▣ Trial begins in Florida no body murder case
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BY DAVID OVALLE
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com
The mystery of Trinity Robinson's 1993 disappearance stretches decades and miles, from Homestead amid the devastation of Hurricane Andrew, through the rumor mill of small-town North Carolina, and back this week to a Miami-Dade courtroom.
Responsible for her demise, prosecutors say: Christopher Phillips, a manipulative ex-boyfriend who spun various versions of how she vanished -- then confessed to townsfolk over the years that he had killed her, a prosecutor told jurors Monday.
Read more: Miami Herald
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Arrest in 11 year old Florida no body murder case
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National by Bethany Burks
Baby Sitter Arrested after 11 Year Cold Case
August 29th, 2010
A babysitter has been arrested in connection with an 11 year old cold case. Melissa Harding-Jones has been arrested and charged with the murder of 3 year old Pilar Rodriguez. Rodriguez went missing in 1999 after her parents allowed her to go on vacation with Harding-Jones.
For more, click here: CNMNewsNetwork.com
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ California no body murderer loses appeal
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Convicted killer loses appeal
Court rules disputed evidence was admissible because it revealed motive in death of 84-year-old grandmother
By Nick Wilson | nwilson@thetribunenews.com
The Cayucos man convicted of killing his 84-year-old grandmother in 2008 has lost an appeal in his criminal case.
Matthew James Levine appealed on the grounds that San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Michael Duffy erred by admitting evidence of Levine’s possession of firearms as well as tape-recorded statements in County Jail.
Levine’s lawyer argued that the evidence allowed into the trial prejudiced his case.
Read more: SanLuisObispo.com
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Murder charge in Denver for no body case
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Disappearance leads to murder charge
By Dennis Webb
Friday, August 20, 2010
Despite the lack of a body — thought to have been dumped in the Colorado River — a judge on Friday bound over a Denver man to district court for trial in the suspected murder of a business partner.
Denver County Judge Andrew Armatas ruled after a preliminary hearing that there is probable cause to believe Joong Rhee is guilty, said Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver District Attorney’s Office.
For more, click here: GJSentinel.com
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Guilty Plea in Arkansas No Body Murder case
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- The capital murder trial for a Washington County woman accused beating and killing her mother was set to start Monday, but the defendant, Delores Eggert, pleaded guilty early Monday morning to first-degree murder in her mother's death.
"She admitted to the fact that she shot her mother multiple times causing her death," said Washington County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Matt Durrett.
Eggert changed her plea from not guilty to guilty. Eggert was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Click here for more: 4020tv.COM
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ No Body Guy quoted in Cape Cod Times
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Trudie Hall has been missing for a month and police on Cape Cod believe she was murdered. Click here for my take on it:
Cape Cod Times
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Tennessee man arrested in 9 year old no body murder case in Florida
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Lake Wales News
Posted by Thomas A.(Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Florida no body murder conviction thrown out
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It is extremely rare for murder convictions to be thrown out but it happened in Florida in the no body murder case of Naraine "Cyril" Ramsammy:
Sun-Sentinel
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Some of my entries on the Time's Up Blog
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I hope you'll check out the blog Time's Up dedicated to victims of crime at http://timesupblog.blogspot.com/
Here are two of my recent posts.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
There's a Law Against That!
By Tad DiBiase
Recently, while on vacation, I picked up a copy of the USA Today. There was a fascinating article inside that made me say, as I often do, "Now why didn't I think of that?" The article, found here, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-06-24-choking_N.htm, discusses a trend at the state level to increase penalties against defendants who choke their victims. Studies showed that choking is often used by domestic abusers and can be a prelude to murder.
Indeed, a 2008 study in the Journal of Emergency Medicine notes that 43% of women who were murdered in domestic assaults and 45% of women who were victims of attempted murder had been choked in the past year by their male partners.
In most states, choking would in all likelihood be prosecuted as a misdemeanor with the penalties being, at most, less than one year in jail. As noted in the article, in Delaware more than half of all choking cases in one county were prosecuted as misdemeanors over a four month period. Thus, a proverbial slap on the wrist for most domestic abusers.
Thanks to the study in Delaware done by two state troopers, however, Delaware passed a new law increasing the penalty to five years for choking. (Getting judges to give out these sentences is a whole other story.) In my own experience as a domestic violence homicide prosecutor I often saw not only domestic abuse as a prelude to murder but specifically choking as well.
As with many domestic murders, it's more about power and control than a murderous instinct. Choking is deeply personal since it requires the victim and the abuser to be so close together and typically a man can overpower his female partner. Moreover, choking does not usually lead to death making it the perfect tool to control the victim yet let her live another day.
Often the only way to break the cycle of violence by abusers is if they get enough of a wakeup call before they kill that lets them know domestic abuse won't be tolerated. Having a state law that makes choking a felony is a good first step.
Tad DiBiase
Thursday, January 7, 2010 Investigation 101: Tips For Law Enforcement and Family Members
By Tad DiBiase
I’m often asked by both the families of missing persons and law enforcement what the police and family should be doing once a person is missing but presumed dead. Here are five things the police should focus on early in an investigation and one thing the family can do. In any murder investigation, time is of the essence and the faster the police can gather clues, the greater their chance of finding the victim’s body and making an arrest. Note that all of these techniques are useful even if the victim is merely missing and not actually dead. Moreover, although this are things done by the police, the victim's family can assist the police with these techniques by giving the police the ideas and the information that enables the police to investigate the matter.
1. Cell phones
Cell phones have a wealth of information and their widespread use in today’s society make them a valuable source of information. The police, often with the help of a subpoena issued by the prosecutor’s office, can get the records from the victim’s phone and see who the victim was calling, when the calls stopped and who called after the outgoing calls stopped. Checking the frequency of calls also help police determine who was close to the victim. Cell phones utilize cell towers to make calls and obtaining cell tower records tell police where a call was coming from. Indeed, the cell towers to which a phone sends a signal can change during the duration of a call, so police can track the path of the victim. However, phone companies keep cell tower records for very limited periods, often as few as 20 to 30 days so police must move quickly to get these records. Of course, all of these techniques apply to potential suspects as well.
2. Interviews
Police should immediately interview as many who know the victim as possible. Close family members and friends must be interviewed in detail to gather information. Videotaping these interviews is best because if the story changes down the road, the police have an accurate record of what was said initially. Any suspects should also be interviewed and their story thoroughly checked out.
3. Search warrants
I have seen over the years the difficulties police have in getting search warrants for suspect’s houses or other possible scenes in missing person’s cases. First, police should aggressively pursue consent searches if possible. If that fails, they must at least try to get a search warrant. There’s nothing wrong with putting in a search warrant that the police suspect foul play and that the victim’s characteristics are inconsistent with having simply left town, e.g., left behind children, is a child, have not accessed bank accounts, failed to show up to work, etc. Citing other cases of missing persons who were later found dead or were never found, increase the chances a judge will agree the victim may be dead. Getting inside a suspect’s house often leads to very valuable scientific evidence. Any search should include a cadaver dog. You’d be amazed at how often suspects bury a body nearby, sometimes temporarily until they can move it to another, safer location.
4. Pressure suspect
If there is an obvious suspect, pressure must be applied. Through effective interrogation techniques, a suspect will often confess early on since the guilt is fresh and the suspect’s story not quite thought out yet. A suspect should be placed under surveillance to see if he or she returns to the crime scene or where the body was disposed of. Advances in GPS technology have led police to placing GPS tracking devices on a suspect’s car and using the information to see where the suspect goes. For an interesting recent article from the Washington Post about this see, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/12/AR2008081203275.html
5. Think creatively
Don’t treat the case like a missing person case, treat it like a homicide where the best evidence of the crime is missing: the body. Police must think outside the box. In one case, the family had not heard from the victim for sometime but was receiving letters allegedly written by the victim. The family, suspicious that the victim was actually dead, wrote back and reminded the victim to send the money he owed to another family member and to not forget that same family member’s birthday. A few days letter a birthday card arrived along with a check for $25. Of course, the victim did not owe that family member any money and it was not his birthday so the family knew that it was not the victim writing the letters. This is just one example of police and a family thinking creatively to ensnare a killer. Someone with the ability to conceal a body is not a criminal who is likely to make stupid mistakes like the bank robber who writes a stickup note on his own deposit slip. These cases are huge law enforcement challenges and require creative solutions and investigative techniques.
What can the family do?
First, never, ever give up. No body cases are often solved many years after the fact. Although forensic advances making solving these cases easier, many cold cases still exist and a family can never lose hope.
Second, keep the pressure on the police and the DA. don't be shy about calling to see what the status of the investigation is. You're not being a pest, you're being a squeaky wheel that needs oil!
Third, try to keep the case in the media if possible. Anniversaries of disappearances and landmarks for family members (victim's children's graduations, birthdays, etc.) are good hooks to get the media involved and interested. Media coverage keeps pressure on the cops, suspects and witnesses alike, always a good thing.
Fourth, consider, if you can afford it, hiring an investigator or attorney to conduct your own investigation. Often third parties can get more information from police and prosecutors and look dispassionately at the case in a way you can't.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Search for body after arrest in Michigan no body murder case
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Venus search yields no body
Into the thicket - Law enforcement officers looking for Venus Stewart yesterday formed a search line and swept through swamplands north of Leonidas. The eight-hour effort did not result in finding any evidence of Venus.
Effort will continue
By Rick Cordes
Staff Writer
Published:
Friday, August 6, 2010 2:11 PM EDT
LEONIDAS TOWNSHIP — Another massive search in northeastern St Joseph and southeastern Kalamazoo counties was conducted yesterday but no trace of Venus Stewart was found.
Venus, the 32-year-old mother of two young daughters, disappeared on April 26 from in front of her parents’ rural Colon home and her estranged husband Douglas Harrie Stewart, 29, is lodged in St. Joseph County jail awaiting an Oct. 29 trial on charges of murder and conspiracy to murder in Venus’ disappearance.
More than 50 law enforcement officers, nine search dogs, plus St. Joseph County Posse volunteers, participated in the hunt in Black Snake Swamp in a remote area east of a corn field between Fulton and Rosenbaugh roads.
“Nothing was found but we do have some spots that will be re-checked with a dog,” said Lt. Mike Risko, commander of the White Pigeon Michigan State Police Post.
“It was pretty tough going in the swamp water,” Risko said, noting that it was eight inches deep in spots.
