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Tuesday, December 30, 2008

UK- Murdered man 'was sex offender'

12-30-2008 United Kingdom:

A man who police believe was murdered - even though they have not found a body - was a registered sex offender, officers have confirmed.

Blood found at a house on 21 December on Stockbridge Road, Padiham, matched that of Alan Street, 26, although his body has not yet been discovered.

Keiran Davison, 20, of Stockbridge Road, has been charged with his murder.

Police are searching for Alan Palmer, 43, and Peter Leonard, 51, who they say "could be anywhere in the country".

Lancashire police confirmed that Mr Street was a registered sex offender, but were not releasing further details.

Det Supt Neil Hunter, of Lancashire police, said: "We need to speak to both Mr Leonard and Mr Palmer in relation to this incident as a matter of urgency.

"I would urge them both or anybody who knows of their whereabouts or has been contacted by them or been in their company recently to contact police immediately. I do believe that the two men may be together.

"I would like to make people aware that Mr Palmer is a long distance lorry driver and has strong connections in Padiham and Oswaldtwistle, but due to his employment I cannot rule out that he and Mr Leonard may well have travelled out of the county and could be anywhere in the country."

Police also want to trace Mr Palmer's car, a blue five-door Mitsubishi Colt saloon, registration PE58 OJY.

Mr Leonard is white, about 5ft 8ins tall, of medium build with blue eyes and light brown hair, cut very short.

Accused remanded

He has a two-inch scar on his nose and the words "LOVE" and "HEIDI" tattooed on his hands.

Mr Palmer is white, 5ft 11ins, of medium build, with receding dark brown hair. He has brown eyes and several tattoos on his left arm, including a snake head, a bull, an eagle and a swallow. On his right arm he has tattoos of a snake and a skull, as well as the words "MAM" and "LUCKY".

Mr Street is described as being of medium build, about 5ft 11ins tall with blue eyes and light, straight brown hair, which was cut short. He had a local accent.

Police know he went from Burnley to Oswaldtwistle on 19 December and are appealing for anyone who saw him to contact them.

Mr Davison has been remanded in custody to appear at Preston Crown Court on 18 March. ..News Source.. by BBC

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UK- 'Suspects On The Run With A Body'

1-5-2009 United Kingdom:

Detectives investigating the murder of a sex offender in Lancashire believe his attackers may be on the run with his body.

Blood and DNA found in a house near Burnley in December have convinced police that Alan Street, a convicted rapist, was beaten to death.

Officers were called to an address at Stockbridge Road, Padiham, after blood-stained clothing was discovered.

They believe the attackers may have taken the body with them and are currently on the run.

Long-distance lorry driver Alan Palmer, 43, and Peter Leonard, 51, have not been seen since December 20 - police think they may be together.

Detective Superintendent Neil Hunter said: "I would urge Mr Leonard and Mr Palmer, or anybody who knows of their whereabouts or has been contacted by them or been in their company recently, to contact police immediately. We need to speak to them as a matter of urgency.

"Due to Mr Palmer's employment, I cannot rule out that he and Mr Leonard may well be anywhere in the country."

Police would not comment on Street’s criminal history, but Sky News has learned he has a conviction for rape.

Palmer has several tattoos on his left arm of a snake head, bull, eagle and swallow.

On his right arm he has a snake and skull with two flower designs featuring the words 'Mam' and 'swallow'.

Leonard has a two-inch scar on his nose and the words 'love' and 'Heidi' tattooed on his hands. ..News Source.. by Mike McCarthy, North of England correspondent

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UK- Body Found After Rapist Vanishes

1-19-2009 United Kingdom:

Detectives investigating the murder of a convicted rapist have found a body in Lancashire.

Blood and DNA discovered in a house near Burnley in December have convinced police that sex offender Alan Street was beaten to death.

Underwater search specialists discovered the corpse in a culvert after they were alerted by Environment Agency contractors.

Detective Superintendent Neil Hunter, who is leading the murder investigation, said: "As a result of a call made to police, the underwater search team was brought in.

"They entered the culvert and located the body before successfully recovering it. It has now been taken to Blackburn mortuary where identification and post mortem will take place."

Police say it’s too early to tell whether the body is Alan Street, who they say was subjected to a "sustained and prolonged attack" at the house in Stockbridge Road, Padiham.

One man has already been charged with Street's murder while detectives wish to speak to two other suspects in connection with the death of the 26-year-old.

