Park recently exited years of state financial oversight.

Visitors built an impromptu memorial at the shooting site. Two votive candles sat amid 10 stuffed animals, including two white teddy bears with red hearts embroidered with, "I love you."

The boy's mother, Lazette Cherry, told the Detroit Free Press that her son told her he had improper sexual contact with the girl.

"I called and told his father. This isn't something you sweep under the rug," she said.

Cherry said the elder Pinkney arrived at the home with a gun, ordered his son to strip and marched him outside despite her protests.

"He got on his knees and begged, 'No, Daddy, No,' and he pulled the trigger," Cherry said.

Cherry did not immediately respond to a message Wednesday from The Associated Press seeking comment. ..Source.. David N. Goodman



Dad arraigned in son's killing; mom says she sought help for teen

11-18-2009 Michigan:

Jamar Pinkney Sr. stood stoically in a Highland Park courtroom today, silent as a judge ordered him back to jail without bond, accused of shooting his 15-year-old son in the head execution-style.

With waist-long dreadlocks, the postal carrier didn't flinch as his son's great-aunt wailed and had to be led from 30th District Court.

"This is the most horrible thing that's ever happened to him," Pinkney Sr.'s lawyer, Corbett O'Meara, said after the hearing, not addressing whether Pinkney feels any remorse about Monday's shooting. Pinkney Sr.'s preliminary exam is scheduled for 9 a.m. Dec. 1 in 30th District Court in Highland Park.

"He's calm," O'Meara added. "He appears to understand what's going on."

Investigators say Pinkney was reacting with rage when he stripped his son naked, marched him outside the home of the boy's mother and executed him Monday afternoon.

Lazette Cherry, Jamar Jr.'s mother, said she wanted to get her 15-year-old son help when he came to her and said he had acted inappropriately with his 3-year-old half-sister.

There wasn’t a rape, Cherry said her son told her. But he confessed to his mother that he knew lying on top of the baby was wrong, she said.

So she called her son's father and told him what she believed happened in his home on Newport on Detroit’s east side.

“I called and told his father this isn’t something you sweep under the rug,” the devastated mother said today.

His father showed up at the house Monday afternoon with a gun, she said.

“He started beating him right here,” Cherry said from her living room. “I said, ‘No, please stop!’ ”

But the father marched Jamar Jr., a sophomore at Martin Luther King High School, outside.

“He got on his knees and begged, ‘No, Daddy! No!’ and he pulled the trigger,” she said. “There wasn’t nothing that my son wouldn’t do for his father. He loved his father so much."

The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office charged Pinkney Sr. with first-degree murder, punishable by up to life in prison. He's also been charged with three counts of felonious assault for pointing the gun at Cherry and two other people at her home before the shooting.

"No individual has the right to exact the death penalty on another no matter how reprehensible the behavior -- that is why we have laws," Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said today in a statement announcing the charges.

“I hope he rots in jail,” Cherry said of the man she met while they worked at the post office. “He did not deserve that,” she said of her son.

As white teddy bears with red silk hearts bearing the words "I love you" sit on the grass next to her home where her son died, candle wrappers from a vigil held Tuesday night scattered around, Cherry still can't believe what happened.

"There's no justification for what he did, you know, downright shoot your child," she said, wondering aloud about her ex. "He didn't rape her or anything. So why did you have to come and take matters into your hands? We said we were going to get him help."

A fund has been set up to help the family with burial expenses for Jamar Jr. Donations can be made at the Charter One Bank branch in Highland Park. ..Source.. TAMMY STABLES BATTAGLIA, FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Deaths (Murdered or Killed) of Accused, Suspected or Convicted Persons Related to Sex Offenses

"Caused by" Legends

ACQ-Acquaintance .. BUR-Burgular .. INM-Inmate .. NBR-Neighbor .. PS-Public Servant .. VIC-Victim or victim family member .. VIG-Vigilante .. OFN-Offender's family member .. CRW-Crowd .. State-Cultural Killings .. RSO-Registered Sex Offender .. SO-Accused Sex Offender .. OTH-Killed by someone during commission of crime (Used when nothing else fits) .. LAW-A law related to registration

2009 Michigan

LAW

Homeless Man Froze to Death

Thomas Pauli (52)(RSO)

"Person/s Killed" Legends

(A)=Accused .. (FA)=Falsely Accused .. (FL)=Falsely Labeled .. (IB)=Innocent Bystander .. (DO)= Domestic or Other incident .. (RSO)=Registered Sex Offender ..

