Long Beach man suspected of sexual assault killed by police

12-19-2010 California:

The man who was shot and killed Sunday by Long Beach police was suspected of sexually assaulting a family member, police said Sunday.

Police said officers were flagged down about 5 a.m. by a woman in the 2100 block of Pine Avenue, regarding the sexual assault of a female minor by a suspect who is a family member. He was identified only as a 41-year-old male Long Beach resident.

After interviewing the alleged victim, officers decided a crime had been committed and went to the suspect’s residence, said Long Beach Sgt. Dina Zapalski. The suspect allegedly produced a handgun and officers fired. The man was pronounced dead at the scene by Long Beach Fire Department paramedics.

A handgun was found at the scene. No officers were injured, Zapalski said.

The girl was taken to a hospital and received treatment. No other information on her condition was available.

Long Beach homicide detectives and the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office are investigating the shooting. ..Source.. by Carla Rivera

Blue Ridge man shot by police had registered sex offender status

12-31-2010 Texas:

The man who died in a shootout with sheriff's deputies on Tuesday had a residency status as a registered sex offender.

Collin County Sheriff's Office officials confirmed the identity of 34-year-old David Thomas Christoffel as the man who was shot and killed by sheriff's deputies following a nine-hour standoff at his home north of Blue Ridge.

Collin County dispatchers received a call from the home at 12:36 a.m. Tuesday from someone who identified herself as Christoffel's "ex." She told dispatchers the subject was threatening to have a shoot out with sheriff's deputies and "to watch the news because he is going to watching her from heaven and to give his love to the kids."

Deputies responded to the home and reported several shots fired from an assault rifle, which they later identified as an AK-47 with approximately 150 rounds of ammunition. They were unable to locate the suspect and asked for additional support for a tactical team and a police negotiator, according to Collin County dispatch reports.

Christoffel asked to speak a captain with the sheriff's office and ask to call his ex-wife and let him know that deputies had arrived at the house. He also told the negotiator "he has cameras around his house and will shoot deputies if they get out of their car."

Deputies also learned a 3-year-old and 11-year-old were in the home "scared and hiding under the bed," according to dispatch reports.

Negotiations continued between Christoffel and sheriff's deputies during which he held himself hostage and threatened to open fire on the responding officers. Deputies eventually made contact with the suspect's mother who said he had psychological problems and that "he is in fear of his life because of being (a) registered sex offender."

The county's "Offender Watch" database confirmed Christoffel's status. Christoffel was convicted in 1995 of a second-degree felony charge of indecency with a child. The address of the shootout is listed as his official residence in the database. His case file could not be obtained from the Collin County Courthouse because of a software upgrade.

Sheriff's deputies also learned that his ex-wife worked as a dispatcher in Hunt County for the local sheriff's office. Chrisoffel tried to contact the Hunt County sheriff several times but never spoke with him directly.

"Apparently this is all over his ex-wife that is a Hunt County dispatcher," the dispatch report read.

Christoffel gave deputies an indication that he would surrender himself to authorities at 9:22 a.m., but an exchange of gunfire between Christoffel and deputies ended with a call to the Medical Examiner's Office. A representative declared Christoffel dead at the scene. None of the deputies involved in the incident were injured as a result of the exchange of gunfire.

Lt. John Norton of the Collin County Sheriff's Office said the Texas Rangers are still investigating the incident.

Attempts were made to reach the suspect's family members, but they could not be located by presstime. ..Source.. by Danny Gallagher

Ex-locals charged in slayings of Augusta pair

Posted in Related Deaths

12-16-2010 California:

Two former central Maine men jailed on drug charges in California now are facing charges of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of an Augusta couple who reportedly moved there to help with a marijuana operation.

Robby Alan Beasley, 30, formerly of Augusta, and Elijah Bae McKay, 28, a former state champion wrestler from Gardiner Area High School, are charged with murdering Frank Maddox, 32, and his wife, Yvette Colon Maddox, 40, according to information from Capt. James Bauman of California's Lake County Sheriff's Department.

A conviction on first-degree murder in California carries a sentence of 25 years to life.

The partially decomposed bodies of the Maddoxes were found March 4 at the bottom of an embankment in a rural area of northern California. The medical examiner ruled the deaths homicides, saying that the two suffered gunshots wounds before dying.

The couple had been staying in Clearlake, Calif., for several months.

One of Yvette Maddox's Maine relatives reported her missing on Jan. 28, and Frank Maddox was reported missing on Feb. 11.

Early in the investigation, Bauman said detectives learned that Beasley had hired the two and brought them to Lake County to work in a marijuana operation.

Beasley, who had moved to Clearlake, Calif., and lists his occupation as a painter, was arraigned on the murder charges Wednesday morning in Lake County; and McKay is to be arraigned today.

Beasley is scheduled to appear in court again Dec. 20.

Bauman indicated additional arrests are anticipated and that police are continuing the nine-month investigation.

Beasley was arrested March 6 in California on a Maine warrant charging him with violating probation by leaving the state without permission. He had been convicted of criminal threatening and felony assault in Kennebec County in June 2007 and remained on probation for those offenses.

He was questioned in connection with the Maddoxes' deaths, according to Bauman, and later charged with marijuana cultivation.

Kennebec County District Attorney Evert Fowle later said that a second warrant was issued from Kennebec County, charging Beasley with violating probation by committing new criminal conduct.

A statement from Bauman on Wednesday says McKay became a person of interest about a week into the Maddox murder investigation.

McKay was arrested March 11 in Lake County, Calif., on marijuana cultivation, possession for sales and weapons charges and released the same day on $10,000 bail. He allegedly fled to Georgia and was brought back to the Lake County, Calif., jail where his bail was increased to $2 million.

The Lake County jail records show McKay was born in Santa Rosa, Calif., but he graduated from Gardiner Area High School in 2001.

In his senior year there, his 116 wins were the most ever by a Gardiner Area High School wrestler, and he was named wrestler of the year by Kennebec Journal sports writers.

In Bauman's statement about the murder charges, he gave no indication whether authorities had located Frank Maddox's 1982 pickup truck. They said earlier the vehicle was important to the investigation and had published two photographs of the truck taken by a local code enforcement officer on Feb. 2, when it was reported as an abandoned vehicle. The rusted, beige truck was to be towed, but it disappeared before the wrecker arrived.

The Maddoxes and Beasley have criminal records in central Maine dating back several years.

Published records show members of the Maine State Police tactical team arrested Beasley at his Pittston home in December 2002 after he allegedly fired several shots out of his home and at a guest's vehicle. A 17-year-old girl was injured in the incident.

He also was arrested in October 2005 after a standoff with police in Augusta.

Beasley was indicted in January 2007 on charges of threatening a woman with an AK-47 assault rifle in Vassalboro. He pleaded guilty to criminal threatening and assault and was sentenced to five years in prison with all but 10 months suspended and two years' probation.

Beasley also was accused of trafficking in marijuana in 1999 in Gardiner.

Frank Maddox has convictions for unlawful sexual contact in 2001, possession of scheduled drugs and failing to comply with notification requirements of the Maine Sex Offender Registry, according to Kennebec County District Attorney Evert Fowle. Maddox and Beasley were both sent to the Maine Correctional Center in Windham in 2007, and Kennebec County Sheriff Randall Liberty indicated the men were in the prison at the same time.