Another large search will be conducted, Risko said. “We’ve searched the east side and the west side (of the area near Douglas Stewart’s parents’ home). We’ll keep trying. We’re not done yet.”
Yesterday’s search began with Michigan State Police (MSP) dogs scanning the area at 7:30 a.m., followed by the large search team entering the swamp at 9:30 a.m. The effort was concluded at 3:30 p.m.
Helping on the ground were members of several MSP special units, including the Homeland Security Team, the Fugitive Team, SWET West, MSP detectives from Paw Paw and Coldwater, as well as MSP troopers from the White Pigeon Post, FBI officers, police officers from Three Rivers and Sturgis, a St. Joseph County (SJC) Sheriff’s Department deputy, members of the SJC Marine Patrol, SJC Posse mounted and motorized unit volunteers, and SJC Dive Rescue dog Buzz and his handler Sue Stejskal.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Conviction in Colorado No Body Murder case
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Two articles on this case: first one has my commnetary and second one telling of the verdict in the Sandoval murder case, a no body case with no forensics, no confession to police, informers or friends. Tough case indeed.
Sandoval Jury to Deliberate Today
Posted on 05 August 2010
LAW WEEK COLORADO
DENVER – A Greeley jury will go into deliberations, solving the 15-year disappearance of Kristina Tournai-Sandoval with only circumstantial evidence – no DNA, no fingerprints, no weapon and no body.
John Sandoval, Tournai-Sandoval’s estranged husband and alleged murderer, has been on trial for about a month. The day Tournai-Sandoval was reported missing, he was found in the early morning hours with a wet shovel and scratches on his neck.
Prosecutors pointed out to jurors that the case’s circumstantial evidence – Sandoval’s reluctance to talk to police, conflicting statements concerning the whereabouts of the victim and his history of stalking and harassing women – all pointed to one inevitable conclusion The Greeley Tribune reports. Judge Gilbert Gutierrez instructed the jury that circumstantial evidence has as much weight as physical evidence in the eyes of the law.
A former federal prosecutor’s analysis of hundreds of “no-body” murder trials found that many trials like Sandoval’s will result in a murder conviction because the killer usually has a close relation with the victim.
“The vast majority of [no-body murder cases] are between two people who know one another,” said Tad DiBiase, a former U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. and a self-proclaimed “no-body guy.” “‘Stranger’ no-body cases are very rare. Most involve husbands killing wives, boyfriends killing girlfriends and parents killing biological or step children. For those reasons, they end up having a high conviction rate. I think over the last 10 to 15 years, with advances in forensics particularly in DNA, it’s not as hard to win a conviction in those cases.”
Sandoval’s public defenders criticized law enforcement efforts in Tournai-Sandoval’s disappearance, calling it a “tunnel-vision” investigation.
““Physical evidence doesn’t lie, it does not change stories, it does not forget, and it does not exaggerate, and it does not lose its memory,” Public Defender Ken Barker told the jury.
Read the rest of the coverage in the Sandoval murder trial in the Greeley Tribune.
Jury needs just 7 hours to convict Sandoval
Sharon Dunn
John Sandoval shakes hands with public defender Ken Barker as he is placed in handcuffs after being found guilty of first-degree murder Thursday . He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
ERIC BELLAMY/ebellamy@greeleytribune.com
After four weeks of testimony, a Weld District Court jury took seven hours to convict John Sandoval of a 15-year-old murder in which no body was found and no murder weapon tied him to the crime.
Jurors faced him every day as they listened to witnesses describe how he stalked women and how he likely killed his wife and disposed of her body, while the defense worked to cast doubt on witness motives and memories.
In the end, the group of seven women and five men had no doubt. They knew Sandoval was guilty of killing his estranged wife, Kristina Tournai-Sandoval, on Oct. 19, 1995. The group capped off Weld County's longest criminal trial in history Thursday with a guilty verdict of first-degree murder.
“We were always unanimous that he committed murder,” said juror Russell Stark, 33, of Greeley. “It wasn't just one piece of evidence. Like the DA (suggested), we stepped back and looked at all of the evidence. ... Even if there was a body, you'd still have to look at all of the circumstances.”
The only hang-up, Stark said, was whether Sandoval was guilty of first-degree or second-degree murder, a difference only in the suspect's mental state.
A packed courtroom heard the verdict with little verbal reaction. The Tournai family of seven daughters, their spouses and parents, Mike and Mary Ellen Tournai, sat quietly with purple ribbons attached to their shirts. Tournai-Sandoval's two brothers could not attend.
Sandoval's mother, Mary Lou Sandoval, was absent, and only a couple of people close to him were in the gallery. None wished to speak on his behalf when Weld District Court Judge Gilbert Gutierrez sentenced him to life in prison without parole.
Brad Goldschmidt, who in 1995 headed up the investigation into the 23-year-old's disappearance, pumped his fists when the verdict was read. Other police officers congratulated current lead detective Mike Prill, who spent the last 15 months engrossed in the case.
“At every turn, he seemed to get so frickin' lucky with what happened in those two days,” Prill said of the lack of physical evidence tying Sandoval to the murder. “It's a weird mix of emotions. You think you're supposed to be excited, but it's about Tina in the end.”
He echoed those words to Mike and Mary Ellen Tournai as he hugged them after the verdict.
The Tournais never wavered in their effort to convict Sandoval, never giving up hope even after former Weld District Attorney Al Dominguez opted not to file a case against Sandoval in 1995, fearing there wasn't enough evidence to convict him.
“I could understand it at the beginning because it would have been a stronger case if we had a body,” Mike Tournai said of that decision so long ago. “And we went along with his plan. He didn't feel comfortable filing a case.”
Mary Ellen Tournai said a conviction wouldn't have been as likely 15 years ago, when little time had passed to prove her daughter was dead. In 2001, a Weld District Court judge issued a death certificate for insurance purposes, and the passage of time with no paper trail — from the use of her Social Security number to a passport, helped seal the deal.
Juror Stark said that passage of time, given Tournai-Sandoval's habits, helped convince the jury she was no longer alive.
“She was a well-grounded girl,” Stark said. “She did not have the pattern of someone who up and disappears.”
Mary Ellen Tournai said at no time in the last month did she fear a loss at trial.
“I knew it was going well from Day 1,” she said of the trial, which she attended every day. “There were no points in the trial where I thought” it wasn't going in the right direction.
And though proceeding with the case without a body was risky, Assistant District Attorney Michael Rourke said he always had confidence in the evidence.
“We knew it would be difficult because Tina's body was not found, and there was none of the traditional scientific evidence we'd normally have,” Rourke said. “But we felt like the Greeley Police Department from 1995 to present day put together a solid investigation. Too big of a risk? No. It was a risk we were willing to take on behalf of the Tournais.”
Some new additions to the evidence came in the past 15 months, with police rounding up Sandoval's high school girlfriend, who recounted a tale of violence that happened a full year after they had separated. In re-interviewing many witnesses, they began seeing a pattern in which they felt Tournai-Sandoval was a victim of domestic violence. A former professor added to that theory, delivering some comments her student had confided in her.
Even past victims of Sandoval's stalking habit testified, helping prosecutors draw a picture of the terror Sandoval had consistently brought to women. It was a pattern Prill said he continued in Las Vegas, filming hundreds of women on the Las Vegas Strip.
Lori Bucklen, one of the women Sandoval stalked from 1992-95, stood in line after the verdict to shake Stark's hand. He gave her a hug instead.
“I just wish he would have been man enough to tell the family where she was,” Bucklen said. “As a mom, I guess I'm sad about that.”
The Tournais said now that justice has finally been delivered, they will go on with their lives, with grandchildren, and soon to be grandchildren. The parents still talk to Tina every day, though.
As for Sandoval, they can only say good riddance.
“He's put us through hell for 14 1/2 years,” Mike Tournai said. “We'll pass that pain over to him so now he can suffer. ... It's not a total relief. We still have to find her, and we'll keep looking.”
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ No Body Guy in the News in Unsolved Chicago-area Case
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Police rebuff expert in search for John Spira
Man offers his expertise to help in disappearance that contrasts sharply with Stacy Peterson case
June 29, 2010
By JOE HOSEY jhosey@stmedianetwork.com
JOLIET -- Former federal prosecutor Tad DiBiase has lent his expertise to nearly a dozen police departments across the country when they were struggling with homicide cases. DuPage County is not one of them.
"I'm not just frustrated -- I'm furious with it," Stephanie McNeil, the sister of missing St. Charles man John Spira, said of the sheriff's department's failure to respond to inquiries from DiBiase, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney who has developed a specialty in reviewing homicide cases involving missing victims.
John Spira disappeared in 2007. His family wants DuPage County authorities to accept outside help in the investigation.
McNeil said she reached out to DiBiase and brokered a meeting between him and the DuPage County cops in February.
"He's the country's leading expert on no-body murder cases," McNeil said of DiBiase, noting that DuPage detectives initially seemed receptive to the idea of working with the famed homicide consultant.
"DuPage said, 'No problem. We just have to check his references,'" McNeil recalled.
DiBiase said he provided references but after nearly four months of trading e-mail and calls, the DuPage County police told him he could not have access to Spira's case file.
Instead of opening the file for him, DiBiase said, a DuPage County sergeant informed him he could submit a list of questions for investigators to review. That was when DiBiase had enough.
"That same day I told them that was impossible without knowing what was done, that was not the way I ordinarily worked and that my only question would be, 'Tell me everything you've done to investigate this case,'" DiBiase recalled.
Spira was 45 when he vanished in February 2007. He was last seen at his St. Charles cable construction company, where he left his parked car.
At the time of his disappearance, Spira was in the midst of a tumultuous divorce, McNeil said. He and his wife, Suzanne Spira, were living in the same home throughout their divorce proceedings and the domestic arrangement was hellish, she said.
Suzanne Spira, who has since moved to Orchard Park, N.Y., denied that her relationship with Spira was acrimonious but did concede that in any divorce, "there's going to be some hot moments."
'Call it a homicide'
The DuPage County police have classified the Spira investigation a missing persons case and have not identified any suspects, which McNeil finds infuriating.
"They know it's a homicide. Just call it a homicide. Just call it foul play," she said. "Why can they do it in Stacy Peterson's case? They don't have any more evidence in the Stacy Peterson case."
The state police announced that Bolingbrook mother Stacy Peterson was the victim of a "potential homicide" within two weeks of her October 2007 disappearance. They also identified her husband, former Bolingbrook cop Drew Peterson, as the sole suspect in their investigation.