Year / State:	Caused by:	Manner of death:	Person/s Killed:
2006 Alabama	VIC	Gunshot	Jim Layton Junior (38)(A)
2004 Alabama	VIC	Gunshot	Mose Aron (56)(A)
2008 Arizona	VIC	Shot by ex-girlfriend breaking into her home.	Terry Dean Milburn (45)(DO-RSO)
2003 Arizona	VIG	Shot and Stabbed	Charles Thomas Snyder (??)(IB)
2009 Arkansas	VIG	Unknown	Charles Yarbrough (??)(RSO)
2008 California	NBR	Stabbed	Terry Eugene Maddon (39)(DO-RSO)
2008 California	VIC	Stabbed for allegedly making a pass at a girl.	Ricardo Cortez (40)(A-DO)
2007 California	VIG	Stabbed.	Michael A. Dodele (67)(RSO) (Alias: Michael Salta)
2006 California	VIG	Shot.	Marlin John Dills (18)(A-FL)
2006 California	VIG	Found shot in his home.	Jack LaRue Hood (??)(RSO)
2006 California	PS	Accused brandished gun during standoff, police killed him.	Jonni Klyoshi Honda (51)(A)
2006 California	VIC	Shot by Grandmother (81)	Alex L Reyes (26)(A-FA)
2006 California	ACQ	Stabbed to Death	Gordon Fowler (74)(A)
2006 California	VIG	Multiple gunshot wounds	Xochia Xiong (55)(RSO)
2005 California	VIG	Gunshot	George Colbert (28)(RSO)
2005 California	VIG	Gunshot	Mert Combs (36)(RSO)
2005 California	VIC	Stabbed by victim's father	Eduardo Negrete (36)(A-FA)
2004 California	VIC	Shot by Daughter	William Frakes (80)(A) Alba Frakes (71)(A)
1993 California	VIC	Shot by Victim's Mother in Court	Daniel Mark Driver (35)(A-RSO)
2008 Colorado	VIC	Dismembered by son.	Jack Berry (42)(A) (Extreme Violence)
2005 Colorado	VIC	Strangled	Kevin Eugene Hale (36)(A-FA)
2006 Connecticut	VIC	Gunshot by grandson	Leonard Basley Sr (75)(A)
2006 Connecticut	VIC	Stabbed by victim's father	Barry James (58)(A-FA)
2008 Delaware	PS	Chocked to death, denied access to nursing home because he was a RSO	Joseph Heverin (22)(RSO)
2006 Delaware	VIC	Beaten to death	Bismark Vasquez (77)(A-FA)
2009 Florida	VIG	Gunshot killed in his truck.	Carmen Tungate (40)(RSO)
2008 Florida	PS	Tasered when he became violent during arrest.	James Garland (41)(RSO -DO)
2008 Florida	VIG	Gunshot killed homeless RSO.	William Anthony Surratt (34)(RSO)
2008 Florida	VIG	Gunshot during a fight	Edner Eustache (27) (RSO)
2008 Florida	VIG	Body found in a reclaimed phosphate pit.	William Hough (39) (RSO)
2008 Florida	PS	Shot by police while they awaited a search warrant.	Geoffrey Shaub (62)(A-RSO)
2007 Florida	ACQ	Gunshot	Jose Delval (??)(DO-RSO)
2007 Florida	VIG	Double Murder, blunt force trauma	Terrance Eugene McCloud (36)(RSO) (Girlfriend also murdered)
2007 Florida	PS	Gunshots	Lawrence Michael Floyd (19)(DO-RSO) YOUNG ADULT
2007 Florida	VIC	Stabbed w/Japanese samurai sword	Lee Alexander (25)(DO-RSO)
2006 Florida	BUR	knife wounds and blunt trauma	William C Medley (72)(RSO)
2005 Florida	VIC	Gunshot	Richard Rojas (18) (A-FA)
2005 Florida	VIC	Gunshot	Olen Lee Hepler (??)(A)
