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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Coroner: Lieber inmate strangled to death

9-29-2010 South Carolina:

RIDGEVILLE, SC (WCSC) - An inmate found dead Saturday at Lieber Correctional Institution was strangled, according to the Dorchester County coroner.

The inmate, 72-year-old Saverio Piazzola, a male inmate, was found dead in his cell around 6 p.m. Saturday. Piazzola was serving 10 years in prison for criminal sexual conduct with a minor and began serving his sentence in August 2005. He was from Richland County.

The State Law Enforcement Division and the South Carolina Department of Corrections are investigating.

A corrections department spokesman said that there are suspects in mind, but no arrests have been made. ..Source.. by Live5News

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SC prisons officials investigating inmate's death

RIDGEVILLE, S.C. — South Carolina prison officials are investigating the death of a 72-year-old inmate at a maximum security facility in Dorchester County as a homicide.

Corrections Department spokesman Josh Gelinas says Saverio Piazzola (sah-VEHR'-ee-oh pee-ah-ZOH'-lah) was found dead Sunday evening in his cell at Lieber Correctional Institution in Ridgeville.

The Dorchester County coroner's office said Piazzola died from strangulation.


Gelinas said Piazzola had a cellmate and that the department and the State Law Enforcement Division are conducting independent investigations.

Gelinas said it was the second inmate homicide this year. In January, 26-year-old Lamont Perry was stabbed to death at McCormick Correctional Institution. Investigators charged 21-year-old Jack Cooper with murder in that case.

Piazzola was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2005 after he was convicted of criminal sexual conduct with a minor in Richland County. ..Source.. by The State

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Senior found strangled and beaten identified as Robert Moncrief, 65

9-28-2010 Ohio:

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cuyahoga County coroner's office has identified the man found dead Friday at a public-housing high-rise at East 13th Street and Superior Avenue in Cleveland.

Robert Moncrief, 65, was asphyxiated with a ligature and beaten on the head, according to Cuyahoga County Coroner Frank Miller.

Police have not released information about the investigation.

Moncrief, who lived at the Ernest J. Bohn Tower, was the second older man discovered killed in eight days at Cleveland subsidized housing for seniors.

On Aug. 26, the body of 87-year-old Phillip Gossett was found in his fifth-floor apartment in Lupica Towers on Community College Avenue. He, too, was beaten and strangled.

Gossett's case remains under investigation. Police said they do not believe the homicides are connected. ..Source.. by Amanda Garrett, The Plain Dealer


Further research on Robert Moncrief


Notice that Amanda Garrett (Reporter from the Plain Dealer [see above]), in response to a comment from Born2Hang [below, copied from comments following article], admitted she knows that Robert Moncrief was a registered sex offender. Accordingly this qualifies for our blog.

Comment by: Born2Hang on 9-4:

Question: Was his muder in any way related to the fact that Moncrief is a registred sex offender from some 1989 sex crimes against children in Alabama?

"THE VICTIMS WERE HIS DAUGHTERS AND STEPDAUGHTER AGES 8,10,12.SENTENCED TO 3 YEARS IN PRISON AND 7 1/2 YEARS IN PAROLE. " See the sex offender list at either the Cuyahoga County Sheriff web site, or the list at the Ohio Attorney General's site called eSORN.

his description: "GLASSES; SCAR - on throat; SCAR ON BACK - lower back; DENTURES, UPPER; TATTOO ON LEFT ARM - upper arm a little devil w/'raise hell"; TATTOO ON LEFT ARM - lower arm a black panther; TATTOO ON RIGHT ARM - inside lower park of arm a naked woman; DEAF IN RIGHT EAR"

His classification: "(Pre AWA) Habitual Sex Offender With Notification"

Did he harm someone else's child? Did a past vitcim come after him?

It seems pretty personal when someone is strangled to death. But, then again, the other senior citizen was strangled, too, so maybe it is someone preying on these senior citizens' homes. I just thought it was interesting that a habitual sex offender who victimized kids met this fate, and wondered if someone was out for revenge against him.

