GA- Follow-Up on Echols County Shooting

Posted in Other Deaths: A strange set of circumstances, but to understand how this is "sex offender related" readers will have to read both stories below:

5-28-2008 Georgia:

Ricky Brown was born and raised in Echols County and enjoys living here.

"A good place to live if you like quietness," Brown says. "That's why it was a shock to everybody."

The "shock" came Sunday night on Lisa Circle. At 10:30, the Echols County Sheriff's Office received a call complaining of loud noises and honking coming from a house owned by Chad Wiggins.

A deputy soon arrived and found Wiggins along with 35-year-old David Coody, Jr. arguing with 67-year-old Billy Corbett.

The Sheriff's Office says Corbett took out a concealed gun and shot Wiggins and Coody, killing them both.

Relatives say Corbett fired the shots because he felt his wife was being threatened.

Carlos Harrell, Corbett's brother-in-law, says, "Anybody out there would. They'd probably do the same."

The Sheriff's Office says that's not true. The deputy had the situation under control when the shots were fired.

Echols County Sheriff Randy Courson says, "The deputy done exactly from what I can tell as he should have."

After Corbett fired the shots, the deputy shot him and Corbett died from his wounds.

Friends and family of the three victims are still in shock.

Don Rea, a friend of Chad Wiggins, says, "This is ridiculous. Those two men who got shot were unarmed."

Cristina McGuire, Corbett's granddaughter says, "We're not coping too good. Grandpa was a big part of this community."

"It doesn't end here," Rea says, "a funeral doesn't end this."

The Georgia Bureau of Investigations is looking into the case as it does all officer-involved shootings.

Sheriff Courson says the deputy involved is on paid leave until the G-B-I completes its investigation. ..News Source.. by John Rogers

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Investigation ongoing in Echols shootings
5-28-2008 Georgia:

ECHOLS COUNTY — A feud among neighbors that continued to intensify despite the efforts of Echols County law enforcement may have contributed to the deaths of three men Sunday night.

Echols County Sheriff Randy Courson said that it could be several weeks before the Georgia Bureau of Investigation releases any sort of official report on the domestic dispute gone wrong. He said that the process of conducting autopsies and toxicology tests can be a slow one. He does not know when all of the findings will be made available to his office.

“We just have to wait,” he said.

At 11:28 p.m. Sunday, an Echols County Sheriff’s Office deputy, whose name is being withheld until the GBI investigation has been completed, was sent to address a downed power line, Courson noted. A few minutes later, he received word of a complaint of loud music and shots fired in the 200 block of Lisa Circle. The deputy cleared the power line and then made his way to the neighborhood, which sits some 100 yards from the intersection of Lisa Circle and Tince Road. He arrived on the scene at 11:58 p.m., Courson said.

Despite rumors to the contrary, Courson said that was the only time the deputy had been dispatched to the neighborhood that particular evening.

On the scene, Courson said the deputy addressed the excessive noise issue with the men and women involved. While he was doing so, a verbal dispute occurred between at least one of the women and a next-door neighbor living at 207 Lisa Circle. That dispute soon turned physical, he added.

As the deputy addressed that situation, 67-year-old Billy Corbett of 207 Lisa Circle pulled a small caliber handgun and fatally wounded David Coody Jr., 35, of Lowndes County, and Chad Wiggins, 36, resident of the home with the alleged loud music. Corbett was then shot and killed by the deputy. He was not shot in the back or shot while lying on the ground, contrary to rumors, Courson said.

Earlier this year, Courson said the Corbett family allowed a convicted child molester to move into a single-wide mobile home on their property with their granddaughter. The Corbetts live in a double-wide mobile home on the same tract of land. Their neighbors did not approve of the registered sex offender living near their children and filed complaints with the Echols County Sheriff’s Office.

“I think the bad blood between them pretty much stemmed from that,” Courson shared. “They really didn’t have any problems before that happened — except a dispute a little while back over land and putting up a fence.”

“We tried to address the situation,” he continued. “We increased patrol in the area, but things simply escalated. I understand their concern as they have small children. We could not legally force the man to move to another neighborhood. From day one, he complied with all requirements. He has done everything he was supposed to do.”

