First-degree murder charge filed against Kingman man; parts of victim found in desert

11-28-2011 Arizona:

KINGMAN, Ariz. -- A Kingman man accused of killing and dismembering a man he believed had molested his daughter has been jailed on charges that include first-degree murder.

George Loader, 34, was arrested Wednesday after a family member called the Mohave County sheriff's office to report that Loader had killed a man named "John" in the garage of a house in the 2200 block of East Devlin Avenue, police said. The relative said Loader and his girlfriend had been staying at the house while his mother was in Colorado.

The relative told police that Loader said he "lost it" when his 3-year-old daughter told him that "John" had touched her inappropriately, said Detective Jason Elsbury. The relative also told police that Loader said he chopped up the corpse, placed the body parts in bags and dumped them near a dirt track on the outskirts of Kingman.

A deputy found the body parts in the area. Police also recovered evidence at the house that included a bag of human hair, a box of blood-soaked towels and rags, multiple knives and a shotgun.

"The remains were badly burned, and the victim had been decapitated and had limbs removed from his torso," court documents stated.

The victim recently was released from jail and was living with Loader.

Spokeswoman Trish Carter said the sheriff's office was withholding the victim's identity until the medical examiner's office could positively identify the remains. ..Source.. by Dave Hawkins

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Murder victim ID'd, molestation claims unproven

12-4-2011 Arizona:

Investigators with the Mohave County Sheriff's Office said they have been unable to substantiate claims made by a murder suspect that he killed a man because he molested his young daughter.

Although forensic identification of the body is still pending, the Sheriff's Office released the victim's name as John Oppenheim, a 41-year-old Fort Mohave man. Oppenheim was reportedly staying with George Loader, 34, following his release from jail on assault charges stemming from an incident earlier this summer involving his roommate, and resisting arrest.

Though he has not spoken with authorities, a search warrant sought by authorities indicates that Loader made statements to a family member saying that he had killed Oppenheim in a rage after Loader's 3-year-old daughter complained to him of being inappropriately touched. Sheriff's Spokeswoman Trish Carter said detectives have been unable to find evidence substantiating the claim and believe that it did not happen.

Oppenheim is believed to have been killed Nov. 22 but his dismembered and burned body was not discovered until the following day when a person with knowledge of the crime called authorities to report where the body had been dumped.

Loader was indicted last week by a grand jury on first-degree murder charges. ..Source.. by Erin Taylor, Miner Staff Reporter

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Loader Pleads Not Guilty In Ft. Mohave Murder Case

12-12-2011 Arizona:

A Kingman man charged in the murder and dismemberment of a Fort Mohave resident pled not guilty during his arraignment Monday. George Loader, 34, is charged with misconduct involving weapons, abandoning a body and first degree murder in thelate November slaying of 51-year-old John Oppenheim.

Court records indicate Loader told a relative he killed Oppenheim suspecting Oppenheim molested his three-year-old daughter. The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office has reported its investigation determined the suspicion was unfounded.

Loader is held without bond in the Mohave County jail pending a Thursday hearing to review release conditions. More case specifics could emerge during the hearing. ..Source.. by AZI News.com

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Testimony: Single shotgun blast fatal in Kingman dismemberment case

12-18-2011 Arizona:

Authorities say a man killed over what a father has said was retaliation for molesting his daughter was shot in the face before he was dismembered.

The disclosure was made during a hearing Thursday in which Mohave Superior Court Judge Steven Conn said 34-year-old George Loader would continue to be held without bond in the first-degree murder case.

Mohave County Sheriff's Detective Jason Elsbury said Loader and the victim, John Oppenheim, are believed to have met while housed together in the same pod at the Mohave County Jail. Both were released and Oppenheim, 51, was staying with Loader, his girlfriend, their four children and some of Loader's relatives when he was reportedly killed at the home Nov. 22.

Elsbury testified Thursday that Loader's girlfriend said she was changing their 3-year-old daughter's diaper when she noticed a red spot. When she asked the girl what happened, she reportedly pointed at Oppenheim.

The girlfriend told detectives she told Loader about the girl's complaint and saw Loader go into the garage to confront Oppenheim before hearing a "bang," presumably the gunshot.

Elsbury said the Medical Examiner's Office said Oppenheim was shot once in the lower jaw and neck area. He did not specify how the body was dismembered but said investigators found a bloody saw along with bloody clothing and a bag of human hair in the garage.

Loader's girlfriend reportedly admitted to helping clean up the blood in the garage but she is not believed to have helped move the body to a dirt bike track off of Bank Street where the remains were dumped and set on fire. A canister of lighter fluid was found alongside the body, which had been beheaded and had its limbs removed.

All of the remains were found at the dirt bike track with the exception of the fingers, which have still not been found.

Elsbury said that after the murder was called in to authorities by an anonymous caller who was later determined to be a Loader family member, a search warrant was served at Loader's home at 3 a.m. Nov. 24. A 12-gauge pump shotgun believed to be the murder weapon was found in a drawer in his bedroom. The four children in the home were removed at that time and remain in the custody of Child Protective Services.