Beyond both disappearing in 2007, Spira and Stacy Peterson share another distinction, as the state police at different points thought bones found on the banks of the Des Plaines River in May 2009 might be their remains.
The bones were quickly determined to be those of a man, eliminating Stacy. State police Capt. Carl Dobrich said DNA testing eventually ruled out Spira as well and that investigators are now focusing on another man missing from the Chicago suburbs as a potential match.
'No-body' cases
About nine months after the bones were found, and another clue as to what befell her brother apparently led to a dead end, McNeil said she learned of DiBiase and his accomplishments through Internet research.
"I was searching cases that had been prosecuted without a body," she said, remembering how she then requested his assistance.
"He said, 'Yeah sure, I'll help you out.'"
McNeil made a $500 contribution to DiBiase from the John Spira Search Fund after he agreed to take the case.
"All that money has probably been spent by Tad going back and forth (with the police) on 'Why haven't you sent me the documents?'" McNeil said, describing her feeling of betrayal.
"They've essentially misled us, in (claiming) that they want fresh eyes on this case," she said. "They don't want any eyes on this case, I think, because they're embarrassed."
McNeil said she asked DuPage County Sheriff's Cmdr. Mark Edwalds point blank why his department would not work with DiBiase on his terms.
"His response was, 'We can't discuss it with you.'"
Edwalds failed to respond to repeated calls inquiring into the situation with DiBiase and Spira.
DiBiase said he has worked with law enforcement on about 10 suspected homicide cases involving a missing victim. While he was an assistant U.S. attorney working in Washington, D.C., he specialized in domestic violence and forensic homicide cases. He is now in private practice but lends his services as a consultant.
DiBiase said the situation with DuPage County is the first negative experience he has had with a police department since he started consulting on missing person homicide cases, but that it would not deter him from assisting if they permitted.
"Absolutely," he said, noting he shares McNeil's opinion on what they feel is the misclassification of the Spira case.
"You always treat it like a homicide, because you can't go wrong if you treat it like a homicide and it's a missing person," he said. "But you can go very wrong if you treat it like a missing person and it turns out to be a homicide."
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Colorado man on trial for no body murder case
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Sandoval trial day 7: Prosecutors try to hammer home nail theory with video
Sharon Dunn
About the case
John Sandoval is accused of killing his estranged wife, Kristina Tournai-Sandoval, on Oct. 19, 1995, after a planned meeting with her to discuss IRS debt and their pending divorce. She was never seen again, but personal items of hers were found at his home the day she disappeared, and her car was found four blocks from his home, with her wallet, cell phone and keys in the glove box.
Police also said Sandoval acted oddly after his wife's disappearance, including running from officers after coming home with a shovel and dirty clothes the night she disappeared and feverishly cleaning his fingernails before police could collect evidence. He also had what police characterized as scratch marks on his neck.
Though they extensively investigated the case in 1995, prosecutors then wouldn't touch the case because Tournai-Sandoval's body had not been found. A death certificate was issued for her in 2002 after a Weld District Court judge ruled there was enough evidence to believe she had died. Prosecutors say they have found no new evidence in the case.
Sandoval was arrested at his Las Vegas home last summer.A former Greeley man on trial for the murder of his estranged wife almost 15 years ago sat in a police interview room for almost two hours asking for an attorney before being told he couldn't get one.
Prosecutors on Tuesday showed jurors the two-hour video of John Sandoval recorded when he was in an interview room Oct. 20, 1995. Sandoval is on trial for the murder of his estranged wife, Kristina Tournai-Sandoval, who disappeared after she met him for breakfast on Oct. 19, 1995. The two had planned to meet about the pending divorce and an IRS debt he owed her.
Police arrested him the next morning after he came home — he had been out all night — took a shower, then attempted to flee when they came to the door. Police officially arrested him on a previous trespassing charge, in which he was cited for breaking into a woman's apartment a half block from where his wife's car was found. Prosecutors have said he was the last person to drive her car.
For much of the video, Sandoval, dressed in jeans, a black shirt and socks, sits with his head in his hand leaning on a table. A few minutes in, however, he begins chewing his nails until an officer comes in to sit down and watches him.
Officers testified earlier that they saw him on video doing this and were concerned that he was trying to destroy evidence. Officer Joy Hemby then sat in the room with him and he stopped.
Prosecutors say the video is somewhat of a smoking gun, showing Sandoval's attempts to clean his fingernails before police could collect scrapings from him. Whenever officers weren't in the room, he chewed his nails.
“You got me tied up. Why? I don't know why,” Sandoval demands of the officers, who responded, “You know why.” “Why would I be asking why?” he responds.
When they leave, Sandoval tells Hemby, “They've had me over an hour and I can't call my lawyer.”
Minutes later he states, “Should I address the camera, or can you ask? Tell them hey, get a phone so I can call my lawyer.”
The officer leaves the room 42 minutes into the video, and Sandoval again picks at his nails. Hemby returns, and he again asks for a lawyer. At one point, police tell him he watches too much television.
When officers come in to collect fingernail scrapings, he refuses to cooperate. At one point, he promises the police, “I can do this all day.”
“What are you so worried about my fingernails for?” he asks. Upon his resistance — officers said he clenched his fists — the officers leave and cuff his other hand to the bar against the wall.
He says to the camera, “You guys are silly. Won't you come back and talk to me about what's going on here? ... I can still chew my fingernails. I'd like to know what the (expletive) is up with this trespassing. ... OK. You guys want to be (expletive)."
Sandoval then returns to chewing his nails.
More than an hour into the video, officers return to the room to announce they're taking fingernail scrapings and that they will do it the easy way or the “hard way.”
“Let me call my lawyer,” Sandoval states. “I don't care if you manicure my toes. Why won't you let me call my lawyer?”
Police explain to him that he can't have his lawyer because he isn't officially being questioned, and they are only keeping him to collect evidence they thought would be destroyed if they didn't collect it.
Sandoval eventually becomes cooperative in the video, but only after police had to physically restrain him to take pictures of apparent scratches on his neck, shoulder and chest and torso, as well as his foot and knee.
In court Tuesday, public defender Jayme Muehlenkamp said the arrest was technically based on a trespassing charge that investigator Brad Goldschmidt had researched that day. He determined the crime was actually a felony, as opposed to the ticket Sandoval received, which was a municipal citation.
“Had you not been called in to investigate a missing person, you wouldn't be doing research into Sandoval's trespassing case?” Muehlenkamp asked. Goldschmidt agree that he wouldn't have been.
The rest of the afternoon was spent on colleagues and friends of Tournai-Sandoval who testified about her concern for her husband's voyeurism, her desire for a divorce, and her fear that her husband would kill her before allowing her to see another man or leave him.
Tuesday's witnesses
» Detective Brad Goldschmidt, original investigator with the Greeley Police Department.
» Keith Olson, investigator with the Weld District Attorney's Office and an original investigator with Greeley police.
» James Wilkerson, a forensic pathologist in northern Colorado. Testified that the marks on John Sandoval's neck were consistent with human fingernail scratch marks made within the previous 12 hours.
» David Morgan, Greeley attorney, testified that Sandoval did not help him move on Oct. 19, 1995. Sandoval's neighbor testified that he told her he was helping with the move that day.
» Julianne Fritz, the oncology supervisor at North Colorado Medical Center, who hired Kristina Tournai-Sandoval. She said the young nurse was never late to work, never missed a day and pushed herself professionally.
» Paula McKay, a nurse who went to school with Tournai-Sandoval. She said Tournai-Sandoval confided that her husband threatened to kill her before she was with anyone else or left him.
» Dave Harvey, married to Sandoval's cousin. He said he talked with Tournai-Sandoval about her desire and misgivings on getting a divorce. He also testified that Sandoval called him the night before Tournai-Sandoval disappeared — the first time in a good six months — asking for painkillers for a friend who had been stabbed and couldn't go to the emergency room.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase
▣ NASA Robot helps solve no body murder case
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This is a guilty plea form last year but the robot angle is too cool to pass up:
NASA Robot Solves 19-Year-Old Murder Mystery [Crime]
July 14 2010 by admin in Gawker
Dawn Sanchez was last seen alive when she stepped into Bernado Bass’ car in 1991. Her disappearance and death remained unsolved until recently when—thanks to a little NASA robot—her murderer was sentenced to six years in prison.
Bass was Sanchez’s boyfriend at the time of her disappearance and there were witness reports claiming that he shot the girl “in a vacant lot after the two got into a fight.” The only problem was that no evidence to support this explanation was anywhere to be found. No car. No gun. No body.
This meant that Bass got away with the murder until recently when parts from the suspect’s car were found buried in a large abandoned lot. They most likely would not have been found without the aid of the NASA equipment borrowed for the investigation. Using this equipment, investigators were able to figure out just where they needed to excavate:
The case was dismissed in 1991 due to lack of evidence. The case was recently reopened, when an informant reported that the car may have been disassembled and buried in a large abandoned lot in Alviso. The exact location in the lot was not specified, and the cost to excavate the entire area was too high. Further, the lot contained a substantial amount of buried and surface metallic debris, making a simple survey with metal detectors insufficient.
[T]he mixed team of scientists and engineers from CMIL, NASA Ames and the USGS deployed an instrumented Senseta MAX 5.0A rover hosting the research technologies under development, and mapped the magnetic environment of the survey area. The USGS received the processed data set, and after further post-processing, presented the county DA’s office with their analysis and possible locations for excavation. Based on this data, the county excavated the site and retrieved car parts that matched the suspect’s car.
The suspect, Bass, was apprehended and sentenced to six years of prison for manslaughter. [NASA via Smart Planet via PopSci]
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Michigan man arrested for no body murder of wife
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June 24, 2010 12:28 PM
Venus Stewart: Husband Charged with Missing Mother's Murder
Posted by Edecio Martinez
ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Mich. (CBS/WWMT) The case of missing Michigan mother Venus Stewart has turned into a murder investigation.
Venus Stewart has been missing since late April. On Wednesday, prosecutors officially charged her estranged husband, Douglas Stewart, with her murder despite having not found her body.
He was arraigned Wednesday and faces one count of open murder, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder.
Venus Stewart disappeared on April 26 from her parents' home in Colon, Mich., south of Kalamazoo. According to Venus' mother, Therese McComb, her daughter had gone outside early that morning in her slippers and pajamas to mail a letter and never came back.