2004 Florida	PS	House dark, power out hurricane, police fired.	John Stanley Lewis, (55)(A-RSO)
2004 Florida	CRW	Gunshot	Maurice Larry (25)(RSO) YOUNG ADULT
2008 Georgia	PS	Killed after he shot two other people. STRANGE CASE	Billy Corbett (67)(DO-RSO)
2007 Georgia	PS	Tasered	Leroy Patterson, Jr (41)(A)
2007 Georgia	PS	Gunshot	Anthony Smashum (41)(A-RSO)
2006 Georgia	VIC	Stabbed to death during commission of a rape	Gerald A. Lee (38)(A)
2005 Georgia	Read Story	Killed during a crime	Brian O'Neil Clark (25)(A-RSO) YOUNG ADULT
2000 Georgia	VIG	Gunshot	Julius Grant (2)(A-RSO)
1995 Georgia	VIC	Stabbing	Gerald Douglas Wyatt (48)(A-RSO)
2006 Idaho	ACQ	Acquaintenance stabbed him thinking he had molested a child.	Arthur Clarkson (77)(A-FA)
2005 Idaho	VIC	Gunshot	Christopher Michael Schmidt (42)(A-RSO)
2008 Illinois	VIG	Shot outside a liquor store.	Ralph Bridges (56)(RSO)
2007 Illinois	VIG	Hit, kicked, stomped and slit his throat.	Ernest V Walker (41)(A)
2006 Illinois	VIG	Gunshot, gang related	Hallie Parrish (38)(RSO)
2006 Illinois	VIG	Gunshot	Juan A Fernandez (29)(RSO)
2004 Illinois	VIG	Found w/multiple gunshots in street.	Isaac Hall Jr (26)(RSO) (Months earlier shot twice but recovered)
2009 Indiana	VIG	Found shot in a car.	Kevin K Pendleton (30)(RSO)
2008 Indiana	VIC	Intended victim's father strangled him.	David T Meyers (52)(A-RSO)
2007 Indiana	VIC	Gunshot	Charles A Long (40)(DO-RSO)
2004 Indiana	ACQ	Stabbing	James Patrick Seldomridge (54)(FA-RSO)
2008 Iowa	VIG	Gunned down by vigilantes on way to work	Hano Bailey (??)(RSO)
2008 Kansas	PS	Killed when police served warrant.	Terry G Gordon Jr (31)(A-RSO)
2006 Kansas	VIG	Kicked in the head	David Owen (38)(RSO)
2008 Kentucky	VIG	Gunshot	Francisco Fernandez (45)(RSO)
2003 Kentucky	VIG	Multiple blunt force trauma injuries	Joseph Pilger (78)(RSO)(C)
1984 Louisiana	VIC	Shot in chest	Jeffery Doucet (25)(RSO)
2008 Maine	VIG	Unknown, awaiting autopsy	Michael A Roderick (52)(RSO)
2006 Maine	VIG	Homeless, he was set on fire while he slept under a bridge	Trevor Paul Sprague (34)(RSO)
2006 Maine	VIC	Shot at home at his birthday party by son	Roland Poirier (65)(A)
2006 Maine	VIG	Shot while at home	Joseph L Gray (57)(RSO)
2006 Maine	VIG	Shot while at home	William Elliot (24)(RSO) YOUNG ADULT
2008 Maryland	PS	Shot wrong man during fight	Dominique Emanuel McFadden (26)(RSO)
2008 Maryland	VIG	Shot wrong man	Joseph G. Hickman (71)(IB-RSO)
2005 Maryland	VIC	Shot in chest	Willie Williams (40)(A-RSO)
2004 Maryland	VIC	Shot by wife, daughter pregnant by father	Walter Rogers (43)(A)
2008 Masschusetts	VIG	Killed in hit and run while riding his bike to store.	Robert Lagasse (43)(RSO)
2008 Masschusetts	ACQ	Killed when others believed he had molested a child.	Jose A. Marte (37)(A-FA)
