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Friday, September 25, 2009

IL- Inmate Dies After Attack

3-6-2006 Illinois:

Illinois state police and corrections officials said they are investigating the death of a convicted rapist and kidnapper who was murdered by a fellow inmate at Big Muddy River Correctional Center.

Gerald Donaldson, 64, died after being attacked last week, as he and several other inmates were being marched to the commissary building. Donaldson and another inmate began fighting in front of the building, said Dede Short, Illinois Department of Corrections spokeswoman.

Officers immediately broke up the fight, she said, but Donaldson suffered life-threatening injuries and was taken to Crossroads Community Hospital in Mt. Vernon. He later was taken to St. Louis University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:45 p.m.

Donaldson had been serving a 20-year sentence for aggravated criminal sexual assault stemming from his molestation of six children. His death was ruled a homicide, the first such death at the facility of about 1,900 inmates.

Short said ample staffing was on hand at the time of the incident. ..Source.. by Corrections.com

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Jury may receive inmate's case on Friday

9-17-2009 Illinois:

MT. VERNON — Kenneth Scott took the stand in his own defense today, and the jury is expected to begin deliberations Friday to decide if he committed involuntary manslaughter for his part in the death of fellow Big Muddy River Correctional Center inmate Gerald Donaldson.

“I was looking in his eyes first, to see how far he was willing to go,” Scott said. “I looked at his hand, looked in his eyes. ... Once I said there ain’t nothing to talk about it was like a switch was flipped and he started getting more and more aggressive. ... He kept saying, go ahead and fight, I have nothing to lose.”

Scott is facing charges of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Donaldson on March 2, 2006, while both were inmates of Big Muddy River Correctional Center in Ina. According to previous testimony in the case, the incident happened while inmates were being moved from a housing unit to the inmate commissary, when Scott picked Donaldson up and threw him down, resulting in fatal injuries to Donaldson when he landed on his head on concrete.

Scott has maintained from the time of the incident that he was trying to protect himself from being stabbed by a pencil Donaldson had in his hand. Thursday, Maj. Richard Harrington, who was the deputy commander of investigations for the Illinois Department of Corrections for the southern region at the time of the incident, admitted part of his testimony to the grand jury on the case was inaccurate. When asked if he told the grand jury that Scott only mentioned self-defense after learning Donaldson had died, Harrington admitted that he did, although a video of the interview he conducted with Scott the day after the incident showed that Scott said he was trying to keep Donaldson from stabbing him with a pencil several times from the beginning of the interview.

“It was my first grand jury and the fact that due to the case load and health issues at the time, I didn’t have time to review the video,” Harrington said. Special Prosecutor Michael Vujovich questioned Harrington on whether the video of the interview he conducted with Scott was shown to the grand jury, and found out it was not shown. In addition, Harrington admitted he was wrong in his testimony to the grand jury regarding the pencil that Donaldson had in his hand at the time of the incident, stating that when he testified about what the pencil looked like, he had not actually seen the pencil.

Information about Donaldson was also revealed during the defense on Thursday. Donaldson was a known White Supremacist, and was in BMRCC after being convicted of aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping. Due to previous rulings in the case, the jury did not hear about manslaughter and deviant sexual assault charges against Donaldson, but defense attorneys reserved the ability to bring the issue of the ruling up on appeal, if necessary.

Another issue which was presented during defense testimony was that although pencils aren’t contraband at BMRCC, inmates are not allowed to carry pencils outside their housing units unless they are going to school. Previous testimony from correctional officers had indicated inmates are allowed to have pencils.

Testimony from Levi Dixon, who was an inmate at BMRCC at the time of the incident, and who was in the group being taken to the commissary, revealed the information while telling about the verbal argument that led up to Donaldson’s death.

“We’re not allowed to take pans or pencils to the commissary,” Dixon said. “We have to fill out the (commissary) slip in the unit. We’re not allowed to take a pen or pencil anywhere unless you are going to school.”

