Neighbors, family shocked at shooting death of 92-year-old Flint man

10-30-2012 Michigan:

FLINT, MI -- Police continue to investigate the shooting death Oct. 30 of a man believed to be the oldest homicide victim in recent memory.

Iris Gardner, 92, heard a knock on his door around 2:15 p.m. Tuesday at his home on Race Street near Myrtle Avenue, police said. When he opened the door, someone shot him once in the torso and fled the scene, police said. Police have no suspect information.

Flint Police Capt. T.P. Johnson said he can't remember an older homicide victim in his 27 years with the department.

"Obviously he was no threat to anyone," he said. "This was a random act of violence that did not have any rhyme or reason to it."

Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said Gardner was one of the older homicide victims he's heard of during his time as prosecutor.

"It's terrible, just terrible," Leyton said. "It's very difficult to imagine how a 92-year- old was a threat to anyone."

Gardner's niece, Joann Cooper, 55, of Flint, said her family is shocked that her uncle would die that way.

"I never figured he would get gunned down in his own house," she said. "One part is anger, and the other part is grieving. It's like two emotions wrapped into one."

Detective Robert Dunham said police have very little information to go on and that the crime is disturbing.

"The worst thing about the whole thing is the people that did it aren't talking," he said. "They are out running the streets. If they are willing to kill a 92-year-old, who wouldn't they kill?"

Cooper said her uncle grew up during the Great Depression in a small town in Georgia. He would talk about being so poor that he had to walk to school in his bare feet during the winter, she said.

He came to Flint in the 1950s or 1960s and worked as a supervisor at a junkyard for 30 years, Cooper said. In his older age, he still remained active, continuing to drive, walk around in the neighborhood and do yard work, family said.

"If you would have saw him, you would have thought he was still 78," Cooper said.

He was a World War II veteran and a big fan of the Detroit Tigers who was excited about the team's recent playoff run.

Gardner did have a brush with the law. He was on the state sex offender registry for a 1993 conviction of misdemeanor criminal sexual conduct, fourth degree, according to records. He served 90 days in the Genesee County Jail. Cooper said his family maintains that he was innocent, and his accuser later recanted her story.

Neighbor Elois Thames, 26, said Gardner was a friendly man. She was upset that he would die in a violent manner.

"It's just senseless, he didn't bother anybody," she said.

Cooper said Gardner did not have any children and was the last surviving member of his siblings. Funeral arrangements are being handled at Lawrence E. Moon Funeral Home.

In the meantime, his family will continue to grieve his death.

"It's like somebody ripped out your heart and took it," Cooper said. ..Source.. by David Harris

Daughter fears sex offender's killing was a case of vigilante justice

6-10-2012 Virginia:

DINWIDDIE - When Donald Olynn Cook, a repeat sex offender who twice pleaded guilty to assaulting teenaged boys, asked his daughter for another chance this year, she said yes.

Weeks later, the 23-year-old finds herself mourning the loss of a father shot dead before she could re-learn how to love him.

"I was trying to get back to that faith I had in him when I was growing up, but here we are," said Anna Cook, sitting beside a wilting white rose bush that he gave her for her birthday last month.

The gift would become Cook's last grand gesture, given in a fleeting moment of calm between two tragedies that befell the 53-year-old McKenney man this spring. The first destroyed his home. The second ended his life.

It was a life that his daughter says he had been working to reclaim after spending decades in the shadow of actions that she fears may have emboldened a vigilante.

"He made his mistakes, yes, but he paid for it," Cook said. "He was a human, he didn't deserve to be gunned down like a dog."

Donald Cook was found shot to death beside his vehicle on a remote stretch of Cherry Hill Road near the Brunswick County line on May 22. He was pronounced dead at the scene when Dinwiddie County deputies arrived just after 4 a.m. He had just moved to a home in Dewitt after lightening struck his longtime residence on Cutbank Road in McKenney, minutes from where he was killed.

The Richmond native had lived in Dinwiddie for 25 years, but electrical contract work took him out of state on a regular basis. The last time he came home from a job, he called his daughter and offered to help her out around the house. Cook uses a wheelchair and said that she was grateful for his assistance.

They spoke several times in the weeks leading up to his death. The last time she saw him, he appeared to be troubled, which was not uncommon.

"He was in an unsettled mood like he gets sometimes and I told him that if he needed anything to just give me a call," she said. "He never did."

Cook was waiting on a return call from him when her grandmother told her that he was dead. She dropped the phone.

"My first thought was that he must have had a heart attack," she said. "He weighed 260 pounds and didn't take good care of himself."

As more details emerged, Cook vowed not to cry until he has been laid to rest and his killer has been apprehended. She said that she wants to be strong for him and plans to keep fighting until his murder has solved.

"It wasn't right for someone to try and take justice into their own hands," she said.

Cook's penance for past crimes ended in April 2009 in the eyes of the law, when he was released from probation after completing court-ordered sex offender treatment with Scott Huisman at the Center for Psychological Assessment and Therapeutics. Cook was ordered to check in for roughly three years following the completion of a two-year active prison term at the Lawrenceville Correctional Center, according to court records.

He was sentenced in 2005 to serve 15 years with 13 suspended after pleading guilty to the aggravated sexual battery of a boy between the ages of 13 and 15. Court records show that Cook admitted himself to the psychiatric wing of CJW Medical Center in Richmond less than 48 hours after the assault.

He was sentenced to five years in prison with four years, four months suspended in 1998 after pleading guilty to taking indecent liberties with a 15-year-old boy. Case records from the assault cite a previous conviction for sexual battery.

Cook's daughter says that she does not want her father's past crimes to undermine the investigation into his slaying.

"I don't want him to become just another statistic, because he's not a name on the list. He was someone's father. He was my father," she said.

Dinwiddie Sheriff's spokesman Maj. William Knott declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation. ..Source.. by K. BURNELL EVANS (STAFF WRITER)

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Investigators search for clues in Dinwiddie’s first homicide of 2012

5-23-2012:

DINWIDDIE, Va. (WTVR) – Officials have released the name of a man found dead in the road near the Nottoway River in Dinwiddie County.

According to the Dinwiddie County Sheriff’s Office, 53-year-old Donald Olynn Cook, of the 15000 Block of First Street in Dewitt, was found Tuesday around 4:15 a.m. on Cherry Hill Road and the Brunswick County line.

Investigators said gunshot wounds were found on Cook’s body and that his death is being investigated as a homicide.

Cook’s death marks the county’s first homicide of 2012.

The man’s daughter, Anna Cook, talked with CBS 6 News senior reporter Wayne Covil Wednesday.

Cook said that her father lived within a few miles of where he was found dead until a few months ago. That was when he was forced to move after a lightning strike destroyed his home.

“Despite the fact he had his own problems… he was a human and he was a good man,” said Cook. ..Source.. by Wayne Covil and Nick Dutton

Opening statements to begin in mistaken identity murder trial

The choice of "mistaken identity" in the title implies that, if the neighbor WAS a RSO it would be OK to kill him. Poor choice of words..

4-5-2012 florida:

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Opening statements are expected to begin Thursday in the trial of an Orange County man accused of a mistaken identity murder.

Prosecutors said Michael Garay and another man killed his 79-year-old neighbor because he thought he was a sexual offender.

It's been two years since investigators say that Garay and his friend Robert Pascale beat 79-year-old Hugh Edwards to death.

After Pascale was caught by deputies hiding in the mud, he even admitted to his role in the alleged crime to WFTV.

"What did you do to him?" WFTV asked.

"I hit him twice with a bat. That was it," replied Pascale.

Investigators said Garay and Pascale were drunk and angry when they attacked Edwards, who they thought was a sex offender, but it turns out he was not.

Pascale hit Edwards with the bat and then threw it into the woods, police said.

Detectives also said that both of them also disposed of bloody clothes, information the prosecution is expected to share.

Pascale will face a judge later in a separate trial.

At one point on Wednesday Garay wanted to defend himself. WFTV found out that is because he tried to fire his defense attorney. But Judge Mike Murphy ruled that Garay's arguments were not legally sufficient.

Prosecutors offered Garay a plea deal, which would put him in prison for 33 years, but he turned it down and now he's facing life behind bars if convicted.

WFTV will have a crew in the courtroom before opening statements begin at 8:30 a.m. ..Source.. by wftv9.com

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Trial starts in elderly man's baseball bat beating death

4-11-2012 Florida:

One of two men charged in the killing of an elderly Bithlo resident beaten to death almost two years ago faces trial this week in Orlando on a murder charge.

Deputies found Hugh Edwards, 78, dead in a trailer in Bithlo on May 12, 2010, after a woman who lived nearby called to report she thought two men she knew had killed him.

She had been drinking with Michael Garay, 33, and Robert Pascale, 22, an arrest report states, when Garay asked her what she would do if she lived "next to a sex offender."

Her response, the report states: I would kill him.

Soon after the conversation, the woman told deputies, she saw the two men enter Edwards' trailer and heard thumping sounds coming from inside.

An arrest report states the men later ditched a baseball bat used to beat Edwards and their bloody clothes in a wooded area. Edwards, records show, was not a sex offender.

Garay's trial began Wednesday with jury selection before Circuit Judge Mike Murphy. Opening statements are expected early Thursday. ..Source.. by Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel

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Man convicted in Bithlo baseball bat murder

4-12-2012:

After a trial that lasted several days, a jury today returned a murder conviction for Michael Garay, one of two men accused in the beating death of an elderly Bithlo man almost two years ago.

The jury began deliberating about noon Wednesday, and returned its verdict this morning. Garay was also convicted of accessory after the fact. He faces life in prison.

Hugh Edwards, 78, was found dead in a trailer in Bithlo in May 2010. Garay and co-defendant Robert Pascale are accused of beating him to death with a Louisville Slugger.