According to CBS affiliate WWMT, investigators explained that they tracked down a man named Richard Spencer, who has admitted to impersonating Douglas Stewart in Virginia as an alibi for the real Stewart.
Douglas Stewart is accused of driving overnight from Virginia, where he lives, to Michigan, luring Venus outside, abducting her, killing her, and then disposing of her body.
Afterwards, he "traveled back to Newport News, where he met with Mr. Spencer," St. Joseph County prosecutor John McDonough told WWMT. "Mr. Spencer gave Stewart back the clothes he had used, then the men went their separate ways."
Venus' brother says Douglas Stewart and Spencer met over the Internet through video gaming. The prosecutor says Spencer was not paid to act as an impersonator and that he has been cooperative in the investigation.
Spencer has not been charged with any crime yet, but he could be in the future.
Now that Douglas Stewart has been charged, investigators say the efforts to find Venus' body will be stepped up once again.
He is due back in court on June 29 for a preliminary exam between prosecutors and his attorney. A preliminary hearing is set for July 1st.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Death penalty in no body murder case
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Getting the death penalty in a no body murder case is rare.
California teacher John Matthus Watson III sentenced to death for killing, dismembering wife in 2006
BY Michael Wursthorn
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, June 13th 2010, 1:00 AM
This math teacher has one thing left to count - the number of days he has left.
A Nevada jury convicted former math teacher John Matthus Watson III of first-degree murder and sentenced the 70-year-old man to death Friday.
Watson killed and dismembered his wife, Everilda (Evie) Watson, inside a Las Vegas hotel room in 2006 to prevent her from getting half his family's estate in a bitter divorce battle.
The jury deliberated for just two hours before handing down the sentence.
During the trial, prosecutors said the aging Watson lured his wife to Las Vegas from their Ontario, Calif., home under the guise of celebrating her 50th birthday. But prosecutors added that Watson was planning the murder for more than a month.
Watson then shot his wife and used a band saw to cut her up, prosecutors said. Letters Watson wrote from his jail cell say he cooked and ate parts of the body before being arrested.
With News Wire Services
Read more:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/06/12/2010-06-12_california_teacher_john_matthus_watson_iii_sentenced_to_death_for_killing_dismem.html#ixzz0wFprMlcU
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Police in Kansas City outline evidence in no body murder case
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Clay County authorities disclose evidence in Pernice murder case
By GLENN E. RICE
The Kansas City Star
While police and volunteers searched a wooded area for a missing Northland woman, her husband watched it on the news at a bar and said she was not in those woods.
Clay County authorities this week made that allegation, along with other previously undisclosed evidence, in arguing against a bond reduction for Shon Andrew Pernice, 37, a Kansas City, North, man accused of killing his wife.
Authorities have not found the body of Renee Pernice, who was 35 when she disappeared in January 2009, but have said there is substantial evidence that she was murdered.
At the end of a hearing on Thursday, a Clay County judge denied Pernice’s request to have his $1 million bond reduced. His attorney, Eric Vernon, said that before Pernice was arrested on the murder charge, his client had complied with electronic-monitoring requirements on unrelated criminal matters.
Vernon also said the evidence prosecutors had was circumstantial and there was nothing to support the notion that Renee Pernice had been murdered.
In general, prosecutors argued that Renee Pernice enjoyed her job, had a loving family and had no reason to leave. On the other hand, they said, Shon Pernice had a history of violating his bond and was a flight risk.
Authorities alleged the following details to bolster their case against Shon Pernice:
•Pernice did not help volunteers, police and members of Renee Pernice’s family search for her in the wooded area near the couple’s home.
Later that evening, Pernice went to a Northland bar to pick up a takeout order. While there, he asked the bartender to turn the television to local news. Pernice then said that searchers would not find Renee Pernice in that wooded area.
•When crime scene investigators executed a search warrant at the Pernice house last year, they discovered the garage floor had been acid-etched and a damp mop was nearby. However, the rest of the house was noticeably messy.
•Pernice did not report his wife missing until he was confronted by her family.
•Days after Renee Pernice disappeared, Shon Pernice was seen kissing a woman while gambling at a Northland casino. He also listed himself as single on dating websites.
•Renee Pernice had the ability to obtain $50,000 in cash had she wanted to leave her family, but she never sought to acquire those funds. A review of her personal bank records found that she had not put away money.
•After the disappearance, Pernice asked a girlfriend to buy him a firearm under her name on two occasions even though he was prohibited by a judge from having one.
•Pernice purchased a switchblade while on bond on an unrelated criminal matter.
•When he found out that a family member was going to appear before a Clay County grand jury, Pernice acquired $5,500 in cash, indicating he was a flight risk.
•Pernice dumped his wife’s dog at a park and then told his son that the dog ran away. Pernice also threw away his wife’s personal belongings in a trash bin at his son’s school.
On Friday, Vernon said the prosecution’s case was not compelling.
“As I argued to the judge, what I heard was very weak and circumstantial, that she was even deceased and certainly there was no evidence, except conjecture, that Shon Pernice was involved in her disappearance.”
To reach Glenn E. Rice, call 816-234-4341 or send e-mail to grice@kcstar.com.
Posted on Fri, Jun. 04, 2010 10:40 PM
Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/06/04/1993659/clay-county-authorities-disclose.html#ixzz0qsqa2NOo
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Why do we let murderers use their victim's body as a bargaining chip?
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Joran Van Der Sloot is back in the news. Long suspected of murdering Natalee Holloway and now arrested for the murder of Peruvian Stephany Flores, Van Der Sloot supposedly has told police he will tell them where Miss Holloway’s body is in exchange for transferring him from a Peruvian prison to one in Aruba. http://dailycaller.com/2010/06/13/van-der-sloot-willing-to-tell-where-holloways-buried-in-exchange-for-transfer-to-aruba/ Having studied no body murder cases for several years, I‘ve observed an increasingly disturbing trend: more and more defendants are using the body of their murdered victim as a bargaining chip. Van Der Sloot is far from the first. Hans Reiser was convicted of murdering his wife in California in 2008. She had disappeared in 2006 and Reiser denied the murder for years and fought the charge at trial. After a five month trial, an Oakland jury convicted the Linux inventor of first degree murder. After the conviction, however, in exchange for a reduced sentence, Reiser led the police to his wife’s body which he had buried less than half a mile from his house. Instead of facing a sentence of 25 years to life, Reiser’ s charge was reduced to second degree murder which carried a term of only 15 years to life. In 2008, prosecutors in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia (my old office) permitted Michael Dickerson to plead guilty to second degree murder and in exchange he agreed to lead police to where he buried the body of his girlfriend, Shaquita Bell. Dickerson then led police and prosecutors on a futile two day search for Ms. Bell’s body which has never been found. Yet he was still sentenced to just 15 years in prison. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/11/AR2008111103085.html Just this past May in Tennessee, Douglas Whisnant was able to plea bargain into second degree murder charges by agreeing to show police where he buried his ex-wife’s body. Whisnant was sentenced to 15 years. Perhaps more galling, Whisnant is currently serving a 25 year federal firearms sentence and will get credit for his murder sentence, a state charge, will serving his federal time! Thus, he does no additional time for the murder. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/may/17/details-net-reduced-sentence/
Now there are clearly some good reasons to let a defendant take a plea in a no body murder case: weak evidence, getting closure for the family and sometimes getting something is better than getting nothing. But letting a defendant call the shots and use his victim’s body as a bargaining chip is particularly distasteful given that most of these murderers fit the classic profile of domestic abusers. It’s all about control and they want to be the ones in control. Letting murderers use their victim one last time to win themselves leniency is their final act of control and prosecutors ought to be loathe to let them do it. Winning a conviction in a no body murder case is difficult and dealing with a grieving and often angry family is equally difficult. But letting a murderer run the show and determine what charges or sentence he faces is simply unacceptable.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Chinese man released from prison after victim turns up alive
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Not a U.S. case but I never said it couldn't happen here.....
From The Times May 11, 2010
Farmer released after serving ten years for murder as ‘victim’ turns up aliveJane Macartney, China Correspondent
A Chinese farmer who served ten years of a 29-year sentence for murder has been released after the man he was supposed to have killed, and then beheaded, turned up alive in their home village in central China.
Zhao Zhensheng disappeared after a furious fight with Zhao Zuohai in 1999. After Zhao Zhensheng was reported missing and a headless body was discovered in a village well, the local police put two and two together and arrested his rival. The two men are not related.
The sister of the jailed man said that he had only confessed to the crime after police torture — a not uncommon practice in China as police try to solve a crime and keep their record looking good. She said: “My brother told me he was really treated unjustly.” She said that he had even showed her a scar on his forehead where police had hit him with a gun.
After his arrest, his wife also said that she had been tortured and finally confessed that plastic bags found around the headless body had come from her home.
In 1999, Zhao Zuohai was given a suspended death sentence — later commuted to 29 years because of his good behaviour.
But then, on April 30, the missing Zhao Zhensheng, now partially paralysed, turned up in the village after an absence of ten years. He had run away after the two men fought because he feared he had inflicted such serious injuries on his enemy that he might have died. He only returned to the village because he was paralysed and needed to claim basic welfare payments.
He expressed no remorse for the fact that his rival had spent ten years of his life in jail. Zhao Zhensheng told one newspaper: “He had such a bad temper. He needed a lesson somewhere, somehow.”
However, Zhao Zuohai will receive some compensation for his decade-long wrongful imprisonment. The Henan provincial Higher People’s Court has awarded him $45,000 (Ł30,000) for the miscarriage of justice.
It is far from being the first such case in China. In 2005 She Xianglin, a government worker, was compensated with $67,000 after serving 11 years in prison for murdering his wife. He was freed when his wife later returned to their hometown. She Xianglin said that he had been tortured into making a false confession.
Hat tip to Meaghan Good of www.charleyproject.org for alerting me to this article.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiasse, No Body Guy
▣ Discussion of 1990 Kansas no body murder conviction
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OLATHE, Kansas - Shon Pernice is in jail, indicted in the murder of his wife Renee, who disappeared in January of 2009. Now prosecutors face the challenge of trying to convict a suspect for murder even though a body has not been found as evidence of the crime.
To examine what it will be like to try to prosecute Pernice, it helps to look at lessons learned in a metro murder case that ended with three convictions, even though the bodies of all three victims have still not been found.
A Johnson County jury found Richard Grissom guilty in 1990 in the murders of three young women.