Elsbury said an examination by a nurse trained in examining sexual assault victims found no evidence that the 3-year-old girl had been molested. Detectives were also unable to corroborate the information in interviews with the girl.

Prosecutor Greg McPhillips said the Mohave County Attorney's Office is reviewing if Loader's girlfriend will face charges. He added that his office has until February to decide whether to pursue the death penalty against Loader. ..Source.. by Erin Taylor, Miner Staff Reporter

Authorities say woman stabbed Diamond Bar man to death before dismembering him

6-2-2011 California:

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - A prosecutor said Thursday that the head and arms of a slain Diamond Bar man were recovered by police Wednesday in two large flower pots at a Bell Gardens house.

The victim, 63-year-old Samuel Wiggins Jr., was allegedly stabbed to death by his girlfriend, Carmen Montelongo of Riverside, then dismembered, authorities said.

Authorities believe both the killing and the dismemberment may have occurred at Wiggins' Diamond Bar home in the 23700 block of Meadow Falls Drive.

"Probably, but we can't be sure," said David Hidalgo, a supervising deputy district attorney in San Bernardino County.

Montelongo is accused of hiding Wiggins' head and arms in two separate flower pots that she delivered to a relative's home in Bell Gardens. She allegedly buried the rest of his body in the backyard of a relative's home in Ontario.

An autopsy was performed Thursday on Wiggins' remains. Based on the examination, a medical examiner found that Wiggins likely died from multiple stab wounds, said Deputy District Attorney Erica Gallegos, who attended the autopsy.

It also confirmed the body's identity through fingerprints, dentures and unique surgical scars, Gallegos said.

Montelongo was arrested Sunday in Ontario after she allegedly exhumed Wiggins' body in the backyard of a relative's home in the 700 block of North Holmes Avenue, then loaded the remains into a trash can.

Police arrested her after she wheeled the container about 200 yards through residential streets.

A cousin who lives at the Holmes Avenue address said this week that Montelongo may have buried the body about a month ago during what she said was a gardening project.

Hidalgo said police aren't certain of Montelongo's motive in her alleged killing of Wiggins. But he said it may have been for financial gain.

Montelongo used Wiggins' credit cards after his disappearance and was also in possession of his car, Hidalgo said.

When she was arrested, Montelongo told an officer that the body in the trash can was that of a man who assaulted her, according to a declaration from Ontario police Detective Al Parra contained in Montelongo's court file.

Montelongo's son and daughter were arrested at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Rancho Cucamonga on suspicion of being accessories to Wiggins' killing.

Daniel Ortiz, 25, and Chanel Alicia Ortiz, 26, have not yet been charged by the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office, but they may be after police deliver reports to prosecutors about the siblings' alleged crimes, Gallegos said.

Daniel Ortiz allegedly helped his mother deliver the flower pots in early May to a relative's home in the 6700 block of Foster Bridge Road in Bell Gardens. One of the pots contained Wiggins' head, and the other contained his arms, Gallegos said.

Gallegos said she did not know Chanel Alicia Ortiz's alleged involvement.

At Wiggins' home on Thursday, his son, daughter-in-law and neighbors were loading a moving truck with the man's possessions.

His daughter-in-law, Michelle Wiggins, said Wiggins' landlord asked his family members to clear out the home as soon as possible.

Michelle Wiggins said that Samuel Wiggins was retired, and a former serviceman who fought in the Vietnam War.

"He was a good man that didn't deserve this," she said. "He was a great father and father-in-law. He's going to be greatly missed."

Wiggins lived in the Meadow Falls Drive home for at least 10 years, neighbors said.

A woman who lives in the neighborhood said she believes Samuel Wiggins and Carmen Montelongo met through the Internet. She said she was unsure how long they dated, though she said she believed it was a short time.

The neighbor, who asked to remain unnamed, said Montelongo and her daughter also lived in Wiggins' home for a brief period.

Montelongo appeared in West Valley Superior Court on Thursday for a brief hearing in which Deputy Public Defender Rebecca Taft was confirmed as her attorney.

Montelongo's only statement during the hearing was "correct," which she said in response to a question from Judge Michael Libutti about whether she wished to be represented by Taft.

Montelongo is in custody in lieu of $1 million bail. She was handcuffed during the hearing and her legs were shackled.

She wore orange scrubs, which indicate she's being housed in the general population area of West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

Taft said during the hearing that she plans to visit Montelongo today. Taft withdrew Montelongo's request at her arraignment Tuesday for reduced bail.

Montelongo is set to return to court Monday. Her children may also be arraigned today or Monday if they are charged in the case, Gallegos said.

Authorities have given conflicting statements as to Montelongo's true name and age.

Montelongo has been identified in some police news releases as Montenegro, but a police spokesman said Wednesday that Montelongo is her true name and Montenegro is an alias.