Dixon’s claim was collaborated by other inmates that testified on Thursday. Also during the inmate testimony, the inmates all claimed officers who investigated the incident wrote statements of the inmates, asked for signatures of the statements, but did not give the inmates the option to read the written statements before signing them.

Scott testified that on the way to the staging area outside the housing unit on the day of the incident, several inmates were making comments about how some were rushing to the doors to get in line to go to the commissary.

“I couldn’t pinpoint exactly who was saying, there were lots of people talking,” Scott said. “I just turned around and to the general area, said, ‘just don’t put your hands on me.’ ... We’re in a prison, you don’t know what’s going to go on. A lot of stuff was said, some of it not directly to me. The way it was sounding, it could lead to something else, that’s why I said what I said. ... I was done. I communicated what I felt and that was it.”

Scott said when Donaldson started egging on a fight, he tried to tell him he wasn’t interested.

“I told him he was too old, that we didn’t have nothing to talk about,” Scott said. “I don’t know if me telling him he was old, he got offended or what. ... I stopped talking to him and started talking to someone else. ... I turned away from him. ... All the while we was walking, he’s threatening. ... I know he has the pencil in his hand. We’re in a prison. You don’t just threaten people. ... I grabbed him and tossed him to get him away from me.”

Scott said when he grabbed Donaldson, he did it in “one motion, one fluid motion.”

“I grabbed the back part of his arm and swung him around so he wouldn’t have leverage to stab me that bad,” Scott said. “I spun him away from me so his right hand would have to travel further to hit me.”

Scott contends he didn’t lift Donaldson over his head, but that he “elevated him a little bit.”

“Nobody in their right mind would let me balance him in the air without struggling,” Scott said.

Scott said he didn’t intend for Donaldson to land on the concrete.

“I just didn’t want him to hurt me,” Scott said. “I just wanted to keep him from hurting me.”

Closing arguments by the attorneys will be conducted this morning, and the case given over to the jury for deliberations today. ..Source.. by TESA CULLI

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Inmate found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter

9-18-2009 Illinois:

MT. VERNON — After just under an hour of deliberations, a jury found former Big Muddy River Correctional Center inmate Kenneth Scott not guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

After the verdict, Scott exchanged hugs with his defense attorneys, Sean Featherstun and T.J. Parish, thanking them for their work. Moments later, standing back to allow the attorneys to gather their belongings, he lowered his head, and appeared to be trying to control his emotions before leaving the courtroom.

The trial was in response to an incident that happened on March 2, 2006, at Big Muddy River Correctional Center in Ina in which Gerald Donaldson, another inmate at the facility, died after Scott picked him up and threw him to the ground, landing on his head on a concrete sidewalk.

Scott has maintained from seconds after the incident that he was trying to protect himself from being stabbed by Donaldson, who had a pencil in his hand and had been threatening and trying to pick a fight with him. During closing arguments in the case on Friday, Featherstun told the jury that since the incident, Scott has remained consistent that he was trying to prevent Donaldson from stabbing him.

“This is a prison. It’s full of dangerous people. ... There are no idle threats in prison,” Featherstun said, speaking about the acts that took place and the setting. He continued by describing Donaldson, who was 64 years old at the time of his death, weighing approximately 174 pounds, and reminding the jury Donaldson had committed crimes of aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping.

“This isn’t grandpa,” Featherstun said. “Despite his height and his age, this is a dangerous man. We’ve all heard the testimony. The more Mr. Scott tried to get out of the situation, the more Donaldson went at him, the more important, puffed up, he became.”

Special prosecutor Mike Vujovich said the case was “difficult.”

“The truth is difficult to find in this case,” Vujovich told the jury. After the verdict was returned, Vujovich said the case was not an easy one for the prosecution.

“It was a difficult case,” Vujovich admitted. “We respect the jury’s decision.”