Former Johnson County District Attorney Paul Morrison says the women were missing more than a year by the time Grissom went to trial.
"The passage of time tends to be the prosecutor's friend," said Morrison.
Renee Pernice disappeared more than 16 months ago. Her stable lifestyle may help the prosecution's case.
"You can show a jury that this person literally dropped off the face of the earth," said Morrison.
Morrison says prosecuting a murder case without a body means pulling together smaller pieces of evidence, like blood that's been cleaned up, marital problems, or proving lies in the suspect's statements.
"If you just look at one piece, it might not be enough, but when you look at all the pieces together and that prosecutor's going to be trying to literally put a puzzle together for the jury," explained Morrison.
In the Pernice case, the prosecutor indicates there may be some new evidence that will come out during the trial.
"I don't think there's any question that to the media and people outside of the police department and prosecutor's room, there are going to be some surprises, I guarantee you." said Dan White, the Clay County prosecutor Tuesday when announcing the indictment.
Grissom remains behind bars in a Kansas prison.
He is aging, but his victims remain forever young, their lives stolen, and the location of their bodies still a mystery 21 years later.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Kansas City man arrested for murder of his wife in no body murder case
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KANSAS CITY, MO - Shon Pernice was indicted by a grand jury for the murder of his wife, Renee Pernice, on Tuesday. Renee went missing in January 2, 2009 and her body has never been found.
Shon was arrested at his home by Kansas City police without incident and is being held on a $1 million bond.
"We deeply want Renee back," Renee's father Rick Pretz said in a press conference on Tuesday. "We are willing to pay the reward to the first tip that has enough detail to lead us to Renee. That's all that it has to do, to get us to Renee."
Renee's mother also spoke at the press conference.
"I'm very happy that we've gotten to this point," said Linda Lockwood, mother. "Hopefully we'll get justice for Renee because that's what we've always wanted."
Lockwood said Shon and Renee's two sons were doing well and that "things are progressing quite well to a normalcy in our family."
But Lockwood says that when the trials are finally over, there is one thing that will never change.
"There's not a day goes by that we don't think about Renee," said Lockwood. "I mean it's impossible to have your daughter murdered and you not wake up every day with that on your mind."
Pernice, 35, was last seen on New Year's Day 2009. She was reported missing a day later when she never showed up for weekend plans with her children. A search of the Pernice home resulted in firearms and other items, but no sign of Renee.
Clay County prosecutor Day White says that trying a murder case without a body will not be easy.
"Homicide case, no body, many avenues need to go down to prove the case," said White.
Police said Pernice will be arraigned on Thursday. Pretz says that the $25,000 reward for information leading to the location of his daughter remains open.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Blog cites NoBodyMurcerCases.com
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Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Murder convictions with no body?
Yesterday, Shon Pernice was charged with the murder of his missing wife, Renee, whose body has never been found. Dan White, the Clay County prosecutor, said that it's still possible to prosecute without finding a victim's remains, and he's right.
As longtime reader Gee notes, authorities never found the bodies of three local women who were killed by Richard Grissom in Johnson County. Paul Morrison, who was the D.A. at the time, got a lot of attention for winning despite this. In cases like this, prosecutors have to build their arguments around circumstantial evidence.
Three of John E. Robinson's victims -- Lisa Stasi, Paula Godfrey and Catherine Clampitt -- have never been found. He was convicted of Stasi's murder in Kansas, but the authorities had a very compelling piece of circumstantial evidence: Stasi's daughter, whom he'd given to his brother to raise. (The brother had no idea about the murder.)
More after the jump ...
Wikipedia has a good roundup of historical murder cases where no body was found. They point to a British case from the 1660s, the Campden Wonder, where three people were hanged for the murder of a man who later turned up alive. They also point to a U.S. case, People v. Scott, from a California appeals court -- you can read the decision here. (Snopes takes up the matter here.)
Thomas DiBiase has an excellent site here devoted to no-body cases, including a list of U.S. prosecutions where no victim was found.
Diane Dimond had a post about no-body cases several months ago at the Huffington Post:
Yet the body is still the single most important piece of direct evidence a murder case can have. Without it there's no time of death, no evidence from the condition of the body or the wound, no crime scene to process. The track record of convictions proves, however, that circumstantial evidence can be just as powerful.
Posted by James Hart on Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 08:38 AM | Permalink
Read more: http://blogs.kansascity.com/crime_scene/2010/05/murder-convictions-with-no-body.html#ixzz0otfOWiXA
From the comments section:
Does FanDanGo have any details of the Missouri case about the defendant who supposedly did not turn around.
I am from Sydney, Australia and I am researching "no body" murder trials dating from the 5th century BC to the very present day. My collections consists of 2,500 cases.
I suspect that the "alleged murder victim showing up in court" scenario is a myth although some evidence suggests just such an event took place in 1961.
In April 2003, an alleged victim turned up alive in an Australian Court which created a sensation back then.
Thomas DiBiase's website is excellent and a credit to him in getting it started but it only covers USA cases while my research covers all continents and across all time spans.
Posted by: Steven Banic | Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 02:11 PM
Thanks Steve!
I have put together a large collection of murder-without-a-body cases, divided by conviction, acquittal and case still pending. http://www.charleyproject.org/corpus/
Posted by: Charleyross.wordpress.com | Thursday, May 20, 2010 at 02:09 PM
Read more: http://blogs.kansascity.com/crime_scene/2010/05/murder-convictions-with-no-body.html#ixzz0otgTDiRT
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Murderer uses body of victim as bargaining chip
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There are few things I despise more in a no body murder case than a defendant using his victim's body as a bargaining chip to get a lesser sentence or better plea offer:
HUNTSVILLE, Tenn. - The stakes were high as the two sides in a looming courtroom battle squared off for a final round of plea negotiations.
Prosecutors held cards that, if played right, could cost Douglas V. Whisnant his freedom for life. But Whisnant had a trump card - proof of death.
"It's been frustrating," Johnny Crabtree said of negotiations on the eve of the trial for the man who finally confessed Monday to killing Crabtree's missing mother, 66-year-old Jean Johnson. "I thought we were going to court."
Johnson, who was Whisnant's ex-wife, had been missing for more than three years, and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Agent Steve Vinsant had led a probe to prove Whisnant was responsible. But with no body and, therefore, no proof Johnson was actually dead, a conviction on charges of first-degree murder and kidnapping was far from guaranteed.
Crabtree said Whisnant, 62, tried to play hardball by bartering Johnson's body.
"He started talking about pleading no contest, but we wanted to hear him say he did it," Crabtree said.
In the end, Whisnant, through Assistant Public Defender Dale Potter, revealed the secret grave in the Stanley Creek area of Scott County where he buried Johnson's body in February 2007. In return, 8th Judicial District Attorney General Paul Phillips inked his approval to a plea deal that netted Whisnant a slim shot at freedom some day.
At a hearing Monday, 8th Judicial District Judge Shayne Sexton formally accepted the deal in which Whisnant pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree murder and received a 15-year prison term.
"I knew he was the type if we went to court, we'd never get any information on what happened to (Johnson)," Crabtree said. "We know we'll never get mom back (alive), but I feel relieved we're able to get her buried in a coffin."
Johnson was a spry and friendly church-going woman finally free from a troubled marriage to Whisnant, a violent felon, when she went missing on the eve of a trip to see a new boyfriend.
Vinsant, with help from the Scott County Sheriff's Office, soon learned that Johnson had received threatening anonymous letters he was convinced were penned by Whisnant. Whisnant's neighbors on Ditney Trail reported hearing gunshots around the time of her disappearance.
A grainy surveillance video at an Oneida Walmart showed a man parking Johnson's van and leaving in a Jeep that had been hauled to the store on a flatbed trailer. Whisnant owned both a Jeep and a trailer.
A search of Whisnant's home yielded a hidey-hole in the living room wall where authorities found a cache of weapons, a discovery that would lead to a 25-year federal prison term for Whisnant as an armed career criminal. It also yielded a pink suitcase relatives said Johnson likely packed on the night she went missing.
Under his plea deal, Whisnant will get credit for his murder sentence while serving his federal time.
Jamie Satterfield may be reached at 865-342-6308.
© 2010, Knoxville News Sentinel Co
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Body of missing Connecticut woman found
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Police: Cannon Stayed In Hotel Near Where Body Found
Woman's Decomposing Body Found In Cheshire
UPDATED: 11:57 am EDT May 18, 2010
CHESHIRE, Conn. -- A body found in Cheshire may be that of a Wolcott woman missing for more than a week, Wolcott police said Monday night.
Police said truck driver Steve Bradshaw noticed a tarp near the side of the road and notified officials. When officers arrived, they discovered a decomposed woman's body inside, police said.
Police said the body may be that of Cynthia Cannon, who has been missing for more than a week. However, police said they cannot say for sure if the body that was discovered is Cannon until the medical examiner completes an investigation. They said the body does match Cynthia Cannon's description.
Cheshire police said officers were investigating a crime scene off West Johnson Avenue Monday night. Police told Eyewitness News that Patrick Cannon stayed at a hotel near where the body was found the night before his arrest.
Bradshaw told Eyewitness News in an exclusive interview that he got a nagging feeling when he noticed the tarp lying in a field near the hotel. He said he had his wife meet him Monday night to check out the tarp.
"We just then, we walked back out to the street, see the form of the body, we called police," Bradshaw said.
Cynthia Cannon's husband, Patrick Cannon, has been charged with murder in connection with her death. While no body had been recovered when he was charged, police said there was substantial evidence that suggests Cynthia was the victim of a homicide.
According to the arrest affidavit, human blood stains were found on the couch where Cynthia Cannon slept and on the wall above the couch. Family members told Eyewitness News that the couple was going through a divorce and that Cynthia was sleeping on the couch as a result.
Traces of human blood were also found on the back porch of the couple's Spindle Hill Road home, as well as on the stairs leading from the rear porch and the driveway, according to the affidavit. Court documents indicate there were tire imprints across the back lawn leading up to the rear porch.
Police and hundreds of volunteers have been searching for Cynthia's body since last weekend. She was last seen May 6 and was reported missing by Patrick the next day. The search has included areas of Wolcott and parts of Waterbury and Southington.
"People have been missing work days, taking time out at night, even if they're driving to a baseball game. They're slowing down and looking at the side of the road," said Wolcott Mayor Tom Dunn. "Just want closure for family."
Patrick's bond was set at $3 million and he was arraigned in Waterbury Superior Court last Monday.