According to testimony, the men mistakenly thought Edwards was a child molester.

Before deliberations, Prosecutor William Jay showed the jury Edwards' driver license.

"This was a senseless beating of a little old man," Jay told jurors. "Why? Because a few people thought he was a sex offender."

Jay described the injuries suffered by Edwards before showing jurors a photo of his bloody corpse, collapsed on a broken, overturned tabletop on the floor of his trailer.

"He was struck with a bat hard enough that his head actually caved in," Jay said.

The defense, however, argued that the state failed to prove not only that Garay had a hand in Edwards' killing, but that Garay was even in Edwards' trailer.

Garay's defense lawyer, Joseph Haynes Davis, told the jury that it was Pascale that killed Edwards. Any actions Garay took, Davis said, were for fear of Pascale.

It remains unclear why the men suspected that Edwards, who had no criminal history, was a molester.

During the trial, jurors heard multiple witness accounts of the night of the killing, as well as DNA and other forensic evidence. Pascale is currently awaiting trial on a murder charge. ..Source.. by Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel

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Bithlo man guilty of beating 78-year-old man to death

7-19-2012:

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A Bithlo man will spend the rest of his life in prison for beating to death a 78-year-old man he mistakenly thought was a sex offender

Robert Pascale, 22, had no reaction on Friday as the judge read the “guilty of first-degree murder’’ verdict in the 2010 slaying of Hugh Edwards. The sentence carries a mandatory life sentence.

Prosecutors said Pascale and Michael Garay, who had previously been convicted, beat Edwards to death with a baseball bat in May 2010 because they thought he was a sex offender.

On Friday, paramedics had to be called to Orange County Courthouse after Ruth Pascale, the defendant’s mother, was overcome with emotion and collapsed on the courtroom floor. She did manage to walk out of the courthouse on her own.

Moments after the verdict, Robert Pascale said as he was being led away, "It's not over until God says it is. I'm still coming home."

Prosecutor William Jay emphasized during closing arguments that Pascale admitted several times, including in an interview aired on WFTV, that he beat Edwards with a baseball bat.

Pascale’s attorney, Roger Weeden, argued that his client was only guilty of aggravated assault and not premeditated murder. Weeden said Pascale chose not to testify in his own defense because prosecutors could have then asked him about his prior felony convictions for robbery, battery and grand theft.

Garay is already serving a life sentence. ..Source.. by WFTV.com

From prison to a pauper's grave

3-28-2012 Mississippi:

VICKSBURG, Miss. (WTW) — When Vicksburg native Stuart Brooks was killed Feb. 21 in his prison cell at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility, a family member's old fear was proved prophetic.

"Stuart is very much in need of psychological help," Brooks' aunt wrote in 1995, before he was sentenced for the sexual battery of her 9-year-old son. "I know that with his mentality, he would not survive in a prison, someone would probably kill him. I don't think he'll ever be able to function in a normal society."

Brooks was 18 when he was convicted in Warren County Circuit Court of assaulting his young cousin. Writing to then-Judge Frank Vollor as part of Vollor's pre-sentencing investigation, Brooks' aunt was torn — angry about what happened to her son but concerned for her nephew.

"He's going to need help for the rest of his life and should be locked up that long," she wrote.

Instead, Brooks was released after serving 15 years of a 30-year sentence, was re-arrested and sent back to prison for failing to register as a sex offender.

About halfway through that three-year sentence, he was strangled, an autopsy showed, at the Lost Gap facility. His cellmate has been charged in his death.

With Brooks' death, all those close to the 1995 case are gone.

Brooks' aunt, who wrote to Vollor, died in 1996; his mother died in 2006. The victim died in 2007. Brooks, who was 35, was given a pauper's burial March 6 in Vicksburg's Cedar Hill Cemetery, the $500 expense approved by the Warren County Board of Supervisors the day before and the plot provided by the city.

The burial was attended by Brooks' sister, Leslie Crosby, now of Madison, his aunt Cynthia Brooks of Houston, his friend Annie Sims of Vicksburg and 10 or 15 others, Sims said.

Crosby, 37, said she last saw her brother in 1993, before she moved away from Vicksburg.

Family members had not visited Stuart Brooks during his incarceration, as finances, transportation problems and other issues got in the way, Cynthia Brooks said.

"In spite of the situation, all the different things that get in the way, they are still your family, regardless," she said.

Sims, 42, said Brooks was a lifelong friend. The two stayed in touch during his years in prison, and it was Sims whom the prison's chaplain, John Newbaker, called Feb. 21 to say Brooks' body had been found.

Sims, Crosby and Cynthia Brooks said getting information from prison officials has been difficult and they've been "given the runaround."

Sims was given conflicting information about where Brooks' body was taken, and Crosby was told she was "not on the list" to be told what happened.

"No one wanted to talk to me," said Crosby. "They said they couldn't give me any information and kept saying I needed to speak with the warden."

She didn't reach him until two days after Brooks' death, and by that time what she knew of the crime she learned in news accounts, the earliest of which reported that he committed suicide. Not believing that, Crosby visited the prison and contacted the Winston County chapter of the NAACP for help.

"I believe if I wasn't bugging them, it would still be (classified as) a suicide," said Crosby.

Sims said Brooks wrote to her "a lot."

"Stuart was a character," she said. "He'd get along with anybody. You just had to get to know him. Yes, Stuart would react, but somebody would have had to be picking on him."

After his arrest on the sexual battery charge, Brooks was separated from other inmates in the Warren County Jail "due to his mental and physical problems," court documents show. He went through other inmates' things, struck at jailers and smeared things with urine and feces.

A psychologist at the Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield declared Brooks competent to stand trial.

Pre-sentencing documents in Brooks' court file include the letter from his aunt as well as a 1995 psychological profile.

From an early age, Brooks had mental and emotional problems, as well as a profound speech impediment, documents show. He was first referred for treatment as a 5-year-old who was difficult to handle in the classroom; medication was prescribed. He was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and was said to be impulsive and aggressive; tests showed he was mildly retarded.

"Stuart was a profoundly troubled young man," said Mike Bonner, who was his court-appointed defense attorney in 1995. He declined to say more, citing ethical considerations.

Then-Assistant District Attorney John Bullard, who prosecuted the case, declined to comment.

In news reports following the jury's guilty verdict in 1995, Bullard was quoted as saying, "There's nothing you can do for a guy like this but lock him up." The pre-sentencing investigation, Bullard reportedly said, revealed "a complete and documented history of aggressiveness and abuse toward other children."

Vollor sentenced Brooks to the maximum term, 30 years, but Mississippi Department of Corrections released him May 27, 2010. Brooks was considered to have "flat-timed," or completed his sentence under the law, said MDOC spokesman Tara Booth.

"Under the old law (previous to the Truth-in-Sentencing bill which requires sex offenders to serve their entire sentence), he was able to earn time off his sentence," Booth said, through work, completing prison programs and other methods.

MDOC policy calls for sex offenders to be given release counseling by case managers that includes information on registering as a sex offender, she said. Case managers also typically provide information on where inmates who have no place to go can find a shelter, Booth said.

Sims and Crosby said Brooks was given a bus ticket to Vicksburg and $25, and he went to a local men's shelter. The women said they did not think he understood the requirement to register, and Sims said when she tried to help him register 10 days after his release, he was re-arrested on the spot.

In July 2010, the grand jury indicted him for failing to register as a sex offender, and Brooks pleaded guilty and was returned to the EMCF Sept. 14 to serve three years.

The facility is a private prison contracted by the MDOC.

Crosby said she purchased a transcript of the 1995 trial and the family is working on obtaining legal representation but has nothing formal yet.

"I want to see, if they knew he wasn't supposed to be there, if he was supposed to be in a mental facility, whoever is accountable for sending him there," Crosby said. "Even if it is East Mississippi Correctional Facility and not Parchman, there are still hardened criminals in there." ..Source.. by Pamela Hitchins, Vicksburg Post

Dennis Austin: Pennsylvania Prisoner Who Died With Bedsores Should Spark Probe, Lawyer Says

Slides showing condition are in the original post.

2-24-2012 Pennsylvania:

ERIE, Pa. -- A former federal prosecutor has asked for a criminal investigation into the death of Dennis Austin, a Pennsylvania prison inmate with grossly infected bedsores that his family said caused or contributed to his death.

"This is an outrage and people ought to be highly incensed about it," Jeffrey J. Del Fuoco, now a private lawyer working for Austin's family, told The Huffington Post. "There is a criminal wrong that needs to be addressed here."

Del Fuoco has asked the district attorney in Erie to investigate Austin's New Year's Day death at the State Correctional Institution in Albion. The 48-year-old convict had been diagnosed in July 2010 with lung and bone cancer that the coroner said killed him. Austin, committed to the prison in 1991 for rape and kidnapping, was serving a 28-to-57-year sentence.

Austin's sister, Paula Thomas, of Erie, provided The Huffington Post with post-mortem photos of her brother showing bedsores covering a large portion of his body. Thomas said the photos show serious neglect. "It's awful. It's just awful," Thomas said. "Yeah, he was in prison, but he served his time all those years and yet he had to suffer like that."

Del Fuoco said the photos show "severe, prolonged inattention and neglect." He said the pictures should "shock the sensibilities of anyone with any humanity whatsoever."

The lawyer said medical experts he has consulted suggested Austin died from gross negligence.

"I have spoken to a major forensic pathologist, whose preliminary opinion is if the wounds did not outright cause [Austin's] death, at bare-bones minimum they contributed to it ... He indicated to me that there is no question that we have gross neglect," Del Fuoco said.

Del Fuoco's letter to Erie County District Attorney Jack Daneri seeks a formal investigation. Daneri did not immediately return calls for comment.