Obviously no one has to a right to murder someone for their past crimes.


Comment by Amanda Garrett, The Plain Dealer:

FYI: I am aware of his criminal history and had already posed this question to both police and CMHA. Moreover, I have asked whether felons and/or sex offenders are eligible for CMHA housing. I am awaiting those answers.



Later article on who was arrested for Robert Moncrief's murder



Bank robbery suspect Lateeshia Scott charged with murder of Robert Moncrief

CLEVELAND -- A 32-year-old Cleveland woman suspected of robbing four area banks is now accused of murdering a 65-year-old man who was found dead in his apartment earlier this month.

Lateeshia Scott has been charged with the murder of Robert Moncrief at his 12th-floor apartment at the Ernest J. Bohn Tower, 1300 Superior Ave., according to Cleveland police.

Moncrief was found on Sept. 3. He had been strangled and beaten on the head, according to the Cuyahoga County coroner's office.

Scott appeared in Cleveland Municipal Court on Monday. Bond was set at $4 million.

Scott was wanted for robbing a U.S. Bank on West 25th Street on Sept. 4, a Key Bank branch on Broadway on Sept. 14, a Key Bank branch on West 25th on Sept. 17 and a Charter One Bank branch on Euclid Avenue on Sept. 20.

According to court documents, Scott has been charged with only one count of aggravated robbery at this point.

Police arrested Scott at a four-suite building on East 83rd Street on Sept. 22. She was found hiding behind a washer and dryer in a laundry room.

Scott told authorities at the time of her arrest that she was seven months pregnant and was high on crack cocaine, according to Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Koerbel. ..Source.. by Tonya Sams, The Plain Dealer

Friday, September 17, 2010

Police: Man found stabbed was sex offender

9-17-2010 California:

San Bernardino police are probing whether this week's fatal stabbing of a transient had any connection to his status as a registered sex offender.

"We have nothing verifiable at this point," said Lt. Jarrod Burguan, "but we'd be remiss if we weren't at least looking into the possibility."

Javier Jesus Gonzales, 53, was found wounded inside his truck at Evans and F streets just before 7 p.m. Wednesday. He later died at local hospital.

Detectives determined that Gonzales had been fighting with two men in front of a home near 13th and F streets, about four blocks away, minutes earlier. Witnesses reported seeing one of the men stab Gonzales in the upper body, causing him to flee in his truck.

No arrests have been made. Gonzales is registered with the state as a result of a 1987 conviction of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14, records show. He was required to check in with authorities once a month. ..Source.. by PE.com

Dorchester inmate's death a homicide: RCMP

9-13-2010 Canada:

The New Brunswick RCMP are ruling the Friday evening death of an inmate at the Dorchester Penitentiary a homicide.

The RCMP released a statement on Monday that said that based on evidence gained from an autopsy, Daniel Pépin was the victim of a homicide.

Pépin, 44, of Quebec, died after an altercation with another inmate at the Shepody Healing Centre.

The RCMP is continuing its investigation into the death.

Dorchester Penitentiary is a medium-security facility southeast of Moncton that can house 415 offenders, according to its website.

The prison offers special programs and facilities, including the Shepody centre, which is the regional treatment facility for the Atlantic provinces.

The penitentiary provides programs that include anger management, community integration, employability skills, sex offender rehabilitation, family violence prevention and substance abuse treatment. ..Source.. byCBC News

S.J. inmate charged in cellmate's killing (Dup to record death of Phillip Kunkle)

This article is to document the death of "Phillip Kunkle." However the article also mentions the death of Jonathan Guy Alexandere, which is documented HERE (A dup posting of this article)
9-17-2010 California:

STOCKTON - A prisoner at Tracy's Deuel Vocational Institution found dead in June was killed by his cellmate, according to a criminal complaint filed by San Joaquin County prosecutors.

John Joseph Lydon, 37, was convicted previously of murdering a cellmate (also a sex offender) at another California state prison, so this new charge carries a special circumstance, making him eligible for a death sentence.

If prosecutors prove their case against Lydon, this will make the second time in three years that a prisoner at Deuel has murdered a fellow inmate in the same cell.