Courson said he does not believe the man was on the property when the shootings occurred Sunday.

No charges have been filed at this time in the shooting deaths.

The deputy remains on administrative leave with pay until the investigation has been completed as protocol mandates, Courson said. ..News Source.. by The Moultrie Observer

IA- Davenport homicide victim a loner, mom says

5-24-2008 Iowa:

On the day Victoria Jones buried her murdered son Dane Howard in 2000, her oldest son was arrested for sexually abusing a teenager.

That son, Hano Bailey, always kept to himself, was a loner, she said. That is why it is hard for her to believe that he, too, was shot to death late Thursday in what police are describing as a targeted attack.

Bailey had been out of prison on that sex abuse charge for just a couple of months.

“I couldn’t understand when they said someone jumped out of a car and sprayed all those bullets,” Jones said. “The only thing he’s been doing is going to work and coming home. Any of my other sons, I would expect something like that to happen.”

Bailey was shot while walking into his job as a dishwasher at the IHOP on 53rd Street in Davenport about 11 p.m. He died in surgery early Friday morning at Genesis Medical Center, East Rusholme Street, Davenport.

Bailey, a registered sex offender who was released from the Anamosa State Penitentiary on March 5, was shot several times by an assailant who got out of a dark-colored car driven up near the front door of the restaurant. The gunman shot the victim, returned to the car and fled.

Investigators are interviewing witnesses, including customers and employees, said Capt. David Struckman of the Davenport Police Department. They also are reviewing video surveillance from IHOP and surrounding businesses.

The IHOP is far from the central-city area now targeted by police because of increased violence. Bailey’s most recent address at 1125 Iowa Ave., however, is in that targeted area.

The restaurant was open Friday morning, with fluorescent green spray paint marking the driveway.

Bailey has a criminal record that stretches back several years. He was convicted of third-degree sex abuse in 2001 and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was charged after having sex with a 15-year-old girl at his apartment. He was 33 years old at the time.

Bailey also has convictions for assault, theft and eluding.

His most recent arrest was on May 9 on a drug possession charge. He was at a convenience store at 12th and Brady streets about 10:30 p.m. that night when he was approached by police officers. He threw a plastic bag containing approximately 2½ grams of marijuana to the sidewalk.

The convenience store is a block away from where one of his cousins, Vincelina Howard, 19, lost her life in August 2006, during a drive-by shooting.

Bailey is the son of Jones and the late Hano Bailey III, who died in 2001 at the East Moline Correctional Center while serving a 15-year sentence for criminal sexual assault out of Adams County.

His half brother, Dane Howard, 17, was shot and killed in October 2000. Two other brothers, Quinton Howard and Dennis Bailey, are in prison on drug charges.

Bailey’s shooting was the fourth in Davenport in a week.

One week ago, Jeremy Booth, 22, was shot in the leg in the 300 block of East 14th Street. Phillip Bogan was charged with interference with official acts; Travis Rush, 17, of Davenport is the accused gunman and is charged with willful injury with serious injury; and Kelsey Reitz, 19, of Davenport is charged with felony eluding.

On Sunday, Kevin Bogan, 18, was shot in the back in the 800 block of East 15th Street. He is Phillip Bogan’s brother. Lewis Lonedale Lee, 20, of Davenport, is charged with going armed with intent and willful injury with serious injury. Roylee Richardson, 17, is wanted for willful injury with serious injury.

On Monday, several shots were fired just north of Central High School about 4:30 p.m. Officers found evidence of the shooting in the form of spent shell casings and damage to two cars. One of the cars belongs to a Central teacher. It had five bullet holes in it, police said. A second car, which was going east on 12th, also sustained damage, according to police.

There were no injuries in the incident, which Mayor Bill Gluba characterized as three people “emptying” a .40-caliber pistol on a targeted victim.

Services for Bailey are pending. ..more.. Ann McGlynn

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Police: Shooting may be linked to alleged sexual encounter

5-30-2008:

The shooting death of a Davenport man in front of the International House of Pancakes may be related to an alleged sexual encounter years ago between the man and a girl related to the alleged gunman, a police spokesman said.