In mail scattered in the suspect's frontyard in the 6200 block of Indian Camp Road in Riverside, she is identified as Carmen Montelongo. She is also a plaintiff in a lawsuit in San Bernardino County under that name.

Parra identified her as Montelongo in his declaration of probable cause.

Montelongo also uses two different dates of birth - one that makes her 51, and another that makes her 44 - and authorities have given conflicting statements about which they believe is her true age. ..Source.. By Will Bigham Staff Writer

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Money, sex abuse possible motives in trash can body case, says San Bernardino County DA

6-3-2011 California:

Money and sexual abuse are two possible motives investigators are probing in the bizarre case of a Southern California woman charged with stabbing her ex-boyfriend to death, dismembering him and pushing his body parts down the street in a trash can, authorities said.

The San Bernardino County district attorney's office said Carmen Montenegro might have acted for financial gain in the killing of Samuel Wiggins Jr.

Investigators have surveillance video showing Montenegro, 51, using credit and ATM cards belonging to Wiggins after he disappeared on April 20, said David Hidalgo, supervisor of the district attorney's family violence unit. Montenegro also used the 63-year-old Wiggins' car in the days after his disappearance, he said.

Montenegro also told police that she had been sexually abused and authorities are also considering that as a possible motive, Hidalgo said.

Her public defender, Rebecca Taft, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Montenegro has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder and is being held on $1 million bail.

Authorities said she also has a criminal history under the name Carmen Montelongo, but charging documents in the current case list her last name as Montenegro.

An autopsy performed Thursday on Wiggins' remains determined he likely died from multiple stab wounds, Deputy District Attorney Erica Gallegos told The Sun of San Bernardino.

It also confirmed the body's identity through fingerprints, dentures and unique surgical scars, Gallegos said.

Montenegro was arrested Sunday at a house in Ontario, a San Bernardino County city 40 miles east of Los Angeles, after neighbors called police to say a woman was dragging what appeared to be body parts down the street in a 30-gallon trash bin.

Police found a torso and legs at the address, which was the home of some of Montenegro's relatives, and later discovered a head and arms in two large flower pots that Montenegro and her son delivered on Mother's Day to another relative's address in Bell Gardens, near Los Angeles.

The body parts all have been identified as Wiggins' and an autopsy was under way Thursday to determine how Wiggins was killed, authorities said.

Montenegro's two adult children were arrested late Wednesday on suspicion of helping their mother dispose of the remains.

Daniel Ortiz, 25, and Chanel Alicia Ortiz, 26, both of Riverside, were stopped in Rancho Cucamonga and could be charged as early as Friday, Hidalgo said.

It was not immediately clear if they had retained attorneys.

"It's hard to comprehend that someone could be so callous and pushing body parts down the street in a trash can like it was nothing," Hidalgo said. "She was desperate and she was looking for people to help her dispose of the body."

Authorities believe Montenegro killed Wiggins at his home in Diamond Bar, in Los Angeles County, and then transported the remains to her relative's home in Ontario, where she buried the body parts. She dug several deep holes and told relatives she was re-doing the garden, Hidalgo said.

Investigators have also discovered carpet at a home in Riverside where Montenegro was renting storage space, Hidalgo said. The carpet was in a large cardboard box that was used to deliver a sofa and is believed to have come from the victim's house, he said.

At some point, Montenegro uncovered the body and put the head and arms in flower pots that were delivered to the Bell Gardens address, he said.

A family member of Montenegro's, Matthew Bell, told The Sun that he saw Montenegro in a hole in the backyard of his grandmother's house on Sunday. He said he also saw her throw body parts in the trash can and that she offered him $5,000 to help dispose of the remains.

Bell said he instead went to call police and that Montenegro followed him with the trash can, still pleading for help.

She was arrested about 200 yards from the home. ..Source.. by Gillian Flaccus

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Money possible motive in US trash can body case

6-3-2011 California:

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Money and sexual abuse are two possible motives investigators are probing in the bizarre case of a Southern California woman charged with stabbing her ex-boyfriend to death, dismembering him and pushing his body parts down the street in a trash can, U.S. authorities said.

The San Bernardino County district attorney's office said Carmen Montenegro might have acted for financial gain in the killing of Samuel Wiggins Jr.

Investigators have surveillance video showing Montenegro, 51, using credit and ATM cards belonging to Wiggins after he disappeared on April 20, said David Hidalgo, supervisor of the district attorney's family violence unit. Montenegro also used the 63-year-old Wiggins' car in the days after his disappearance, he said.

Montenegro also told police that she had been sexually abused and authorities are also considering that as a possible motive, Hidalgo said.

Her public defender, Rebecca Taft, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Montenegro has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder and is being held on $1 million bail.

Authorities said she also has a criminal history under the name Carmen Montelongo, but charging documents in the current case list her last name as Montenegro.