The letter to the D.A. cites The Huffington Post's previous coverage of the case -- in particular, comments made by Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook. Cook told HuffPost last month that Austin died as a result of stage-four metastatic lung cancer. Cook said the care Austin received at SCI Albion was "appropriate and as good as you would find anywhere else." The coroner also said the bedsore ulcers "looked bad," but were not evidence of neglect.

"For the Erie County coroner to make the type of statements he made to [The Huffington Post] seems completely ridiculous and irresponsible," Del Fuoco said.

Del Fuoco said prison officials refuse to investigate Austin's "true cause of death" and have denied his family's request for a publicly-funded autopsy. Del Fuoco said the family does not have the funds to pay for a private autopsy.

Susan Bensinger, deputy press secretary for the state Department of Corrections, last month declined to discuss the details of Austin's death "out of respect for the privacy of the inmate."

Del Fuoco said he does not know the details of Austin's criminal conviction.

"That has no play in this. That's irrelevant," Del Fuoco said. "I don't care what your politics are, this is an outrage and people ought to be highly incensed about it."

Regardless of the district attorney's findings, Del Fuoco said it is "highly likely" he will file a wrongful death suit on behalf of the family.

"This isn't going away, so somebody needs to do something about it," Del Fuoco said. ..Source.. by David Lohr

Killer Targeted Sex Offenders

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

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

Be sure to see the video in the first story. To summerize this story: Lunz however, before he was imprisoned, claims he targeted other child molesters. One is Gerald Estes -from Georgia- who is missing to this date. Authorities have no proof of that claim but Lunz's word. Now, after being convicted of killing his father, while in prison he also killed his cellmate (Nathaniel Taylor) who was a convicted child molester.

12-9-2009 Florida:

Before he killed himself a convicted murderer claimed he targeted child molesters here in the mountains. Christopher Lunz served time in prison for killing his own father.

Now Macon County investigators believe he killed Gerald Estes. Estes was accused of molesting young boys.

Chrisopher Lunz sent a letter to a Macon County detective going into graphic detail of how he and another man tortuted and killed Estes then burned his remains.


Lunz claims he targeted child molesters.

During his trial for murdering his father he said he'd been molested as a child.

This may explain why he targeted suspected pedophiles like Estes.

After getting the letter, admitting he killed Estes, the Macon County Sheriff's Office tried to reach Lunz at a Florida prison.

But he'd already killed himself after killing another prisoner who was also a convicted child molester. They believe there may be more victims out there. ..Source.. by News ABC13

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IN LETTER, CONVICTED MURDERED SAYS HE KILLED A MACON COUNTY MAN

FRANKLIN-New details have surfaced in the case involving a convicted murderer who killed himself.

Christopher Lunz, a North Carolina resident made headlines a few years ago after being convicted for the murder of his own father, who he claimed sexually abused him during his childhood and was serving life in prison in a north Florida facility.

However, the case took another turn in September when the 41 year old Lunz allegedly took his own life while in prison. He had also allegedly killed a cell mate of his who was charged with child sex crimes.

But now the case becomes more startling as local authorities say they received a letter from Lunz in which he claims he killed a Macon County man awaiting trial on child sex crimes.

We spoke with Macon County Sheriff Robbie Holland who has more details on this bizarre case, “When we received the letter we met with the District Attorney’s Office the same day and then we attempted to make contact with Lunz the following day. The problem was between the time he wrote the letter and it was delivered to us he had been involved in another homicide within the prison system and had also committed suicide.”

The letter stated that Lunz had picked up Gerald Estes from the Franklin motel then proceeded to torture and kill him.

Holland says Lunz actually confessed to the killing of Estes to the Sheriff’s Office before writing the letter, but after an investigation no hard evidence was uncovered, “We conducted searches and the SBI was involved as well.

We looked in various locations where he claimed to have burned and discarded the body. The problem was we were unable to find any kind of evidence related to Gerald Estes.”

Authorities say they did discover what was concluded to be human hair during the investigation, but it still wasn’t enough to prove Estes is dead.

Sheriff Holland goes on to say the letter states Lunz wanted to come back to North Carolina and lead investigators to the body if they would ensure he got the death penalty.

Holland said that wasn’t possible.

He adds another individual was involved in the alleged killing of Estes and that person did pass a polygraph test.

As for whether or not Estes was actually killed that is unknown but no one has reportedly seen him since he left the motel, “Mr. Estes did not check out of the hotel, but he did leave his belongings behind. Now we know that the reason he left them behind is because he was with Christopher Lunz,” Holland said.

Holland is hopeful that the investigation being conducted by the state of Florida will reveal more evidence on Gerald Estes. He says he will stay in the system until more evidence is produced, but they are not actively searching for a body. ..Source.. by WFSC Radio News/Keith Giles, November 23, 2009

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Pinellas murderer commits suicide after fatally stabbing cellmate

9-22-2009 Florida:

NEW PORT RICHEY - If taken at his word, Christopher Lunz wanted to die.

After being convicted of first-degree murder in the slaying of his father, Lunz begged a Pinellas County jury to sentence him to death in 2006. Instead, jurors recommended life in prison.

But Lunz, 41, made good on his death wish today, killing himself inside Florida State Prison in Raiford. His suicide came roughly 30 hours after he stabbed his cellmate to death and injured a second inmate while at Franklin Correctional Institution in Carrabelle, authorities say.

Lunz had been housed at Franklin since August 2006. He was only taken to the more secure Raiford facility after prison officials found convicted child molester Nathaniel Taylor dead Monday morning in the cell he shared with Lunz.

Taylor, 46, was serving time for violating parole on convictions out of Volusia County. He was scheduled to be released in 2016.

Prison officers opened cell doors at 4:55 a.m. Monday and immediately heard Lunz say he had a hostage and warn officers to stay back, said Department of Corrections spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger. An officer talked Lunz into surrendering a shank and noticed Taylor's body.

Officials did not identify the injured inmate but said his injuries were not life-threatening.

Plessinger said she didn't know how Lunz made the shank or the manner of his suicide.

"The details are all pretty sketchy until the investigation gets a little further along," she said.

Lunz and co-defendant William Westerman were charged with first-degree murder in 2005. Authorities said the men drove from their home in North Carolina to Palm Harbor in March 2003 to kill 56-year-old David Lunz. Investigators said Christopher Lunz wanted his father dead so he could inherit his estate, which was valued at nearly $400,000.

The case made headlines when it went to trial in June 2006, partly because Lunz acted as his own attorney for most of the proceedings. Westerman made a deal with prosecutors and testified against his former mentor and roommate, admitting that he shot David Lunz but saying he did so on Christopher Lunz's orders.

Westerman, 29, is serving a 30-year sentence.

Lunz brimmed with confidence during his trial, even planning a press conference to announce what he thought would be a not guilty verdict. It wasn't to be. His dream of vindication shattered, Lunz pleaded for a death sentence during the trial's penalty phase.

"I don't mind," he testified. "I'm not too happy. I'm 38 years old, and I've never been in love, never been on a date."

He also testified that his father was killed for raping him as a child and beating his mother. Lunz called himself a serial killer and said he had killed more than 20 other men who had raped children.

The jury still refused to recommend death.

"I should have known better," Lunz said after he received the life sentence. "I should have known if you ask for death, they give you life." ..Source.. by TODD LESKANIC | The Tampa Tribune

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Christopher Lunz Found Guilty In Dad's Killing

6-9-2006 Florida:

CLEARWATER - A man who orchestrated his father's slaying was convicted of first-degree murder Thursday, quashing his plans for a victory celebration.

Instead, jurors return to court today to hear evidence before recommending whether Christopher Lunz should be executed for the March 2003 murder of David Lunz in his Palm Harbor home.

Lunz, 38, represented himself and was so sure he convinced jurors of his innocence that he was planning a news conference to discuss his victory, said two defense attorneys appointed to assist him.

They acknowledged - as did many watching the case - that Lunz did a remarkable job representing himself, despite having demanded that his trial be staged quickly before the defense team had a chance to examine all the evidence and interview all the witnesses.

"From an attorney's standpoint, I don't think the case was fully developed. We never followed up on his [possible] alibi," defense lawyer Keith Hammond said. "As for all the evidence on the table, he did as well as any attorney could do. But I don't think we had all the evidence and the state had three years to prepare."

Lunz and the man who pulled the trigger were charged with his father's murder late last year after a gun stolen from David Lunz's home was found on the bank of a lake near where the killers lived in North Carolina.

William Westerman, 26, quickly confessed to the crime and said Lunz ordered him to shoot his father with a sawed-off shotgun after the son attacked his father during what Westerman thought was supposed to be a friendly visit, authorities said. He testified against his former roommate and mentor and will receive a 30-year prison term in exchange for his cooperation.

Assistant State Attorney Mark McGarry told jurors Lunz hoped to inherit an estate worth nearly $400,000 from his father, whom he had not seen or visited for decades. It turned out the elder Lunz did not include his son in his will.

In opening statements earlier this week, Lunz told jurors Westerman acted alone and that prosecutors had no evidence he ever visited Florida in March 2003. The lack of evidence tying him to the murder scene turned out to be true, but Lunz apologized to the jury during his closing arguments Thursday for failing to present any alibi witnesses.

Late Wednesday, Hammond told Circuit Judge Dee Anna Farnell the defense team was awaiting word from a North Carolina couple who might have testified Lunz was visiting their home the day his father was killed. But Lunz chose to rest his case without calling any witnesses, even though Farnell offered to give him time to contact the couple.

Instead, Lunz chose to focus on the lack of physical evidence tying him to the murder scene.

His father died after a violent struggle, and there was blood all though his house, Lunz told the jury in his closing argument.

Westerman testified Lunz attacked his father and struggled with him, yet there was no DNA, not a single hair or fingerprint left behind, he said.