Yvette Maddox served time in Kennebec County jail after pleading guilty to unlawful drug possession, Fowle said. She was sentenced in September 2005 to three years in jail, with all but 90 days suspended and two years' probation.

Published records show only one criminal conviction for McKay, for operating under the influence May 21, 2004, in Gardiner. McKay was fined $400 for the offense. ..Source.. by Betty Adams

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No death penalty for former Mainers

4-28-2011:

CLEARLAKE, Calif. -- A district attorney will not seek the death penalty against two former Mainers charged with killing a couple who moved from Augusta to California to work in a marijuana operation.

Lake County Deputy District Attorney Art Grothe confirmed that the death penalty will not be sought in the prosecutions of Robby Alan Beasley, 30, formerly of Augusta; and Elijah Bae McKay, 28, formerly of Gardiner.

They are charged with the January 2010 slayings of Frank and Yvette Maddox, formerly of Augusta. Beasley is alleged to have shot them both at the side of a remote county road because he suspected the couple was stealing marijuana from him.

Beasley and McKay are facing separate trials. Each faces two counts of murder and special allegations of committing multiple murders in the first or second degree, committing the offenses with the intent to inflict great bodily injury on the victims and using a 9 millimeter firearm. Beasley also is charged with having a previous felony conviction in Maine for criminal threatening with a firearm.

Grothe said that, instead of the death penalty, he will seek life without the possibility of parole for both men.

Beasley and McKay appeared separately in brief hearings Tuesday in Judge Stephen Hedstrom's Lake County courtroom.

Beasley appeared for a trial readiness conference, as his trial had been scheduled to start next month. However, his attorney, Stephen Carter, entered a motion that morning to continue the hearing to later this year. Grothe did not oppose the request.

Hedstrom approved the motion, ordering Beasley to appear in Lakeport on Aug. 22 for a trial-readiness and settlement conference.

The judge also rescheduled Beasley's trial, which now is set to start Oct. 3.

McKay appeared for entry of plea and the setting of his preliminary hearing. However, his case, too, was continued.

Attorney Justin Petersen appeared on behalf of McKay's attorney, Richard Petersen of Ukiah, who is reportedly suffering from health problems that will prevent him from continuing with the case.

Hedstrom continued McKay's hearing to May 24, at which time there also will be a possible substitution of McKay's counsel. ..Source.. by ELIZABETH LARSON

Alberta woman who killed supposed child abuser wins full parole under faint-hope clause

12-29-2010 Canada:

EDMONTON — A woman convicted of first-degree murder in the 1989 beating death of a man from Wetaskiwin, Alta., has been granted full parole under Canada's faint-hope clause.

A decision made by the Parole Board of Canada granted Yvonne Johnson, 48, full parole on Dec. 17, with conditions to abstain from alcohol and drugs, continue psychological counselling and to not associate with known or suspected criminals.

Johnson was convicted in 1991 of first-degree murder in the beating death of a man she suspected of being a child molester.

There was never any proof the man molested anyone.

Johnson was initially given an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years, but in 2005, she won the right to apply for early parole under Canada's faint-hope clause.

Inmates must have served at least 15 years of their sentences before they can make an application through the clause.

In its written decision, the board outlined Johnson's commitment to "moving forward" with her life and her continued ability to manage her risk in the community as reasons for her release.

Her risk to reoffend is assessed as low.

The decision states that while the victim's family members were not present at her most recent parole hearing, they have consistently rejected her early release.

Parole documents say Johnson runs an at-home business selling aboriginal arts and crafts. She is also the primary caregiver for her two grandchildren and receives some financial help from the province for their care.

Johnson served nearly 17 years of her sentence before she was first released on day parole in February 2008, which was renewed every six months until February 2010.

She applied for full parole in October 2009, but was denied because the board "noted there were several issues of concern that needed to be addressed." She was, however, granted overnight-leave privileges on her day parole. She applied for full parole once more in March but was once again denied.

It's not known where Johnson will reside following her release. Because she was serving a life sentence, she will be subject to supervision by the Correctional Service of Canada for the remainder of her life, parole documents state.

On Sept. 15 1989, 36-year-old Leonard Skwarok was lured to Johnson's home, where he was attacked because Johnson, who was 27 at the time, and three others mistakenly believed he was a child molester. All four attackers were heavily intoxicated.

Johnson, a victim of childhood abuse, sodomized Skwarok with a chair leg before strangling him with a telephone cord.

Johnson co-authored a book with Edmontonian Rudy Wiebe about the murder and her life titled, Stolen Life: The Journey of a Cree Woman, which was nominated for a Governor General's Award. ..Source.. by Mariam Ibrahim

2 Lubbock teens charged with murdering sex offender

Missing in news reports is, if the plan was to rob Brinson, what additional occurred to raise that to murder, assuming murder was not originally planned?

12-22-2010 Texas:

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) - Two teens, including a juvenile, have been arrested on murder charges in the shooting death in Lubbock of a registered sexual offender.

Police say 52-year-old Brian James Brinson of Wilson was found dead in his car in downtown Lubbock before dawn Sunday. He had been shot at least once in the torso.

Police officials say 18-year-old Devante Lamar Jones and a 16-year-old boy were taken into custody Monday. Online jail records listed neither bond settings nor attorneys for the two.

Brinson's sexual offender registration shows that he had been convicted in Oregon in 2002 of sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy. ..Source.. by ConnectAmirillo.com

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Murder suspect: Plan was to rob Brinson because "he had touched me"

12-21-2010 Texas:

A 16-year-old murder suspect said he decided to beat up and rob Brian Brinson because the 52-year-old man touched him in November, according to court documents released Tuesday.

Zeven Devon Sanders, 16, admitted to being involved in the murder victim’s robbery late Saturday night, but claimed somebody named “Black” fatally shot Brinson, who was a registered sex offender, court documents revealed.

Lubbock Police arrested Sanders and Devante Lamar Jones, 18, late Monday afternoon on murder charges, but no other warrants had been issued.

Police on Tuesday couldn’t confirm if a third person named “Black” might have been involved, but Police Capt. Greg Stevens said they were checking into the claims. However, witnesses only reported seeing two people inside the victim’s car the night of the murder.

Sanders, who turns 17 on Sunday, wrote in his statement to police: “The plan was to beat up Bryan because the way he had touched me before. Devante and I decided since we were going to beat him we might as well take his money. I figured Bryan would have money on him and I needed sixty dollars to try and get back to Fort Worth so I could see my mom. I assumed because Bryan was a white guy he would have money. Devante and I did not want to kill anyone.”

Sanders said he was walking home from Monterey High School in November when a man approached him. He said the man, who he later learned was Brinson, asked him directions to a BBQ place, according to court documents. The teen told him about a place on the east side of town.

“I was tired so I sat in the guy’s car... I was talking with the guy and while we were talking he grabbed my leg, between my knee and thigh. This guy and I finished talking and then he touched my chest. I felt uncomfortable and told the guy my grandma was calling me,” according to his statement to police.

Brinson sent him numerous text messages over the next several weeks, asking him to meet up, Sanders told police.

It was unclear on Tuesday whether police had confirmed Sanders’ story about the text messages or about Brinson allegedly touching him in November. Stevens said they couldn’t comment on that since it was still an ongoing investigation.

But Brinson did have a history of sexually assaulting children.