Lt. Gilbert Valenzuela, a Deuel spokesman, said Lydon and his alleged victim, 49-year-old Jonathan Guy Alexander, were housed together in the sensitive-needs unit designed to protect vulnerable inmates.

While prosecutors say Alexander had been convicted twice of sex crimes, including child molestation in 1993 from Siskiyou County, Valenzuela did not know why Lydon was considered a special-needs inmate.

Deuel officials take Alexander's death seriously, Valenzuela said.

"Anytime we have a murder occur ... of course it's a concern," he said. "We're trying to ensure that all procedures are followed to ensure that doesn't ever happen again."

Lydon, a career criminal once convicted of trying to kill a Hollywood movie executive, now stands charged with first-degree murder and the special circumstance of committing a prior murder. The charges for Alexander's death were filed Sept. 2.

Lydon's criminal history dates back at least 17 years. In the mid-1990s, Lydon accrued multiple convictions for theft, burglary and robbery on the East Coast.

As a fugitive from Boston, Lydon and another man traveled to Los Angeles where in 2000 they met film executive Jeffrey Harstedt, credited with having worked on the Tom Cruise film "Risky Business."

The fugitives hogtied, robbed and stabbed Harstedt, who survived the attack in his home.

Lydon and his accomplice were later arrested in San Francisco and returned to Los Angeles, where a jury convicted them of attempted murder. Lydon received a sentence of 54 years to life in prison.

Lydon in 2004 was housed at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga with Phillip Kunkle, a 60-year-old convicted child molester.

Lydon admitted to strangling Kunkle to death and received another sentence of 15 years to life.


It is unclear if Lydon is housed with another inmate now, but a corrections spokesman said prisoners under investigation are often housed alone in administrative segregation.

San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Robert Himelblau has filed an order to have the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation transport Lydon back to San Joaquin County from California State Prison, Sacramento, for prosecution.

Himelblau said it appears that Lydon strangled Alexander but declined to give more details. Himelblau said he has yet to receive all of the autopsy reports.

Lydon's case is strikingly similar to another murder at Deuel.

In 2007, Rick Henry Kase murdered his cellmate, 28-year-old convicted child molester Randy James Rabelos. Tired of Rabelos' shouting, Kase suffocated him, saying, "Goodbye, Randy."


At Kase's sentencing last year, San Joaquin County Deputy Public Defender Keith Arthur said the crime never should have happened. A judge sentenced Kase to 90 years to life in prison.

"I cannot imagine what was going through the minds of the people at DVI when they housed a convicted child molester with my client," Arthur said at Kase's sentencing.

Lydon is scheduled for an Oct. 5 arraignment in the San Joaquin County Superior Court on the new charges. ..Source.. by Scott Smith, Record Staff Writer

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Inmate: Prison knew of my past

2-10-2011 California:

Man suspected in cellmate slayings says he was abused

An inmate charged with murdering his cellmate at Tracy's Deuel Vocational Institution last year blames prison officials for putting him in the situation that turned deadly.

John Lydon, 37, also claims his recent troubles stem from childhood abuse by notorious Roman Catholic priest John Geoghan, who molested him as a schoolboy in Boston. That personal trauma has created a deep aversion to pedophiles, which he says he carries with him today.

These statements come in a two-page letter Lydon sent in response to one from The Record seeking comment on circumstances of the cellmate's death.

Lydon also says he informed Deuel officials that, in 2004, he killed a child molester who was a cellmate at another California prison. Lydon told them he didn't mind being housed at Deuel with other races. "Just no child molesters."

Lydon then quotes a jailer's reply: "I'll do what I want. This is my prison." He accuses jailers of setting him up.

Deuel spokesman Lt. Gilbert Valenzuela declined to comment on Lydon's letter, citing the ongoing criminal case.

Officials accuse Lydon of strangling 49-year-old Jonathan Guy Alexander to death in June. Lydon was housed with the Siskiyou County man, who was serving time for a 1993 conviction, including child molestation.

