Elizabeth Twp. girl, 13, kills dad, alleges sex abuse

7-31-2007 New Jersey:

Hours after killing her father with a shotgun blast to the face, Rachel Booth told investigators and a neighbor why she did it.

Her father had been sexually abusing her for years, Booth, 13, of Elizabeth Township, told neighbor Suzanne Gruber, 20.

"She said, 'I'm not a bad person,' " said Gruber, who accompanied Booth, a seventh-grader enrolled in the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, to the police station. Investigators confirmed that Booth told them she couldn't take the abuse any longer and "had enough."

Booth picked up her father's 12-gauge shotgun at 2:22 a.m. Monday and leveled it at him. Matthew Booth Sr., 34, was lying on a bed in the first floor of the family's Pitt Street home, according to Allegheny County police. She fired once, killing him nearly instantly, police said.

Rachel Booth appeared in Pittsburgh Municipal Court, wrists and ankles shackled, eyes downcast and face drawn.
She didn't speak during a brief hearing in front of District Judge Anthony Saveikis, who ordered her held without bond in the county jail on a criminal homicide charge.

The girl's mother, Michelle Fazek, 33, of White Oak, said she had filed numerous complaints during the past few years with police and the county Office of Children, Youth and Families about the deplorable conditions of the home in which her daughter and son, Matthew Booth Jr., 14, were living.

CYF officials didn't return calls for comment.

"My kids never told me specifically that they were being abused, but they looked like they were, and I always suspected it," Fazek said after her daughter's arraignment. "I tried to get someone to help her and no one would listen, and now my 13-year-old daughter is in jail."

Fazek and Matthew Booth Sr. never married but had three children together. She filed for three protection-from-abuse orders against him, and he filed one against her, court records show. They finally split in April 2005 after Booth was charged with pointing an unloaded shotgun at Fazek and pulling the trigger. It was not clear yesterday how that case was resolved.

In September, Booth was granted custody of both children, and Fazek was given custody of another daughter, age 12.

On Feb. 16, 2006, Rachel Booth called Fazek early in the morning screaming that she had tried to commit suicide, according to court records. A week later, Matthew Booth Sr. called Fazek and said Rachel Booth had been sexually assaulted two months earlier by a family friend, who later committed suicide, court records state.

Matthew Booth Sr. told Fazek that Rachel Booth was receiving care related to the incident, according to a petition filed by Fazek in March 2006.

CYF opened an investigation and learned the girl had been out of school for 45 days.

When county police detectives arrived at the home, they found animal urine, feces and garbage on the floors, and the rooms teeming with fleas and other insects. A broken window allowed cats to come and go.

"There were many animals in there that were in bad shape," said township police Chief Robert W. McNeilly Jr.

McNeilly said humane society officers removed from the home four dogs, a cat and her kitten, and two degus, which are small rodents. The dogs were thin and missing hair, he said, possibly because of fleas.

Neighbor Jason Mervosh, 37, called Matthew Booth Sr. a friend and said the two enjoyed fishing and hanging out.

"He liked the outdoors," Mervosh said.

Mervosh said Booth had struggled financially but recently found work.

"He was trying to live as best he could," Mervosh said. "He just started to get on his feet and make money. He wasn't a bad guy. He was trying to do the best he could."

Fazek said she'll do whatever she can to win her daughter's freedom, and she refuses to mourn her children's father.

"He deserved what he got," Fazek said. "May he rest in hell." ..more.. by Jill King Greenwood and Karen Zapf

FL- Palatka pair found slain

Posted in Related Deaths

7-28-2007 Florida:
A man and woman were found dead Friday in a mobile home outside Palatka in what authorities say appears to be a double homicide.

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office identified the victims as 36-year-old Terrance Eugene McCloud and 30-year-old Carley Ann Collum. Investigators don’t yet know when they died or how they were killed.

Friday night, investigators believed it was not a murder-suicide, said Maj. Gary Bowling, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office.

Worried co-workers of Collum, who was employed at the PRC call center in Palatka, led to the grisly discovery shortly after noon.

During their lunch break, the co-workers went to Collum’s home in the Silver Lake Oaks Mobile Home Park and became concerned when they saw her car parked outside and got no response at the door.

The park’s manager then opened the mobile home and discovered McCloud’s body inside.

Collum also missed work on Thursday. That prompted a welfare check call to deputies, who went to the home and saw nothing unusual from the outside, Bowling said.

Investigators confirmed Collum was alive late Wednesday and early Thursday.

The mobile home is in Lot 43, next to a vacant lot where four cars were parked.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigators spent Friday afternoon taking photographs and collecting evidence. Yellow crime scene tape kept neighbors from getting close.

Family members of both McCloud and Collum were called by police to the area, but knew little more than investigators.

“I don’t know anything,” said Carmelia Mauesby, McCloud’s aunt. “It’s a total shock. There were no problems. He was always a happy person. He didn’t bother nobody at all.”

Mauesby was called by her daughter, who lives across the street from McCloud.

The last time she said she had spoken with him was last week, she said.