He was convicted in 2002 in Oregon for the sexual abuse of a 14-year-old boy, according to Oregon prison officials. Brinson also was convicted of manslaughter in 1989 in Oregon in connection with the beating death of an 8-year-old girl on the Ecclesia Athletic Association’s farm in Clackamas County. The Ecclesia Athletic Association has been described by some as a cult.

After multiple requests to meet up, Sanders said he finally agreed to meet Brinson the night of the murder with the intention of beating him up and robbing him, according to police reports. He told Brinson to meet him at 24th Street and Avenue L.

“Black” showed up at Sanders’ house just before Sanders and Jones planned to leave to meet Brinson and insisted on being involved, Sanders told police. “Black” brought along a gun.

While Sanders claimed he, Jones and “Black” were inside Brinson’s car, at least two witnesses said they only saw two people near and inside the car that night.

A neighbor called police at about 11:15 p.m. Saturday to report “shots fired.” The neighbor also reported the Mercedes at the corner of 24th Street and Avenue K. The caller said the vehicle’s lights were on and the doors open.

A patrol officer found Brinson slumped over in the Mercedes in the 1300 block of 24th Street at about 12:15 a.m. after another call from a different neighbor reporting the vehicle. The caller “knew it didn’t belong” and was scared, according to court documents.

The car was sitting in front of the duplex where Sanders lived with his grandmother and 10-year-old brother.

In his statement to police, Sanders said he, Jones and “Black” initially ran from the car after the gunshot, but then went back. “Black” drove the car and parked it in front of Sanders’ residence.

While Sanders claimed that “Black” brought the gun, at least one person told police that Jones had the gun Saturday night that he always carries with him, according to court documents.

The neighbor also overheard a conversation between the two teens on Saturday night less than an hour before the murder was believed to have taken place.

Sanders and Jones were talking about meeting up with a guy. At one point, Jones said to Sanders: “The guys going to take your booty.” Sanders replied: “Hell no.”

That statement was taken at 6:15 p.m. Sunday, according to court records.

Officers arrested both Sanders and Jones on Monday after they served a search warrant on Sanders’ residence in the morning. Police recovered an orange sweatshirt and pair of jeans which appeared to have blood stains, according to court documents. Sanders reportedly was wearing an orange sweatshirt the night of the murder, according to several witness statements.

Sanders was being held at the Lubbock County Juvenile Justice Center on Tuesday.

Jones, who was last arrested in August on a marijuana possession charge, was booked into the Lubbock County Jail.

The bond attached to Jones’ arrest warrant was $500,000. Bond information was not available for Sanders since he’s a juvenile.

Police didn’t know if either teen had retained an attorney. Public documents didn’t indicate attorney information for either suspect. ..Source.. by Robin Pyle

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Lubbock murder victim had ties to Oregon cult-like group; convicted in child's death in 1989

12-20-2010 Texas:

Lubbock Police on Monday didn’t know if a murder victim’s connections with a cult-like group in Oregon or his criminal past that included the beating death of a young girl had anything to do with his shooting death over the weekend in a Central Lubbock neighborhood.

Local officials a day after the apparent homicide had few leads in the death of Brian James Brinson, 52, who was a registered sex offender in Midland for a 2002 conviction in Oregon for the sexual abuse of a 14-year-old boy, according to the Texas Sex Offender Registry.

Brinson also spent 12 years in an Oregon prison after he was convicted in 1989 on manslaughter charges for the beating death of an 8-year-old girl on the Ecclesia Athletic Association’s farm in Clackamas County, Oreg., according to the Sheriff’s Office and Oregon news reports.

A patrol officer found Brinson’s body at about 12:15 a.m. Sunday in the 1300 block of 24th Place after a call reporting “shots fired.” He was found dead of a gunshot wound in his Mercedes sedan.

Police didn’t know what he was doing there or why he was in Lubbock.

Brinson was reportedly involved with the Ecclesia Athletic Association in the 1980s. The group was called a religious-based cult at the time. The association was connected with the severe beatings of more than 50 children on the farm, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.

The children on the farm were taken into state custody after the death of Dayna Lorae Broussard, the 8-year-old daughter of Ecclesia founder Eldridge Broussard.

Brinson was one of four convicted in the child's death.

Young Dayna was taken to a fire station on Oct. 13, 1988, but paramedics were unable to revive her, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities later learned she had been beaten hundreds of times with a hose, a pipe and an electrical cord while other children watched. The child reportedly was beaten because she stole food after the group withheld food as punishment.

A total of 53 children, some with scars on their backs, were removed from the group’s Sandy farmhouse by the state Children’s Services Division.

Broussard formed the Ecclesia Athletic Association in 1982 to “shape group members through intense training and strict discipline so they could resist the temptations of crime and drugs in Watts,” according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.

In 1990, a federal grand jury in Portland began investigating other Ecclesia leaders for possible civil rights violations. Officials arrested Eldridge Broussard and three of his followers in early 1991 on charges of holding Ecclesia children in slavery and conspiring to deny them their civil rights.

Broussard never made it to trial because he died in September, 1991 of complications related to his diabetes.

Brinson served prison time between June 1989 and April 2001 on the manslaughter charge, said Jeanine Hohn, Oregon State Corrections spokeswoman. He then was convicted in 2002 on the sexual abuse charge. State records show Brinson was released from the Oregon prison system on June 11, 2004.

Brinson registered in Midland as a sex offender in July 2009. He submitted a change of address notification in June, when he relocated to Wilson, according to Texas records.

Police ask anyone with information about Brinson’s death to call them at 775-2410 or 775-2745. Residents also may call Crime at 741-1000 and remain anonymous. ..Source.. by LubbdockOnline

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Cult member convicted in brutal child beatings at Sandy farm shot to death in Texas

A former Clackamas County cult member and sex offender was found shot to death Sunday in Lubbock, Texas.

Two teenage boys, one a juvenile, were arrested on murder charges in the shooting death of 52-year-old Brian James Brinson of Wilson, Texas. Brinson was found dead in his Mercedes, shot at least once in the torso.

A former member of the Ecclesia Athletic Association based in a Sandy farmhouse, Brinson was convicted along with three others in Oregon in 1989 in the beating death of 8-year-old Dayna Lorae Broussard, daughter of the cult's founder.

Police found 53 other children in the farmhouse had been systematically beaten, starved and forced to watch the girl being flogged to death with hoses.

The brutal case made national news in the New York Times, as well as Time Magazine.

After spending 12 years in prison on the manslaughter conviction, Brinson was convicted in 2002 of sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy in a department store dressing room.

Lubbock police say 18-year-old Devante Lamar Jones and a 16-year-old boy were taken into custody Monday. ..Source.. by Kimberly A.C. Wilson, The Oregonian

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Last defendant pleads guilty to killing sex offender in Lubbock

1-17-2013:



Zeven Devon Sanders, the last of three defendants in the December 2010 murder of a sex offender from Oregon, was sentenced to 15 years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty to one count of robbery.

Sanders entered his plea before District Judge Brad Underwood.

He had originally been charged with capital murder because the killing took place during the commission of another felony. He would not have faced the death penalty, however because he was 16 years old when the crime was committed.

Sanders, now 19, initially intended to lure Brian Brinson to a location so he and a friend, Devante Lamar Jones, could beat him, apparently because Brinson had touched him inappropriately when he gave Sanders a ride in his car near Monterey High School.

As the plan developed, they decided to also rob Brinson because Sanders wanted money to visit his mother in Fort Worth.