Cynthia leaves behind two children, one of whom is from a previous marriage.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Arrest of husband for murder of missing wife in Connecticut no body murder case
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Search continues for body of missing Wolcott woman
Husband arraigned Monday on murder charge
BY JONATHAN SHUGARTS | REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
At left, Wolcott Fire Chief Kyle Dunn organizes about 50 firefighters and volunteers for a search a wooded area on North Main Street near the Holy Greek Orthodox Church in Waterbury on Monday. The group was assisting Wolcott police in the search for the body of Cynthia Cannon, who police believe was murdered. Steven Valenti/RA
WATERBURY -- They have found no body and no eyewitness to the suspected crime, yet police have levied a murder charge against the husband of woman they believe is the victim of foul play.
In an arrest warrant released Monday, police revealed they are relying on a bloody trail they discovered at 207 Spindle Hill Road in Wolcott to connect Patrick Cannon to the disappearance and presumed killing of his wife Cynthia.
Patrick Cannon has no prior criminal history, but mounting debt and at least one suspected incident of domestic violence years ago may have led to a tragic end for his wife.
Cannon, a blue-eyed, 44-year-old man, was held on a $3 million bond after he was arraigned Monday in Waterbury Superior Court on a charge of murder. Strands of thinning hair hung over the arms of Cannon's black-rimmed glasses as he shuffled into the courtroom wearing a robe and white suit usually given to defendants when their clothes have been confiscated as evidence.
He didn't enter a plea during the brief hearing and his case was continued until May 26.
Cannon reported his wife missing Friday night. She had not been heard from or seen since Thursday evening; she made her last cell phone call Thursday at 8:40 p.m., according to court records.
Patrick Cannon told police his wife had gone to drop off clothes at a Goodwill box around 10:30 p.m. Thursday. When he awoke Friday, he told police, she was gone and he was concerned about her whereabouts.
Friends and co-workers at Control Systems in West Hartford also were concerned when Cynthia Cannon didn't show up for work on Friday. She had a perfect attendance record during her six years with the company, her boss told police.
During a search of the couple's home on Sunday, state police crime scene technicians found blood on the couch where Cynthia Cannon usually slept, as well as on the walls nearby. Examiners discovered more traces of blood on the back porch of the home, on a set of rear stairs that led to the driveway and inside Cynthia Cannon's Jeep Liberty, which was recovered Sunday by police on Cemetery Road.
Investigators also found a set of tire tracks on the lawn leading up the rear porch, according to court documents.
At least 100 volunteers, including volunteer firefighters and Cannon's family, have aided in the search for Cynthia Cannon, spreading out in small groups that scoured an area from Wolcott into Waterbury, said Acting Police Chief Neal O'Leary.
Their efforts came up with a significant piece of evidence Monday, as one of the searchers found Cynthia Cannon's wallet on North Main Street in Waterbury. Tossed in a wooded area about 25 feet from the road near the 2800 block, the wallet is part of a growing amount of evidence that points to a tragic end for the mother of two.
So far, authorities have recovered a bloody sleeping bag belonging to Cynthia Cannon from a wooded patch near Woodtick Road. They also found a blood-soaked length of nylon rope near the bag and an unidentified piece of bloody clothing.
O'Leary said investigators also have searched the waters of Wolcott's Scoville Reservoir, but have come up empty.
To read the complete story see Tuesday's Republican-American or our electronic edition at http://republicanamerican.ct.newsmemory.com.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Alabama man arrested in 2008 no body murder case
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Arrest in Nadia Kersh Case: Update
Reported by: Mike McClanahan
Reported by: Chris Mitchell
Last Update: 5/05 12:11 am
Homewood, AL) WIAT-
Police have made an arrest in the case of missing mother Nadia Kersh. An acquaintance of her's was arrested named Joacquas Haywood. According to Jefferson County DA Brandon Falls, Haywood is charged with Capital Murder and that the murder occurred during a burglary.
Using his attorney as a go-between, Homewood Police say Haywood turned himself in Monday night. He is being held in the Jefferson County Jail with no bond and had an initial court appearance today.
Nadia Kersh was last seen on November 3rd, 2008. Surveillance video showed her leaving Tria Market, where she worked. Birmingham police later recovered her car, but her body has never been found.
District Attorney Brandon Falls says prosecuting a murder case with no body will be challenging, but he is confident that there is a strong case against Joacquas Haywood.
Police describe the 27 year old Irondale resident as an acquaintance of Nadia Kersh and a person of interest from the beginning of the high profile investigation.
Even though police aren't looking for suspects, they're still looking for Nadia Kersh.
Nadia Kersh's mother Nancy Kersh hopes the arrest will bring new information that could lead to her daughter, but says she is also sad for the suspect's family.
Joacquas Haywood's defense attorney is Ezra Jordan, according to Homewood Police. Jordan was unavailable for comment today.
Jefferson County D.A. Brandon Falls says he will seek the death penalty because this is a capital murder case.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Arrest in Denver No Body Murder Case
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Mile High Murder
Hae C. Park, No. 85: Man allegedly killed by business partner Joong Rhee -- but no body found
By Michael Roberts, Friday, Apr. 16 2010 @ 3:47PM
Joong Rhee: No body, but big problem.
An unusual announcement moments ago from the Denver District Attorney's Office and the Denver Police Department: A murder charge has been filed even though the body of the victim has yet to be located.
Hae C. Park, 64, has been missing since March 27, when he was supposed to meet with his business partner, Joong Rhee. A little over a week later, the cops checked out Rhee's office, which they describe as resembling a crime scene. Then, yesterday, they began looking for Park's body along the banks of the Colorado River near Glenwood Springs. They didn't find it, but authorities seem certain that Park came to a bad end -- and that Rhee is responsible.
Look below for more details:
MURDER CHARGE FILED, INVESTIGATION CONTINUES
On April 5, 2010 at approximately 3:30 p.m. detectives with the Denver Police Department, Homicide Unit began a cooperative investigation of a missing adult male identified as Hae C. Park (04/29/45) with the Adams County Sheriff's Department. ADCO began their investigation on March 29, 2010 and learned that the last time family saw the victim was on March 27, 2010. Park was supposed to meet with his business partner, Joong Rhee at Rhee's office in Denver (10200 East Girard Avenue, Building B, unit 327).
On April 5, 2010, Adams County detectives discovered what appeared to be a crime scene at Rhee's office, and contacted the Denver Police Department. The Denver Police Department Homicide Unit took over the investigation, processed the scene and collected several items of evidence.
Through the investigation, detectives developed information that suggested a possible location of Mr. Park's body. On Thursday, April 15, 2010, members of the Denver Police Department, along with the Garfield County Sheriff's office, and several local volunteers checked the area of the Colorado River between Grizzly and Glenwood Springs. Investigators found no additional evidence.
On April 16, 2010, Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey formally charged Joong Rhee (DOB: 11-21-43) with Murder in the First Degree. He is scheduled to appear in Denver County Courtroom 472W on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at 1:30 p.m. to be advised of the charge. He remains in custody in the Denver County Jail where he is being held without bond.
The search for the body of Mr. Park will continue.
Anyone with information about this investigation or information about the location of Mr. Park, please contact the Denver Police Department at 720-913-2000 or anonymously through Crime Stoppers.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Arrest in Baltimore County No Body Murder Case
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April 16, 2010
Cops make murder arrest despite no body
Rochelle Battle is still missing.
But Baltimore County police today arrested a man and charged him with killing the 16-year-old girl. No motive is listed, nor did police say whether there is any connection between the missing girl and the suspect, or how they can prove she was killed.
Here is the statement from authorities:
Baltimore County Police have arrested Jason Matthew Gross, 35, of the 1900-block of Eloise Lane, 21040 for the disappearance and murder of Rochelle Battle, a 16-year-old female who was reported missing March 6, 2009. Jason Gross was indicted by a Baltimore County Grand Jury in her murder.
Police are still trying to locate Rochelle Battle’s body. Her description when she was last seen is that of a black female, 5’1” to 5’3” tall, weighing approximately 170 pounds. She was wearing a brown hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and boots that came just below the knees.
County officers were contacted by Rochelle’s family on March 11, 2009 stating that Rochelle Battle had disappeared on March 6, 2009 after leaving her home in the 2800-block of Boarman Avenue, 21215. Through an initial investigation it was discovered that Rochelle may have been on a MTA bus line near Eastern Avenue in the North Point and Essex Precinct areas. Based on additional information that detectives acquired, a search of a trash collection facility in the 200-block of Earls Road, 21220 was made to look for Rochelle, but she was not located.
Information that detectives have developed in the case revealed that Jason Gross was responsible for the disappearance and murder of Rochelle Battle. The case was presented by the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office before a Grand Jury on April 14, at which time an indictment and warrant charging Gross were issued.
Jason Gross was arrested late yesterday afternoon and has been charged with first-degree murder. He is being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center on bond denied.
Posted by Peter Hermann at 3:06 PM
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Ohio man found guilty of no body murder
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Jury finds man guilty of murder in case with no body
Friday, April 9, 2010 4:41 PM
By Bruce Cadwallader
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
A Franklin County jury this afternoon found a former Grove City man guilty of murder in the 1999 death of his girlfriend, even though authorities never found her body.
Based on circumstantial evidence and vague references he made about how one might hide a body, the jury convicted Gary L. Robinson, 46, in Common Pleas Court after a four-day trial before Judge Richard A. Frye.
Robinson, who also was convicted of tampering with evidence, will be sentenced May 13.
It was the first murder case since 2003 in which local prosecutors tried a murder case without a victim.
Tammi T.J. Campbell, a 33-year-old single mother who lived with Robinson for a short term at 3111 Southwest Blvd. went missing on June 12, 1999. She had taken her 12-year-old son to a friend's house and said she'd be back in the morning.
No one has heard from her since, and the federal government declared her dead in 2008, testimony showed.
Robinson told Grove City police he didn't know where his girlfriend was. He said she went out to buy drugs and never came back. He didnt help look for her body, testimony showed.
One of his ex-girlfriends testified, however, that he confessed to strangling Campbell that night and wrapping her body in a carpet and burying it in a local landfill.
Assistant County Prosecutors Scott Kirschman and Nathan Yohey didn't have much: Robinson admitted burying the missing woman's jewelry in the backyard of his parents home in Warren County, Ohio, and he made vague references to a buddy about burying a body in concrete. He said he buried her jewelry so he wouldn't be tempted to pawn it.