An autopsy performed Thursday on Wiggins' remains determined he likely died from multiple stab wounds, Deputy District Attorney Erica Gallegos told The Sun of San Bernardino.

It also confirmed the body's identity through fingerprints, dentures and unique surgical scars, Gallegos said.

Montenegro was arrested Sunday at a house in Ontario, a San Bernardino County city 40 miles east of Los Angeles, after neighbors called police to say a woman was dragging what appeared to be body parts down the street in a 30-gallon trash bin.

Police found a torso and legs at the address, which was the home of some of Montenegro's relatives, and later discovered a head and arms in two large flower pots that Montenegro and her son delivered on Mother's Day to another relative's address in Bell Gardens, near Los Angeles.

The body parts all have been identified as Wiggins' and an autopsy was under way Thursday to determine how Wiggins was killed, authorities said.

Montenegro's two adult children were arrested late Wednesday on suspicion of helping their mother dispose of the remains.

Daniel Ortiz, 25, and Chanel Alicia Ortiz, 26, both of Riverside, were stopped in Rancho Cucamonga and could be charged as early as Friday, Hidalgo said.

It was not immediately clear if they had retained attorneys.

"It's hard to comprehend that someone could be so callous and pushing body parts down the street in a trash can like it was nothing," Hidalgo said. "She was desperate and she was looking for people to help her dispose of the body."

Authorities believe Montenegro killed Wiggins at his home in Diamond Bar, in Los Angeles County, and then transported the remains to her relative's home in Ontario, where she buried the body parts. She dug several deep holes and told relatives she was re-doing the garden, Hidalgo said.

Investigators have also discovered carpet at a home in Riverside where Montenegro was renting storage space, Hidalgo said. The carpet was in a large cardboard box that was used to deliver a sofa and is believed to have come from the victim's house, he said.

At some point, Montenegro uncovered the body and put the head and arms in flower pots that were delivered to the Bell Gardens address, he said.

A family member of Montenegro's, Matthew Bell, told The Sun that he saw Montenegro in a hole in the backyard of his grandmother's house on Sunday. He said he also saw her throw body parts in the trash can and that she offered him $5,000 to help dispose of the remains.

Bell said he instead went to call police and that Montenegro followed him with the trash can, still pleading for help.

She was arrested about 200 yards from the home. ..Source.. by WFAA.com

CO- Son Dismembered Dad After Being Raped

Jeremiah Berry Says His Father Wanted Son To Become Wife

5-19-2008 Colorado:

CORTEZ, Colo. -- A 20-year-old man accused of killing and dismembering his father told police that after his father raped him, he shot his father, skinned and decapitated him and then fed his flesh to coyotes, according to court documents obtained by the Cortez Journal.

Jeremiah Berry was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder. Police started searching for Jack Berry, 42, on April 28, after family members in Arizona claimed he had been missing for some time.

Deputies with Montezuma County Sheriff's Department later found body parts -- some encased in concrete -- at various locations in the county.

According to a search warrant affidavit, on April 29, Jeremiah Berry confessed to police. He said that on or about Feb. 19, his father told him that God instructed him that his son needed to get a sex change and become his wife, according to the affidavit obtained by the Journal.

Shortly after that, he was raped, Jeremiah Berry said.

He said after the assault, his father threatened to take him to the mountains and "make 'Jerry' his girlfriend," the affidavit said. His father also threatened to kill him and the rest of his family, the Journal reported.

Jeremiah Berry said he shot his father in the back of the head and then stabbed him 199 times with a knife and dismembered him with an ax, according to the affidavit. Jeremiah Berry said he removed the head, the hands and the feet and skinned the body, feeding the flesh to coyotes.

For the next two days, Jeremiah Berry carried the body out of the canyon in five-gallon buckets, the affidavit said. The two buckets containing his father's head, hands and feet, he put in a storage room at a local dog kennel.

Police seized the buckets with a search warrant and a CT scan showed that one bucket -- which was encased in concrete -- contained what were believed to be a man's hands and feet, according to the affidavit.

Cortez is about 250 miles southwest of Denver, in the Four Corners region. ..more.. by Denver Channel.com

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Records suggest son killed, dismembered father after being raped

5-16-2008 Colorado:

Court documents regarding a Montezuma County man charged with killing his father detail a gruesome narrative, in which the accused allegedly shot his father in the head after being raped, and then skinned and decapitated the body.

Jeremiah R. Berry, 20, was charged with second-degree murder Wednesday in county court for allegedly killing his father, Jack Berry, 42, dismembering him and placing body parts at various locations in the county.

According to a Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office search warrant affidavit obtained Thursday, Jeremiah “Jerry” Berry confessed to authorities on April 29 that he “shot Jack Berry in the back of the head with a pistol.” The shooting occurred on or about Feb. 19.

The affidavit states that Jack Berry and Jeremiah Berry were transporting some sheep to a canyon south of 30920 Colorado Highway 184. Jeremiah Berry stated that his father told him he was instructed by God that his son needed to get a sex change and become his wife, according to the affidavit. At that time, Jeremiah Berry said, his father raped him. He then allegedly shot Jack Berry in the back of the head.