Sanders wrote in his confession: “The plan was to beat up Bryan because the way he had touched me before. Devante and I decided since we were going to beat him we might as well take his money. I figured Bryan would have money on him and I needed sixty dollars to try and get back to Fort Worth so I could see my mom. I assumed because Bryan was a white guy he would have money. Devante and I did not want to kill anyone.”

Sanders told police he was walking home from Monterey High School about a month before the murder when Brinson asked him for directions to a barbeque restaurant. Sanders said he got into Brinson’s car. While they talked, he said, Brinson grabbed Sanders’ thigh and touched him on the chest.

In the written confession following his arrest, Sanders told police that Brinson frequently sent him text messages asking for a meeting.

The two planned to only beat and rob Brinson. But on the day they planned to ambush Brinson, a man initially identified to police by the nickname “Black” showed up and insisted on going along.

“Black,” who was later identified as Arenn Lamar Davis, brought a gun and shot Brinson in the torso, according to Sanders’ confession.

Police found Brinson slumped over the steering wheel of his Mercedes-Benz, which was parked in front of the duplex where Sanders lived.

Brinson, 52, had been convicted in Oregon of sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy and of manslaughter in connection with the beating death of an 8-year-old girl. He served prison sentences for both crimes. ..Source.. by WALT NETT

Police Make Arrest In March Slaying

This man was killed because his status a a FSO was revealed to the Landlord by the police doing a address check. i.e. Killed by Law case

12-17-2010 Nevada:

David Morrison, 30, Was Convicted Sex Offender

LAS VEGAS -- Las Vegas Metro police arrested a man on Tuesday in connection with the slaying of David Morrison, 30, in March.

Police arrested George "Goofy" Casanova and booked him for murder, robbery, burglary and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Police said Morrison was found dead in an upstairs bedroom at 6121 Edgewood Circle on March 22.

Morrison had lived there since the beginning of the month with several roommates.

Police said the day before Morrison was killed, a detective with Metro's sex offender unit had stopped by the house to speak with Morrison, a registered sex offender. The detective told police that no one was home when he visited, so he left a card at the door.

When Donald Clewell, one of the roommates, returned home and found the card, he gave the card to Jose "Rascal" Calderon, police said.

Pascal, in turn, gave the card to James "Chip" Fragala, who is employed by the owner of the house to collect rent, police said.

Clewell told police that Fragala disliked that Morrison was a sex offender because he has a teenage daughter. He said he overheard a conversation between Fragala and Calderon that talked about Morrison and "taking him out," police said.

A few days after Morrison's death, Fragala overheard Casanova speaking on the phone about fighting with a "chomo," prison slang for a child molester.

Fragala's girlfriend, Andrea Raney, said she had dropped Casanova outside of Morrison's home the day after his death, and when he returned, he was "as white as a ghost," police said.

Casanova, who failed a polygraph test, said someone else had hit Morrison on the head several times and he had returned to the house as Morrison lay dying to steal his wallet and cell phone, police said. ..Source.. FOX5 News

Man Shot By Police Wielded Fake Gun

If this man was well known to the police, was it also well known he was a registered sex offender?

12-17-2010 Oregon:

UPDATE 4:57 PM — Court records show that Ferguson was a registered sex offender, having been convicted of rape in 1988. The files say he was routinely taking meds for depression and anxiety, including medical marijuana, and had received counseling for alcoholism. Recently, he had been put on probation because he failed to register as a sex offender. That would make Ferguson that fourth person with mental illness to be fatally shot in a Portland police officer-involved-shooting this year.

Records from when Ferguson failed to register in 2007 paint a troubled picture. He was listed as unemployed and a transient, with his address at the seedy Unicorn Hotel on 82nd Avenue. On a page about warning signs, the officer checked "yes" to option reading, "Defendant has no regular, verifiable contact with family or significant others in local community."

KGW has an old booking photo of Ferguson, and his live-in partner, Marsha Lawson (who is listed in court documents both as Ferguson's girlfriend and caregiver), posted this photo of him and a cat on her Myspace.

Original post 4:20 pm:
The man shot and killed by police last night at an East Portland apartment complex aimed a fake gun at police, the cops now report. A photo of a toy gun the police say is a "very accurate depiction" of the gun used in the incident is below the cut.

Officers arrived at the Ventura Park apartments at 3:47 last night, responding to a call from an apartment resident who said a man was threatening them with a 9mm handgun. Officers went to the apartment to contact the suspect, who then aimed the fake handgun at them. The officers quickly fired shots, killing the man who is now known to be 45-year-old Darryel Dwayne Ferguson.

A toddler, two women, and another adult male were in the apartment. One neighbor says he counted 16 shell casings in the hallway.

The door frame has been taken off the apartment, Room 201. Leaning against the building wall, bullet holes were clearly visible in it. Neighbors report that Ferguson would quarrel with other complex residents and that he once showed his neighbor a sawed-off shotgun he said he owned. Neighbors also say he would tell them that he was dying of either cancer or AIDS and that he seemed to have some mental health issues. But he was at turns also very generous—his next door neighbors say he once stopped by and gave them a typewriter for free. ..Source.. by Sarah Mirk

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Fake Gun, Real Death

12-23-2010 Oregon:

Police Kill Man Holding BB Gun

THE FOURTH FATAL police shooting this year of a Portlander battling mental health issues came in the early hours of Friday, December 17, when 45-year-old Darryel Dwayne Ferguson allegedly brandished a fake gun at officers responding to a 911 call in his apartment complex.

Court records reveal Ferguson, a registered sex offender, had been suffering from depression and anxiety, at times taking medicine for his illnesses, and that he was a medical marijuana patient who had also battled substance abuse. Neighbors tell the Mercury he had cancer and was HIV positive—conditions his sister confirmed to the Oregonian.

His death continues a troubling trend this year for a police bureau that sees a large portion of its calls each day involving someone dealing with, in some fashion, mental illness.

"We as a community have decided that [providing adequate treatment] would be an imprudent financial decision on our part," says Jason Renaud of the Mental Health Association of Portland. "As a result, the police get to do the dirty work. It doesn't matter whether they're equipped. We have dumped the responsibility on them."

According to police accounts, the fatal incident began about 3 am, when a resident of the Ventura Park Plaza apartments at East Burnside and 122nd reported being harassed by a drunken man. Police spoke with a man in the building but left after deciding tensions had eased. Soon after, the same resident called again, saying the same man had a 9mm gun and had threatened to shoot him. Officers then knocked on Ferguson's door. He opened it, allegedly while holding a gun, and within seconds was fatally wounded by the officers. The weapon was later found to be a BB gun.

Officers evacuated a toddler and three adults from the apartment. Surrounding neighbors, also evacuated, waited for hours on a TriMet bus as shelter from the cold night.

The police bureau did not release the exact number of wounds Ferguson suffered, but according to autopsy results, Ferguson "died of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen." One neighbor told the Mercury he heard police say afterward that 20 shots were fired.

The two officers in the shooting, Jonathan Kizzar and Kelly Jenson, are on administrative leave. Ferguson's sister told the Oregonian her brother may not have realized it was police knocking when he opened the door holding the BB gun. Police are releasing no more details pending a grand jury investigation.

By Friday afternoon, the bullet-riddled door frame of Ferguson's unit had been removed and was briefly propped up in the hallway.

Neighbors described Ferguson as both quarrelsome and generous. His next-door neighbors say he picked fights with other residents, but also once stopped by just to give them a typewriter and a computer table.