2006 Masschusetts	VIG	Stabbed to death in apt.	Ronald Perry (37)(RSO)
2009 Michigan	LAW	Froze to death because residency law prevented him from access to homeless shelters.	Thomas Pauli (52)(RSO)
2007 Michigan	ACQ	Stabbed in the bac, Decapitated, Fingerprints Burned off, and body dumped and set on fire.	Daniel Gene-Vincent Sorensen (26)(RSO)
2003 Michigan	PS	Four Gunshots during shootout	Scott Woodring (40)(A)
2007 Minnesota	VIG	Set on Fire	Alberto Samilpa Jr (20)(A)
2006 Minnesota	VIG	Gunshot	Garey A Hannah Jr (28)(RSO)
2004 Minnesota	VIG	Drowning	Oscar W Jackson (73)(RSO)
2008 Missouri	PS	Shot by police during hostage situation (ex-girfriend)	Gary Sheets (45)(RSO)
2000 Missouri	ACQ	Shot by ex-girfriend	Bruce Paris (??)(DO-RSO)
2007 Nebraska	VIG	Stabbing	Andrea Williams (44)(RSO)
2009 Nevada	OTH	Gunshot	Mark Clinton Vains, (42)(RSO)
2007 New Jersey	VIC	Shotgun	Matthew Booth Sr (34)(A)
2008 New Mexico	ACQ	Beaten & kicked by acquaintence	Cristobal Cuellar (62)(RSO)
2006 New Mexico	VIC	Shot by son	Arthur Baca Sr (47)(A-FA)
2002 New Mexico	VIC	Shot by victim during rape attempt	Michael Magirl (51)(A-RSO)
2008 New York	ACQ	Stabbed	Raymond Pike (63)(RSO)
2007 New York	VIG	Skull fracture	Valentine G. Wadman (52)(RSO)
2007 New York	VIC	Daughter taped him up and throttled him then cut off his penis	Eric Goodridge (55)(A-FA) (Extreme Violence)
2007 New York	PS	Shot by officer returning fire	Steven McCumber (45)(DO-RSO)
2005 New York	VIC	Stepson killed him w/samurai sword	Scott Nager (51)(A-FA)
2005 New York	VIC	Blunt Force Trama	Paul W Jansen (61)(A- FA)
2004 New York	VIC	Gunshot	Richard Tunley (50)(FA-RSO)
1998 New York	NBR	Shotgun	Curtis Cook. (42)(A)
1992 New York	VIC	Gunshot	Joel Schoenfeld (45)(RSO)
2009 North Carolina	ACQ	Shot by acquaintenance	Shane Allen Holloway (31)(DO-RSO)
2008 North Carolina	ACQ	Stabbed by acquaintenance	Anthony Patrick Graves (43)(DO-RSO)
2008 North Carolina	PS	Shot by police after fleeing from a traffic stop, allegedly tried to run over a cop	Jovon Antwan Evans (27)(DO-RSO)
2003 North Carolina	VIG	Gunshot	Chester Kendale Lane (28)(DO-RSO)
2003 North Carolina	VIG	Shot outside his father's home in middle of night.	Tracy Bernard Hamilton (22)(RSO) YOUNG ADULT
2006 Oklahoma	PS	Accused carrying gun fled into woods, police shot & killed him.	Glen Bell (41)(A)
2006 Oregon	VIG	Burned in apt fire ruled homocide (Arson)	Noah Paul Scott Thacker (21)(RSO)
2004 Oregon	ACQ	Violent Death in Motel	David Evan Rice (68)(FA-RSO)
2004 Oregon	PS	Schizophrenic holding baseball bat, police fired	Douglas Eugene Pollock (41)(DO-RSO)
2008 Pennsylvania	VIC	Shot by husband of woman he was dating.	Lonnie Schwab Sr (49)(DO-RSO)
2008 Pennsylvania	VIC	Shot by alleged victim's parents	Kenneth Himrod (28)(A)
2008 Pennsylvania	PS	Shot during raid on his home	Darius Hill (39)(A)