Jeremiah Berry told authorities he shot Jack Berry because his father wanted to take him into the mountains and “make ‘Jerry’ his girlfriend,” according to the affidavit. At that point, Jack Berry made threats to kill his son and the rest of his family.

Following the alleged murder of his father, Jeremiah Berry said, he stabbed the body 199 times with a knife, which he then used with an ax to dismember Jack Berry, according to the affidavit. Jeremiah Berry reported that he removed the head, along with the hands and feet, skinned the body and fed the flesh to coyotes. For the next two days, Jeremiah Berry carried the body out of the canyon in five-gallon buckets.

Jeremiah Berry was living at 30920 Highway 184 “for some time,” according to the affidavit. Another portion of the affidavit states Jeremiah Berry said the shooting occurred at the door of an outbuilding at that location, which is south of Dolores.

Court records indicate some details of the homicide might still need to be clarified. For instance, although the affidavit indicates from Jeremiah Berry’s grandmother that he might have shot his father with a .22-caliber rifle at 30920 Highway 184, further information notes that he might have shot Jack Berry in the back of the head with a 9 mm handgun in a cab-over camper trailer on the same property.

After admitting to the murder, Jeremiah Berry told authorities he placed the head, torso and feet in the back of his father’s pickup truck, according to the affidavit. He said he disposed of the murder weapon, a double-bit ax and three knives in the Animas River in Durango. After that, Jeremiah Berry said, he placed two buckets containing his father’s head, hands and feet in a storage room at the Dog Hotel, a dog kennel located at 33350 Highway 184.

The affidavit notes that the buckets were recovered during the execution of a search warrant on April 29. A preliminary CT scan of one bucket at Southwest Memorial Hospital revealed what was believed to be hands and feet.

A police interview with the property owner of 30920 Highway 184, Elizabeth Griffits, states that Jack Berry was living in a camping trailer on the land for about six months, according to the affidavit. Griffits said she last saw Jack Berry in mid-February and thought he left the region for Idaho, Montana or Canada. There was no indication in court documents that Griffits has any connection with the case.

According to court documents, local and state investigators have searched at least four county locations: 30920 Highway 184; 6258 U.S. Highway 160, south of Cortez, which is owned by Jeremiah Berry’s mother, Rita Berry; 1208 Florida Road, Durango, at the Florida Village Apartment complex; and the Dog Hotel, 33350 Highway 184.

Although court records were sealed at the time, a Colorado Bureau of Investigation search warrant that was posted to an outbuilding at 30920 Highway 184 on May 5 indicated officials were looking for items ranging from human remains to firearms. An inventory list posted on the outbuilding described 30 items taken from the property, including eight firearms, ammunition, shell casings, a machete, sword, knife, hammer, hatchet, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and contents of a burn pile.

No body parts were discovered at Rita Berry’s residence, the Florida Village Apartment complex or at 30920 Highway 184, according to inventory lists included with court documents.

Items seized at 33350 Highway 184 include two bags of bones, blood swabs from the area and a 55-gallon drum with contents, according to an inventory list in the court file.

A woman at a residence near the Dog Hotel on the 33350 Highway 184 property declined to comment or identify herself Thursday.

On May 1, Montezuma County Sheriff Gerald Wallace said an area of the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation was also searched for human remains. Jeremiah Berry said he placed his father’s torso on the reservation, according to the affidavit.

Evidence, such as body parts, was sent to a CBI laboratory in Grand Junction for examination and DNA testing to help identify the victim, Wallace said on May 1.

Attorneys representing the Cortez Journal filed a motion Monday in Montezuma County Court requesting that previously sealed court documents, such as search warrants, inventory lists, court filings, motions and arrest affidavits, be made public.

County Judge Todd Plewe unsealed court documents dealing with Jeremiah Berry’s case Wednesday. Public documents pertaining to Berry were previously sealed at the request of 22nd Judicial District Attorney Jim Wilson.

In his response to the Journal’s motion, Wilson said the investigation of Jeremiah Berry’s case was “active” and “ongoing.” Wilson agreed to the Journal’s motion in court Wednesday and advised the judge to unseal court documents immediately.

A gag order, or motion to limit pretrial publicity, remains in place. Plewe approved the gag order May 7 at the request of public defender Pam Brown, who is representing Jeremiah Berry.

During a phone conversation Thursday, Wilson declined to comment further on the particulars involving Jeremiah Berry.

“I can’t get into specifics,” Wilson said, citing the gag order.

The district attorney also chose not to discuss his reasoning for charging Jeremiah Berry with second-degree murder instead of first-degree murder, which involves premeditation.

“I can’t talk about things that led me to second-degree murder rather than first degree,” he said.

Brown declined to comment on the case Thursday.