Ferguson's court file shows a troubled history: He was required to register as a sex offender and undergo treatment for substance abuse after a felony rape conviction in 1988. He was charged with assault and harassment in 2003, though the charges were dropped. He was put on probation two years ago for failing to register as a sex offender. He had been living in the Ventura Park complex with his girlfriend for at least a year, neighbors say, but records in 2008 state he had no solid address and had "no regular, verifiable contact with family or significant others in local community." A 2007 record listed Ferguson's address as the Unicorn Hotel. He has been unemployed, living on disability checks and food stamps.

Overall, there were five officer-involved shootings this year (four of them fatal)—the most since 2006—reversing a recent trend in which shootings had plunged in comparison to the rest of the past 18 years. Officials have attributed that drop to things like giving cops Tasers, improved crisis training, and stronger civilian oversight. But Dan Handelman of Portland Copwatch says that's "all been thrown out the window at this point."

Coincidentally the shooting came the same day the Portland Police Association (PPA) submitted a letter to the city asking that the two sides jointly declare an impasse and move the contract bargaining to mediation. The city has agreed, for now, that could mean key issues—like drug testing and civilian oversight—will be hashed out behind closed doors.

At a news conference Monday, December 20, members of the Fire Frashour campaign, a group of activists who had loudly demanded the firing of the officer who shot and killed Aaron Campbell in January, linked the union's decision with the most recent shooting.

"Despite the recent shooting, the city is still closing the police association negotiations to the public," Kathryn Cates said on the steps of the Justice Center. "By agreeing to remove the negotiations from public scrutiny, the city negotiators are colluding with the PPA to preserve the cops' impunity." ..Source.. by Denis C. Theriault and Sarah Mirk

Neighbor recalls murder suspect as calm, pleasant

12-18-2010 Maine:

Accused killer remains in jail

AUGUSTA -- Peter Bathgate seemed to neighbors a quiet, respectful young man who cared about Jessica Jones, the woman he often referred to as his wife.

But the 30-year-old Bathgate is behind bars today, accused of murdering Paul Allen, 47, of Augusta, in a fit of jealous rage sparked by Allen's alleged romantic interest in Jones, the mother of Bathgate's 3-year-old daughter.

"It was a sad thing," Marlene Coyne said Thursday from the door of her home next to the apartment Bathgate and Jones shared. "He was so calm."

Bathgate was arrested outside a Washington Street apartment building Tuesday after a 10-hour standoff with police and charged with murder. He continues to be held without bail at the Kennebec County jail and faces a minimum of 25 years in prison if found guilty.

Game wardens found Allen's body Sunday off Winthrop Street in Hallowell.

Jones told police that Allen, whom she described as an acquaintance, had stopped by her apartment around 11 p.m., Dec. 2 for about an hour.

Bathgate showed up unannounced a short time after Allen left, Jones told police.

Bathgate and Jones then left with their daughter, around 3 a.m., to drive to Hallowell, where Bathgate made a cell phone call, police say.

Jones told police she let Bathgate out of the car carrying a walking stick, then drove a short distance and parked near Town Farm Road.

She told police a pickup truck similar to Allen's passed, heading in Bathgate's direction, then reappeared a short time later and proceeded up Town Farm Road.

Some time later, Bathgate, now without the walking stick, called Jones and asked her to pick him up near where Jones had seen the truck, according to Jones' account to police.

"Bathgate said the reason for what happened to Allen was jealously and rage," Maine State Police Detective Adam Kelley wrote. "Bathgate said he was jealous and did not like the way Allen talked to and flirted with his girlfriend, Jessica Jones."

Police believe Bathgate stabbed Allen using a walking stick, the broken remnants of which were found near his body.

But they have thus far been silent on the legal status of Jones, whose own account of the incident has her driving Bathgate to and from the area of the alleged murder scene. A call placed to Deputy Attorney General William Stokes regarding Jones' legal status was not returned Thursday.

Until recently, Bathgate and Jones, 23, shared one of two apartments inside a ranch-style home on Western Avenue Place.

On Thursday, two men, one of whom identified himself as Jones' father, were loading a pickup truck with toys and other items from that apartment.

The man who identified himself as Jones' father said she did not wish to speak about the charges against Bathgate. He did not indicate whether Jones is still in the area.

Bathgate and Jones were unfamiliar to most neighbors, but Coyne said she had spoken to Bathgate several times and had seen the couple outside with their daughter.

"He was always polite and pleasant to us," Coyne said.

Coyne recalled an exchange a few months ago regarding a neighbor's dog that had been left inside alone and had been barking for several hours.

Bathgate was concerned for the dog's safety, Coyne said.

"He said, 'It's keeping my wife and baby awake,'" Coyne recalled. "He always told us she was his wife." ..Source.. by Kennebec Journal Staff

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Augusta Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing Drugs from Murder Victim

12-9-2010 Maine:

Augusta - A man from Augusta is going to prison for three years for robbery, theft and stealing drugs, including medication from a man who was recently murdered.

23-year old Joshua Theriault-Patten pleaded guilty yesterday to three separate crimes.

Among them, stealing prescription medication from 47-year-old Paul Allen in January.

Allen's body was found over the weekend in Hallowell and another man is charged with his murder.

The Kennebec County District Attorney says because Allen is dead, one of the drug charges against Theriault-Patten was dropped.

Theriault-Patten also admitted to beating up a man in August, stealing $300 and a cell phone. ..Source.. byCatherine Pegram

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Police say jealous rage fueled slaying

Peter George Bathgate II stabbed Paul Allen with a cane over a woman, a police affidavit says.

AUGUSTA - Peter George Bathgate II used a walking cane to stab 47-year-old Paul Allen to death in a fit of jealous rage, court documents say.

Bathgate, 30, of Augusta, who was arrested Tuesday after a long standoff at an apartment building in Augusta, made his first court appearance Wednesday morning in Kennebec County Superior Court. The judge ordered him held without bail on a single count of murder.

Justice Michaela Murphy told Bathgate that a conviction on the charge carries a minimum 25-year prison sentence and a maximum sentence of life without opportunity for release.

The charge is to be presented to a grand jury, she said.

An affidavit filed by Maine State Police Detective Adam Kelley says Allen had aroused a murderous rage in Bathgate by flirting with Jessica Jones, 23, of Augusta, who has a 3-year-old daughter with Bathgate.

Jones told investigators that Allen visited her briefly late on Dec. 2. When Bathgate came home later, he called Allen and arranged to meet him near Town Farm Road and Winthrop Street in Hallowell, early on Dec. 3.

According to the affidavit, Jones told police that she drove Bathgate there, and that Bathgate carried a walking cane. Jones then drove a short distance away and parked. ..Source.. by Betty Adams

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Augusta homicide victim was registered sex offender

12-7-2010 Maine:

We're learning more about the victim in a murder case out of Augusta.
47 year old Paul Allen was indeed murdered but police are not releasing the cause of death. Game wardens searching for Allen over the weekend found his body on Winthrop Street in Hallowell. He was last seen alive at a toy auction in Chelsea on Thursday. Allen worked as a worm digger, was married and had four sons. He was also convicted of four counts of sexual assault against a minor in 1997, and was a registered sex offender.
Augusta homicide victim was registered sex offender. ..Source.. by WGME13.com

Killer Targeted Sex Offenders

This is by far the most confusing case to follow. It is in the Suicide File (because he committed suicide while in prison), -AND- the Murders File (because he murdered a former offender while in prison [Nathaniel Taylor]), -AND- the Other Deaths File (because he killed his father alleging he molested him while a youngster [his father WAS NOT a former sex offender]).