"I'm smarter than the average bear," he boasted to one ex-girlfiend, Sandra Gabbard, in a tape-recorded call made with the help of police. She said he confessed to the killing before police became involved.
Police, pushed for answers by Campbell's best friend, conducted multiple searches, unearthed 5 tons of debris at the Franklin County landfill, ordered DNA tests and interviewed several witnesses after finding Campbell's keys, purse and ID in her apartment. They found her car parked across the street.
"For 3,953 days no one has seen Tammi Campbell. We know she is dead," Kirschman told jurors Thursday. "This case is about the death of hope for a 12-year-old. This is a cold, cruel crime and the clock kept cruelly ticking."
Defense attorneys Shanda Behrens and Sheryl K. Munson countered that prosecutors failed to provide reliable witnesses or evidence of a murder.
"Nothing has changed in the last 11 years," Munson said. "The mosaic is not complete; the picture isn't clear. All we want is justice, and justice doesn't always mean you solve the crime."
bcadwallader@dispatch.com
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ No Body Guy in the news.....
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No body? No problem convicting, 90 percent of time
By SAMANTHA HENRY
The Associated Press
Sunday, April 11, 2010; 1:43 PM
NEWARK, N.J. -- Police in New Jersey believe they have solved one of the coldest cases in the state's history: the disappearance of five Newark teenagers in 1978.
After tracking leads for 32 years, two men were arrested March 22 and charged with herding the teens at gunpoint into an abandoned rowhouse, tying them up and torching the building, setting a blaze so fierce police say the bodies were incinerated, destroying any evidence.
Now, prosecutors have a difficult task: Prove the teens were murdered when their bodies were never found.
Murders without bodies were long considered one of the most complex challenges in the legal profession, but advances in technology have made the once-unthinkable prospect more common.
The absence of the key piece of evidence - the corpse - poses unique problems for both prosecutors and defense attorneys, according to Thomas "Tad" DiBiase, a Washington D.C.-based lawyer who runs a Web site chronicling "no body" murders. He said the majority of such cases end in convictions or guilty pleas.
"The body can tell you how the murder occurred," he said. "It can tell you when the murder occurred, it can tell you where the murder occurred, so by taking away the body you take away all those elements from a case - that makes it enormously difficult."
The New Jersey case was initially treated as a missing persons case and no connection was made between the fire and the teens' disappearance, reported two days later. In the decades since, any clues have been all but obliterated: The site of the fire is now a housing complex and additional case files were reportedly lost in a courthouse flood.
Prosecutors have charged Lee Evans, 56, and 53-year-old Philander Hampton, 53, with murder and arson. Prosecutors say Hampton sometimes hired the teens for odd jobs and killed them over some missing marijuana. Both have pleaded not guilty.
The near-total absence of forensic evidence in the case doesn't necessarily help the defense, according to Michael Robbins, the lawyer representing Evans.
"In the absence of evidence and proof, there's a real risk that outrage, that anger and emotion, will be substitutes in the courtroom for competent evidence, testimony and proof," Robbins said. "Without a body, how can you corroborate what anyone says? Without a crime scene, how can you even begin to attempt to corroborate the version of events that the witness here is putting forth?"
Two of the nation's most high-profile murder cases without bodies - the killing of a wealthy Manhattan socialite by a mother and son team, and a doctor who killed his wife and tossed her body from an airplane over the Atlantic Ocean- were prosecuted by former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.
"These cases are important because it shows you can't just get rid of the body and get rid of the case," Morgenthau said. He recalled how skeptics questioned his decision to pursue New York's first such murder prosecution based entirely on circumstantial evidence: the death of Irene Silverman, a wealthy Manhattan socialite and former Radio City Music Hall Rockette.
"But we were convinced that they had murdered this woman, and we thought it was a very bad precedent to not prosecute people because there is no body - it encourages people to do away with the body," Morgenthau said.
Morgenthau's team successfully convinced a jury that a mother-son con team killed Silverman and forged documents to try to steal her $8 million townhouse. Sante and Kenneth Kimes were convicted in 2000; Sante was sentenced to 120 years in prison, her son, 125. Prosecutors called more than 100 witnesses and introduced evidence they said was in the Kimes' possession, including Silverman's personal documents, loaded pistols, two fright masks, plastic handcuffs, syringes and a pink liquid similar to a known "date rape" drug. They also found a forged deed that transferred her town house to the Kimeses for a fraction of its nearly $10 million value.
Circumstantial evidence also convicted Dr. Robert Bierenbaum, a Manhattan plastic surgeon who got 20 years to life in prison for killing Gail Katz-Bierenbaum. Prosecutors showed that Bierenbaum spent nearly two hours flying the afternoon after his wife was last seen, convincing a jury that he had dismembered her, squeezed the body into a duffel bag and dumped it from a small airplane over the ocean.
Prosecutions for murders without bodies were once extremely rare, according to DiBiase, who traces the earliest documented case in the U.S. to 1819, when brothers Jesse and Stephen Boorn were convicted of murdering their brother-in-law, Richard Colvin, in Manchester, VT.
More than 300 hundred such cases that have gone to trial in the U.S. since, more than 90 percent of them resulting in a conviction, DiBiase said.
Although defense attorneys often try to convince jurors that no body means no proof a person is dead, DiBiase has found only one case, around 1886, in which a victim turned up alive after his supposed killer - tried twice on charges he killed his lover's husband - had been convicted and executed.
In the past decade, DiBiase said a surge in such murder prosecutions is largely thanks to advances in DNA technology, computer records and cell phone logs, and improvements in forensics.
Juries have also become more sophisticated with the popularity of crime, law and forensic television shows, according to Donna Pendergast, assistant attorney general for the Michigan Department of Attorney General's office, who has successfully prosecuted several of these cases.
Pendergast says the enormous public appetite for forensics has led to jury pools full of people who "want to see every little fingerprint."
She has convinced juries that a person was really dead even though no body was ever found, because the victim didn't access bank accounts or credit cards after they disappeared.
"Traditionally, a prosecutor would say: 'No body, we don't have a case,'" Pendergast said. "But now that people are seeing these cases can be won ... it's not 'the perfect crime' anymore."
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ DC man convicted of no body murder
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Conviction in case I worked on.....
Boyfriend convicted of murder in '99 disappearance of D.C. woman
By Keith L. Alexander
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
For the seven years that Yolanda Baker and Terrence Barnett dated, Baker's family watched a once loving relationship grow increasingly violent.
Baker would show up at family functions with bruises and bald patches on her head from having her hair pulled out. She took out a restraining order against Barnett but began seeing him again after a little more than a year. Baker also sought child support from Barnett on behalf of their then-5-year-old-twins, a boy and girl.
Then, after the two had seemingly made amends, Baker went missing from her Northeast Washington home Aug. 1, 1999. She has not been seen since. Authorities declared her dead last year and charged Barnett with killing her.
After Baker disappeared, her family members spent years trying to find answers, closure and accountability in the death of the woman they had nicknamed Princess.
On Tuesday, after three days of deliberating, a D.C. Superior Court jury found Barnett, 45, guilty of second-degree murder. He was charged with first-degree murder, but the jury was unable to determine during the three-week trial that there was enough evidence that he planned to kill Baker.
As the jury foreman announced the verdict, Barnett bowed and shook his head slightly. Cold-case detectives sitting in the back row of the courtroom fist-pounded each other and smiled. Members of Baker's family, who filled up three rows of one side of the courtroom, and members of Barnett's family, sitting on the other side, broke into tears.
"All these years, it's over," cried Andrea Flemmings, one of Baker's sisters.
"We are very pleased. Thank God for this justice," said Deon Haynes-Parker, another of Baker's sisters, as family members gathered outside the courtroom. Baker's twins, now teenagers, are being raised by her family.
Baker's brother-in-law Leroy Flemmings said that although his family mourns for Baker, they are also concerned about the twins.
"I'm glad the kids can now have some closure," Flemmings said. "They lost their mom and their dad the moment this happened."
Cold cases are challenging to prosecute, but murder cases in which a body is not found are even more difficult. This was only the fourth case without a body that the District's U.S. attorney's office has tried since the 1980s, officials said.
Lawyers, law students and trial watchers visited the courtroom during the trial to watch Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Haines square off against criminal defense lawyer Nikki Lotze.
Lotze insisted that Barnett was innocent, telling the jury that there was no evidence of Baker's death and no eyewitnesses linking Barnett to Baker's disappearance or death.
In her nearly 90-minute closing argument last week, Lotze reminded the jury that police questioned Barnett just days after Baker was reported missing and released him.
Baker's car was found blocks from her house days after she disappeared and after two other men had been seen driving the car around the District. Lotze dismissed as "cockamamie" the story that one of Baker's sisters saw Barnett hours after Baker had gone missing, standing on the 14th Street Bridge outside Baker's car and pulling a large plastic bag from the trunk.
Lotze called the case a "witch hunt" based primarily on Barnett and Baker's volatile relationship.
In her hour-long close, Haines suggested to the jury that a history of abuse could be used as a motive in a slaying in domestic cases.
Haines said Barnett killed Baker in the bedroom of the house they shared, cleaned the room with bleach, and ripped the bloodstained carpet up and got rid of it. Haines said Baker then "chopped up her body," put it in the trunk of her car and disposed of it. "Her car is her gravesite," she said.
During the trial, Haines called about 30 witnesses, including family members, court officials, prosecutors and police officers. All testified about the abusive relationship and Baker's efforts to seek help from police and the courts.
Prosecutors had sought first-degree murder charges, but Glenn L. Kirschner, head of the homicide unit for the District's U.S. attorney's office, said that securing first-degree convictions in domestic violence cases is difficult because, in most cases, such slayings are "spur of the moment" rather than planned.
Haines was assigned to the case last year. After the verdict, Baker's family showered her with hugs. "The jury gave this family the closure they have been seeking for the past 10 years," Haines said.
Barnett is scheduled to be sentenced June 18 by Judge Michael L. Rankin.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ This just in!
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DC man was convicted of second degree murder in DC's third no body murder trial ever. More tomorrow......
▣ How to Investigate and Prosecute a No Body Murder case
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I've added, under the Tips tab, my paper on investigating and trying a no body case. Included at the end of my paper is a UK paper of unknown origin on the same topic. I hope you find these papers useful and as always I can be contacted at tad.dibiase@gmail.com for further discussions about your case.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ 2 South Carolina men found guilty of no body murder
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2 men found guilty of '05 murder
Body of Darryl 'Preach' Miller has never been found
By Craig Peters
craig.peters@shj.com
Published: Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 3:15 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 11:27 p.m.