Jeremiah Berry is being held at the Montezuma County Detention Center on a $500,000 bond. A preliminary hearing for Berry is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. June 20 in county court. ..more.. by Steve Grazier at steveg@cortezjournal.com.

Prosecutor: 'Thrill kill' led teens to murder, decapitate man

11-30-2007 Case Update


These handout photos show Alexander James Letkemann, left, and Jean Pierre Orlewicz, suspects in the murder of Daniel Sorenson. They are accused in the planning, ambush and slaying of 26-year-old Daniel Sorenson last Wednesday in a Canton Township garage owned by Orlewicz's grandfather, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said. ( Courtesy Canton Police Department)
CLICK Select: "Thrill Kill Update: Trail of Evidence"
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NORTHVILLE TOWNSHIP -- In announcing the arrests of two teenagers today, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said they stabbed Daniel G. Sorensen to death, sawed off his head and used a blow torch to burn his body simply for the thrill.

"All of us have seen every type of crime available and why someone would kill for the thrill of it amazes us," Worthy said at a press conference at the Northville Township Police Department.

Sorensen, 26, of River Rouge, was found dead Thursday at the end of a yet-to-be-developed subdivision cul-de-sac in Northville Township off Ridge Road just south of Maybury State Park. His severed head was found Saturday in a section of Hines Park located in Dearborn Heights.

Jean Pierre Orlewicz, 17, of Plymouth and Alexander James Letkemann, 18, of Westland, were arraigned via video today in Romulus District Court on charges of premeditated murder, felony murder and mutilation of a corpse. The homicide charges carry sentences of up to life. A preliminary exam is set for Nov. 19 at 35th District Court in Plymouth.

Sorensen had owed Orlewicz "small amounts" that weren't a factor in the premeditated killing, Worthy said. The men were acquaintances, but she declined to further detail their relationship. The pair killed Sorensen in a Canton Township home owned by Orlewicz's grandfather, Worthy alleged.

"They lured him into a garage where a space had been prepared to kill him," Worth said.

Worthy said the pair stabbed Sorensen in the back multiple times, then sawed off his head. The garage had been prepared with a tarp on the floor and cleaning supplies standing by to clean up the blood. She called the killing "bone-chilling."

It is alleged the pair tried to conceal the identity of the victim by using a blow torch to burn his hands and feet. Gasoline was used to set the body on fire after it was dumped in the empty lot in Northville Township.

"I'm very shocked," said Jack Ryan, 59, out walking his dog Monday on the same block of Holly Lane in Canton Township where the slaying allegedly took place on Wednesday. Although he noticed police in the neighborhood this morning, he didn't see detectives and crime scene technicians collecting evidence from the garage near his home over the weekend.

"Nothing goes on in the neighborhood. At night, you don't hear anything," Ryan said about the working-class street where he has lived for 25 years.

He added that he didn't know the victim or his grandfather because his neighbors all work hard and keep to themselves.

Worthy said Sorensen's status as a sex offender had nothing to do with his death. His name is listed on registries in Michigan and Illinois for a 1998 incident in Illinois.

State Police forensic science technicians were able to identify Sorensen with one clear fingerprint. Tips from unnamed sources led police to find Sorensen's head and his pickup truck Friday night in the parking lot of a Meijer store at Newburgh and Warren in Westland.

Policed announced Friday night three persons of interest had been identified and arrest warrants were being sought. Police declined to confirm whether anyone was under arrest. Worthy said only Letkemann and Orlewicz are under arrest, but the investigation of the potential involvement of others continues.

"Investigators have worked tirelessly, virtually around the clock, gathering information, developing leads, collecting evidence, and executing search warrants," said John Werth, director of public safety for Northville Township.

"By putting the pieces together, we were able to determine who was responsible for this terrible act and where the death took place. Due to the incident's complexity and the numerous details that have arisen, no further information will be available until the preliminary examination."

With help from Michigan State Police, Livonia, River Rouge, Wayne County Sheriff's deputies and Canton and Plymouth townships, it took detectives just 34 hours to solve the case.

"As a result of a multi-jurisdictional collaborative effort by numerous law enforcement agencies the Canton Police were able to arrest and charge two individuals for this horrific and heinous crime," said Director of Public Safety, John Santomauro.

Northville Township Police needed just 17 hours to unravel the homicide of Cheryl Lynn Boeskool, 44, of Garden City, who found floating on Aug. 7 in a retention pond at Country Club Village on Haggerty near Six Mile. Police determined she had been had killed by multiple blows to her head and face and her body dumped in the pond.

Her boyfriend, Thomas Joseph Roe, 62, awaits trail after allegedly confessing to the slaying.

The killing is at least the second in Metro Detroit involving decapitations. In Macomb County, Stephen Grant faces an upcoming trial on allegations he strangled his wife in their Washington Township home and dismembered her body before strewing it in a nearby park. ..more.. by Doug Guthrie (734) 462-2674 or dguthrie@detnews.com.

See Background Articles for more information on this case!