Scott, who is serving an armed robbery sentence, was remanded into the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections, and the judgment of not guilty entered into the record. At this time, Scott, who is a native of Chicago, is being held at Pontiac Correctional Center and is eligible for parole in 2015. ..Source.. by TESA CULLI

Thursday, September 17, 2009

WV- State Police Investigating Inmate Death

9-17-2009 West Virginia:

Officials say it stemmed from an inmate on inmate fight.

GREENWOOD -- State Police and the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety are investigating an inmate death at the North Central Regional Jail.

It happened just after 6:30 Tuesday morning.

Darryl Burton, 43, of Clarksburg, died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital, after getting into a fight with an inmate, according to Joe Thornton, Deputy Cabinet Secretary for the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.

That inmate, is Joshua Whitehair, 21, of Morgantown, according to State Police Sergeant Michael Baylous.

Whitehair was in the jail on charges of malicious assault, unlawful assault, and probation violation, Baylous says.

Morgantown Police arrested Whitehair last October for allegedly stabbing his mother in the side after an argument.

At the time of the arrest, officers said Whitehair was already on probation on a different malicious wounding charge.

Burton's body has been sent to the Office of the Medical Examiner for autopsy, Thornton says, and until that report is finished, officials aren't sure what Burton's cause of death was.

The department will decide if corrections officers adhered correctly to policy and procedure, Thornton says.

"When you're in a jail situation, inmates will be around each other," Thornton says. "It's virtually impossible to prevent any kind of altercation."

Burton was sentenced to ten to twenty years in March for sexual abuse by parent, guardian, or custodian, according to Thornton.

He wouldn't have been eligible for parole until October 26, 2018. ..Source.. by Jessika Lewis

Thursday, September 10, 2009

MI- Lifer suspected in inmate's slaying

UPDATED A few times, see below.

9-9-2009 Michigan:

A murderer already imprisoned for life is being investigated for killing again -- this time, while behind bars.

Anthony Wayne Lee, 34, who was serving a sentence of up to 15 years after being convicted on a 2005 charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under age 13 in Wayne County, was found unresponsive in his cell around 3 a.m. Sunday, said Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan.

"The staff responded with CPR immediately,” Marlan said. Lee was taken by ambulance to Mt. Clemens Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The Michigan State Police Richmond Post in investigating the death, but referred comments to the corrections department.

Marlan said authorities believe a 42-year-old prisoner serving life in prison for first-degree murder in Kent County, as well as three armed robberies and an assault charge in Wayne County, went into Lee’s cell and killed him. The prison has turned over video surveillance to police.

Marlan declined to release details about the manner of death except to say “we believe it was a homicide.”

The state’s last prison murder was in 2008, when a prisoner stabbed another to death in the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility in Jackson.

Marlan said such slayings are unusual behind bars. The state has about 4,000 prisoners serving life sentences; about 40% of those aren't eligible for parole.

Those inmates tend to be the best behaved, Marlan said, because they don't want to lose the few privileges they have.

"My experience with prisons across the state has been that the non-paroleable inmates help control the prisoner population," Marlan said. "That's their home, they're there for life, and they don't like unrest and turmoil."

The suspect had been in Lee's cell prior to the death. Investigators with the Michigan State Police are reviewing surveillance video from inside the prison to determine what happened.

The 100-acre Macomb Correctional Facility, which opened in 1993 near I-94 and 26 Mile Road, houses about 1,287 inmates, Marlan said. ..Source.. by MATT HELMS AND AMBER HUNT, FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

Prison inmate killed at Macomb Correctional Facility

New Haven -- The Michigan State Police are investigating what is believed to be the first homicide at the Macomb Correctional Facility.

Staff at the prison found 34-year-old Anthony Wayne Lee dead Sunday afternoon after another man had been in his cell, said Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan said.

"Staff found him (Lee) in the cell unresponsive," Marlan said. Emergency medical personnel were called, but they were unable to revive Lee.

Surveillance video has been turned over to investigators, Marlan said.

A suspect -- incarcerated on a murder charge from Kent County and armed robbery, weapons and assault to commit armed robbery from Wayne County -- has been moved to another corrections facility and the man's security level has increased. The suspect already was incarcerated for life, Marlan said

Lee was serving 27 months to 15 years for a 2005 criminal sexual conduct offense involving a victim younger than 13 years old, according to online corrections department records.