2007 Pennsylvania	VIC (liar)	Struck w/hammer then shot	Vernon Hayden Sr (71)(FA)
2007 Pennsylvania	VIG	Multiple stab wounds then burned	Bryan Charles Kocis (AKA) Bryan Philips (44)(RSO)
2006 Pennsylvania	VIC	Shot	Kenneth Brokenborough (??)(A)
2009 South Carolina	PS	Shot	Mark Monroe Evans (41)(RSO)
2004 South Carolina	VIC	Shot	George Manley Clark (??)(A)
2009 South Dakota	ACQ	Stabbed by Acquaintenance	Duane Joseph Red Bird (39)(RSO)
2008 Tennessee	NBR	Shot by neighbor during breakin and attempted rape.	David Fleming (50)(A-RSO)
2008 Tennessee	VIC	Stabbed	Ronald Paige (50)(A)
2003 Tennessee	VIC	Shot by victim's mother	Coy Hundley (39)(A)
2009 Texas	VIC	Gunshot	Joe Edward Gary (51)(A)
2009 Texas	VIG	died from blunt force trauma	Dale Wayne Ellis (20)(RSO)
2008 Texas	PS	Shot by police while attempting to get gun out of truck to shoot officer	Thomas Aguirre (??)(A-RSO)
2008 Texas	PS	Shot by police serving warrant	Brian Keith Dunkle (47)(A-RSO)
2008 Texas	VIG	Both shot while sitting on couch.	Edward Roberts (56)(RSO) (His girlfriend was also shot but now stable condition)
2008 Texas	PS	Hough behaving erratically was shot lunging at officer (Odd case)	Daniel Hough (39)(RSO)
2007 Texas	VIG	Shot while answering the door	Davion Crow (20)(RSO)
2007 Texas	VIG	Throat Slit	Michael Murray (40)(RSO)
2006 Texas	VIG	Blunt force trauma found in burning home (arson)	Kenneth Eugene Smith (71)(RSO)
2006 Texas	VIG	Gunshot wound	Jack Larue Hood Jr (49)(RSO)
2005 Texas	PS	Gunshot wound	Douglas H. Blackstone (24)(A-RSO)
2004 Texas	ACQ	Strangled	Robert Fernandez III (A-FA)
2004 Texas	VIG	Burned	Ronald Henry Enriquez (31)(RSO)
2009 Utah	PS	Shot	Michael John Taylor (64)(A-RSO)
2008 Utah	ACQ	Stabbed	James Harper (48)(DO-RSO)
2006 Utah	VIG	Multiple blows to head	George Benally (43)(RSO)
2005 Utah	VIG	Chopped Up & Beheaded	John Mayo (50)(RSO)
2008 Washington	PS	Death by unknown cause, possibly tear gas	William Leverette (48)(RSO)
2005 Washington	VIC	Shot by accuser	James Garrett (53)(A-RSO)
2005 Washington	VIG	Shot by FBI Imposter	Hank Adolf Eisses (49)(RSO)
2005 Washington	VIG	Shot by FBI Imposter	Victor Manuel Vasquez (68)(RSO)
2005 Washington	VIC	Stabbed by son	Fred Jaber (79)(A)
2004 Washington	PS	Shot by Police	Lawrence Owens (43)(DO-RSO)
2003 Washington	VIG	Shotgunned in remote cabin in the woods.	Russell C Markvarden (52)(RSO) Matthew Lee Raynor (32)(IB)
1989 Washington	VIG	Shot six times outside his home.	Kaare Sortland (??)(A-FA)
2006 West Virginia	PS	Shot during shootout w/police	Brett Hanick (45)(RSO)
2007 Wisconsin	PS	Shot during standoff	Richard Lewis Catoe Jr (38)(DO-RSO)
2006 Wisconsin	VIC	Hammer & Scissors	Ronald Adams (57)(A)
2004 Wisconsin	VIC	Multiple gunshots	Raymond F DeBack (52)(RSO)
2004 Wisconsin	VIC	Hammer	Terrance Bradley (57)(A)