In his letter, Lydon all but admits to the killing. The new charge and his previous cellmate's murder now make Lydon eligible for a death sentence.

"I don't deserve the death penalty," Lydon writes. "Child molesters do."

Despite his letter, Lydon has pleaded not guilty to killing his cellmate.

He awaits a May preliminary hearing before San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Terrence Van Oss, who will decide if Lydon should face a jury trial. After that prosecutors will decide the penalty they seek - death or life in prison.

Lydon's letter engenders no sympathy from San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Robert Himelblau.

Himelblau said the letter demonstrates Lydon's self-absorption, a trait that is all too common for criminals who blame everyone else.

"He's a victim in every single scenario," said Himelblau, citing Lydon's attempt to hold the priest in Boston and the jailers at Deuel responsible for his actions.

Lydon has a long criminal history from Massachusetts to California.

He's been convicted throughout his adult life of theft, burglary and robbery. In 2000, he and another man hogtied, robbed and stabbed a Hollywood movie executive, who survived the attack.

Lydon explained in his letter that the executive had asked him and his accomplice to find young boys to make gay porn.

"I'm guilty. I stabbed him," Lydon writes. "But he was no saint."

There's no doubt that Lydon's criminal bent stems from being molested, said Lydon's sister, Mary Gallipeau, who was reached at home in Massachusetts. They were students together at St. Brendan, a Catholic school in Dorchester.

Lydon's claim of child abuse by the priest could not be independently verified. His sister and an uncle, Kevin Mulligan, both said they believed it were true and that it left an indelible mark on his life.

Gallipeau said that as a child she was jealous the priest took her 9-year-old brother to the carnival and not her. She didn't learn until years later that the priest molested her brother at least twice, she said.

The priest, Geoghan, was among the first American clerics discovered to have molested children, and the church paid his victims millions. They were reportedly each paid $80,000 to $300,000.

Geoghan, who was sent to prison for molesting a boy, died at age 68 in 2002 when another inmate strangled him.

Gallipeau said her brother, who also goes by John Mulligan, received a settlement from the Archdiocese of Boston, but not until after he was sent to prison.

In prison, she said her brother hasn't been able to take advantage of counseling, which also is part of his settlement. The abuse causes her brother to harbor enmity for the church and for homosexuals, she said.

"It's been tough on him," Gallipeau said. "His way of thinking is off. He never got the help." ..Source.. Scott Smith

S.J. inmate charged in cellmate's killing

This article is to document the death of "Jonathan Guy Alexander." However the article also mentions the death of Phillip Kunkle, which is documented HERE (A dup posting of this article)
9-17-2010 California:

STOCKTON - A prisoner at Tracy's Deuel Vocational Institution found dead in June was killed by his cellmate, according to a criminal complaint filed by San Joaquin County prosecutors.

John Joseph Lydon, 37, was convicted previously of murdering a cellmate at another California state prison, so this new charge carries a special circumstance, making him eligible for a death sentence.

If prosecutors prove their case against Lydon, this will make the second time in three years that a prisoner at Deuel has murdered a fellow inmate in the same cell.

Lt. Gilbert Valenzuela, a Deuel spokesman, said Lydon and his alleged victim, 49-year-old Jonathan Guy Alexander, were housed together in the sensitive-needs unit designed to protect vulnerable inmates.

While prosecutors say Alexander had been convicted twice of sex crimes, including child molestation in 1993 from Siskiyou County, Valenzuela did not know why Lydon was considered a special-needs inmate.

Deuel officials take Alexander's death seriously, Valenzuela said.

"Anytime we have a murder occur ... of course it's a concern," he said. "We're trying to ensure that all procedures are followed to ensure that doesn't ever happen again."

Lydon, a career criminal once convicted of trying to kill a Hollywood movie executive, now stands charged with first-degree murder and the special circumstance of committing a prior murder. The charges for Alexander's death were filed Sept. 2.

Lydon's criminal history dates back at least 17 years. In the mid-1990s, Lydon accrued multiple convictions for theft, burglary and robbery on the East Coast.