Lee and the suspect were not cellmates, Marlan said. Inmates are not grouped by offense, so it would not be unusual for the suspect and victim to have contact with each other, Marlan said.

Although officials believe Lee was killed, how he died has not been determined. The Macomb County Medical Examiner's Office today said toxicology results are pending and it will be several weeks before an autopsy is completed.

"We are still investigating the manner of death," Marlan said. "We believe it was a homicide."

Marlan said the state's corrections system averages one murder per year, but Lee's slaying is believed to be the first at the Macomb Correctional Facility.

State officials said the last homicide in a state prison was in 2008 at the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility in Jackson. Officials with the Michigan State Police Richmond Post confirmed they were investigating, but referred comment to the corrections department.

The prison opened in 1993 and encompasses 10 acres in New Haven. ..Source.. by Santiago Esparza and Christine Ferretti / The Detroit News

Inmate was bound, drowned in toilet

9-10-2009 Michigan:

New Haven -- State police say a prison inmate confessed to investigators that he used bedding to bind a fellow inmate Sunday shortly before the man was found dead in his cell at the Macomb Correctional Facility.

Investigators this morning said they are still trying to piece together what unfolded next, but it appears to have ended with 32-year-old Anthony Wayne Lee drowning in the cell's toilet. The nature of the relationship between the two men is still being investigated.

"(Lee) was found in the toilet, bound, and there's no indication as a result of this investigation that he was forcefully bound," said Michigan State Police Richmond Post Detective Sgt. Patrick Young. "It sounds as though it wasn't long into the interview when (the suspect) began to confess to being involved in the murder."

Young said the 42-year-old suspect -- incarcerated on a murder charge from Kent County and armed robbery, weapons and assault to commit armed robbery from Wayne County -- confessed to the alleged homicide Sunday evening. He's since been moved to another corrections facility and his security level has increased.

Before the body was discovered Sunday afternoon, the suspect was observed on surveillance video entering and leaving Lee's cell.

Lee was serving 27 months to 15 years for a 2005 criminal sexual conduct offense involving a victim younger than 13 years old, according to state records.

At this point, Young said the suspect has given an alleged motive, but his claims are still being sorted out. The case is being investigated as a homicide, Young said.

Young said the position of Lee's body when it was recovered is unclear, but the bedding used for binding his body was recovered from inside the cell.

The relationship between the pair is still being investigated, but Young said the two have had contact in the past. There was no indication of any trauma to Lee's body and his death did not appear to be motivated by an argument or vendetta, he said. Young said the death was not a suicide.

The Macomb County Medical Examiner's Office said it will be several weeks before the autopsy is completed. State police said they are reviewing the tape and other evidence supplied by state corrections officials. The findings are expected to be turned over to the Macomb County Prosecutor's office sometime next week.

Corrections officials said Lee and the suspect were medium to maximum-level security inmates but they did not share a cell.

Based on the prison layout, it would not be unusual for the pair to have contact. Up to 400 inmates at a time have open access to move to and from the housing unit to recreation buildings, food service and the yards, officials said.

"Macomb is a fairly open movement facility," State Department of Corrections spokesman John Cordell said. "Prisoners have the opportunity to harm one another at any given time, but the vast majority would like to live there violence-free and staff helps to ensure that happens."

Corrections officials said the suspect was cited for fighting in June. Before that, he hadn't been punished for misconduct since 2003.

The state's corrections system averages one murder per year.

The death is believed to be the first homicide at the New Haven prison since it opened in 1993.

In March, an inmate at the same facility was stabbed during an altercation in a facility yard. The victim didn't report the attack, but prison officials said guards later found him stuffing toilet paper in a wound. The suspect was moved to "higher security" within the prison.