“Whatever happened, they need to get to the bottom of it, because he doesn’t bother anybody,” Mauesby said. “It’s just not good for the family at all.”

Mauesby said that McCloud’s grandmother, the woman who raised him, was seriously ill and may not live long. His grandmother last spoke with him on Wednesday, she said.

Family members said McCloud worked at Matthews Moving and Storage, where he had been employed for more than 10 years. He had lived at the Silver Lake Drive residence a couple of months, they said.

Collum is the second PRC employee slain this month.

On July 6, Stephen Richardson was found stabbed to death in his Palatka apartment. No arrests have been in his death and a $2,000 reward is being offered for information.

As of Friday night, authorities had no link between the two slayings, Bowling said.

The state Department of Corrections shows McCloud was convicted in 1997 of sexual battery without injury and lewd and lascivious conduct on a child younger than 16. He is listed as a sexual offender on the FDLE Web site. His offender status and his new address at Silver Lake Drive were updated Thursday, the site says.

There is no indication McCloud’s slaying was linked to his sex-offender record, Bowling said.

McCloud also was on probation for felony driving with a suspended license, according to the Department of Corrections. ..more.. by Larry Sullivan and Ron Bartlett

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Leads sought as police probe double slaying
7-31-2007 Florida
Two people found dead in a local mobile home park last week were beaten to death, authorities say.

The bodies of Terrance Eugene McCloud and Karley Ann Collum were found discovered Friday morning off Silver Lake Road near Palatka.

Based on autopsies, medical examiners ruled McCloud, 36, and Collum, 30, died from blunt force trauma to the head, said Maj. Keith Riddick, chief of detectives and a spokesman for the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.

Crime scene specialists worked through the weekend inside the trailer in Lot 43 at the Silver Lake Oaks Mobile Home Park

No arrests have been made, but investigators are following up on leads, Riddick said in an interview Monday.

Information from the public is welcome, Riddick added.

“If anyone heard anything or saw anything that would be helpful in solving these deaths, we’d love to have it,” he said.

Investigators have confirmed Collum was alive late Wednesday night, when she told a friend she was going out with McCloud.

A neighbor heard a woman scream from McCloud’s home about 5 a.m. Thursday, but Riddick said authorities were not called.

Investigators say McCloud may have known his attacker since there were no signs of forced entry of the home, Riddick said.

A friend and co-worker described Collum, a resident of Interlachen since November, as energetic and straight-forward.

“She was unique,” Heather Kaminsky said. “Just like the way she spelled her name.”

Kaminsky worked with Collum at the PRC call center in Palatka, where they met while attending a training class and quickly became close friends.

“She was like a sister,” Kaminsky said.

Kaminsky said she feared something was wrong when Collum didn’t show up for work Thursday and Friday without calling in. She and other co-workers convinced the mobile home park manager to open McCloud’s home on Friday. They were fearful because Collum’s car was parked outside the trailer but Collum didn’t answer her cell phone.

“It just wasn’t right,” Kaminsky said. “I knew something was wrong,”

McCloud was found in the kitchen and Collum, the mother of a 9-year-old boy, was dead in the hallway.

Collum’s son was with a babysitter Wednesday night. Riddick said the child has since been placed in the care of relatives in Texas.

Collum met McCloud about two weeks before they were killed, Kaminsky said.

“They were hanging out,” she said. “They weren’t dating.”

Family members said McCloud worked at Matthews Moving and Storage, where he had been employed for more than 10 years. He had lived at the Silver Lake Drive residence a couple of months, they said.

“He didn’t bother nobody or nothing,” his aunt, Carmelia Mauesby, said Monday.

“He was a loving person. Everybody enjoyed being with him.”

A report in Saturday’s paper that McCloud’s grandmother was gravely ill was incorrect, Mauesby also said.

Collum is the second PRC employee slain this month.

On July 6, Stephen Richardson was found stabbed to death in his Palatka apartment. No arrests have been in his death and a $2,000 reward is being offered for information.

There is no indication the slayings are related, Riddick said.

McCloud was convicted in 1997 of sexual battery without injury and lewd and lascivious conduct on a child younger than 16, according to the state Department of Corrections. His Silver Lake address was updated Thursday on the state’s sex-offender Web site.

Authorities also say there was no indication McCloud’s slaying was linked to his sex-offender record. ..more.. by Larry Sullivan

Registered Sex Offender Killed In Home

7-27-2007 Texas:

40-year-old Michael Murray was a successful insurance salesman, TCU graduate and registered sex offender. His body was found by Fort Worth Police Wednesday evening inside his house in the 4600 block of Shadow Drive, near Ridglea Country Club.

Police say Murray’s throat had been cut, and are investigating his death as a homicide.

In March a Tarrant County judge placed Murray on deferred adjudication with 10 years probation for indecency with a child. Murray’s attorney says the judge’s ruling stems from an incident with a 15-year-old girl which occurred in April of 2006.

Records indicate Murray was divorced and has two young children.