"There was not one single piece of evidence to put me there, but there was of William Westerman," he said.

When Lunz returns to court today, it will be under extraordinary security. Nine bailiffs surrounded him as the verdict was read Thursday, and Lunz has been wearing a harness that can deliver an electrical shock, if needed, by a bailiff.

At a hearing last week, security officials told the judge they had evidence Lunz may have been planning an escape, said Dyril Flanagan, a second defense attorney assisting during the trial. Also, the judge was told Lunz is under investigation for five other murders, although no details were provided, Flanagan said. ..Source.. by DAVID SOMMER

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Murderer, now dead, said he ‘did in’ accused molester

11-25-2009 Georgia:

Estes awaiting trial when Lunz nabbed, killed him, Lunz wrote

Macon County Sheriff Robbie Holland confirmed details surrounding some bizarre twists in the case of a convicted murderer who apparently killed himself a few weeks ago after allegedly committing additional murders in a Florida prison.

Christopher Lunz was living here when sheriff’s deputies arrested him in the murder of his father in Florida in 2003. He had claimed his father had sexually abused him when he was a child. Lunz was extradited to Florida and was convicted in 2006 and was serving a life term there when he allegedly killed one inmate, stabbed another and left him for dead, then killed himself the next day, Holland said. At least one of his latest alleged victims was a convicted sex molester.

Before the recent slayings and his own death, Lunz sent local authorities a letter in which he claimed also to have killed Gerald Estes, who was awaiting trial here on charges of sex crimes against a minor. Holland said he believed the Estes proceedings dated to 2006.

“He’s still listed as missing, we’re still trying to locate him,” Holland said, though, “We don’t have an investigator working on it full-time.

“There’s still an outstanding warrant for [Estes’] arrest and failure to appear,” Holland said. “Until we find definite evidence [of his demise], he’ll remain that way.”

Authorities have searched sites Lunz pointed them to in looking for Estes’ remains, but no evidence was found of his death.

Holland confirmed that an accomplice in the murder of Lunz’s father, who is also serving a life term in Florida, took and passed a polygraph test in which he claimed he assisted Lunz in Estes’ murder, which supposedly took place after they picked Estes up from the Franklin hotel where he’d been staying.

Reports said Lunz wrote his recent letter restating his claim to have killed Estes and offering to help locate the body in order to make a deal to be executed, but Holland said that wouldn’t have been possible.

Estes’ belongings were left behind at the hotel where he was last seen and were never claimed by him, the sheriff said. ..Source.. by David Tell , Staff Writer

CA- A molester's murder goes unsolved

5-6-2009 California:

Laura Bejerano wants to talk with whoever killed her father in 1993.

Alan Schwalbe was sitting at his desk, which was strangely positioned in a hallway between the kitchen and the garage, when he heard footsteps.

The 61-year-old property manager, who lived in a five-bedroom sprawl on the border of Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, was alone at the time. Schwalbe's roommate had just left to go to the beach.

He got up, apparently to close the garage door, but he was too late. Someone began pummeling him near his desk.

The fight went from the hallway to the kitchen and that's when Schwalbe put up his last stand. He reached to the kitchen counter for something, anything, that he might use in his defense.

This angered his attacker, who pulled out a knife and repeatedly stabbed Schwalbe in the neck, chest and heart. Schwalbe bled to death in a pool of his own blood.

At least that's what Schwalbe's daughter, Laura Bejerano, thinks happened. It's the way she's told it to herself, hundreds of thousands of times, in the 16 years since the murder.

What gets her the most is that she still doesn't know the who. Or the why.

•••

Bejerano, 40, a mother of three, is an instructional assistant at a local school district who recently earned a Bachelor's Degree in psychology. She hopes to go into forensic psychology, an interest she attributes to her father's ongoing case.

When Schwalbe was murdered, Bejerano was in her mid-20s and just out of the Navy. She lived in Costa Mesa with her mother and four siblings. She took classes at Orange Coast College.

And precisely at the time of the stabbing, she was on her way to visit her father – but turned around.

In the early years after the murder, the thought Bejerano couldn't shake was a simple one:

"I could have stopped them."

But in the years of therapy she's had since then – beating back what she terms "survivor's guilt" – she's heard something else, too.

"Had I shown up, I could have been killed too."

Life as the surviving relative of a long-unsolved murder has been challenging. While she's able to cope on a daily basis, Bejerano still misses her father – especially on his birthday and the anniversary of his death.

Worse, she says, is watching an increase in the number of solved cold cases – as new technologies are developed – while seeing little progress on her father's case.

"I celebrate for them … but I'm so frustrated," she says. "It's bittersweet. Like somebody's sort of taking my heart and twisting it a little bit."

What gives the grieving daughter even less hope is who her dad was.

Who really wants to solve the murder of a convicted child molester?

Schwalbe was a political science teacher at Corona del Mar High School until his teaching credentials were taken away in 1975. He was convicted of misdemeanor molestation charges involving two 16-year-old male students.

Bejerano says her father was also abusive, which strained relations between him and his family. But for all of his faults, she says there was good in him, too. After leaving prison, for example, Schwalbe became a vocal – and by many accounts effective – supporter of gay rights.

"My dad might have done some bad things in his life. He might have done some things that weren't so Boy Scout-ish," she says.

"That doesn't give anybody the right to take his life."

•••

Schwalbe's murder is one of about 140 still-active cold cases at the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Sgt. Yvonne Shull of the OCSD says the case last was looked at in 2006, when it was entered into the FBI's Violent Crime Analysis Program, which helps to link crimes with the same modus operandi.

Shull wouldn't elaborate on the evidence the department has in the Schwalbe case. But she explained that these types of cases can be solved in a variety of ways.

Sometimes suspects are captured using original or newly discovered evidence that was never subjected to testing technologies that have become available since the original investigation. Also, recent laws have created a fast-growing database of prisoner DNA, which Shull says has helped generate many new leads in old cases.

Still, Shull says, technology isn't of importance in solving all cold cases.

Guilt can wear on people. Relationships change. For those reasons and countless others, Shull says, a person who knows something about a crime might speak out – sometimes years later – even after initially declining to help.

And Shull is quick to shoot down the idea that Schwalbe's case remains unsolved after 15 years because of his background.

"When you're an investigator, you're given the responsibility to solve who murdered somebody," Shull says. "That person's race, previous history, you can't be prejudiced of that. You have to understand that your job is to find out who killed them."

•••

Bejerano is rooting for guilt.

"Time ages you, time softens you," she says. " … I'd like to think that (the killer or killers) were so hard then that they've become soft now.

"I'd like to think that something is nibbling at them, something is bothering them," she continues. "That they just need to tell because they've taken away a father, a grandfather."

While nothing will bring her father back, Bejerano has faith that his killer can be found.

"There is a chance for justice, for me to get answers," she says. "Why did they do it? How did they think they would get away with it for as long as they did?"

While she longs for a face-to-face conversation with the perpetrator, she hasn't ruled out the fact that the killer might already be dead. If that's the case, Bejerano says she could be at peace.

"I'd just find resolution because I believe that there's justice on God's side.

"That's when faith comes in and I dig in deep and say 'OK, let it go.'" ..Source.. by NIYAZ PIRANI, The Orange County Register

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Newspaper Apologizes p. 15 (5-4-2011 by: M.L. Stein)

California daily says it made an error of judgment when it prominently played up the 1974 child-molestation conviction of a former teacher found murdered in his home last month. A 61-YEAR-OLD man is murdered, stabbed to death in his home.

Nearly 20 years ago, as a respected high school teacher, he was convicted of sexually molesting two male students and sentenced to six months in jail. How should his past be played in a news story of the slaying?

The Daily Pilot, which covers the Orange County, Calif., coastal area, grappled with this question and decided it had made a grave mistake.

The headline on its Aug. 13 story said, "Convicted child molester found slain." The lead said, "A 61-year-old man who was found stabbed to death in his home Wednesday has been identified as the former Corona del Mar high school teacher convicted of molesting two of his students in 1974."

In the sixth paragraph, the past of the victim, Alan Schwalbe, was picked up and detailed for another seven paragraphs. It was noted that Schwalbe denied the charges at the time.

The story brought a storm of protest from relatives and friends of the well-to-do property owner.

Laura Schwalbe, one of Schwalbe's five children, phoned the paper to complain that her father's life amounted to much more than his criminal conviction.

As reported by the Daily Pilot, she added, "This is sensationalism at its worst.

It's tabloid stuff like some paper in London. He was a good man and deserved much better than this. This really hurt . . . . "

Costa Mesa Councilman Joe Erickson, a self-described friend of Schwalbe, accused the paper in a letter of exploiting a "juicy story even after the passage of time."

The Pilot, Erickson continued, "did not speak of Alan's many years of service to his community. He volunteered to deliver lunches to housebound senior citizens, served meals to homeless people, arranged for jobs for prison inmates upon their release . . . served the Orange County Fair Housing Council and cared for AIDS patients in his home."

Although the jail sentence cost Schwalbe his wife, his job and most of his friends, "he continued to protest his innocence to the day he died," the letter said.

However, even if guilty, Schwalbe had paid his debt to society, Erickson contended.
The protests did not go unheeded.

In its Aug. 14-15 weekend edition, the Pilot carried a front-page "Apology" box by editor William S. Lobdell, who called the previous day's story "one-dimensional and distorted."

"He was a murder victim and we focused almost entirely on a 19-year-old conviction," the editor added. "The treatment we gave the article ? including its headline and placement ? represented an error in judgment. He deserved better. Our readers deserved better."

Next to the apology was a column by managing editor Steve Marble, who conceded that "it was unfair to portray [Schwalbe] as a child molester and leave it at that." The column appeared in the same spot as the murder story and was approximately the same length.

