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Thursday, July 24, 2008

CA- Wasco inmate was strangled to death, coroner says

7-24-2008 California:

The 33-year-old inmate who was found not breathing Wednesday in his cell at Wasco State Prison, and later died at the hospital, was strangled to death, the Kern County Coroner's office reported.

Ruben Landeros, 33, died at 11:22 p.m. Wednesday. It is being ruled a homicide by the coroner's office.

The suspect in the case is Harold P. Cox, 37, who was brought to the prison from Orange County on April 18, Wasco prison staff said. He’s serving a 10-year, four-month sentence with gang and prior prison enhancements for intimidating a witness.

Landeros, a registered sex offender, pleaded no contest to sexual battery in 2001. He was sentenced to five years at Wasco prison.

He also pleaded no contest in 2004 for possession of drugs or alcohol while in jail. More recently, a case was opened in last month with the Kern County District Attorney's office after he allegedly failed to register as a sex offender when moving. An investigation was ongoing. ..News Source.. by The Bakersfield Californian

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Primal rage: 'pedo' stomped to death

7-22-2008 Australia:

A convicted pedophile represented everyone who had ever abused the young Adelaide man who killed him in a primal rage, a court was told today.

Timothy Hemi Schaefer, 19, went to the home of Jeffrey Edwin Payne, 56, in Adelaide in April 2007, called him a "pedo", punched him and stabbed him in the leg.

Drunk and taunting his victim, Schaefer followed Payne across parklands before strangling and stabbing him and stomping on his head, the South Australian Supreme Court has heard after Schaefer pleaded guilty to murder.

Prosecutor Jane Powell said there was an element of "sanguinary" to the crime, with Schaefer stopping to smoke a cigarette during the brutal and prolonged attack.

Schaefer had never expressed remorse for killing Mr Payne, who was an extremely thin man, weighing just 47 kilograms, with ulcers and emphysema, she said.

"In fact, during his interview with police he referred to Mr Payne as a sack of shit," Ms Powell said.

"He would have had to hear and feel the sounds of the bones fracturing under foot."

Schaefer's lawyer Greg Mead said there was no clear motive for the crime.

But it appeared that, in Schaefer's drunk and enraged state, Payne had come to represent all the people who ever had abused him.

"He snapped ... he said to police, 'I just got heaps angry,' " Mr Mead said.

One of nine children, Schaefer suffered "a living hell" at the hands of a violent, alcoholic father who beat him every day, his lawyer said.

After his mother left, his father would abandon the children for weeks at a time, leaving them at the mercy of two friends who would sexually abuse some of them.

"He was fed rotten meat, his father would have to scrape the slime off," Mr Mead said.

"It was the cruelty and brutality of those early years that led to this almost primal expression of rage."

Judge John Sulan said the crime had "all the characteristics of a frenzied attack" and Schaefer could expect to be jailed for a long time.

He also said Schaefer had been "destroyed" by his appalling early life.

He ordered a neurological report to investigate possible damage from Schaefer being beaten with hammers in an earlier, unrelated attack.

Schaefer, who faces a possible life term, was remanded in custody for sentencing at a date to be set. ..News Source.. by smh.com

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Abused teenager jailed for murdering pedophile

10-7-2008 Australia:

STATE welfare authorities "failed" an abused and damaged teenager who went on to viciously murder a convicted pedophile, the Supreme Court has heard.

Timothy Hemi Schaefer was today described as a "damaged little boy" whose pent-up anger erupted in a prolonged and barbaric attack on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Edwin Payne, 56.

Schaefer, 20, will spend at least 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to Payne's murder outside his Northfield home in April 2007.

The convicted sex offender had been throttled unconscious, stabbed in the leg and face and had his skull crushed in the late-night attack.

Schaefer took time to smoke a cigarette during the brutal assault and later described his victim as a "sack of shit" during a police interview.

Justice John Sulan said Schaefer and a number of other boys had regularly gone to Payne's home in the years leading up to the murder.