FL- Mom who shot man she thought abused her daughter is ready for prison

10-16-2009 Florida:

Sylvia Neeley believed her Land O'Lakes neighbor was molesting her 12-year-old mentally disabled daughter. She said he even bragged that he could do it again. She told the authorities, but they never charged him with anything — even though one investigator said he may have done it. So, on May 24, 1998, Neeley pumped Arthur Danner full of bullets. Swimming in a haze of beer and Valium, she fired into his chest, then reloaded and took aim at his groin.

Thursday morning, she stood before a judge in Dade City, her last stop on her way to state prison.

"I'm very sorry for the crime I committed," said Neeley, 48, who wore a black suit and heels. "I just felt like no one was helping my daughter."

The price of Neeley's crime is separation from the daughter who still needs her.

Jenny, who is now 23 but still has the mind of a child, will have to live in a group home until her mother gets out in about five years.

• • •

Neeley doesn't offer any excuses for what she did, but her life took a destructive course long before she confronted Danner.

She grew up in Tampa with three siblings and a single mom who struggled to provide. She dropped out of school after eighth grade. As a young teenager, she started using marijuana, then alcohol, then pills. By the time she was 15, Neeley had been everywhere from California to New York to New Orleans, hitching rides in the cars and truck beds of strangers.

"I always ran," she said recently. "It wasn't until years of being sober that I realized you take the same person with you."

Once, she said, a guy in a four-wheel-drive truck picked her up on Florida Avenue in Tampa, gave her beer, drove her to Morris Bridge Road and raped her. Then he dropped her at her boyfriend's house.

She worked as a stripper and a prostitute and has a history of minor arrests from disorderly conduct to DUI.

She had her first daughter at 17, and another 11 months later. The younger is married and raising three kids; the older is addicted to painkillers, her own four children scattered.

When Jenny was born, Neeley could tell she was different from her other girls. At 6 months old, the baby had several seizures and nearly died.

Jenny was diagnosed as high-functioning but developmentally delayed. She likes to fish and play cards and talks about having kids of her own, but she lacks the maturity of an adult and cannot care for herself.

• • •

Arthur Danner was a friend and Land O'Lakes neighbor to Sylvia Neeley, whose last name then was Maraman. Danner became a father figure to a woman who had never had one.

But Neeley gradually grew suspicious of Danner, 73, who she says was obsessed with Jenny, heaping gifts on her and chastising Neeley for disciplining her.

In early 1998, a family friend told Neeley he walked into a troubling scene in Danner's mobile home: Jenny was on the floor. Danner was on a couch naked from the waist up; the rest of his body under a blanket.

Neeley reported the incident to state child welfare authorities and the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. The agencies investigated, but two months passed and no charges were filed.

Marilyn Loper, a counselor with the Department of Children and Families, told Neeley there was some evidence Danner may have abused her daughter, but not enough to press criminal charges.

"I said, 'It's likely. It's not 100 percent, but it's quite likely that he will indeed get away (with) it,' " Loper later testified at Neeley's trial. "So it's your job to make sure that he doesn't bother your child anymore.' "

In the meantime, Neeley said, Danner was harassing her with constant phone calls. One night, she couldn't take it anymore. She confronted him in his trailer, and when he admitted his acts, she said, she walked home and grabbed a .357-caliber gun that belonged to her ex-husband. Danner sat on the couch as Neeley, who had never fired a gun before, squeezed the trigger again and again.

She was drunk and stoned and doesn't remember much else.

Neeley was convicted in 2000 of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years, but won a new trial on appeal. Two weeks ago she pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter, and on Thursday she was sentenced to 10 years in prison. She will probably serve about half that because of time credited from her previous conviction.

• • •

Neeley moved Jenny into a group home in Riverview, near Neeley's mother's house, a few weeks ago. Jenny has her own bedroom with her name on the wall, stuffed animals from home and a metal replica of her Dalmatian, Perdita, who recently died. She can have visitors anytime.

Jenny says she hates her new home, but she understands why she's there and why her mother's going to prison. She remembers what happened.

"He used to touch me down there all the time," she said.

Neeley is as ready as she can be for prison. For the first time in years, she says she's clean. She had a new Bible with her when she went to prison Thursday.

The only part about going to prison that splinters Neeley's tough shell is the thought of her daughter, who can't keep track of days, going weeks without hearing from her mother.

As they visited earlier this week at the group home, Jenny was in a sullen mood. She rolled her eyes and gave her mother attitude as Neeley henpecked.

But when talk turned to prison, Jenny buried her face and clung tightly to Neeley's waist.

"You're a grown woman now, why you going to cry?" Neeley asked.

" 'Cause I know you're leaving," Jenny said.

Neeley stroked her hair and tried to stay composed.

"As long as I know you're okay, I'm okay," she told her daughter, and herself. ..source.. by Molly Moorhead, Times Staff Writer



Pasco mother heads to prison for shooting daughter's alleged abuser

10-15-2009 Florida:

DADE CITY — Sylvia Neeley, dressed in a black suit and high heels, turned herself in this morning to begin serving her prison sentence for killing a man a decade ago who she believed was molesting her mentally retarded daughter.

Neeley, 48, shot Arthur Danner on May 24, 1998, in his Land O'Lakes mobile home. She told authorities he had boasted about sexually abusing her daughter, then 12, and said he could do it again. Stoned on beer and painkillers, she went to her home next door, grabbed a gun, returned to Danner's trailer and unloaded into his chest.

Then she reloaded and fired at his groin.

Neeley had reported the suspected abuse three months earlier to authorities. The Pasco County Sheriff's Office and child welfare workers investigated, but they had not found enough evidence to charge Danner, 73, with anything.