Marble recalled, however, that the reporter who wrote the story had tried to talk to Laura Schwalbe at the murder scene but was refused. Pressed by a deadline, the reporter turned to the newspaper's library where the file on Schwalbe "began and ended with the child-molestation case."

Subsequently, the paper learned that Schwalbe had been a respected member of the gay community, an activist who had marched for gay rights and a worker in Democratic politics. He had helped establish a chapter of a veterans' group for gays and lesbians.

In judging the murder story, Marble concluded, "The article, of course, was accurate. It was factual. It was a neat synopsis of a very miserable point in Schwalbe's life.

"But in the cold light of the morning, after listening to a murder victim's daughter and staring down at the huge headline that had dredged up an event that had lost any semblance of news value, I realized it was possible to be accurate and inaccurate all at once."

Marble, a 15-year newspaperman, said, "This is a lesson we have to relearn. The situation keeps coming back. We should not have let a 20-year-old conviction become the whole story. We should have tried harder to get more background on the man."

MI- Man found in snow had no place to turn

UPDATE 3-21-09: MI- Calls for reform in treatment of homeless echo at candlelight vigil in Grand Rapids for sex offender Thomas Pauli

1-30-2009: See earlier stories. Died because of a ill conceived law that protects no one. Given that there has not been a single crime reported nationwide, occurring in a protected place (school, etc.) caused by a registered sex offender residing within the proscribed distance of that protected place, this is a testament to the short sightedness of lawmakers.

Consider this, if the missions accepted him to sleep for the night, placing him within the proscribed distance to the prohibited places, those prohibited places would not even have any children in them at that time he would be sleeping. Clearly the laws protect no one:

1-30-2009 Michigan:

Thomas Pauli was found dead Jan. 26

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Grand Rapids homeless advocates say a man found dead in the snow had been frustrated because he could not find a place to stay.

A business owner found the body of Thomas Pauli, 52, next to the old A to Z Radiator shop in the 600 block of S. Division Ave. on Jan. 26. Pauli was crouched in a kneeling position. The medical examiner says the autopsy was inconclusive, though evidence showed Pauli might have froze to death. Police say foul play was not involved.

Officials at Degage Ministries, a mission that offers myriad programs for people in need, say they believe Pauli was unable to get into a shelter because he is on the Michigan Sex Offender Registry.

State law "prohibits convicted sex offenders from residing, working or loitering within a student safety zone which is defined as the area that lies 1,000 feet or less from school property."
That law makes the Guiding Light Mission on Grand Rapids' Division Avenue off limits because Catholic Central High School is nearby. The Guiding Light Mission, however, is refusing to say whether it had been forced to turn Thomas Pauli away. Shelter officials told 24 Hour News 8 they do not keep record of the people they turn away. But The Guiding Light did confirm that it refuses shelter to two to three people a month because of the state law regarding sex offenders. Pauli was convicted in 1991 of second-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a child under the age of 13 in Grand Traverse County. Lori King, a supervisor at the Degage Life Enrichment Center, said Pauli was an intelligent, quiet and gentle man who had struggled with alcohol and drug addiction. She also said Pauli had gone through rehab and once told her he wanted to go back to school. "He voiced how hard it was for him to find housing, to find employment, just to be accepted back into society, like he had a big X on his head and nobody was going to give him a chance," King told 24 Hour News 8. "I was nauseated to think about him outside freezing. I knew why he was outside. Enraged is putting it lightly." Target 8 did a special investigation into the law designed to protect children, which unintentionally isolates convicted sex offenders. This makes it difficult for police to track their whereabouts and even harder for people on the Michigan Sex Offender Registry to get another shot. "They're upholding the law, but that causes such a hardship for people in our community. People who've done their time but still have the stigma attached to them," said Marge Palmerlee, executive director of Degage Ministries. "There needs to be an exemption for homeless shelters or we're going to have more tragedies," said homeless advocate Don Tack. It's a problem Target 8 looked into nearly three years ago. At the time, even the Grand Rapids Police Department was concerned that some sex offenders were hard to find because of the law -- homeless with no address. It's as if the law keeping them from living near schools defeated the other law requiring them to register so police know where they are. "We've had conversations with political folks about the need to amend this and didn't really get anywhere in the past," said Tack. Tack thinks Pauli's death might renew interest in amending the law. There are already some exemptions built into the Michigan Sex Offender Registry law allowing patients in mental health facilities, for example, to live within those 1,000-foot school safety zones as they are known. ..News Source.. by Henry Erb and Jessica Leffler -------------------------------------------------------------- MI- UPDATE- Death of homeless sex offender in Grand Rapids poses questions 1-29-2009 Michigan: So is this what it finally takes for us to hear the muffled cries of the homeless -- an ex-con dead in the snow because it's against the law for a sex offender to huddle up at either of two Grand Rapids missions? Thomas Pauli didn't choose to die alone in the cold. He apparently froze to death because of a crime he committed nearly 20 years ago, and a law that's dogged him ever since his release from prison. In the days prior to the discovery of his body Monday morning at a recycling operation in the 600 block of South Division Avenue, he reportedly attempted to score a bed at either or both the Guiding Light Mission and Mel Trotter Ministries, just blocks away. But officials at both facilities reluctantly acknowledge they would have turned him away because registered sex offenders can't reside for even one night within 1,000 feet of a school, in this case, Catholic Central High. Never mind that school isn't in session during the hours a guy like Pauli would have been snoozing away on a warm cot. Or that ex-cons -- or anyone else -- are more likely a threat to a neighborhood when they have nowhere to go. When they are desperate. Weather information for Grand Rapids for January 2009 (Added by eAdvocate)The problem is compounded by the fact that both missions are too near a pair of public parks, and that Mel Trotter houses women and children. All those elements also render the missions lawfully unable to accept offenders. The missions aren't to blame. They risk fines or even being shut down if they don't comply with the law.

--Given that there is nothing in registration law which would fine or cause them to be shut down, what law or other authority are they speaking of? If there is anyone who knows of their authority (laws) please contact eAdvocate@yahoo.com

But it's a law that needs changing. And we need to re-examine our collective level of commitment to a part of society that, to most of us, matters least. Asks Bill Shaffer, an officer with Guiding Light, "How do we treat the unlovable?" "I couldn't sleep last night thinking about Thomas Pauli freezing to death outside," said a tearful Marge Palmerlee, executive director at Degage Ministries, which cares for folks like Pauli who live and frequent the Heartside area on downtown's fringe. "Who can sleep at night, thinking of these people outside. It's just unbelievable." No, it's not. I'll bet that even before readers got to my fourth paragraph, some were thinking that Thomas Pierrie Pauli, who was born on Christmas Eve 52 years ago, got what he deserved. OK, so he spent time in the joint. Big whup. A sex offender should pay forever. Maybe so. I know too many people -- people close to me -- who have been victims of sexual assaults. In Pauli's case, he was convicted in Grand Traverse County in 1991 of second-degree criminal sexual conduct against a person younger than 13. Of the 5 to 15 years to which he was sentenced, he served more than 11. Not exactly a slap on the wrist. His wife divorced him two years into his stint. After his release in 2003, he eventually ended up at an address on Leonard Street NE. But he wandered from there and ended up roaming Heartside's gritty domain. He checked in and out of Project Rehab. On Dec. 30, he was booked for failing to register his address with authorities. He got 16 days for that misdemeanor and was freed Jan. 14.

--Note: At least he was warm in jail for those two weeks. If one thinks about it, and reviews the temperature chart for January, it is likely he PURPOSELY "Failed to Register" so that he had a place to stay where it was warm.

Sometime during the past two weeks, he tried to bed down at either or both missions, according to Palmerlee, who knows of two people saying they saw Pauli standing in lines. "A patron told me they'd seen him in Mel Trotter's line not long ago," added Lori King, life enrichment center supervisor at Degage. Officials at both missions cannot confirm Pauli tried to get in, but they also can't rule it out, because they don't track applicants who are refused admission, only those who make it across the threshold. Either way, they said it breaks their hearts to know they have to abide by a law that puts men in life-or-death situations. "Ethically, it feels like we're responsible," said Bill Merchut, in charge of programs at Mel Trotter. "But we have to follow the law. "These men and women are clearly 'The Scarlet Letter' folks of our day. "I've had (sex offenders) say, 'Where can I go?' and I stand there with my mouth open and I have no answer." There aren't many options for men seeking overnight shelter outside of the two missions. In a perfect world, there would be a homeless shelter located where it could accept sex offenders. Maybe a place like the former Greyhound bus station, Merchut said. Or perhaps the former site of a corrections center on Wealthy Street SW near the Grand River. But any solution will require a monstrous coalition. And money. Don Lamse was the gentleman who found Pauli about 10 a.m. Monday in a parking area adjacent to the auto recycling operation he manages on South Division. The victim was beside a '93 or '94 GMC conversion van. Lamse, 70, walked over and tried to rouse him. "Hey, hey," Lamse remembers saying. "Something like that." Pauli was bent into a crouching position, knees and hands on the ground. He wore no gloves. "I tried to nudge him a bit while I was talking to him, and he felt pretty stiff." Lamse said he found it odd that Pauli didn't crawl into any one of several unlocked vehicles, the van included. "He could have gone inside and had some shelter if he'd just opened a door.

--With no gloves and a temperature of -3 degrees, would anyone's hands work to pull on metal objects (doors, likely jammed from accidents) to gain access to the inside of the vehicle.