As a fugitive from Boston, Lydon and another man traveled to Los Angeles where in 2000 they met film executive Jeffrey Harstedt, credited with having worked on the Tom Cruise film "Risky Business."

The fugitives hogtied, robbed and stabbed Harstedt, who survived the attack in his home.

Lydon and his accomplice were later arrested in San Francisco and returned to Los Angeles, where a jury convicted them of attempted murder. Lydon received a sentence of 54 years to life in prison.

Lydon in 2004 was housed at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga with Phillip Kunkle, a 60-year-old convicted child molester.

Lydon admitted to strangling Kunkle to death and received another sentence of 15 years to life.


It is unclear if Lydon is housed with another inmate now, but a corrections spokesman said prisoners under investigation are often housed alone in administrative segregation.

San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Robert Himelblau has filed an order to have the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation transport Lydon back to San Joaquin County from California State Prison, Sacramento, for prosecution.

Himelblau said it appears that Lydon strangled Alexander but declined to give more details. Himelblau said he has yet to receive all of the autopsy reports.

Lydon's case is strikingly similar to another murder at Deuel.

In 2007, Rick Henry Kase murdered his cellmate, 28-year-old convicted child molester Randy James Rabelos. Tired of Rabelos' shouting, Kase suffocated him, saying, "Goodbye, Randy."


At Kase's sentencing last year, San Joaquin County Deputy Public Defender Keith Arthur said the crime never should have happened. A judge sentenced Kase to 90 years to life in prison.

"I cannot imagine what was going through the minds of the people at DVI when they housed a convicted child molester with my client," Arthur said at Kase's sentencing.

Lydon is scheduled for an Oct. 5 arraignment in the San Joaquin County Superior Court on the new charges. ..Source.. by Scott Smith, Record Staff Writer

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Inmate: Prison knew of my past

2-10-2011 California:

Man suspected in cellmate slayings says he was abused

An inmate charged with murdering his cellmate at Tracy's Deuel Vocational Institution last year blames prison officials for putting him in the situation that turned deadly.

John Lydon, 37, also claims his recent troubles stem from childhood abuse by notorious Roman Catholic priest John Geoghan, who molested him as a schoolboy in Boston. That personal trauma has created a deep aversion to pedophiles, which he says he carries with him today.

These statements come in a two-page letter Lydon sent in response to one from The Record seeking comment on circumstances of the cellmate's death.

Lydon also says he informed Deuel officials that, in 2004, he killed a child molester who was a cellmate at another California prison. Lydon told them he didn't mind being housed at Deuel with other races. "Just no child molesters."

Lydon then quotes a jailer's reply: "I'll do what I want. This is my prison." He accuses jailers of setting him up.

Deuel spokesman Lt. Gilbert Valenzuela declined to comment on Lydon's letter, citing the ongoing criminal case.

Officials accuse Lydon of strangling 49-year-old Jonathan Guy Alexander to death in June. Lydon was housed with the Siskiyou County man, who was serving time for a 1993 conviction, including child molestation.

In his letter, Lydon all but admits to the killing. The new charge and his previous cellmate's murder now make Lydon eligible for a death sentence.

"I don't deserve the death penalty," Lydon writes. "Child molesters do."

Despite his letter, Lydon has pleaded not guilty to killing his cellmate.

He awaits a May preliminary hearing before San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Terrence Van Oss, who will decide if Lydon should face a jury trial. After that prosecutors will decide the penalty they seek - death or life in prison.

Lydon's letter engenders no sympathy from San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Robert Himelblau.

Himelblau said the letter demonstrates Lydon's self-absorption, a trait that is all too common for criminals who blame everyone else.

"He's a victim in every single scenario," said Himelblau, citing Lydon's attempt to hold the priest in Boston and the jailers at Deuel responsible for his actions.

Lydon has a long criminal history from Massachusetts to California.

He's been convicted throughout his adult life of theft, burglary and robbery. In 2000, he and another man hogtied, robbed and stabbed a Hollywood movie executive, who survived the attack.

Lydon explained in his letter that the executive had asked him and his accomplice to find young boys to make gay porn.