She told Circuit Judge Pat Siracusa in court this morning that she wished Danner had been arrested.

"I'm very sorry for the crime I committed," she said through tears. "I just felt like no one was helping my daughter."

One Department of Children and Families counselor, Marilyn Loper, had testified at Neely's trial that their investigation found some evidence Danner may have abused her daughter, but there probably wasn't enough to press criminal charges.

"She said, 'You mean he is going to get away with this?' " Loper testified. "I said, 'It's likely. It's not 100 percent, but it's quite likely that he will indeed get away (with) it. So it's your job to make sure that he doesn't bother your child any more.' "

Neeley was convicted of the killing once at trial in 2000, but an appeals court found that the judge had made errors and granted her a new trial. She has been out on bail since December 2002.

With her new trial looming, Neeley instead pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but will be credited for the more than four years she has already spent behind bars.

Siracusa gave her two weeks before today's sentencing to get her affairs in order and move her daughter, now 23, into a group home.

Neeley said before the hearing that she visited her daughter at the home this morning.

As she was led away in handcuffs, she carried a Bible, glasses case and small book of photos. Her family sat a few rows away, crying.

"I'm heartbroken, absolutely heartbroken," said her mother, Frances Hayman. "She was my wild child, but she's still my child." ..Source.. by Molly Moorhead, Times Staff Writer

AZ- Officials discuss motives in slaying of 3 in Ariz.

10-1-2009 Arizona:

ST. JOHNS, Ariz. — An Arizona man who confessed to killing three people and pronounced himself a serial killer told authorities he committed the crimes because one man shot a dog, he didn't want the second to hurt anyone else and his attempts to get a 16-year-old off drugs failed.

William Inmon of Springerville faces prison sentences of 25 years to life on each of three counts of first-degree murder. Authorities said the 21-year-old's killing spree started in April 2007 with 72-year-old William "Stoney" McCarragher, continued with 60-year-old Daniel Achten nearly two years later and ended with the death of teenager Ricky Flores in August.

Inmon pleaded guilty to the murders on Wednesday.

Apache County Attorney Michael Whiting said Thursday that Inmon's overwhelming motive in the murders was that he wanted to rid society of less-than-desirable people. He told authorities he would have continued his vigilante killing spree had he not been caught.

Authorities said Thursday that money and guns also were motives.

Inmon's attorney, Albert Lassen said in a statement Thursday that his client agreed to cooperate with authorities only if the death penalty was taken off the table. Prosecutors agreed.

McCarragher was the first known of Inmon's victims, but authorities say they are investigating whether he might be involved in at least two other murders.

McCarragher lived on a small rural ranch outside of St. Johns and was known to carry large amounts of money, sometimes thousands of dollars. In court documents, those interviewed by investigators said McCarragher was a "potty mouth" and was rough on kids. He also had a criminal history of sex offenses under an alias, according to court documents.

Inmon, who was considered a potential suspect at the time, denied fatally shooting McCarragher and said, "the whole town is suspect because a lot of people did not care for Stoney."

Inmon recently confessed to the murder, saying he did not want McCarragher to violate anyone else.

Achten, who had been missing for five months before his remains were discovered in a shallow grave on his rural property outside of St. Johns last week, was a Vietnam veteran who locals said couldn't hear well. He was known to some as "Hummer Dan," because he was constantly humming, Apache County sheriff's Sgt. Richard Guinn said.

The gangly Inmon told authorities that Achten used drugs, shot his longtime dog and generally mistreated people, so he believed he had a duty to rid society of him.

Authorities said Inmon was proud of committing the murders of Achten and McCarragher, but was remorseful about the death of Flores, whom he killed with a single shotgun blast.

Springerville Police Chief Steve West said Inmon initially claimed that Flores' had threatened him with a firearm and he acted in self-defense. He eventually confessed and broke down in tears — one of only three moments when he showed real emotion, West said.

Inmon told authorities he wanted Flores to change his life, and authorities believe drugs were the issue.

The latest confessions are likely to further shake up the tiny town of St. Johns where violent killings had been rare. Last November, a then 8-year-old was charged with fatally shooting his father and his father's roommate. He pleaded guilty to the roommate's death and prosecutors dropped charges against him in his father's death. The boy, now 9, is awaiting sentencing. ..Source.. by FELICIA FONSECA