Alan Palmer, 43, who lived at the scene of the attack in Stockbridge Road, and Peter Leonard, 51, have not been seen since Street went missing.

Palmer has several tattoos on his left arm of a snake head, bull, eagle and swallow.

On his right arm he has a snake and skull with two flower designs featuring the words 'Mam' and 'swallow'.

Leonard has a two-inch scar on his nose and the words 'love' and 'Heidi' tattooed on his hands.

Early in January detectives said Palmer and Leonard were believed to be on the run with Street's body.

Police said Street’s family have been told of the latest developments.

A post mortem examination is due to be carried out. ..News Source.. by Tessa Chapman, Sky News

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UK- Fears of vigilante killing after missing rapist's body is found in underground drain

1-20-2009 United Kingdom:

Detectives investigating the murder of a convicted rapist today confirmed his body was found in an underground drain.

Alan Street is thought to have been killed by a vigilante mob at a house in Padiham, Lancashire, last month after police found blood matching his DNA.

Police believe a 'sustained and prolonged attack' took place at the property in Stockbridge Road in the early hours of December 21.

Street, 26, from Oswaldtwistle, was convicted of rape in 1999.

He was jailed and placed on the sex offender register but repeatedly ignored court orders by drifting between addresses.

It is believed his killers discovered his past when Street turned up in Padiham.
Lancashire police today confirmed a body recovered from a culvert in Accrington was Street.

Contractors working for the Environment Agency alerted police yesterday after finding the body during a routine CCTV inspection of Woodnook Water, Mount Street.
Street's body was recovered by underwater search teams and a post mortem examination took place late last night.

Police said further tests were needed to establish the exact cause of death but confirmed Street did not die of natural causes or accidental injuries.

Kieran Davison, 20, of Stockbridge Road, and Ian Palmer, 45, of Whitegate Close, both Padiham, have been charged with murder.

Detectives are still trying to trace two men, Alan Palmer, 43, and Peter Leonard, 51, in connection with Street's death.

It is believed both men may have left the county as Mr Palmer is a long-distance lorry driver.

Detective Superintendent Neil Hunter, of Lancashire Police, who is leading the investigation said: 'I still want to question Palmer and Leonard.

'We are as committed as ever to finding them.'

Mr Palmer is white, 5ft 11ins, of medium build, with receding/skinhead dark brown hair.

He has brown eyes and several tattoos on his left arm of a snake head, bull, eagle and swallow.

On his right arm he has a snake and skull, and two flower designs with 'MAM' and 'LUCKY' with a swallow.

Mr Leonard is white, around 5ft 8ins, of medium build, with blue eyes and light brown hair, which is cropped very short.

He has a two-inch injury scar on his nose and 'LOVE' tattooed on the knuckles of his left hand with 'HEIDI' on the back of his left hand.

Anyone with any information is asked to call Burnley police on 01282 425001 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. ..News Source.. by Daily Mail Reporter

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Three men deny murder of rapist

5-22-2009 United Kingdom:

Three men have denied murdering a convicted rapist whose body was discovered in a drain.

Alan Street, 26, is believed to have suffered a "sustained and prolonged attack" at a house in Padiham, Lancashire in December last year.

His body was discovered in a culvert in Accrington in January.

Kieren Davison, 20, Ian Palmer, 45, also of Padiham, and Peter Leonard, 51, of Trinity Street, Oswaldtwistle, denied murder at Preston Crown Court.

A fourth man also accused of murdering Mr Street, Allan Palmer, 44, of Stockbridge Road, Padiham, has not yet entered his plea.

Mr Street, 26, from Oswaldtwistle, was convicted of rape in 1999.

The murder trial is scheduled to begin on September 14 and is expected to last up to four weeks.

All four murder accused were remanded in custody.

Four men and one woman were also accused of assisting an offender.

Sean Jackson, 37, from Accrington, Paul Dougill, 39, from Bolton, Michael Helm, 39, from Accrington, and Keith Birtwell, 29, also from Accrington, will all enter pleas on June 26.

A separate trial will be held for those four men and has been provisionally set for October 19.

Nicola Street, 35, from Accrington, pleaded guilty to assisting an offender. ..Source.. by BBC

Thursday, December 18, 2008

KS- Man fatally shot while officers attempt to serve arrest warrant

Witness describes scene of fatal KCK shooting: A suspect wanted on charges of rape and aggravated indecent liberties with a child was killed this morning in Kansas City, Kan., as law enforcement officials attempted to serve an arrest warrant. (Video by Garvey Scott)

12-18-2008 Kansas:

A suspect wanted on charges of rape and aggravated indecent liberties with a child was killed this morning in Kansas City, Kan., as law enforcement officials attempted to serve an arrest warrant.