He added, "That's not a nice way for anybody to die." ..News Source.. by Tom Rademacher | The Grand Rapids Press -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michigan Registered Sex Offender Killed by State Sex Offender Residency Law 1-28-2009 Michigan: Man found dead in cold was turned away from shelters in past because he was sex offender GRAND RAPIDS -- A man found dead on the streets Monday had tried in recent weeks to gain admittance to at least one of two Heartside missions, but was denied a bed because he is a registered sex offender. Officials say its possible Thomas Pauli might be alive today except for a state law prohibiting him from establishing a residence even for one night within 1,000 feet of a school, in this case, Catholic Central High, also located in the Heartside district. "It's heartbreaking. I have a hard time even talking about it," said Marge Palmerlee, executive director at Degage Ministries. Palmerlee said she had talked to at least two people who told her Pauli had tried earlier this month to secure a bed at one or both missions. Bill Merchut of Mel Trotter and Bill Shaffer of Guiding Light agreed that Pauli may have tried to gain entrance, but that their missions risk fines and loss of license if they admit sex offenders. They do not track everyone who applies for a bed, only those who are admitted, so while they were sure Pauli had not been admitted, they couldn't be sure if he had tried.

--Note: Tracking those admitted and not tracking those not addmitted are different functions. Think about this, in order to reject someone (i.e., a sex offender) there has to be a procedure to CHECK a person applying for admittance, and there has to be a person assigned to that function. Notice how they skirted checking with persons assigned to that function, they most definitely would remember if they rejected someone because they were a registered sex offender. Why? Further, nothing in sex offender registration laws addresses "fines or loss of license" so what law are they speaking of?

They both decried a system where there are no exceptions to the so-called Megan's Law, which sets boundaries and restrictions for those on the list. "We have to follow the law, but ethically, it feels like were responsible," said Merchut. Added Shaffer, "These men and women are clearly 'The Scarlet Letter' folks of our day. And where do they go? I have no answer." Pauli, 52, served 11 years in prison for a 1991 conviction in Grand Traverse County for second-degree criminal sexual conduct, state records show. He was released in 2003 and was required to register as a sex offender. Results of an autopsy are not yet available. ..Source.. by The Grand Rapids Press ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grand Rapids man found dead was turned away from shelters based on CSC conviction GRAND RAPIDS(WZZM)- The man found dead on South Division Avenue may not have been able to find a place to stay. A business owner found Thomas Pauli's body Monday morning. Rob Munger, Executive Director of Guiding Light Mission says they have refused Pauli a place to stay in the past because he is a convicted sex offender. Munger says he does not know whether Pauli asked to stay at Guiding Light the night that he died. Pauli was convicted of 2nd Degree Criminal Sexual conduct with a person under 13 years old in Grand Traverse County. Munger says under state law all missions must turn away convicted sex offenders. Toxicology tests were inconclusive as to what caused Pauli's death. Temperatures the night he died did get down to zero. ..Source.. by Jessica Puchala and Chris Fleszar ------------------------------------------------------------------------ How do we protect at-risk populations from cold? To those who knew him, Thomas Pauli was an educated man, a quiet, gentle person who loved to read. So it's unclear why the 52-year-old man, who recently completed a rehab program, died on the streets in the cold. His body was discovered Monday in the snow inside a fenced auto salvage business, huddled near the wheel of a car in the 600 block of South Division Avenue. Pauli was among eight Michigan men and women -- four of them senior citizens -- found dead in the cold since Jan. 17. ..Source.. by The Grand Rapids Press -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8th Mich. Resident Dies From Harsh Weather A Grand Rapids man is the eighth person in nine days to be found dead in the Michigan cold. The body of 52-year-old Thomas Pauli was found this week in the snow at an auto salvage business in Grand Rapids. Investigators are trying to determine the cause of death, but it doesn't appear to be suspicious. The eight victims were found dead in the cold between Jan. 17 and Jan. 26, when Pauli's body was discovered. Four were older than 80. The Grand Rapids Press reports seven of the eight victims were found outside. Many apparently fell on their own property and couldn't get up. Ninety-three-year-old Marvin Schur froze to death inside his Bay City home just days after the municipal power company restricted his use of electricity because of unpaid bills. ..Source.. by ClickOnDetroit

Man convicted of Santa Cruz child molest killed in prison

2-14-2008 California:

FOLSOM -- A former Live Oak man serving a 400-year prison sentence at California State Prison-Sacramento was killed by another inmate Thursday morning, authorities reported.

Convicted child molester Shannon Lee Grailing, 53, died after Steven Matthew Schultz, a convicted murderer, slashed him across the neck with an apparent inmate-made weapon, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reported.

Grailing was serving the longest prison sentenced meted out in Santa Cruz County history. He sodomized a 10-year-old boy in a Santa Cruz motel in 1996 and, the following year, was convicted of five counts of child molestation.

"It's a tragic end to a tragic case," Santa Cruz police spokesman Zach Friend said Thursday.

The fatal attack happened just before 8 a.m. as Grailing pushed a laundry cart through the yard at the facility, which is adjacent to Folsom State Prison. He was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:10 a.m.

Schultz, 28, from Placer County, has been held in the prison since May 1999 and is serving a sentence of 26 years to life for first-degree murder.

Prison staff and the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office are investigating Grailing's death as a homicide, officials reported. The connection between the two men and the motive for the killing was not immediately clear, and the prison spokeswoman was not available to comment

Grailing had been in the prison since July 1997.

Santa Cruz police arrested him in August 1996 for failing to notify authorities that he had moved to Oregon.

During the arrest, police found evidence at a Santa Cruz motel that Grailing had molested a 10-year-old boy there and new charges were filed.

A jury in 1997 convicted Grailing of sodomizing the child, who is the son of one of Grailing's friends. He told her he was taking the boy to the Boardwalk, but instead brought him to the Hitching Post motel on Soquel Avenue, molested him and took digital photos of the sex acts.

The boy later testified against Grailing and spoke at his sentencing hearing.

"I don't care what you're going to do with the rest of your life in prison, or whatever, but I do know that there's one less monster out there, one less person that will hurt an innocent child," the victim said when Grailing was sentenced.

A "three strikes" offender previously convicted of molesting two Watsonville boys and three boys in Washington state, Grailing was sentenced to 375 years for sodomizing the 10-year-old boy. In November 1997, the judge added another 25 years to the sentence because Grailing had failed to register as a sex offender after moving to Portland.

Grailing appealed the molestation conviction on the grounds the California's registered sex offender law, which requires some convicted sex offenders to report their residences to police, only applies to those who live in the state. The 6th District Court of Appeal ruled against Grailing.

Grailing's death is the second homicide at California State Prison-Sacramento in three weeks, an official said.

The prison houses more than 3,100 maximum-security inmates serving long sentences and those who have proved to be management problems at other institutions. The facility opened in 1986 and employs nearly 1,600 people. ..more.. by Jennifer Squires at 429-2449 or jsquires@santacruzsentinel.com.

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Sex offender slain at New Folsom Prison

An inmate at California State Prison, Sacramento, who was serving a 400-year sentence for molesting a child, was slashed in the throat and killed Thursday, prison officials said.

Shannon Lee Graling, 53, was slashed with an "inmate-made weapon" just before 8 a.m. while pushing a laundry cart, according to a prison news release. He died just over an hour later.

Prison officials said the suspect in the slashing is 28-year-old Steven Matthew Schultz, who is serving a 26-year-to-life sentence for first-degree murder out of Placer County.

Graling was convicted in Santa Cruz County in 1997 of five counts of lewd and lascivious acts on a child under the age of 14 and sentenced to 400 years, prion officials said. Also that year, Graling was sentenced to 25 years to life for failing to register as a sex offender. ..more.. by Ryan Lillis

Burned, headless body found in Northville ID'd as sex offender

Click for video of parents speaking about their son.
11-10: Head found: See update below.
11-12: Teens charged with murder! See update below.
11-8-2007 Michigan SEE UPDATES

Northville police have identified the burned, headless body found on a cul-de-sac as a 26-year-old River Rouge man.

Nothville police, with the assistance of the Michigan State Crime Lab, used a fingerprint to identify the man as Daniel Sorensen.

Sorensen was decapitated and his body was severely burned, police said.

A sewer and water department crew found his body at 9:32 a.m. on Hidden Ridge Drive.

A records check indicates Sorensen was a registered sex offender in Illinois.

His cause of death remains unknown. The Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office is conducting an autopsy. ..more.. by BEN SCHMITT, FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

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Body of burned, decapitated man found at Seven and Ridge
11-8-2007 Michigan:

Workers performing fire hydrants checks this morning in Northville Township found the badly charred and decapitated male body.

The man was identified as Daniel Gene-Vincent Sorensen, 26, of River Rouge, formerly of Westland, a registered sex offender on the Michigan Public Sex Offender Registry.

Sorensen was convicted of fourth degree criminal sexual conduct involving a victim between 13-17, according to the registry.

Personnel from the township’s water and sewer department found Sorensen’s remains at 9:32 a.m. at the end of a cul-de-sac in Hidden Ridge, an undeveloped subdivision west of Ridge Road and south of Seven Mile Road, according to Director of Public Safety John Werth.

The three men found the body lying on the side of the road.

Even though search dogs were brought to the site, the head of the body has not been found.

Township police were assisted by the Michigan State Police, whose mobile crime trailer was at the scene, Plymouth Township Police and Wayne Police.

After canvassing the area, talking to nearby residents, police believe the body was burned at the site sometime between 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Witnesses noticed something burning in the area during that time.

Police think the murder took place elsewhere, with the body being brought to the township location.

Police believe the murderer decapitated and burned the victim in an attempt to conceal Sorensen’s identity.

“His hands were actually burnt, but we were able to get one fingerprint,” Werth said.

Police matched the man’s fingerprints in the state police database within three hours after the body was found.

Werth added that police learned from talking to residents in the area that fires are evidently started in the undeveloped area all the time, but no one calls the police or the fire department.

Second body found
This was the second body found dumped in Northville Township in less than four months.

A passing motorist who stopped to look at the ducks found a woman’s partially-clothed body in a retention pond by Country Club Condominiums about 3:40 p.m. on Aug. 7.