State officials said the last homicide in a state prison was in 2008 at the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility in Jackson. ..Source.. by Christine Ferretti / The Detroit News

MI- Inmate was bound, drowned in toilet

9-10-2009 Michigan:

New Haven -- State police say a prison inmate confessed to investigators that he used bedding to bind a fellow inmate Sunday shortly before the man was found dead in his cell at the Macomb Correctional Facility.

Investigators this morning said they are still trying to piece together what unfolded next, but it appears to have ended with 32-year-old Anthony Wayne Lee drowning in the cell's toilet. The nature of the relationship between the two men is still being investigated.

"(Lee) was found in the toilet, bound, and there's no indication as a result of this investigation that he was forcefully bound," said Michigan State Police Richmond Post Detective Sgt. Patrick Young. "It sounds as though it wasn't long into the interview when (the suspect) began to confess to being involved in the murder."

Young said the 42-year-old suspect -- incarcerated on a murder charge from Kent County and armed robbery, weapons and assault to commit armed robbery from Wayne County -- confessed to the alleged homicide Sunday evening. He's since been moved to another corrections facility and his security level has increased.

Before the body was discovered Sunday afternoon, the suspect was observed on surveillance video entering and leaving Lee's cell.

Lee was serving 27 months to 15 years for a 2005 criminal sexual conduct offense involving a victim younger than 13 years old, according to state records.

At this point, Young said the suspect has given an alleged motive, but his claims are still being sorted out. The case is being investigated as a homicide, Young said.

Young said the position of Lee's body when it was recovered is unclear, but the bedding used for binding his body was recovered from inside the cell.

The relationship between the pair is still being investigated, but Young said the two have had contact in the past. There was no indication of any trauma to Lee's body and his death did not appear to be motivated by an argument or vendetta, he said. Young said the death was not a suicide.

The Macomb County Medical Examiner's Office said it will be several weeks before the autopsy is completed. State police said they are reviewing the tape and other evidence supplied by state corrections officials. The findings are expected to be turned over to the Macomb County Prosecutor's office sometime next week.

Corrections officials said Lee and the suspect were medium to maximum-level security inmates but they did not share a cell.

Based on the prison layout, it would not be unusual for the pair to have contact. Up to 400 inmates at a time have open access to move to and from the housing unit to recreation buildings, food service and the yards, officials said.

"Macomb is a fairly open movement facility," State Department of Corrections spokesman John Cordell said. "Prisoners have the opportunity to harm one another at any given time, but the vast majority would like to live there violence-free and staff helps to ensure that happens."

Corrections officials said the suspect was cited for fighting in June. Before that, he hadn't been punished for misconduct since 2003.

The state's corrections system averages one murder per year.

The death is believed to be the first homicide at the New Haven prison since it opened in 1993.

In March, an inmate at the same facility was stabbed during an altercation in a facility yard. The victim didn't report the attack, but prison officials said guards later found him stuffing toilet paper in a wound. The suspect was moved to "higher security" within the prison.

State officials said the last homicide in a state prison was in 2008 at the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility in Jackson. ..Source.. by Christine Ferretti / The Detroit News

MI- Lifer suspected in inmate's slaying

9-9-2009 Michigan:

A murderer already imprisoned for life is being investigated for killing again -- this time, while behind bars.

Anthony Wayne Lee, 34, who was serving a sentence of up to 15 years after being convicted on a 2005 charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under age 13 in Wayne County, was found unresponsive in his cell around 3 a.m. Sunday, said Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan.

"The staff responded with CPR immediately,” Marlan said. Lee was taken by ambulance to Mt. Clemens Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The Michigan State Police Richmond Post in investigating the death, but referred comments to the corrections department.

Marlan said authorities believe a 42-year-old prisoner serving life in prison for first-degree murder in Kent County, as well as three armed robberies and an assault charge in Wayne County, went into Lee’s cell and killed him. The prison has turned over video surveillance to police.

Marlan declined to release details about the manner of death except to say “we believe it was a homicide.”

The state’s last prison murder was in 2008, when a prisoner stabbed another to death in the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility in Jackson.