"I'm guilty. I stabbed him," Lydon writes. "But he was no saint."

There's no doubt that Lydon's criminal bent stems from being molested, said Lydon's sister, Mary Gallipeau, who was reached at home in Massachusetts. They were students together at St. Brendan, a Catholic school in Dorchester.

Lydon's claim of child abuse by the priest could not be independently verified. His sister and an uncle, Kevin Mulligan, both said they believed it were true and that it left an indelible mark on his life.

Gallipeau said that as a child she was jealous the priest took her 9-year-old brother to the carnival and not her. She didn't learn until years later that the priest molested her brother at least twice, she said.

The priest, Geoghan, was among the first American clerics discovered to have molested children, and the church paid his victims millions. They were reportedly each paid $80,000 to $300,000.

Geoghan, who was sent to prison for molesting a boy, died at age 68 in 2002 when another inmate strangled him.

Gallipeau said her brother, who also goes by John Mulligan, received a settlement from the Archdiocese of Boston, but not until after he was sent to prison.

In prison, she said her brother hasn't been able to take advantage of counseling, which also is part of his settlement. The abuse causes her brother to harbor enmity for the church and for homosexuals, she said.

"It's been tough on him," Gallipeau said. "His way of thinking is off. He never got the help." ..Source.. Scott Smith

Sebastian County Jail inmate killed by another

9-17-2010 Arkansas:

FORT SMITH — A Sebastian County sheriff’s deputy says a county jail inmate suspected of killing another inmate claims God told him to kill.

Chief Deputy Tommy Young says 25-year-old Ashley Eugene Kaufman is suspected of strangling 64-year-old Gary Wolf Thursday morning in Kaufman’s cell.

It was not known whether Kaufman had an attorney.

Young says Kaufman told deputies he called Wolf into his cell after breakfast and strangled him with his hands then dragged his body into Wolf’s cell.

A deputy delivering medications found Wolf dead in his bunk.

Wolf was being held on charges of molesting two children. Kaufman was being held for kidnapping and battery. ..Source.. by Arkansas Online

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Sebastian County Inmate Strangled In Cell

9-17-2010 Arkansas:

A Sebastian County inmate manually strangled another inmate Thursday morning after luring him into his jail cell, authorities said.

Ashley Eugene Kaufman, 25, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder for allegedly killing Gary Van Wolf, 64, of Fort Smith.

Kaufman told investigators that "God told him to do this," after admitting he killed Wolf.

During the criminal investigation, authorities learned that Kaufman called Wolf into his cell at about 9:30 a.m. and then he "strangled him with his bare hands," said Chief Deputy Tom Young of the Sebastian County Sheriff's Office.

Kaufman then dragged Wolf out of his cell and into Wolf's cell where he placed him on the bed, put a plastic bag around his head and tied a string around it, and then placed a sheet over him, Young said.

Wolf was found by a detention deputy within 20 minutes of his death, authorities said. A deputy passing out medication while making his rounds through a pod was approached by an inmate who told him to check on Wolf.

When the deputy went into Wolf's cell, he found him unresponsive and emergency medical personnel were called to the scene, Young said.

Kaufman told authorities he placed the bag around Wolf so he would suffocate in case he wasn't dead.

Wolf and Kaufman were housed in a protective custody pod away from other inmates. Inmates with sex offense-related charges are usually housed in this pod, Young said. Kaufman was transferred to this pod on Monday after he punched detention deputy Aaron Mariott in the jaw and neck, according to a jail incident report.

Kaufman has been in jail since Aug. 20 after he was arrested for severely battering another man, whom he allegedly bound with tape, kidnapped and dumped in a field, according to a police report.

Fort Smith police were notified that a man, later identified as Scott McLachlan, was found in a field in Dora on Aug. 19. Duct tape had been wrapped around McLachlan's feet and hands and placed over his mouth, according to the report. McLachlan told police that Kaufman stole his pickup and kidnapped him.

Kaufman admitted to officers he had beaten McLachlan and said he wished he had killed him, according to the report.