A task force made up of the FBI, Kansas City, Kan., police, Kansas City, Mo., police and the Missouri Highway Patrol confronted the armed suspect about 7:20 a.m. as officers entered his residence in the 400 block of Shawnee Road.

A news release from Kansas City, Kan., police said shots were fired during a confrontation that followed. The suspect, Terry G. Gordon Jr., 31, of Kansas City, Kan., died at an area hospital.

The release did not say which law enforcement agencies were involved in the shooting.

The incident is being investigated by the FBI, the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department, the Missouri Highway Patrol and the Wyandotte County district attorney’s office. ..News Source.. by Mark Wiebe,

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

VA- UPDATED: Inmate killed in Pittsylvania County identified

12-18-2008 Virginia:

Virginia State Police are investigating a shooting in Chatham Tuesday night involving a sheriff's deputy and inmate.

The inmate, Cody Nifong, was killed. The officer was shot at least once in the wrist. Authorities say the Pittsylvania County deputy had taken the 24-year-old inmate to Richmond earlier in the day for a medical appointment.

They were driving back to Chatham when the shooting happened, less than a mile from the jail on Main Street. Authorities won't go into specifics but say there was a struggle involved.

The deputy has been with the department for more than 20 years, and is currently on medical leave. The sheriff says he has not been involved in a shooting before.

We're told the inmate had been staying in the Pittsylvania County jail since July for violating probation. According to court records, he was supposed to be sentenced in January for taking indecent liberties with a child.

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UPDATED: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 @ 11:47 a.m.


Virginia State Police are investigating a fatal shooting that occurred Tuesday night in the community of Chatham.

According to a news release, a deputy with the Pittsylvania County Sheriff's office was transporting an inmate back to the county jail after a medical appointment. We're told a struggle then ensued.

The inmate has been identified as Cody Christopher Nifong. He was shot and killed. Virginia State Police are still investigating this incident.

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One person is dead and a Pittsylvania County Sheriff's deputy is in the hospital following a shooting in Chatham.

It happened around 7:15 Tuesday night in the 100 block of Main street.

Investigators believe a fight took place between a deputy and an inmate he was transporting. During the fight, the deputy's gun went off, injuring him in the wrist.

The inmate was then shot and killed. No one else was involved in the shooting.

The injured deputy is being treated for minor injuries at Danville Regional Medical Center.

State Police and the Pittsylvania County Sheriff's Office are investigating the incident. ..News Source.. by WDBJ TV

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Deputy Who Shot And Killed Inmate Cleared

3-3-2009 Virginia:

Salem, VA-- Tuesday, Neil Vener, the Commonwealth Attorney for Virginia send a letter to the Pittsylvania County sheriff's office clearing a deputy who shot and killed an inmate in December 2008.

Deputy Roger Walden was transporting Cody Christopher Nifong from a psychological evaluation visit back to the county jail when the incident happened.

In the newly released details, investigators say Nifong who was sitting in the back of Walden's patrol tried to strangle the deputy while the car was still in motion. They say he did it by freeing one of his hands from handcuffs.

Deputy Walden who was using one hand to stop the cord, was able to use the other hand to get his gun and fire a shot to stop Nifong from strangling him. Walden shot himself in the wrist during the struggle.

Vener ruled that Walden's actions were justified.

Nifong was in jail awaiting sentencing for sexual assault on a 13 year old girl. ..Source.. by Devetta Blount

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VA- Deputy Who Shot And Killed Inmate Cleared

3-2-2009 Virginia:

Salem, VA-- Tuesday, Neil Vener, the Commonwealth Attorney for Virginia send a letter to the Pittsylvania County sheriff's office clearing a deputy who shot and killed an inmate in December 2008.

Deputy Roger Walden was transporting Cody Christopher Nifong from a psychological evaluation visit back to the county jail when the incident happened.

In the newly released details, investigators say Nifong who was sitting in the back of Walden's patrol tried to strangle the deputy while the car was still in motion. They say he did it by freeing one of his hands from handcuffs.