Hano Bailey, 41, was shot as he walked into work as a dishwasher last week. He was released from prison in March after serving seven years on a separate sex abuse charge.

Two Davenport men, Oliver Litt Jr., 34, of 1140 E. 37th St., Apt. 101, and Alfred Demond Brown, 33, of 430 W. 13th St., each are charged with first-degree murder. They were arrested at their homes Thursday. They made their initial appearances Friday morning and are being held at the Scott County Jail on $1 million bond.

According to the arrest affidavits, Brown drove to the IHOP, 3035 E. 53rd St., where he and Litt waited for Bailey to arrive.

When Bailey got to the restaurant, Litt got out of the car and allegedly shot Bailey five times at close range with a handgun. After the shooting, Brown and Litt fled. Brown also helped Litt get rid of the handgun.

The gun has not been found, officials said. Police have recovered a car believed to be involved in the case.

Four detectives, Kyle Chisholm, Mark Dinnewith, Rick Voy and Brett Morgan, have worked the case “nonstop,” Capt. David Struckman said.

First-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison under Iowa law.

Both Brown and Litt have criminal records.

Bailey, too, had a criminal record. He was convicted of third-degree sex abuse in 2001 and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was charged after having sex with a 15-year-old girl at his apartment. He was 33 at the time. Bailey also had convictions for assault, theft and eluding.

His most recent arrest was on May 9 on a drug possession charge. He was at a convenience store at 12th and Brady streets about 10:30 p.m. that night when he was approached by police officers. He threw a plastic bag containing approximately 2½ grams of marijuana to the sidewalk.

The convenience store is a block away from where one of his cousins, Vincelina Howard, 19, lost her life in August 2006 during a drive-by shooting.

Bailey is the son of Victoria Jones and the late Hano Bailey III, who died in 2001 at the East Moline Correctional Center while serving a 15-year sentence for criminal sexual assault out of Adams County, Ill.

His half brother, Dane Howard, 17, was shot and killed in October 2000. Two other brothers, Quinton Howard and Dennis Bailey, are in prison on drug charges. ..Source.. by Ann McGlynn

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Litt found guilty of murder in IHOP slaying

3-7-2009 Iowa:

A Davenport man will likely spend the rest of his life in prison for the shooting death of another in the parking lot of the International House of Pancakes in May.

It took a Scott County jury less than 90 minutes Friday to find Oliver Litt Jr. guilty of first-degree murder for the death of Hano Bailey IV, 41.

Litt’s co-defendant, Alfred Brown, also was on trial in a separate courtroom this week in Scott County District Court. Brown’s jury will begin deliberating Monday morning.

After the verdict in the Litt trial was read, family members and friends who came late and learned of the verdict began screaming in the courtroom. The fracas moved out into the hallway and was heard in the adjoining Brown trial, which was in closing arguments. A request for a mistrial by Brown’s attorney, David Morrison, was denied.

Bailiffs moved the group into the elevator, still screaming. They emerged on the first floor, and the commotion continued down the hallway and into the parking lot. When a fight appeared to be erupting, authorities brought out stun guns. Scott County’s K-9, Ares, came out to the scene as well. Eventually, the crowd dispersed.

Abraham Jones, a relative of the victim, said Litt got what he deserved.

“He killed (Bailey) like a punk, he got sentenced like a punk,” Jones said.

Litt will be sentenced to the mandatory life-in-prison-without-parole sentence on April 2.

Litt shot Bailey five times at close range with a handgun as Bailey was walking into work as a dishwasher at the restaurant at 11 p.m. on May 22. Litt then fled in a blue Buick Riviera. Several people inside the restaurant witnessed at least portions of the incident.

Brown, authorities allege, was driving the car.

Officials have said Litt was upset with Bailey because he thought Bailey sexually abused one of Litt’s relatives years earlier. Bailey was released from prison in March 2008 after serving seven years on a separate sex abuse charge.

During closing arguments in Brown’s trial Friday, Assistant Scott County Attorney Amy DeVine told the jury that Litt and Brown literally stalked the IHOP waiting for Bailey to arrive for his shift. Brown also is facing a charge of first-degree murder.