Bloody vengeance

'Dark Angel' kills & mutilates her stepdad over sex abuse: probers
7-30-2007 New York

She lured her stepfather to a Queens apartment, then handcuffed, asphyxiated and sexually mutilated him - all to settle a horrific score from two decades ago, sources said.

Cops investigating the twisted slaying of Eric Goodridge, 55, believe stepdaughter Brigitte Harris, 26, cut off his penis to exact revenge for alleged sex abuse when she was a girl, law enforcement officials said yesterday.

Harris, who called herself the Original Dark Angel and Lady Vengeance, left chilling notes in her Rockaways apartment accusing Goodridge of abuse and justifying her crime, sources said.

"He wrecked my life," read one note found near her stepfather's body Saturday. "At first, I blamed myself. Now I know it's not my fault," another said.

"She planned this - it was premeditated," a law enforcement source said. "In her mind, it was justified vengeance."

Police recovered a bloody knife and caught up with Harris after she checked herself into a mental hospital and ranted incoherently about the slaying.

Goodridge, an emigrant from the West African nation of Liberia, had arrests for reckless endangerment in 1978 and menacing in 1982, but no details were available.

Harris was born in 1981.

Police said Harris sent e-mails to Goodridge to lure him to her apartment. Then she handcuffed him to a chair, gagged him with duct tape and throttled him until he died, authorities said.

He was already dead when she cut off his penis, officials said, noting there would have been much more blood if he had been alive when it was severed.

"This is a homicide that had meaning and reason," said one source. "It is like a movie, let me tell you."

The cause of death was "homicidal violence, including gagging and neck compression," according to a medical examiner's spokeswoman.

Goodridge lived in Staten Island when he was married to Harris' mom. He later married another woman, who died five years ago.

That woman's mother defended Goodridge yesterday as a decent dad to his other children, who are now orphaned.

She acknowledged hearing rumors that Goodridge had abused Harris - but she didn't think it was true.

"I would die if I could believe that," said his former mother-in-law. "He wouldn't pay child support, but I wouldn't believe that."

But a former brother-in-law said he had also heard of the sex abuse claims long before Goodridge's shocking death.

"It stands to reason if someone pulls a Lorena Bobbitt, there's a good reason," he said.

Harris has twice made criminal complaints against her stepsister Carleen Goodridge, once for grand larceny and once for assault.

Carleen Goodridge said she couldn't talk about the dark family secrets behind the slaying.

"It will all come out," she said outside her home in Staten Island.

The family arranged for a lawyer to represent Harris, but the lawyer told the Daily News he had not spoken with her yet.

The relatives said Goodridge told them he worked for the government of Liberia, but a diplomat at Liberia's Mission to the United Nations said she had never heard of him.

Harris works for a private security company at Kennedy Airport and is not a government airport screener, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration said. ..more.. by ALISON GENDAR, JOE GOULD and DAVE GOLDINER

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Shrinks say 'there's a message' in brutal attack
7-30-2007 New York

She called herself Lady Vengeance and the Original Dark Angel.

And her music blared with violent lyrics: "I will be avenged/ these are the secrets/ that kill."

Brigitte Harris saw herself dispensing wrath and retribution, her MySpace online profile shows. And by sexually mutilating the man who sources say she accused of sexually abusing her, Harris acted out a bloody version of payback, experts said.

"That she killed in this particular fashion would be revenge. For a woman to do this to her stepfather, it says 'abused' all over it," said Dr. Louis Schlesinger, a professor of forensic psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

"Castration, there's a message there: She's basically eliminating the technique of abuse," he said.

Harris, 26, allegedly lured 55-year-old Eric Goodridge to her apartment via e-mail.

Goodridge was found there handcuffed to a chair, with his genitals cut off and duct tape around his mouth.

While authorities will investigate her sex abuse allegations, "it's extremely rare" for victims to kill their abusers, said forensic psychologist Dawn Hughes.

"Was she still being abused and still feeling controlled by this individual?" Hughes asked. "Was she acting in her own salvation to prevent a future occurrence?"

Harris last logged on to MySpace on Saturday, the same day sources believe she placed a 911 call reporting the slaying.

She lists her mood as "depressed" and says she'd like to meet "anyone who can save me."

The angry song "Ghostflowers" by the metal band OTEP plays on the page.

She declares in a June 2006 blog post that "cocaine is a helluva drug" and apologizes "2 any1 i may have hurt ... i was pretty wasted." ..more.. by JORDAN LITE

Dismembered Body Near Utah-Wyoming Line Was Sex Offender

5-9-2005 Utah:

The Summit County Sheriff's Office on Monday identified severed human remains found last month near the Wyoming state line as those of a 50-year-old convicted sex offender.

Chief Deputy Dave Booth said investigators believe John Mayo, of Salt Lake City, had been missing since mid-May or the first part of June.