Fort Worth police say Murray’s 2004 Chevy Tahoe was involved in a separate incident early Monday morning in which the driver, 24-year-old Robbie Scott, was arrested on two counts of aggravated assault of a police officer. Investigators are trying to determine if the incident with Murray’s vehicle and his death may have been related.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner is expected to complete an autopsy on Murray’s body before the weekend. It will help determine when Murray was killed, and could help investigators find the person responsible for his death. ..more.. by

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Police probe suspicious death of sex offender
7-26-2007 Texas

FORT WORTH — Police are investigating the suspicious death of a man who was recently placed on probation for fondling a teenaged girl.

Authorities said Michael Murray's ex-wife found him dead inside his upscale Fort Worth home.

Neighbor Shelly Mocio said she came outside after she heard sirens. When she exited her home, she said she could see the woman surrounded by officers crying in front of his home.

"The ex-wife was sitting in front, quite hysterical," Mocio said. "She had obviously broken a window and then called 911."

Authorities said officers first suspected suicide, but said when detectives arrived they reached a different conclusion.

"They were able to examine his body; and sure enough, his throat had been cut and led investigators to believe it was not a suicide, but a homicide," said Dean Sullivan.

In March, Murray began serving probation for fondling a teenage girl. Under the terms of his probation, Murray was wearing a monitor at the time of his death.

Authorities said that monitor now may provide information about his activities and help detectives solve the case.

Police said they also have one other clue in the case. Officers stopped and questioned a man they caught driving his Tahoe on Monday. ..more.. by CHRIS HAWES / WFAA-TV

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Sex offender found dead in his home
7-27-2007 Texas
FORT WORTH -- A woman who was concerned that she had not heard from her ex-husband went to his west Fort Worth home Wednesday night and discovered him dead, face down on the floor, police said.

Patrol officers called to the home in the 4100 block of Shadow Drive, not far from Ridglea Country Club, initially thought that Michael G. Murray, 40, had committed suicide because his arm was apparently cut and because of problems in his life, including a recent petition to revoke his probation. Murray was a registered sex offender.

But when homicide detectives and investigators from the Tarrant County medical examiner's office turned over the body, they saw that his throat had been cut, said Lt. Dean Sullivan, a Fort Worth police spokesman.

"That did not appear, in any way, to be a self-inflicted wound," Sullivan said.

The house showed no signs of forced entry, but there were indications of burglary or robbery, Sullivan said, and Murray's 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe was missing.

Police later found that the Tahoe had been impounded two days earlier after officers pulled over a 24-year-old man driving the SUV in the 5600 block of Wellesley Avenue shortly after 1 a.m. Monday.

As the officer approached the Tahoe, he saw the driver hide something between the seat and console, Sullivan said. When the officer ordered the man to show his hands, the driver pulled the officer into the open window and tried to drive off, Sullivan said.

The officer put the SUV in park and broke off the key. The driver tried to run away but was caught and shocked with a Taser after he continued to be combative, Sullivan said.

Officers found drug paraphernalia and what they suspect is crack cocaine inside the Tahoe.

Police tried to contact Murray to tell him that his SUV had been found, but they couldn't reach him.

Investigators are questioning the man found driving the Tahoe about Murray's death, Sullivan said. No official action has been taken against him, he said.

The driver remained in the Mansfield Jail on Thursday afternoon charged with aggravated assault of a public servant and evading arrest.

Tarrant County court records show that Murray was placed on 10 years' deferred adjudication probation in March for fondling a 15-year-old girl.

He was arrested in June after prosecutors filed a petition to revoke his probation. Prosecutor Christy Jack said the motion was filed after a surprise search of Murray's home, which was allowed under his probation terms, uncovered sexually explicit material including a magazine, DVD and images, and found indications that Murray had accessed a prohibited Web site.

Murray was released from the Tarrant County Jail on June 13 on $5,000 bail with conditions that included no contact with minors and no computer access, court records show. ..more.. by DEANNA BOYD

Port Alberni man implicated in death of pedophile

9-20-1999 Canada:

A Port Alberni woman says her neighbor talked of killing a pedophile days before a body showed up in a creek near her home.
At first RCMP thought Lloyd Dayton died in a cougar attack. But three days after a death an autopsy was done and new information surfaced.

Lloyd Dayton's body was found floating in a creek in a Port Alberni park in 1995. His neck was punctured with claw like slashes. At first investigators thought Dayton was killed by an attacking cougar. But more information surfaced days after he was found dead.

Today in B.C. Supreme Court three of Don Hurrie's friends spoke out. Darryl Schooler says Hurrie came to his house in July of 1995. He says Hurrie told him he had just killed somebody. Schooler says he noticed blood on Hurrie's forehead before he used his bathroom to scrub up.

Another woman says she recalls Hurrie with a large hunting knife in a plastic bag, days after the death.

A third woman describes a meeting she had with Hurrie a man she knew as Donny August. She says he was agitated angry. He stopped by her yard to warn her of a pedophile in the neighborhood.

Trudee McKenzie says she wanted to know more because she feared for her own 7-year-old son, but all Hurrie would say was that a man had done something to his neice or nephew and now he was going to die. ..more.. by CBC News