Showing the jury video from the IHOP’s security camera, DeVine said the car in which Brown and Litt were riding could be seen circling the restaurant and then parking in the lot of the former Fuddruckers restaurant.

When Bailey arrived for his 11 p.m. shift, she said, the Buick Riviera that she said Brown was driving pulled up in front of the restaurant. Litt then got out the car and shot Bailey five times.

The pair drove into Illinois and ditched the gun, she said.

Regardless of whether Bailey actually assaulted Litt’s relative, DeVine said, “That is not a justification for murder. That is their motive for murder. This murder was planned and premeditated.

“They took it upon themselves to become Hano Bailey’s judge, jury and executioners. That’s not allowed. That’s not the kind of society we live in.”

Morrison countered that prosecutors have no corroborating evidence that Brown was a willing participant in the killing. In fact, he said, there is no witness that can say positively Brown drove the car that night.

The one witness that identified a driver at the scene told police the driver was a “muscley guy with shoulder-length braids in his hair,” Morrison said. Brown, he added, is not a big muscle guy nor does he have hair for braids.

Morrison said that Brown was frightened of Litt and was a participant only in that he feared for his life. Litt, he added, holds Brown partially responsible for the sexual assault of Litt’s relative because Bailey allegedly assaulted the female at Brown’s home.

Litt, also known as “Big O,” approached Brown as Brown was walking up Scott Street.

“He drove up to Brown and said, ‘Hey, let me holler at ya.’” Litt at that time was upset about the alleged sexual assault, he was armed and Brown was afraid of him.

“Alfred’s story to the police never changes,” Morrison said. “The song remains the same. He didn’t approve or agree to anything. Litt forced him to get into the car. There is no evidence to contradict that.” ..Source.. by Quad-Cities Times

UK- HE CAN'T HURT ANYONE ELSE

5-24-2008 United Kingdom:

The killer of a Cheltenham woman has been found dead in his prison cell.Shirley Cotton-Betteridge's family now say justice has been done.

The barmaid was 22 years old when psychopath Paul McMilan stabbed her more than 40 times.

McMilan was sentenced to life in Broadmoor psychiatric prison in 2002.

But on Thursday morning he was found unconscious in his cell, dying minutes later.

Speaking from his home in Whaddon, Shirley's stepfather, Graham Morgan, described it as "brilliant news".

He said: "I was sat in my van when I got the call.

"My first gut feeling was 'they are going to release him'. So when they said he was dead, I thought it was great. At least now he won't hurt anyone else."

Graham became stepfather to Shirley and her sisters Anna, Christie and Lucy when Shirley was four years old.

Cheltenham-born Shirley went to St Benedict's School and trained as a hairdresser at Gloscat, working in His Knibbs.

"People just don't realise what we've been through and are still going through," Graham said.

"Not a night goes by when I don't talk to Shirley.

"We don't speak about her much, because we don't want to upset each other.

"Sometimes I see a girl in the street who looks just like her, and I want to go up to her and speak to her as if it's Shirley but I don't.

"You couldn't have asked for a better daughter.

"She was the typical girl next door, you could have a laugh with her and nobody had a bad word to say about her."

Shirley was working as a barmaid when McMilan, who she knew from work, followed her into the office of the Figureheadamp; Firkin pub in Bristol on August 29, 2001.

He punched and kicked her to the ground before stabbing her to death.

Builder Graham didn't work for nearly a year after her death, and still visits Shirley's grave every Sunday to take flowers and make sure it is spotless.

Graham said he and Shirley's mother, Anita Nelder, were still angry at the justice system for releasing McMilan early from a previous sentence, leaving him free to kill.

He was convicted of indecently assaulting a girl when he was 17 and sentenced to three years behind bars in 1999, but he was released on August 30, 2000 after serving 16 months.

After release he failed to attend a sex offenders' course, meetings with his probation officer and a mental health assessment before killing Shirley.

Graham said: "They let Shirley down and then they let us down.

"If it wasn't for them, she would still be here.

"We would probably have had grandkids by now. They have taken everything from us."

But he reserved most of his anger for McMilan, saying he could never forgive him for what he had done.

"I wish the death penalty had still been around for the likes of him," said the distraught dad.