Deputy Walden who was using one hand to stop the cord, was able to use the other hand to get his gun and fire a shot to stop Nifong from strangling him. Walden shot himself in the wrist during the struggle.

Vener ruled that Walden's actions were justified.

Nifong was in jail awaiting sentencing for sexual assault on a 13 year old girl. ..News Source.. by Devetta Blount

Friday, December 12, 2008

UK- Paedophile found stabbed to death in caravan home

UPDATED: See below..

12-12-2008 United Kingdom:

London A 52-year-old man who was understood to be a convicted paedophile has been found stabbed to death in southwest London.

Andrew Cunningham died from multiple wounds to the head, neck and chest at his caravan in Wandsworth, which was parked at the haulage depot where he worked. Stab wounds were also found to his genitals, a police source told The Sun. “He was loathed by a large number of people so we have a lot of potential suspects,” the source said.

Cunningham spent four months in jail in 2001 for raping a girl aged under 13 and was arrested again in 2002, although no charges were pressed. He had reportedly been targeted by vigilantes before. His former house had been set on fire soon after he was released from jail, the paper said. ..News Source.. by The Times



Convicted paedophile stabbed to death in 'vigilante' attack

A murder hunt is under way after a former child sex offender was found brutally stabbed to death.

The victim, thought to be Andrew Cunningham, 52, who had been convicted of raping a schoolgirl, died from multiple knife wounds to the head, neck and chest.
He also suffered ‘non-fatal injuries’, according to the police, which was said to include damage to his genitals.

The truck driver was found in blood in his caravan where he worked at the Riverside Haulage company in Wandsworth, South West London.

The Metropolitan Police said the gruesome discovery was made at 8am on Wednesday.
Cunningham’s employer, who would not give his name, found the body and said there was no sign of forced entry.

He added: 'He had a stab wound in his neck and there was blood everywhere. The bed was soaked with it and his head was lying in it.'

‘The post-mortem revealed non-fatal injuries to other parts of his body but we are not discussing these further for operational reasons,’ a police spokesman said.
Detective Chief Inspector Nick Scola, leading the investigation, said: ‘We’re currently at an early stage in our inquiries and are keeping an open mind about the circumstances of this man’s death.

‘I would ask anyone who was in the area last night or in the early hours of this morning and saw or heard anything suspicious to get in touch with us.’

Cunningham had been targeted by hate mobs who had yelled ‘Die, paedo, die’ at him, according to The Sun.

A police source told the paper: ‘He was loathed by a large number of people so we have a lot of potential suspects.’

Cunningham, a father of five estranged from a former partner, spent four months in prison in 2001 for raping a schoolgirl under 13.

He was arrested again in 2003 but no charges were pressed.

Soon afterwards vigilantes set fire to his former home in a Wandsworth street after it was claimed he was grooming children.

And drinkers at a pub recently accused him of fondling a barmaid’s two-year-old daughter.

The police source said his murder was ‘almost certainly connected to new offences rather than those that took place in 2001’.

Detectives, who believe more than one person was involved in the killing, reportedly had to identify him using fingerprints because none of his relatives would go to the morgue.

Officers are studying CCTV film from around the murder scene. And they appealed for anyone who saw anything suspicious to come forward. ..News Source.. by Daily Mail Reporter



Police 'no nearer to solving' Earlsfield sex offender Andrew Cunningham murder

7-17-2009 United Kingdom:

A 50-year-old man was arrested in connection with the murder of Earlsfield sex offender Andrew Cunningham - but was later released.

The arrest took place at 9am on Thursday, July 9, but he was then bailed while police continued their inquiries.

Despite a £20,000 reward issued in June for information leading to the killer, police say they still have nothing concrete to go on.

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Scola said: “We are still appealing for witnesses. We are no nearer to solving the case.”

Mr Cunningham, who was convicted of unlawful sex with a 15-year-old girl in 2001, was last seen at 6.10pm on Tuesday, December 9, outside his caravan in Riverside Road.

The 52-year-old was found dead the next day with his genitals mutilated and with stab wounds to the head, neck and chest.

Police later said raiders had ransacked the caravan, opening Christmas presents and stealing a wallet containing up to £6,000.

A Scottish £100 note was also missing, but no far no-one has come forward to say they have seen it.

In June an audio clip was played on Crimewatch but it lead to yet another dead end.

Although locals assumed the murder was connected with Mr Cunningham’s sex conviction, police have said they believe it was a burglary that turned violent.