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Lunz's father was accused of molesting Lunz when he was a child, Lunz's father was not a convicted sex offender. Lunz mentioned this at his trial, and said, that is why he killed him (the reason for being in other deaths blog). The deaths of FSOs will be recorded in a report of FSOs.

Be sure to see the video in the first story. To summerize this story: Lunz however, before he was imprisoned, 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

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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

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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

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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

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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

Homeless Sex Offender Dies; Van Amasses Tickets

This post documents the death of Thomas Craig who died in the van.

Now, note what the reporter says near end of article. Third death due to Jessica's Residency Law and mentions TWO other sex offender deaths; each of which has its own post in the murders blog.

12-11-2010 California:

While passing the Caltrain station earlier this week, one of the men we'd interviewed for our story on homeless sex offenders last year flagged us down. He'd said no one had seen Thomas Craig, another one of our sources in the story, for several weeks. Now the Ford Windstar that Craig slept in parked on Bluxome Street had been gathering parking tickets, and our informant speculated the worst: "I think he died in there. I told the fire department, but they just laughed it off."

The consequences of Jessica's Law have been sinister to Craig and others to say the least: Since the law mandates that sex offenders must live 2,000 feet away from a park or school, in San Francisco, their only option is to not have a residence at all. The parole department currently mandates that they remain homeless.

While the city mulls a change to how the law is enforced locally, the paroled offenders continue to sleep in vans parked in lots and alleys, in homeless drop-in centers, or in doorways. Law enforcement experts say the instability makes it more likely the sex offenders will re-offend. In Craig's case, he had been convicted of forced oral copulation with a minor, though he always insisted he'd been framed. He did tell us about how the sex offenders were no longer allowed to enter a program for parolees at Walden House since it was too close to a school.

The complications from Jessica's Law abound. Yet a man dying inside his van and lying undiscovered for weeks seemed to be taking the macabre circumstances up a notch.

We checked on the minivan various times this week and, yep, it had been pegged with three different tickets for parking during street cleaning since mid-November. On Wednesday, a pink notice that the city was going to tow the van appeared. The sheets that Craig usually hung inside for a modicum of privacy were still up. We knocked and there was no answer. The county jail said he wasn't in custody, and the medical examiner said they had no record of him.

Finally today, we met our informant at the Caltrain station again. "He died." But not in the van.

A call to the medical examiner cleared things up: Craig had checked into St. Francis Hospital.

on Nov. 14, saying he had lung cancer. His condition declined at the hospital until he died at 2 p.m. on Nov. 18, likely due to multiple organ failure from cancer.

This will be the third person made homeless by Jessica's Law to die that SF Weekly has learned of this year. First, Nicolas Chaykovsky died in February from a heart attack, with his case manager speculating it was living on the streets that did him in. Faamamalu Casey died of a heart attack on May 27, according to the medical examiner.

Craig's van, meanwhile, is still slated to be towed. Apparently a handful of the homeless guys stored their stuff in there. Since no one has a key, they're all going to lose their possessions now. "Can't inherit the car," our informant, who sleeps under a nearby highway, said with a wry chuckle. "He's gone. I hate to say it." ..Source.. by Lauren Smiley

2 arrests in sex assault suspect murder

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NC officer kills man who came at him with bat

11-15-2010 North Carolina:

SALISBURY, N.C. — A Salisbury police officer has shot and killed a man who investigators say beat his father with a bat before threatening the officer.

The Salisbury Post reported that 46-year-old James Richard Brown was killed Saturday after police say he ignored Officer J.R. Cable's command to drop his bat and instead went after the officer.

Cable is on administrative duty while the shooting is investigated by state police.

Brown's father was taken to a local hospital for treatment, but his injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.

Brown has a long criminal history dating back to at least 1982 and including convictions in North Carolina for assault, drunken driving and drug possession. He also has a couple of assault convictions that have him on sex offender registries in North Carolina and Florida. ..Source.. by WRAL.com

Man killed by deputy was wanted in 11 felony cases, including rape

11-13-2010 California:

The parolee who was shot and killed by a deputy sheriff Tuesday was wanted in at least 11 felony cases, according to the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office, including an August kidnapping and rape.

Charges would have been filed Friday against transient Shane Hutchins, 32, who eluded authorities in several vehicle and foot chases since May, according to Mendocino County Deputy District Attorney Matt Hubley.

"This is all alleged, because we're never going to get a chance to go to court and prove it," Hubley said.

Hutchins was fatally shot during a confrontation with a deputy who hasn't been identified after he allegedly ran out of a Fort Bragg home Wednesday night, where Mendocino Major Crimes Task Force agents and MCSO deputies following a tip tried to arrest him.

The kidnapping and rape is one charge, Hubley said, and would have itself meant a sentence of 25 years to life, if Hutchins had gone to trial and been convicted.

He said Hutchins was convicted of a Mendocino County residential burglary in 1997 and sentenced to four years in prison at age 19, then received a sentence of seven years in prison for battering a police officer and selling methamphetamine in 2003.

He was out on parole, and state parole officers were looking for him because he allegedly was in violation of his parole terms, Hubley said.

At about 9:30 p.m. Aug. 27, a law enforcement officer spotted Hutchins driving through Ukiah and turned on his lights and siren to stop the vehicle, according to Hubley. He said Hutchins led the officer, who was quickly joined by other local law enforcement agencies, on a high-speed chase that ended up in the unmarked, dirt roads in the hills of Potter Valley.

Hutchins had a minor in the car when the chase began, according to Hubley, and was reportedly giving the girl a ride to a friend's house in Potter Valley. The girl told Hutchins to let her out, but Hutchins allegedly lifted his shirt and showed the girl a pistol and knives he had on his person. He also allegedly told her he was "not going back to prison."

Hutchins stopped the car in Potter Valley and allegedly dragged the girl out of the car by her hair.

The two ran into the hills to a "lookout point," according to Hubley. The victim reported that a couple of hours later, when the activity died down, Hutchins allegedly "throws her on the ground, rips her pants off and rapes her," according to Hubley.

Hutchins also allegedly threatened to kill the girl if she told anyone, he said.

Because the alleged rape happened in the course of a kidnapping, the charge was considered a "one-strike" charge, Hubley said, and would have doubled the penalty for any subsequent felony conviction.

"That (charge) was going to get our full attention," Hubley said.

Other alleged crimes for which Hutchins was wanted in Mendocino and Kern counties included absconding from state parole, domestic violence and evading authorities.

Hutchins allegedly led authorities on three vehicle chases over the summer, where at least one deputy injured himself in a crash while in pursuit. Officers also chased him on foot twice in that time.

Hutchins was also wanted in a burglary, kidnapping and chase that happened in Ukiah last weekend, according to Hubley. ..Source.. by Tiffany Revelle

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Deputy cleared in 2010 fatal coast shooting

3-15-2011 California:

Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster has determined the tense nighttime shooting of wanted fugitive Shane Hutchins by a Mendocino County sheriff's deputy on November 10, 2010, was justified.

Deputy Jason Cox and his canine Ben were part of a multiagency task force attempting to take Hutchins into custody at a Fort Bragg home. Cox and his canine were staked out in the back yard of the Lahmon Lane residence at around 9 p.m. as another group of officers entered the residence where they believed Hutchins was hiding out. Eyster described the scene as "tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving."