Marlan said such slayings are unusual behind bars. The state has about 4,000 prisoners serving life sentences; about 40% of those aren't eligible for parole.

Those inmates tend to be the best behaved, Marlan said, because they don't want to lose the few privileges they have.

"My experience with prisons across the state has been that the non-paroleable inmates help control the prisoner population," Marlan said. "That's their home, they're there for life, and they don't like unrest and turmoil."

The suspect had been in Lee's cell prior to the death. Investigators with the Michigan State Police are reviewing surveillance video from inside the prison to determine what happened.

The 100-acre Macomb Correctional Facility, which opened in 1993 near I-94 and 26 Mile Road, houses about 1,287 inmates, Marlan said. ..Source.. by MATT HELMS AND AMBER HUNT, FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

Prison inmate killed at Macomb Correctional Facility

New Haven -- The Michigan State Police are investigating what is believed to be the first homicide at the Macomb Correctional Facility.

Staff at the prison found 34-year-old Anthony Wayne Lee dead Sunday afternoon after another man had been in his cell, said Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan said.

"Staff found him (Lee) in the cell unresponsive," Marlan said. Emergency medical personnel were called, but they were unable to revive Lee.

Surveillance video has been turned over to investigators, Marlan said.

A suspect -- incarcerated on a murder charge from Kent County and armed robbery, weapons and assault to commit armed robbery from Wayne County -- has been moved to another corrections facility and the man's security level has increased. The suspect already was incarcerated for life, Marlan said

Lee was serving 27 months to 15 years for a 2005 criminal sexual conduct offense involving a victim younger than 13 years old, according to online corrections department records.

Lee and the suspect were not cellmates, Marlan said. Inmates are not grouped by offense, so it would not be unusual for the suspect and victim to have contact with each other, Marlan said.

Although officials believe Lee was killed, how he died has not been determined. The Macomb County Medical Examiner's Office today said toxicology results are pending and it will be several weeks before an autopsy is completed.

"We are still investigating the manner of death," Marlan said. "We believe it was a homicide."

Marlan said the state's corrections system averages one murder per year, but Lee's slaying is believed to be the first at the Macomb Correctional Facility.

State officials said the last homicide in a state prison was in 2008 at the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility in Jackson. Officials with the Michigan State Police Richmond Post confirmed they were investigating, but referred comment to the corrections department.

The prison opened in 1993 and encompasses 10 acres in New Haven. ..Source.. by Santiago Esparza and Christine Ferretti / The Detroit News

Convicted murder accused of killing convicted sex offender

9-15-2009 Michigan:

MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – A convicted murderer is now sitting in Ionia's maximum correctional facility, accused of killing an inmate in Macomb County.

Investigators believe Andrew Neal is responsible for the death of 34-year-old Anthony Wayne Lee.

Lee, a convicted sex offender, was found dead on September 6th in his cell at the Macomb correctional facility. Lee had been convicted of sexually assaulting a child under 13 years old.

Neal has been moved to Ionia's facility, and had his security level increased while the investigation continues.

Neal is already serving a life sentence for the murder of Mashonda Griffin. Neal admitted to killing Griffin after breaking into her Wyoming home. ..Source.. by WWMT.com

Monday, September 7, 2009

OH- Convicted Sex Offender Shot to Death

9-6-2009 Ohio:

Police are looking for the person responsible for the shooting death of a convicted sex offender early Saturday in Lincoln Heights.

Police responded to a 911 call around 2 a.m., the caller saying a man had been shot in the 1100 block of Simmons Ave. The first officers on the scene found 32 year old Rico M. Rutherford lying in the road, suffering from several gunshot wounds. He was taken to University Hospital, where he died.

Investigators from Hamilton County Sheriff's Office and Lincoln Height Police Department say Rutherford was involved in a verbal dispute before he was shot. The gunman was driving a 2 door gray car. The man fired several shots from the car and then fled the scene. Police don't know a make or model, and they have only a vague description of the man.