Other charges Kaufman faces include first-degree domestic battery, kidnapping without releasing the victim, a parole violation, petition to revoke a suspended sentence and second-degree battery for assaulting the deputy, according police and jail reports.

Wolf had been in jail since Sept. 9, charged with two counts of second-degree sexual assault, Young said.

Authorities accused Wolf of putting his hand in the underwear of two minor boys and feeling their genitals, according to a police report. The boys told authorities Wolf told them he lost a tooth and was searching for it in their underwear, according to the report.

An internal investigation into whether policies and procedures were followed at the jail will begin today, Young said. ..Source.. by Amy Sherrill

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Suspected Child Molester Strangled in Jail When Guards Left Inmates Alone

FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) - A report by the Sebastian County Sheriff's Office says jailers left inmates unguarded for an hour during the time an inmate accused of sex crimes with children was strangled.

The Times Record in Fort Smith reports 64-year-old Gary Van Wolf was likely lured from his cell, strangled, then dragged back to his cell. The inmate was found dead Sept. 16.

The sheriff's office has named 25-year-old inmate Ashley Eugene Kaufman as the suspect in the death.

Wolf was charged with two counts of sexual assault for allegedly fondling two boys, something Kaufman learned when he and Wolf made video court appearances.

Three jail employees were reprimanded, but the report also cites problems of overcrowding and too few jail staff members. ..Source.. by MyEyeWitnessNews.com

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Inmate fatally stabbed at Tucker, official says

9-5-2010 Arkansas:

TUCKER — A convicted murderer and rapist serving a life sentence was stabbed to death while working in a prison laundry Thursday morning at the state’s maximum security unit, officials said.

Inmate Eddie Smith Jr., 44, was stabbed once in the neck with a blade from a small pocketknife, prison spokeswoman Dina Tyler said. Officials allege that inmate Charles V. Moorman, who is serving five life sentences, attacked Smith.

“It was a single strike and that was it,” Tyler said.

She said authorities are investigating what led to the altercation, and that the men may have had some sort of “incident” two or three weeks ago leading up to it. She had no further details on what prompted the attack.

Smith was taken to a hospital in Little Rock, where he died Thursday morning, Tyler said. Moorman was in isolation and was being questioned by authorities, she said.

The prison is also investigating how the pocketknife, which is contraband, got into the facility.

Smith was serving a life sentence without parole for the 1996 capital murder of Debbie Halford, a Stuttgart convenience store clerk. He was arrested nearly 10 years after the crime when he was already in prison for three rape convictions.

Moorman, 59, was convicted in 1981 in Pulaski County of three counts of capital murder, one first-degree murder count and an aggravated robbery charge.

“These are maximum security inmates and it shows something that can happen at any minute,” Tyler said. ..Source.. by Arkansas Online.com

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Teen drowned vicar after 'sex abuse'

9-2-2010 United Kingdom:

A UK teenager drowned an 81-year-old vicar and chopped up his body because the man sexually abused him, a court has heard.

Christopher Hunnisett is accused of drowning Ronald Glazebrook in his bathtub before scattering his body parts in nearby forests when he was 17 years old in 2001, the Daily Mail reported.

Reverend Glazebrook offered Hunnisett accommodation at his home in East Sussex in southern England after finding out the boy was having problems with his parents.

But the teenager's friendship with the vicar soon deteriorated, with Hunnisett taking to physically abusing Reverend Glazebrook, force-feeding him and removing light bulbs around the house.

Prosecutors said Reverend Glazebrook wanted Hunnisett out of the home, leading to the killing.

Hunnisett told an earlier trial in 2002 there was nothing sexual about the relationship with Reverend Glazebrook, a position he has changed after his original conviction was quashed.

In the original trial Hunnisett said he had woken up to discover Reverend Glazebrook had drowned in his bath.

In the retrial, taking place at Lewes Crown Court, Hunnisett said he knocked Reverend Glazebrook into the bathtub while fending off a sexual advance, before panicking and cutting up the body.

He then tried to dispose of the body with the help of friend Jason Groves.