Police were able to identify the body within hours as 44-year-old Cheryl Lynn Boeskool of Garden City. Thomas Joseph Roe, 62, also of Garden City, who allegedly tried to help the mentally-challenged Boeskool at one time, was charged with first degree murder in her death on Aug. 10 in 35th District Court.

Roe, who pleaded not guilty on the murder charge, is currently in jail, awaiting trial. ..more.. by Pam Fleming can be reached at (248) 349-1700, ext. 105, or pfleming@gannett.com.

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Autopsy Conducted in Beheading Death of Sex Offender
11-9-2007 Michigan

NORTHVILLE TOWNSHIP, Mich. — An autopsy was being conducted Friday morning on a beheaded, burned corpse found on a cul-de-sac about 20 miles northwest of Detroit and identified as a 26-year-old convicted sex offender.

Police are searching for a burgundy Chevy S-10 pickup truck belonging to the victim, Daniel Gene-Vincent Sorensen, 26, of River Rouge, Mich., after state police used fingerprints to identify the body.

"We believe it's an isolated incident," said Det. Lt. Michael Wildt of Northville Township Police. "We have to find out who did it, why and where did it happen. This is where we found the body, but we don't believe the person was murdered there."

Sorensen had been convicted of the criminal sexual abuse of a teen between the age of 13 and 17 in Tazewell County, Ill., according to that state's sex offender registry. But investigators weren't sure if that had anything to do with his brutal death.

"As of right now we don't have anything that says it is; we don't have anything that says it isn't," Wildt said. "We don't know."

The body was found Thursday morning by Northville Township public works employees along a road in Hidden Ridge, a subdivision under development. The body was set on fire Wednesday night between 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., police said.

"It burned for a long time," Wildt said.

Sorensen's head has not been found and a cause of death has not been released.

"Who would do something like this to my son?" his father, Jim Sorensen, told MyFOXDetroit.

Click here to watch the MyFOXDetroit report.

Sorensen worked odd jobs doing construction and landscape work, police said. He was last seen alive on Wednesday.

His pickup truck has the Michigan license plate BBV 9503.

FOXNews.com's Sara Bonisteel contributed to this report. ..more..

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Sewer crew finds man's mutilated body
11-9-2007 Michigan

Investigators believe someone tried to hide the identity of a murder victim found burned and decapitated Thursday at the end of a suburban cul-de-sac.

But a single fingerprint copied by State Police forensic evidence experts from the victim's burned hands confirmed the man as a River Rouge resident with an Illinois sex abuse conviction.

The torso of Daniel Gene-Vincent Sorensen, 26, was found about 9:30 a.m. Thursday by a three-man crew from the township's sewer and water department checking the operation of a fire hydrant.

"Somebody went a long ways making an effort to obscure the identity of this man," said Northville Township Public Safety Director John Werth.

Sorensen was convicted in 1998 in Illinois of criminal sexual abuse of a teenager, according to the Illinois Sex Offender Information Web site. He is listed on both the Michigan and Illinois sex offender registries.

Sorensen's torso was found next to the curb of a new street in a yet-to-be developed subdivision south of Maybury State Park. His head is missing.

Werth said he didn't have a motive for the slaying and has no indication the death is related to Sorensen's status as a sex offender.

Sorensen apparently was killed and perhaps decapitated elsewhere, before his body was dumped near the curb. An autopsy to determine the cause of death is set for today.

Investigators said Sorensen appeared to have suffered numerous stab wounds.

Police said a neighbor reported seeing a fire at the end of the unoccupied road about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Another witness said the fire could still be seen about 10 p.m. Werth said a flammable liquid appeared to have been poured on the already headless torso.

Sorenson worked as a bar bouncer, his father told WJBK-TV.

"Who would do something like this to my son? It's not real to me right now," said Jim Sorenson.

The criminal sexual conduct charge stemmed from a relationship with an underage girl, his father said. His sex offender status was "a cloud that hung over his head," his mother Kim told WXYZ-TV.

"He was a good person ... but he had a rough life," she said. ..more.. by Doug Guthrie / The Detroit News

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Police still have no solid leads in murder of River Rouge man
11-9-2007 Michigan

Search on for roommate’s 2001 Chevy S-10 truck

Northville Township Police still had no solid leads Friday afternoon in the murder of a 26-year-old River Rouge man whose badly burned and decapitated body was found Thursday morning in an undeveloped subdivision.

The body of Daniel Gene-Vincent Sorensen, formerly of Westland, was found lying by the side of the road in a cul-de-sac at 9:32 a.m. Thursday by township water and sewer workers.

The workers were performing routine fire hydrant checks when they found the body and called authorities.

Police are searching for Sorensen roommate’s vehicle, a burgundy 2001 Chevy S-10 pickup with the Michigan license plate number BBV-9503.

The vehicle is not registered to Sorensen but is what he was last seen driving.

The pickup is registered to the man’s roommate in River Rouge, according to Lt. Greg Rhodes, Northville Township Police Department.

The license number has also been listed in the nationwide law enforcement database as a wanted vehicle, Rhodes said.

Sorensen’s sex offense conviction took place in 1998 in Illinois, according to police. He was 17 at the time, and the victim was 15, according to news reports.

It appears the sex conviction was more of a statutory indiscretion, according to police.

Investigators are continuing to interview the murder victim’s family members and friends.

Police have learned that Sorensen didn’t have steady employment but that he did have a girlfriend.

According to news reports, he was an only child.

Anyone who sees the vehicle in question can call the township police department at (248) 349-9400. ..more.. by Northville Record staff writer Pam Fleming can be reached at (248) 349-1700, ext. 105, or pfleming@gannett.com.

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Man likely died before head was severed:
26-year-old's autopsy says stabbings were the cause of death of burned body left in subdivision.
11-10-2007 Michigan:

NORTHVILLE TOWNSHIP -- Daniel G. Sorensen, 26, likely was dead long before his head was cut off and his torso set ablaze on vacant lot No. 5 of a new subdivision south of Maybury State Park.

An autopsy performed Friday by the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office determined Sorensen was killed by multiple stab wounds probably hours before his body was discovered Thursday morning by a Northville Township crew checking on the operation of a fire hydrant in Hidden Ridge Estates.

Sorensen's head has not been found.

Investigators also are looking for a missing pickup truck. The burgundy 2001 Chevrolet S-10 with an extended cab and black fender flairs had been driven almost exclusively by Sorensen but was registered to a friend. The Michigan license plate number is BBV 9503.

Sorensen's body was doused with a flammable liquid, and particular attention appeared to have been paid to the hands, said John Werth, Northville Township director of public safety. He speculated that the killer tried to hide the victim's identity.

Werth said detectives Friday had discovered promising and fast-developing leads in the case.

Police said the area's neighbors reported seeing a campfire-like blaze at the end of Hidden Ridge Court about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Sorensen was convicted in 1998 in Illinois of sexual abuse involving a teenager. He was on both the Michigan and Illinois sex offender registries, which friends said haunted him.

"It was a consensual relationship with a girlfriend who was a couple of years younger than him, which made her underage," said Jennifer Furie, 22, of Chesterfield Township.

"Every time he applied for a job, it came up. My dad this morning when he read it in the paper was angry because this was the boy who used to come over and watch movies at my house. It was unfair and now this monstrous thing happens to him. Whoever did this had a lot of hatred."

Furie said she and Sorensen attended Livonia's Franklin High School. He was several classes ahead of her.

"He was a teddy bear. A big guy who could tell a joke and was always open to easy conversation," Furie said. "He had a hard time getting jobs, even getting a car, because a teenage relationship got him branded for life." ..more.. by Doug Guthrie at (734) 462-2674 or dguthrie@detnews.com.

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Tazewell Co. sex offender found dead in Michigan
11-10-2007 Illinois:

PEKIN — Police in Michigan continued their investigation Friday into the grisly death of a man once convicted of molesting a teenager in Tazewell County.

The beheaded, burned corpse of Daniel Gene-Vincent Sorensen, 26, of River Rouge, Mich., was found Thursday in Northville Township, Mich., about 20 miles northwest of Detroit. Police told reporters they believe Sorensen was murdered at another location and dumped on a cul-de-sac.

Tazewell County State’s Attorney Stewart Umholtz confirmed that Sorensen was convicted of criminal sexual abuse of a minor in 2000. He was placed on 12 months of probation for the misdemeanor offense.

Police identified the badly burned victim by using an automated fingerprint identification system. An autopsy was conducted Friday but a cause of death has not been released.

A search was under way for Sorensen’s truck. The victim was last seen on Wednesday. He worked odd jobs doing construction and landscape work. ..more.. by Edith Brady-Lunny eblunny@pantagraph.com

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Dad begs: Help find who killed my son
11-10-2007 Michigan

Jim Sorensen is not only coping with the image of his 26-year-old son's decapitation, he's trying to defend his son's reputation surrounding a sex offense conviction.

As Northville police continued to search for suspects in the killing of Daniel Sorensen of River Rouge, his father begged Friday that anyone with information call police or turn themselves in.

"If you know anything, look at what this person did to my son," said Jim Sorensen, 51, of Westland. "If you were involved, turn yourself in because you will be caught."

Police, with the assistance of the Michigan State Crime Lab, used a fingerprint Thursday to identify Daniel Sorensen's body. It had been found Thursday morning on Hidden Ridge Drive in Northville Township.

Sorensen was decapitated and his body was severely burned, police said. His head has not been recovered.

Jim Sorensen said the sex offender conviction occurred when his son was 17 and dating a 14-year-old girl that he met on the Internet. Daniel Sorenson thought the girl was 16 and went to Illinois to meet her.

"He's not a pedophile," Jim Sorensen said. "This was consensual touching. We have a son who has been murdered violently, but we have a view of him as a sex offender, and that is not fair."