"Paul McMilan has never, ever given a reason for what he did, and that's what really hurts.

"I promised Shirley I wouldn't let this happen to any other girl and now I feel like I've kept my promise."

Shirley's sister Laura, 25, said she hoped people would learn from her death. She told the Echo: "I'm sad for his parents but happy about him because he's not going to do it again.

"If he hadn't been released in the first place two lives would have been saved." ..more.. by RIC SUMNER

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.

CA- S.J. men suspects in death of inmate

5-19-2008 California:

Three San Joaquin County men serving sentences in a prison near Monterey are among a group suspected of using a jailhouse shank to kill a convicted child molester Friday, a spokesman for the Salinas Valley State Prison said.

Sumnang Chea, 21, David Inthirath, 27, and Sarim Kheleung, 25, were among those believed to have killed inmate Donald Jones, 30, of Los Angeles, said Lt. Eric Moore of the prison in Monterey County. Jones was sentenced to spend 20 years in prison for sodomy on a child younger than 14 years old.

Jones was attacked at 10:53 a.m. on a general population yard for maximum-security inmates. He was taken by ambulance to an outside medical center and was pronounced dead at 12:17 p.m., Moore said.

Another three inmates from Sacramento, Orange and Los Angeles counties also are suspected in the death. All the attackers are in their 20s, Moore said.

Of those from San Joaquin County, Chea was serving a sentence for second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter, Inthirath had been sentenced for voluntary manslaughter, and Kheleung was sentenced to prison for second-degree murder, Moore said. ..more.. by The Record

OR- Oregon prison inmate death ruled homicide

5-15-2008 Oregon:

ONTARIO, Ore. (AP) — The death of an Oregon prison inmate in Ontario has been ruled a homicide.

Malheur County District Attorney Dan Norris said the state medical examiner determined that 61-year-old James Ivan Briggs had been strangled with a belt last Monday at the Snake River Correctional Institution.

Briggs had been an inmate since early 2003 following his conviction in Coos County in late 2002 for sexual penetration, sodomy and sex abuse. He was not set to be released until 2026.

Norris said the name of the suspect in the killing will not be released until the investigation is concluded, which could take several months. ..more.. by OregonLive.com

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Coquille man dies in prison, death suspicious
5-13-2008 Oregon:

ONTARIO - The Oregon Department of Corrections says a Coquille man, sentenced in Coos County back in 2002, is the inmate that was found dead in his cell on Monday.

The Oregon State Police and the Malheur County District Attorney are continuing their investigation in the death that has been deemed "suspicious."

James Ivan Briggs, 61, had been at the Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario since early 2003. He was scheduled for release in 2026.

Briggs had been convicted of Sodomy, Unlawful Sexual Penetration and Sex Abuse, all involving a juvenile female. The charges came following a six-month investigation by the Coos County Sheriff's Office, Child Protective Services and the Coquille Police Department.

His body was found just before 7:00 a.m. on Monday, with an autopsy scheduled for Wednesday.

Briggs is the third inmate with Coos County ties to die in prison in the past six months. The previous two were ruled to have died at their own hand. ..more.. by Tim Novotny

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John Steele, 37, a Snake River Correctional Institution inmate pleaded not guilty to the aggravated murder of a fellow inmate, James Ivan Briggs, 61, Monday. Briggs was found dead in his cell in May. Steele is now set to go to trial Jan. 11, 2010. Norris said the state’s medical examiner listed Briggs’ death as a homicide by ligature strangulation.

Briggs was convicted out of Coos County in late 2002 for sexual penetration, sodomy and sex abuse. He was not set to be released until 2026.

Steele’s release date is currently scheduled for April 1, 2032. Prior to serving his current sentence, Steele was convicted of rape in the first degree and burglary in the first degree and was released Dec. 21, 2001.

He began serving his current sentence in April 2002 for two robbery charges out of Deschutes County.

While imprisoned in Umatilla County in 2002 on the two robbery charges, he was convicted on an assault charge and assaulting an officer, according to SRCI Community Coordinator/ Public Information Officer Amber Campbell. ..Source (bottom of page).. 1-14-2009