"For a number of years (Payne) was regularly visited by young boys and he provided them with cigarettes alcohol and marijuana in exchange for sexual favours," Justice Sulan said.

"He had convictions for offences of a sexual nature against teenage boys and had been imprisoned in the past for sex offences against young boys."

Payne was mentioned during sentencing submissions for convicted Snowtown serial killer James Vlassakis, who is serving a life jail term for four murders.

Justice Sulan said Schaefer was drunk and angry when he went to Payne's home on the night of the killing and found there were "sexual connotations behind the attack."

Justice Sulan said Schaefer had endured a chaotic and dysfunctional childhood with an alcoholic mother and an abusive father, who routinely beat his five children and fed them rotten meat.

The judge referred to a letter from Schaefer's aunt, who described him as "a bright and intelligent child who grew up in circumstances of chaos and dysfunction" and became a "damaged little boy."

"In my opinion the state failed him as a child," the letter said.

Justice Sulan said Schaefer's problems were compounded when he suffered serious head injuries when assaulted with a hammer as a 17-year old.

He said Schaefer needed intensive psychiatric help to overcome his many problems.

"Sadly, it appears that you will not receive the treatment that you require while you are in custody," he said. ..News Source.. by ANDREW DOWDELL, COURT REPORTER

Saturday, July 12, 2008

UK- Man murdered his brother over sex abuse claim

7-10-2008 United Kingdom:

A MAN who murdered his brother because he believed he was a sex offender has been given a life sentence at the High Court in Glasgow.

David Thomson, 38, admitted killing 35-year-old John Thomson at the home they shared in Carstairs Junction in January.

He strangled his brother with a boot lace and stabbed him 15 times after an alleged confession to a sex offence.

Thomson was told that he would serve a minimum of 14 years for the murder.

The court heard John Thomson had allegedly sexually abused a young girl 20 years ago.

Defence QC Neil Murray told the court that Thomson claimed his brother, who had always previously denied the allegation, confessed to him that night that he had committed the offence.

The defence lawyer said Thomson, who described his brother as “his best friend” was profoundly upset by his death and “accepts what he did was totally inexcusable”.

Judge Lord Mackay of Drumadoon told Thomson that the only possible sentence was life imprisonment.

He said if it had not been for his early guilty plea he would have fixed the punishment part at 17 years. ..News Source.. by George Topp, Lanark & Carluke

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

NC- Man stabbed Monday; housemate arrested

7-8-2008 North Carolina:

RALEIGH - A man was fatally stabbed at his home Monday night, and a man who shared the residence has been charged with his murder.

Police found Anthony Patrick Graves, 43, about 9:45 p.m. when they responded to a call about a stabbing at his home at 734 South State St. Graves died later at WakeMed, police reported.

Travis Glenn McDougal, 31, of the same address was arrested at the scene without incident, said Police Spokesman Jim Sughrue.

Sughrue declined to discuss the nature of the relationship between Graves and McDougal, but he said the two men had a domestic dispute.

"The dispute turned into a physical altercation, " Sughrue said. "The stabbing was the end result of the argument."

Both men have criminal histories in Wake and Johnston counties, state records show.

Graves was required by Wake County authorities to register as a sex offender in 1992 when he was convicted of felony indecent liberties with a child and felony second degree sexual offense, court records show. Graves' criminal background also includes convictions for assault on a law officer, court records show.

McDougal has past convictions in Wake and Johnston counties for simple assault, probation violations, misdemeanor larceny, assault with a deadly weapon, assault on a government official, shoplifting, misdemeanor possession of marijuana, felony malicious conduct by a prisoner, assault inflicting serious injury, felony probation violation, second degree burglary and common law robbery, court records show.

Police transported McDougal to the Wake County jail, where he is being held without bail, a jail spokeswoman said today.

Police are continuing to investigate, Sughrue said. ..News Source.. by Thomasi McDonald, Staff Writer