The trial continues. ..Source.. by Staff

Jury finds Grammer guilty in murder of homeless man

9-2-2010 Texas:

Jurors met late into Wednesday night before finding a homeless Bryan man guilty of fatally beating a sex offender with a steel pole.

The panel of nine men and two women deliberated for about eight hours in the Brazos County Courthouse. Their verdict came during a tense moment in the courtroom.

As night fell and the jury hadn't reached a decision, lawyers on each side had begun discussions of their own. It's unclear whether they were negotiating a plea deal or any other arrangement. A knock on the jury room door indicating a verdict interrupted their talks.

Danny Grammer and the lawyers were called into the courtroom and District Judge Steve Smith read the decision around 8:40 p.m. Grammer showed no emotion as he stood with his hands clasped in front of him. He retired into a side room to speak with his lawyer while District Attorney Bill Turner turned and shook the hand of Dale Ellis' crying mother.

The punishment phase of the trial is expected to begin at 9 a.m. Thursday. Grammer could face up to a life sentence.

He entered a plea of insanity on the first day of the trial. The main focus of the six days of testimony wasn't whether Grammer killed 20-year-old Ellis -- both sides conceded that -- but what his state of mind was when he did.

Ellis, who was also homeless, was found in an abandoned downtown Bryan Laundromat in February 2009 with multiple large gashes on the front and back of his head.

Grammer told witnesses that he randomly encountered the man in the building and struck up a conversation. The pair knew each other, and it was well known in the homeless community that Grammer disliked Ellis for being a registered sex offender. Grammer was raped as a young child and told residents of a homeless shelter that he wanted to hurt Ellis, witnesses testified.

As they talked, witnesses testified, Ellis began to describe raping a 6-year-old girl and Grammer snapped. He beat Ellis repeatedly, evidence indicated, and left.

Jurors were asked to determine Grammer's mindset when he committed the crime, and lawyers on both sides called experts who gave conflicting opinions. To be successful, Grammer's lawyer needed to convince jurors that Grammer didn't know the difference between right and wrong at the time of the killing. If they found him insane, Smith could have ordered Grammer to enter a treatment facility.

Davis, the defense attorney, called a psychologist, Kim Arredondo, who testified that the killing was spurred by a post-traumatic stress disorder reaction. The pain Grammer carried from when he was raped was so strong that it caused him to enter a dissociative state when Ellis began to describe a similar crime, she said.

"What do you think that would do to a man that has been through what he has been through," Davis asked jurors during his closing argument. "He lost it. He was out of his mind."

Grammer told both psychologists that he blacked out and doesn't remember anything about his crime -- other than picking up the steel pipe and hearing it clang against the ground after he dropped it.

Randall Price, the psychologist called by prosecutors, said he believed Grammer's story. But, Price said, about a third of murderers block their crime from their memory. Forgetting such a traumatic event isn't unique, he said, and it doesn't mean Grammer was insane at the time of the murder.

Turner told the panel that common sense should make their decision clear. Grammer attempted to wipe clean the murder weapon after Ellis died and he lied to investigators in the aftermath of the killing, Turner said.

"Danny Grammer had a reason to be mad at the world," Turner said. "I bet if we look at all our lives there is a reason we can be mad at the world. But for us to survive, we have got to hold that in check." ..Source.. by MATTHEW WATKINS

Grammer Sentenced to 25 Years

9-2-2010 Texas:

A homeless Bryan man was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison after his murder conviction.

Danny Grammer was convicted late Wednesday in the February 2009 beating dath of Dale Ellis. Jurors deliberated almost eight hours before returning their verdict.

Under the sentencing guidelines, Grammer, 24, must serve at least half his sentence before he is eligible for parole, and will get credit for a year-and-a-half of time served.

Ellis’ body was found in a vacant Bryan building; both men were homeless at the time.

Grammer’s responsibility was not in question, but whether he was of sound mind at the time was.

Defense attorneys argued Grammer was criminally insane when he attacked Ellis because Ellis was a known sex offender and Grammer had been sexually abused as a child. ..Source.. by Chace Murphy