He said he does not believe his son's death is related to the sex offense.

The conviction on the fourth-degree sex offense dogged Daniel Sorensen when he applied for jobs, his father said. Most recently, he told his parents he was driving a truck.

"Dan was a social being," his father said. "We called him 'Bear,' because he was like a big old teddy bear."

Northville Township Public Safety Director John Werth said police followed up on leads Friday. They are searching for Daniel Sorensen's red Chevrolet S-10 pickup.

"We are clueless at this time," Jim Sorensen said. "We need the public's help." ..more.. by BEN SCHMITT at 313-223-4296 or bcschmitt@freepress.com.

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Three 'persons of interest' ID'd in gruesome Northville Twp. slaying
11-10-2007 Michigan

NORTHVILLE TOWNSHIP -- Investigators have identified three persons of interest in the case of the burned and beheaded body found Thursday at the end of a suburban cul-de-sac.

Northville Township Public Safety Director John Werth declined to say whether the three are in custody, but confirmed Saturday an unspecified number of arrest warrants are being sought in connection with the slaying of Daniel G. Sorensen, 26.

The River Rouge resident's body was found early Thursday in a vacant lot at the end of a street in a yet-to-be-developed subdivision near Ridge Road, south of Maybury State Park. Police believe an effort was made to hide the victim's identity by removing his head and burning the torso, particularly the hands. Sorensen's head wasn't found with the body.

The Wayne County Prosecutor's office is expected on Monday to consider evidence and information detectives collected late Friday, including Sorensen's missing pickup truck. The burgundy 2001 Chevrolet S-10 was found shortly before 10:30 p.m. in the parking lot of a Meijer store at Warren and Newburgh roads in Westland.

Northville Township Police executed search warrants at five locations on Friday and early Saturday with assistance from officers in Livonia, Westland, Plymouth Township, Michigan State police troopers and detectives from the Wester Wayne County Special Investigative Task Force. Werth declined to identify two other communities where warrants were served.

"We have additional evidence that was used in the crime that is being processed right now," Werth said. "We have a lot of loose ends to tie up, but we are confident with who we have."

Werth declined to discuss his investigator's theory of the motive for the killing. Sorensen had a 1998 sex abuse conviction as a teen in Illinois, stemming from a relationship with an underage girl, according to his friends. His name and address were listed on both the Illinois and Michigan Sex Offender registries.

"It's a complex case and we are being very careful. We are continuing to follow leads that have developed very quickly," Werth said. "This was a horrendous crime and I don't want to jeopardize prosecution of the case by speaking about that before the prosecutor has time to review the evidence."

Officially, police released only a brief statement on Saturday morning: "The Northville Township Police Department is continuing to actively investigate all the leads in the case. Due to the incident's complexity and the numerous details that have arisen no press release will be made until all leads have been investigated and arrest warrants are obtained." ..more.. by Detroit News

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Truck of slain man found in store lot
11-10-2007 Michigan

Late Friday night, police recovered the red Chevrolet S-10 pickup belonging to a River Rouge man who was found decapitated and his body severely burned.

Northville Township Public Safety Director John Werth said the victim's pickup was found at a Meijer grocery store at Newburg and Warren in Westland at about 10:20 p.m. He said it was being towed to the department's impound lot for processing.

Werth declined to say whether arrests were imminent in the case but did say, "We are talking to persons of interest."

Meanwhile, the man's father, Jim Sorensen, said he is not only coping with the image of his 26-year-old son's decapitation, he's trying to defend his son's reputation surrounding a sex offense conviction.

As Northville Township police continued to search for suspects in the killing of Daniel Sorensen of River Rouge, his father begged Friday that anyone with information call police or turn themselves in.

"If you know anything, look at what this person did to my son," said Jim Sorensen, 51, of Westland. "If you were involved, turn yourself in because you will be caught."

Police, with the assistance of the Michigan State Crime Lab, used a fingerprint Thursday to identify Daniel Sorensen's body. It had been found Thursday morning on Hidden Ridge Drive in Northville Township.

Sorensen was decapitated and his body was severely burned, police said. His head has not been recovered.

Jim Sorensen said the sex offender conviction occurred when his son was 17 and dating a 14-year-old girl that he met on the Internet. Daniel Sorenson thought the girl was 16 and went to Illinois to meet her.

"He's not a pedophile," Jim Sorensen said. "This was consensual touching. We have a son who has been murdered violently, but we have a view of him as a sex offender, and that is not fair."

He said he does not believe his son's death is related to the sex offense. ..more.. by BEN SCHMITT at 313-223-4296 or bcschmitt@freepress.com.

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Human head found in Hines Park
11-11-2007 Michigan

DEARBORN HEIGHTS -- The Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office has confirmed that a head was found at Hines Park in Dearborn Heights on Saturday.

However, it is yet to be determined if the head belongs to 26-year-old homicide victim Daniel Sorensen, whose decapitated body was found earlier this week.

The River Rouge resident's body was discovered early Thursday in a vacant lot at the end of a street in a yet-to-be developed subdivision near Ridge Road, south of Maybury State Park. Police believe an effort was made to hide the victim's identity by removing his head and burning the torso, particularly the hands.

Sorenson's head wasn't found with the body.

A press conference on Sorensen's death is planned for 10:30 a.m. Monday at the Northville Township Police Headquarters, 41600 Six Mile Road, according to the Northville Township police.

Other law enforcement agencies and the Wayne County Prosecutor's office are expected to attend.

Investigators have identified three persons of interest in the case.

Sorensen had a 1998 sex abuse conviction as a teen in Illinois, stemming from a relationship with an underage girl, according to his friends. His name and address were listed on both the Illinois and Michigan Sex Offender registries.

His body was identified by a partial fingerprint. ..more.. by Christina Stolarz at (586) 468-0343 or cstolarz@detnews.com.

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2 Detroit-area teens charged in the slaying, mutilation of a man
11-12-2007 Michigan

DETROIT -- A high school senior and another teenager were charged Monday in the slaying and mutilation of an adult acquaintance, whose burned torso was found last week and severed head discovered this weekend in a local river. Prosecutors say the teens killed the man for the thrill of it.

Canton High School student Jean Pierre Orlewicz, 17, of Plymouth, and Alexander James Letkemann, 18, of Westland, are charged with one count each of first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder and mutilation of a corpse.

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.

"They lured him in the garage where they prepared a space to kill him," Worthy said at a news conference.

A tarp had been spread on the garage floor, and Sorenson was stabbed multiple times in the back. His head was sawed off and his body wrapped in the tarp, authorities said.

His hands and feet were burned with a blowtorch, possibly in an effort to conceal Sorenson's identity, the said.

His torso was driven in a pickup truck and dumped in a Northville Township cul-de-sac where it was set on fire with gasoline. A utility crew found it the next morning, police said.

His head was dumped in the Rouge River near the border between Dearborn Heights and Detroit. It was found Saturday.

"They made plans on how they were to clean up the blood," Worthy said. "They made plans on how they were going to dispose of the body. No matter how malicious we all think it may be, it was very thought out and very methodical."

The investigation is continuing and involves other persons of interest, she said.

"We've all seen a lot. We've seen it all," Worthy said of the case's investigators. "Still, a crime like this surprises us all.

"Anytime anyone kills just because they want to, and that's what the evidence seems to suggest here, is bone-chilling. Why anyone would want to do that, especially being 17 years old, it makes us think and ask a lot of questions about our society."

Sorenson's history as a registered sex offender in Michigan and Illinois and that he may have owned his attackers a small amount of money appears to have had nothing to do with his death, Worthy said.

Orlewicz and Letkemann were arraigned Monday in a Romulus courtroom.

The murder charges carry mandatory sentences of life in prison. Mutilating a corpse carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. ..more.. by WOOD-TV

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2 Mich. Teens Charged in Dismemberment
11-12-2007 Michigan

Two thrill-seeking teenagers stabbed an adult acquaintance, took a blowtorch to his corpse and threw his severed head into a river, prosecutors said Monday as they charged the pair.

Canton High School senior Jean Pierre Orlewicz, 17, and Alexander James Letkemann, 18, ambushed 26-year-old Daniel Sorenson last Wednesday in a garage owned by Orlewicz's grandfather, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said. A tarp had been spread on the floor, she said.

"They lured him in the garage where they prepared a space to kill him," Worthy said at a news conference.

Sorenson, who had worked as a bouncer, was stabbed multiple times in the back, his head was sawed off and his body was wrapped in the tarp, authorities said. Orlewicz and Letkemann burned his hands and feet with a blowtorch, possibly in an effort to conceal his identity, Worthy said.

"They made plans on how they were to clean up the blood," Worthy said. "They made plans on how they were going to dispose of the body."

The teens loaded Sorenson's torso in a pickup truck, dumped it in a cul-de-sac and set it on fire using gasoline. A utility crew found it Thursday morning, police said.

Sorenson's head was found Saturday in the Rouge River.

Sorenson's history as a registered sex offender in Michigan and Illinois and the fact that he may have owed his attackers a small amount of money appear to have had nothing to do with his death, Worthy said.

"We've all seen a lot. We've seen it all," Worthy said of the case's investigators. "Still, a crime like this surprises us all.

"Anytime anyone kills just because they want to, and that's what the evidence seems to suggest here, is bone-chilling. Why anyone would want to do that, especially being 17 years old, it makes us think and ask a lot of questions about our society."

Worthy did not immediately respond to a message seeking more information, including whether the defendants had lawyers.

Orlewicz, of Plymouth, and Letkemann, of Westland, were arraigned Monday in a Romulus courtroom on one count each of first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder and mutilation of a corpse. The murder charges carry mandatory sentences of life in prison. Mutilating a corpse carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

The investigation is continuing and other people may have been involved, Worthy said. ..more.. by COREY WILLIAMS