"Deputy Cox identified himself and ordered the parolee to stop," said Eyster in a press release. "When the parolee continued to flee, Deputy Cox released his canine partner. The canine was blocked from interacting with the parolee by a wire fence.

"As Deputy Cox moved towards the parolee's location, the parolee attempted to escape by scaling a wooden fence. The parolee was then observed by Deputy Cox reaching towards his belt. Having been provided information in briefings that the parolee should be expected to be armed with a knife and/or handgun and had expressly stated that he would not be voluntarily taken into custody, Deputy Cox perceived the parolee's furtive hand movement towards his beltline as provocative and life-threatening. He fired his duty firearm at the parolee multiple times, killing Mr. Hutchins."

"It was not overlooked in the review of this matter that it was determined by investigators after-the-fact that there was no firearm or knife found on or around the deceased's body," said Eyster. "It is objectively and subjectively reasonable for the deputy to have perceived the suspect's furtive hand movement as an immediate threat to the safety of the deputy himself, his canine partner, and/or members of the apprehension team."

The investigation also noted that Cox, who was on assignment with the Mendocino County Major Crimes Task Force at the time of the shooting, was not "wearing distinctively-marked law enforcement raid gear as mandated by Task Force policy." Cox did have his badge clearly displayed on his belt.

All officers taking part in the raid had been apprised Hutchins was likely armed with knife and pistol and had vowed not to return to prison.

Hutchins had served two prior prison terms. In 1997 he was convicted of battery on a peace officer and in 2003 for assault with a deadly weapon. He was paroled to Mendocino County in 2009. For Hutchins any conviction for a new serious or violent felony would have resulted in a likely "third strike" sentence of 25 years to life.

Soon after being paroled, he was arrested for kidnapping but the charges were dropped by then-District Attorney Meredith Lintott. Shortly following his release on the kidnapping charges, state parole officers issued a warrant for his arrest for parole violations. Deputies attempted to pull him over in June 2009, but Hutchins sped away and eluded them. One of the deputies broke his leg when a patrol vehicle crashed. Several warrants were subsequently issued for his arrest.

In August he was again spotted by police. After leading officers on a high-speed chase, he abandoned his car dragging a juvenile girl through the brush with him. The victim told police Hutchins had raped her after police had given up the search.

By November 2010 Hutchins had eluded police numerous times and "was wanted for a November 2010 kidnapping, a sexual assault case, a domestic violence case, a car theft, and a residential burglary in Kern County," said Eyster.

Another factor considered by Eyster in reaching his ruling was "there is no question that the suspect was attempting to evade arrest," and that it was reasonable for the deputy to fear Hutchins posed "an imminent threat to people living in the immediate neighborhood and beyond should the defendant succeed in escaping."

Hutchins was the third man shot and killed by Mendocino County Sheriff's Department in 2010. The identities of the officers involved in the two other shootings were never revealed. ..Source.. by Linda Williams/TWN Staff Writer

Sex, lies, and dead inmate cover up at Warren Correctional Institution?

11-12-2010 Ohio:

They say if you live by the sword, you die by the sword. But a metaphorical expression is certainly the last phrase that the grieving family of Steven Roger Smith, Jr. wants to hear. They held his funeral service on Wednesday November 10th, 2010.

Smith had been incarcerated since 2007. He was serving an 18-year sentence for manslaughter and tampering with evidence which also included a gun specification. Rumors resurfaced at Smith's funeral that he was wrongly convicted of the murder.

Smith was found dead on Halloween Day. The preliminary ruling of his death is suicide according to Warren Correctional Institution's public information officer, Julia Walburn.

Walburn stated that the incident is still under investigation by the institution and Ohio Safety Highway patrol.

Bradley Shaw from OSHP Public Affairs Unit provided an Initial Incident Report that states "The victim inmate was found hanging from a bed sheet that was tied to his cell window railing."

Found hanging - took his own life - is what family and friends of Smith were told by prison officials. Later they would learn the horrifying news from inmates who were incarcerated with Smith, and staffers who did not want to be identified, that Smith was murdered.

Allegedly, Smith (African American), was in the institution's kitchen engaged in a sex act with a correctional officer (Caucasian), to whom he'd been involved in a relationship. Another source claims that he was not involved with the staffer, and that he was masturbating in front of her. Source claims that Smith had several disciplinary write-ups for masturbating in front of female staffers.

As punishment, Smith was placed in the hole and allegedly his meal was sprayed with pepper spray.

Sources state that the correctional officer's boyfriend (also correctional officer), became angry after learning about the incident in the kitchen. They say the correctional officer with the assistance of others attacked Smith, hanged him, then planted a bible with pictures of Smith’s loved ones to make it look like a suicide.

If you live by the sword...

Members of Miami Baptist church were Smith was a member didn't know the Steven that lived by the sword. Many of them spoke fondly of him. They remembered a polite young man that taught Sunday school, was a member of the choir, and praise danced. A former Choir Director at the church, sang a soul stirring song, that she originally performed at Smith's private high school graduation ceremony that took place at the church.

Smith may have been laid to rest, but the family and friends of Smith won't rest until they have answers. ..Source.. Franki Butler-Kidd

Police ID sex offender shot to death in Metro-East

11-9-2010 Illinois:

KMOV) -- The Major Case Squad is investigating an early morning shooting near Cahokia, Illinois.

Investigators say Kenneth Chaney, 44, was shot several times and killed while waiting for his girlfriend in her car.

It happened around 4:15 a.m. on Tuesday.

Authorities said that it appears that the killing was not random. Police are leaning toward the theory that the gunman targeted Chaney.

Police also believe the gunman fled on foot.

Authorities are still looking for any witnesses and Crimestoppers also offering $1,000 reward for information.

Kenneth Chaney is a registered sex offender. He was 38 when he was convicted of assaulting a 19-year-old. ..Source.. by KMOV.com

Child abductor, rapist killed in encounter

11-8-2010 India:

CHENNAI: Mohana Krishnan (23), a cab driver who kidnapped a 10-year-old girl and her seven-year-old brother before raping the girl and drowning both the children in a canal, was shot dead on Tuesday.

Mohana was gunned down in Coimbatore in what the police called an encounter. Four days ago, he had asked for mercy killing.

Police said they had to open fire as the accused snatched a revolver from a sub inspector and tried to attack the police party when the policemen fired in self defence, killing him on the spot.

"The accused was being taken to the scene of crime by a team of five personnel in an Eicher van when he snatched a revolver and threatened the policemen to drive him to Palakkad. He then opened fire, injuring two sub inspectors, Muthumalai and Jothi. Our men retaliated. The accused took three bullets, two in the head and one in the chest," Coimbatore city police commissioner C Sylendra Babu told ToI.

"The incident happened at 5.30am today," he confirmed.

The injured policemen have been admitted to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital. The commissioner said sub inspector Muthumalai suffered a bullet injury of the stomach, while Jothi was injured on the right hand. "Muthumalai's condition is a matter of concern," he added.

Mohana Krishnan, while being taken for the potency test – a mandatory procedure in rape cases – on November 4, had pleaded with the police that he be given mercy killing. The public rage at the accused was so much that he was pelted with eggs and footwear when he was brought to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital for medical tests.