According to the Ohio Attorney General's Sex Offender registry and the Ohio Department of Corrections, Rutherford was a tier two sex offender and spent six years in prison for two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a young girl, possession of drugs and tampering with evidence. He was released from jail and put on parole on June 18th.

Anybody with information about the shooting is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at (513) 825-1500 or Crimestoppers at (513) 352-3040, or text Crimestoppers at (513) 352-3050. ..Source.. by Local12.com

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Police Name Gunman in Murder of Sex Offender

9-8-2009 Ohio:

Cincinnati Police are looking for the person responsible for the shooting death of a convicted sex offender early Saturday in Lincoln Heights.

Police responded to a 911 call around 2 a.m., the caller saying a man had been shot in the 1100 block of Simmons Ave. The first officers on the scene found 32 year old Rico M. Rutherford lying in the road, suffering from several gunshot wounds. He was taken to University Hospital, where he died.

Investigators from Hamilton County Sheriff's Office and Lincoln Height Police Department say Rutherford had just exited his vehicle in front of his cousin's home when Cameron Barron opened fire, shooting him five times. Barron was driving a 2 door gray car and officers have now issued a warrant for his arrest.

According to the Ohio Attorney General's Sex Offender registry and the Ohio Department of Corrections, Rutherford was a tier two sex offender and spent six years in prison for two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a young girl, possession of drugs and tampering with evidence. He was released from jail and put on parole on June 18th. His family says Rutherford had turned his life around in prison. ..Source.. by Local12.com

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Fugitive arrested in Sept. 5 homicide

10-22-2009 Ohio:

LINCOLN HEIGHTS - Police have been looking for Killa Cam for a long time and on Tuesday they got him.

The Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Force, led by the U.S. Marshals, arrested Cameron Lamar Barron - also known as Killa Cam - about 8:10 p.m. Tuesday on Constitution Drive.

Police believe he is the person responsible for the death of Avondale resident Rico M. Rutherford, 32, who was killed in the 1100 block of Simmons Avenue on Sept. 5.

Authorities allege that Barron shot Rutherford around 2 a.m. from a gray vehicle and fled the scene. Rutherford died of several gunshot wounds. A Hamilton County grand jury indicted Barron on the charge of murder and having weapons while under disability.

Barron, 23, has been on the run much longer than a month.

A year ago police signed a warrant for his arrest in a domestic violence case after he failed to show up to court.

Now that he has been arrested he will face all of these charges.

On Thursday he was arraigned in the domestic violence case. Friday he is scheduled for his arraignment on the murder and gun charge. ..Source.. by Carrie Whitaker

Thursday, September 3, 2009

CA- Mule Creek inmate's death under investigation

9-3-2009 California:

Officials are investigating the strangulation death of a 73-year-old inmate at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione.

David Noles was found dead at 4:05 p.m. Sunday in a cell he shared with another inmate. Noles was serving a 34-year sentence on a 1993 conviction from Sonoma County for rape with a foreign object and sexual battery.

As required by prison rules, Noles' cellmate was moved to a high security housing unit pending the death investigation. Prison officials and Amador County District Attorney's Office are investigating Noles' death. Officials did not immediately release the cellmate's name.

The death comes less than one month after another inmate at the prison, 62-year-old John Linley Frazier, apparently committed suicide by hanging himself. ..Source.. by The Record

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CA- Officials say former chiropractor killed in prison

9-4-2009 California:

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—State prison officials say a former Sonoma County chiropractor serving time on a rape charge has been killed in prison.

Officials with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation say David Noles was found dead in his cell at Mule Creek State Prison Sunday.

An autopsy performed Wednesday by the Sacramento County Coroner's Office determined that the 73-year-old Noles had been strangled to death.

Noles was serving a 35-year sentence in the prison outside of Sacramento after being convicted in 1993 of rape and sexual battery.

When he was sentenced, a Sonoma County judge gave Noles the maximum sentence because he showed no remorse.

The 17-year-old female victim was both an employee and a patient of the former chiropractor. ..Source.. by MercuryNews.com