Officers are still looking at CCTV footage, forensic tests from the caravan and the background and lifestyle of the victim.

Two people were arrested at the beginning of the investigation, but later released.

The third man was bailed to return to a south London police station in early September. ..Source.. by This Is Local London

UK- Paedophile vigilantes face life terms

2-22-2002 United Kingdom:

Retired sea captain murdered after he was cleared of indecently assaulting nine-year-old girl

Two self-appointed "paedophile vigilantes" face life sentences for the murder of a retired sea captain committed according to a plan drawn up by a teenage girl high on cannabis and alcohol.

Pub cellarman Ian Lawless, 40, and his jobless godson Gary Lawson, 19, shouted abuse as they were found guilty of setting fire to the Grimsby flat of Alf Wilkins, 67, a former deep sea fisherman and tugboat captain who had been cleared of indecently assaulting a nine-year-old girl.

Two other neighbours on the Yarborough estate in Grimsby were also convicted for their part in the murder. Mr Wilkins died of smoke inhalation after the pair set fire to his flat by igniting an accelerant they had poured through his letter box.

Chantelle Day, 17, who drew up the murder plan, will be sentenced later for conspiracy, while Gary Fairbanks, 43, was given two years for intimidating a witness.

After the five week trial at Hull crown court, Detective Superintendent Gavin Baggs, who led the murder inquiry, warned the case sent "a strong message about what happens to people who chose to take the law into their own hands".

He said: "Alfred Wilkins was a well liked old man who kept himself to himself, but who was tormented by criminal offences founded by speculation. We are particularly grateful to witnesses who bravely spoke out, sometimes against neighbours, friends and relatives."

Lawson and Lawless - who was described as obnoxious by his QC - both claimed that their actions had widespread support on the estate.

The trial heard that the pensioner, who was waiting for a hip operation, had been targeted ruthlessly - taunted in the street and savagely beaten a week before his death by two hooded men who burst into his graffiti-sprayed flat.

He led a lonely life and had befriended some of the children on the estate, but those involved with the murderous gang repaid him with vicious rumour-mongering and steadily worsening violence.

The trial was told that a murder plot was hatched over drunken drug-taking sessions, based on an illiterate blueprint drawn up by Day, who was then Lawson's 16-year-old girlfriend. This proposed not only a variety of ways of killing Wilkins but also gave details of alibis for those involved.

Extracts read to the jury included: "Put some socks in his mouth with some Sellotape over it. Pour petrol all over his flat and all over him. Then set him on fire. Then set fire to his flat making sure it is all blown up with him in it."

The trial heard details of Lawless's chronic drunkenness and fantasies, which included an attempt to persuade fellow prisoners on remand that he was a member of the Taliban. Lawson meanwhile openly boasted of the day that turpentine was poured through Wilkins's letterbox and set alight: "He is going to get done in. I am going to do it. He is going to get blown up."

The day after his victim's flat had been left a blackened ruin, he said to a friend: "I told you I would do him in. I killed Alf."

Wilkins's suffocated body was found in the kitchen of his flat in February last year with the word "Nonce" - prison slang for sex offender - scrawled on the window, and his 12-year-old black alsatian Lucky lying nearby. Lawson told Humberside police detectives after his arrest: "When it became known Alf was dead, everyone wanted to party."

Fairbanks was found not guilty of incitement to murder but admitted telling a witness Mandy Tasker, his next-door neighbour: "Tasker, you're a fucking grass. I am going to petrol bomb your house." ..Source.. by Martin Wainwright

Friday, December 5, 2008

WA- Spokane standoff ends with suspect dead

12-5-2008 Washington:

SPOKANE, Wash. -- A SWAT team entered the apartment of a suspect to serve a warrant after a six-hour standoff late Thursday night only to find the suspect dead inside.

Investigators don't know how the suspect died yet.

Officers tried to arrest 48-year-old William Leverette around 5 p.m. Thursday, but he refused to come out of his apartment near Trent and Waterworks in East Spokane. After tossing tear gas into the apartment with no effect, police called in the SWAT team.

Police were in contact with Leverette throughout the night, and several times he told officers he was ready to surrender. However, more tear gas was deployed into the apartment after 11 p.m. and Leverette stayed inside. That's when the SWAT team entered and found Leverette dead.

Leverette was wanted on a Dept. of Corrections warrant. Investigators told KREM 2 News he had a history of drug convictions and was also a sex offender. ..News Source.. by King5.com