The department launched a search after a Union Pacific railroad employee found the first body part April 18 on a frontage road while checking track near Interstate 80. Deputies scouring the area over the next five days produced a human torso, two hands, a foot and several bones–but still no head.

Booth said the body was identified after the state crime lab rehydrated Mayo's hands so they could take fingerprints, and verified by medical records checked against a skeleton reassembled from the parts deputies could recover.

Booth said investigators are following up on several leads, but still don't have a motive in the death.

Mayo was convicted of second-degree felony forcible sex abuse in 1991 and listed in the state sex offender registry. ..more.. by KUTV

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Man Tells Police Why Sex Offender's Body Was Cut Up

Mark Carlson Gives Utah Authorities Info On Grisly Crime

8-18-2005 Utah:

SALT LAKE CITY -- Mark Allen Carlson, arrested this week for questioning in the slaying and dismemberment of a convicted sex offender, said John Mayo was killed by another man because Mayo sexually abused children.

"He (Carlson) was very cooperative," said Dave Booth, Summit County chief deputy sheriff. "He offered a lot of insight, as we knew he would be able to."

Carlson told a sheriff's detective on Tuesday that Mayo, 49, was killed and dismembered in early June 2004 in Salt Lake City, Booth said. Carlson claims he witnessed the crimes but did not participate.

A Union Pacific railroad employee found the first body part April 18 on a frontage road while checking track near Interstate 80 and the Wyoming border. A search of the area resulted in other body parts being found along a seven-mile stretch of the Interstate. Mayo's head was never found.

Booth said Carlson claimed the perpetrator was a man currently in federal custody in Utah. Booth declined to name the suspect or say whether charges were imminent.

Booth said Carlson claimed the other man killed Mayo because he sexually abused children. Mayo pleaded guilty in November 1991 to forcible sexual abuse. The victim was a child.

Booth said the murderer wasn't driven by vigilantism.

"It was more, 'I just don't like your lifestyle. I don't like what you've done in the past,'" Booth said.

Carlson told the detective that he and the other man were under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of Mayo's death, Booth said.

Booth declined to say how Mayo died, but said he believes Mayo was dead before he was sawed up.

While Carlson said he didn't participate in the killing or dismemberment, he has admitted to disposing of the body parts, Booth said.

He also has told investigators where he and others disposed of Mayo's head, which searchers have not yet found and Booth said "I doubt we ever will." He said the head was discarded in a different location than the other body parts.

Investigators believed Carlson, who also goes by the name "Neptune," had information about the case. The Utah Division of Adult Probation and Parole issued a warrant for him on March 21 for walking away from a halfway house in Salt Lake City. He had been on parole after serving prison time for receiving and transporting a stolen vehicle. Officers with the U.S. Marshals Service apprehended him Tuesday at a West Valley City convenience store.

Carlson has been returned to the prison. ..more.. by The Denver Channel

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Details Emerge in Murder, Dismemberment Case

8-17-2005 Utah:

Chief Deputy Dave Booth, Summit County Sheriff's Office: "He's claiming he's not the killer, he did give us the name of the killer."

The Public Enemy Number One busted yesterday shares his story with detectives. When a fugitive team snatched up Mark Allen Carlson 24 hours ago, they turned the key to a year-old murder mystery.

Summit County believed Carlson knew about the murder of John Mayo, whose dismembered body was found along I-80 in Summit County. Until last night investigators did not have a lot to go on in the murder of John Mayo, but Carlson told police where it happened, how it happened and how they disposed of the body.

When agents caught up with Mark Allen Carlson, Summit County was eager to talk to the man who goes by the name "Neptune." Detectives say he gave them what they needed in the murder of John Mayo.

Chief Deputy Dave Booth: "They gleaned just a tremendous amount of information from him; he was very cooperative."

Mayo's dismembered body was found along a frontage road for I-80 not far from the Wyoming border. Carlson's story provided new information and confirmed detectives' theories.

Chief Deputy Dave Booth: "He saw what happened and saw what occurred, and to some extent participated, but he's claiming he's not the killer."

Carlson told investigators the killer and his friends used to hang out with Mayo at his house on Lake Street here in Salt Lake City. Carlson also told investigators that's where the murder happened in May 2004. But Carlson says he did not kill Mayo, even though he did help dispose of the body.

Carlson also told investigators why the man killed Mayo, who was a convicted child molester.

Chief Deputy Dave Booth, Summit County Sheriff's Office: "It was just a simple matter of he didn't didn't appreciate his criminal history, the things he had done, the lifestyle he was living, and decided to put an end to mister mayo."

Police say Carlson is a white supremacist gang member, but they do not think the accused killer has gang ties. Investigators will not name the accused killer but say he was a suspect early in the investigation. Carlson confirmed it.

Chief Deputy Dave Booth: "The information he gave us, matched up with what we found."

The accused killer is in prison on a federal parole violation and is not going anywhere. Summit County Detective will work with Salt Lake City detectives to put together the case. ..Source.. by Jed Boal Reporting