Mohana Krishnan had abducted the brother and his sister on October 29 for ransom. The children were waiting for their van to school when Mohana Krishnan came in another vehicle and told them that he was their substitute driver for the day since the regular driver P Renjith Kumar was not on duty. The children got in. An hour later, when Renjith Kumar called up the children's parents saying the children were not to be seen, they informed the police.

Their bodies were fished out of the Tirumurthy Dam, 77 km from Coimbatore. Renjith Kumar told police about Mohana Krishnan, who has served as substitute driver earlier. Police arrested him and his accomplice R Manoharan. Later it turned out that the girl was raped before being drowned.

Even as Tamil Nadu was in a state of shock over the case, a 14-year-old school boy from Chennai was abducted on November 1. The boy was returned after his parents paid a ransom of Rs 1 crore the next day. Last Wednesday, the Chennai police tracked down and arrested the abductors who turned out to be young MBA graduates who had worked abroad and returned to India to make a fast buck. ..Source.. by The Times of India

Fugitive sex offender shot dead

11-7-2010 California:

LUCERNE VALLEY — Sheriff’s detectives shot and killed a fugitive sex offender they say was reaching for a gun when they confronted him Thursday.

William Henry, a 41-year-old resident of Lucerne Valley, was a wanted felon who had removed the GPS tracking device he was required to wear as a term of his parole.

The Sheriff’s Department gave its version of events in a news release issued Friday:

Around 12:35 p.m. Thursday, detectives were watching a home in the 7600 block of Camp Rock Road, where they had learned Henry might be staying.

The detectives saw Henry enter a garage at the residence. When they tried to make contact with Henry, he pointed a handgun at them.

Detectives fired an undetermined number of rounds at Henry, who was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:38 p.m.

The sheriff’s homicide division is investigating the incident.

The Victorville Daily Press reports Henry removed his ankle monitor in September after a fight with his child’s mother.

He was arrested in 2003 for oral copulation of a person under the age of 16, court records show. He was charged with 10 sex crimes, including two counts of raping with a foreign object a person under the age of 16 and four counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child age 14 or 15, according to media reports.

He eventually pleaded guilty to rape and was sentenced to six years in prison. ..Source.. by Hi-Desert Star

Child rapist 'stamped to death in his prison cell by fellow inmate'

8-4-2010 United Kingdom:

A child rapist has allegedly been stamped to death in his prison cell by a fellow inmate.

Robert Coello, 44, who was serving a sentence for sexually assaulting a minor, was found with head injuries in his cell in G wing of HMP Grendon in Buckinghamshire on Sunday.

He was taken to Stoke Mandeville Hospital but pronounced dead later that day, Thames Valley Police said.

The force said a 25-year-old inmate was arrested on Sunday evening before being bailed and returned to prison.

Officers are waiting for results of a post-mortem examination by a Home Office pathologist.

Coello was jailed at Reading Crown Court in August 2006, after admitting four counts of rape and 12 other sexual assaults.

He was serving a minimum seven year sentence.

HMP Grendon opened in 1962 as an experimental psychiatric prison, providing treatment for prisoners with antisocial personality disorders, under the direction of a medical superintendent, according the HM Prison Service website.

It is now run by a Prison Service governor and continues to operate a regime of therapeutic care for offenders.

The prison can house up to 235 inmates in Category B secure conditions, with the six wings operating as autonomous therapeutic communities. Prisoners must be committed to staying drug free while in therapy.

It is believed to be the first time an inmate has been killed in a category B prison.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: 'There has been no change to the type of prisoner held there in recent months, and no change to the vetting process.' ..Source.. by Daily Mail Reporter

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Inmate denies murdering sex offender Robert Coello

10-31-2011:

An inmate killed a sex offender in his cell by kicking and punching him, causing a fatal brain injury, in a "ferocious attack", a court has heard.

Lee Foye, 27, denies murdering Robert Coello, 44, on 1 August 2010 in HM Prison Grendon, Buckinghamshire.

Prosecutor Neil Moore said Foye, who worked out in the gym, despised 11-stone serial child sex offender Coello.

Luton Crown Court heard there was evidence of Foye's footwear on Coello's body but fists may also have been used.

"The evidence is the defendant repeatedly kicked or stamped or both on his head and body," Mr Moore said.

He said two other inmates nearby heard the noise and went to inspect but the window had been covered in tissue paper.

The attack left Coello, originally from Whitley in Berkshire, with multiple fractures.
'Abnormality of mind'

"His head and body were extensively bruised and he suffered a brain injury that caused his death," Mr Moore said.

He said that, after the attack, Foye, originally from Corby in Northamptonshire, removed his bloodied clothes, which were later found in a prison bin.

Mr Moore said that, before the attack, Foye had said of Coello: "People like that should be put down."

At the start of the afternoon court session, Judge Richard Foster told the jury Foye had been taken back to prison because he was feeling unwell.

Mr Moore said psychiatrists found Foye suffered from a social personality disorder and that the defence would argue he had diminished responsibility at the time of the killing.

He urged the jury to consider the lesser charge of manslaughter.

"All those who assessed the defendant, all the experts, say he was suffering from abnormality of the mind at the time of the killing," Mr Moore said.

The case continues. ..Source.. by BBC

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Inmate Lee Foye guilty of prison murder jailed for 35 years

11-15-2011 United Kingdom:

An inmate who beat a sex offender to death in prison has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 35 years after being convicted of murder.

Lee Foye, 26, stamped on Robert Coello, 44, so hard at HM Prison Grendon, Buckinghamshire, that the tread of his shoes could be seen on Coello's body.

Luton Crown Court heard Foye despised the serial child sex offender.

After convicting Foye the jury was told he was serving life for murdering a former lover in front of her son.

Judge Richard Foster said Foye's jail sentence would run concurrently to the 16-year sentence he is serving for his first murder.
Inquiry call

It means Foye cannot even be considered for parole until he is aged 61.

Jailing him at Luton Crown Court the judge said: "It was a callous, premeditated murder of a helpless victim."

Judge Foster said Foye had "manipulated the prison authorities to facilitate" his move to Grendon saying he had chosen Coello as his victim "perhaps because he had been vocal about his own offending."

The judge said: "I hope there will be a full inquiry into how appropriate it was for Lee Foye to be kept at HMP Grendon."

The court heard Coello, of Whitley, Reading, was attacked after he upset prisoners with graphic details of his crimes.

He had been placed in a wing with prisoners who were not sex offenders because the prison was so full and under its regime had been encouraged to talk about his feelings with other inmates, the court heard.

Foye carried out a ferocious attack on Coello after going into his cell and locking the door behind him.

Foye, who had boycotted the trial and was not present for the verdict, cut off both his ears in Woodhill Prison, Milton Keynes, while waiting for the case to come to court.

His defence had argued he should be convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Toddler's cries

Two women jurors cried when the prosecution revealed Foye's previous victim, Lauren Strachan, 19, of Corby, suffered 47 different stab wounds and 28 other injuries in August 2005.

Foye, then 20, was living with another woman at the time and is believed to have gone to Ms Strachan for sex and then killed her when she threatened to tell his girlfriend.

Her body was found the following morning when neighbours heard the cries of her two-year-old son.

Patrick Mandikate, the prison's head of psychotherapy, admitted he was "uneasy" with the decision to place Coello on G Wing last year.

He said: "It was made clear to me in no uncertain terms that we needed to fill these beds no matter who was available." ..Source.. by BBC