The family of a man who disappeared in the summer of 2005 can't get him back, but they received guilty verdicts convicting two men of murder on Wednesday.
Jurors spent about two hours deliberating before deciding that David Cortez Carson, 43, and Leon Jones, 46, worked together to kill Darryl "Preach" Miller on July 30, 2005. Retired Supreme Court Justice E.C. Burnett III sentenced Carson and Jones to 30-year prison sentences. The mandatory minimum sentences are not eligible for parole.
Miller's sister Roxanne Bradley said after the trial that the verdicts represent "another stage, another grieving spot" in her family's recovery process.
"There's never going to be closure because we're not going to get him back," Bradley said.
Miller's body has not been found, and investigators are unsure of the exact way he died, but they had the car in which they believe Miller was killed, complete with multiple samples of blood that allowed forensic scientists to compare DNA material.
Principal Deputy Solicitor Barry Barnette said he was not aware of another murder trial that the 7th Circuit Solicitor's Office has prosecuted without a body. Barnette credited Spartanburg police who "constantly kept working" the case.
Spartanburg Public Safety Sgt. Jay Steadman, a case investigator, said it was a "constant stress" over the years. Spartanburg police arrested and charged Carson and Jones with murder in September 2008 after determining they had collected "all the evidence we could have."
Police obtained the car, which belonged to Carson's former girlfriend, in August 2005. The car had been repossessed by a lending company and sold to a business that refurbishes cars.
An employee of Cromer's Abattoir Inc., a meat processing facility in Inman, testified Wednesday that he saw a group of men "frantically" cleaning a car, even removing its seats and carpet, outside a nearby residence.
"It was still a crime scene after most of it had been cleaned," said Ed Guthro, a forensics technician with Spartanburg Public Safety.
Guthro said a blood-spatter analysis could not be done because the car had been cleaned, but blood samples were found on the seat belt and behind decorative trim on the front passenger door panel.
Prosecutors also had testimony from the brother of the woman with whom Jones has two children. That witness said Carson, Jones and Miller were partying together and stopped by Miller's house before he disappeared, and Miller had a significant amount of cash on him. That witness also testified Jones showed up a couple days later and said he killed "that guy."
Jones, who continued to deny any involvement, said he was joking when he made that statement.
Prior to sentencing the men, Burnett told Jones, "That's a cold thing to say."
When Jones said it was "foolishness," Burnett replied, "It's beyond foolishness. It's cold."
Carson admitted to helping dispose of the body, but claimed that Miller had been killed during an attempted robbery near Caulder Avenue.
Carson claimed he didn't know what to do and drove to the hospital but "could not get in," then passed out in the parking lot and woke up with Miller still in the car. He said he eventually took the body to a remote area in Union County, but he was never able to direct police to that area. Neither Carson nor Jones called 911 to report any kind of robbery or injury to Miller.
Bradley said her family looked for Miller during the early stages of the case, and she received information that Carson was involved.
When it became obvious Miller wasn't coming back, Bradley prayed her brother's remains would be found and for "the heart to forgive."
Spartanburg Public Safety Capt. Randy Hardy credited Barnette for doing "an excellent job."
"It started out as a missing person's case and led to a murder investigation. The investigators that worked on it, worked tirelessly," Hardy said. "Our goal was to find the perpetrators of this crime and bring them to justice. While we are very excited about the verdict, we are unhappy we were able to find Preach's remains to bring true closure to the family."
Bradley said the family plans to have a memorial service.
She didn't know how her brother got his nickname, but said the family has been gathering to share fond memories each September when Miller would be a year older.
"I remember he used to sit and I would look at him smiling. I would ask him why he was smiling so big and he would say, 'Because I love you so much.' "
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Arkansas man pleads guilty in no body murder case
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Man admits killing girlfriend, burning body
Associated Press - March 16, 2010 7:14 AM ET
PINE BLUFF, Ark. (AP) - A Pine Bluff man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing his girlfriend then burning her body and dumping the remains in a bayou.
Thirty-one-year-old Mario Scott pleaded guilty Monday to a reduced charge of capital murder in the death of 26-year-old Kateshia Weathers. Scott had originally been charged with capital murder.
Weathers was last seen May 22, 2007. Her remains have not been found.
Scott is already serving 22 years for beating Weathers in a separate case. His murder sentence won't begin until he completes his current prison term.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Changes to my website
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Hopefully you've noticed some changes to the site. I've add a picture and two new tabs. Under one tab is chapter one of my "book" about the no body case I tried in 2006 and no body cases in general. (Book in quotes because this has never been published.) Let me know what you think. Soon to come under the Tips tab is a treatise on how to investigate and try a no body homicide case. Finally, I've added the latest table of no body trials (under the No Body Murder Cases tab), now up to 308 trials in the United States.
Enjoy,
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Arkansas man to go on trial on Monday for no body murder
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Mario Scott goes on trial Monday for Katesia Weathers' murder
Ashley Blackstone 6 hrs ago
A Pine Bluff man accused of killing his girlfriend in May 2007 will go to trial Monday.
Police say Mario Scott beat Katesia Weathers and then set her body on fire. Her remains have never been found.
Prosecutors say they'll rely on the testimony of four witnesses who they say have knowledge of the alleged crime.
Weathers disappeared May 22, 2007.
Court records show that Scott was accused of beating or threatening Weathers on at least five occasions in the four years before her disappearance.
About seven months after her death, Scott was charged with capital murder.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ DC's third no body murder trial ever begins
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Murder trial begins in case of D.C. woman who vanished in 1999
By Keith L. Alexander
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 11, 2010
It's been nearly 11 years since Yolanda Baker's family has seen her. So much time had passed that authorities declared her legally dead last year, although her body has never been found.
This week, Baker's family poured into three rows of Judge Michael L. Rankin's third-floor courtroom in D.C. Superior Court, hoping for some closure in the death of the woman they nicknamed "Princess."
Last summer, authorities arrested Baker's boyfriend, Terrence Barnett, 45, the father of the D.C. woman's twin children. He has been charged with first-degree murder.
It is only the third time a "no body" murder case -- the most difficult for prosecutors -- has been tried in the District in at least 30 years, according to a spokesman in the U.S. attorney's office.
Adding to the challenge for prosecutors is the lack of eyewitnesses to Baker's disappearance or death. No murder weapon has been found and no cause of death established. When Baker's car was discovered almost a week after her disappearance, drops of her blood were found in the trunk, but no DNA from Barnett.
The trial pits two of the District's most formidable lawyers against each other: Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Haines and criminal defense attorney Nikki Lotze.
Haines is no stranger to prosecuting complex murder cases. She's one of the lead attorneys prosecuting Ingmar Guandique, charged in the 2001 kidnapping and killing of former federal intern Chandra Levy. That trial is scheduled to start in October.
In her 30-minute opening statement Wednesday, Haines told the jury that on the morning of Aug. 1, 1999, after attending a family party together in Suitland, Barnett killed Baker, 35, after an often-abusive seven-year relationship.
On that day, she said, Baker "disappeared into the night." Haines then walked over to Barnett, seated next to Lotze, and pointed to him: "Mr. Barnett was the last person to see Ms. Baker alive."
Haines characterized Barnett as controlling, jealous and often violent, a man whose anger "erupted suddenly, often without any warning."
The two had lived together off and on in Baker's house in the 400 block of 44th Street NE with their twins, who were 5 when Baker disappeared.
Haines talked about how the couple often argued and fought, so much so that Baker obtained a restraining order, keeping Barnett away from her for about 18 months from 1997 to early 1999. Shortly before she disappeared, a District judge had ordered Barnett to pay Baker child support for the twins.
Three days after Baker was last seen, family members filed a missing-person report with the D.C. police. Baker's picture was displayed on the department's missing-person Web site, and friends and family members passed out fliers and held candlelight vigils. Barnett played no part in the search for Baker, Haines said. He waited another three days before he approached police about Baker's disappearance.
Haines said a witness saw Barnett just hours after he was seen with Baker in her car leaving the 1999 party.
The witness said Barnett was on a bridge about midnight, pulling a large object wrapped in a plastic garbage bag from the trunk of a car.
Haines also acknowledged that there were some mistakes by police in the investigation. "The system failed [Baker] during her life and after her death," she said.
In her opening statement, Lotze told the jury that Barnett was innocent and that the DNA from two other individuals was found in the trunk of Baker's car. She said two other men had been driving Baker's car around town when it was discovered.
"There is more evidence that one of these two other men did it, not Mr. Barnett," she said.
Lotze said that her client cooperated with the police investigation and that Baker's family thinks Barnett killed Baker because relatives never approved of the couple's relationship.
Lotze later displayed pictures of Baker and Barnett, laughing together and dancing with family and friends at the party, just hours before she disappeared.
The trial is expected to last about a month.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Louisana man arrested in no body murder case
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Woman’s Body Still Missing But Man Charged With Her Murder
03/03/10 - 09:30 PM
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Authorities say a 37-year-old Natchitoches Parish man has been charged with murder in connection with a missing woman whose body has not yet been found.
Sheriff Victor Jones Jr. says deputies arrested Morgan Prothro Tuesday and charged him with second-degree murder in the disappearance of 47-year-old Clara Patricia “Patty” Bynog. Jones said the arrest came after a 2 1/2 month nvestigation into the Dec. 13 disappearance of Bynog, who was known to have been with Prothro prior to her disappearance.
Prothro is being held in the Natchitoches Parish Detention Center. It wasn’t immediately clear if Prothro has an attorney.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Texas man arrested for no body murder
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Arlington businessman arrested in 2005 murder case
by WFAA-TV
Posted on February 28, 2010 at 9:14 AM
Updated Sunday, Feb 28 at 9:19 AM
EULESS — An Arlington businessman faces murder charges in connection with the 2005 disappearance of Kristen Charbonneau.
Daniel Glen Moore was arrested Friday by Euless police. The 40-year-old car salesman is married with two young children. Detectives said he has been a "person of interest" in the case.
Charbonneau, whose body has never been found, is presumed dead by police.
She as last seen in August 2005 after leaving her workplace — the Baby Dolls club in Fort Worth — with a man witnesses identified as Moore.
Last fall, volunteers searched along railroad tracks in Euless in the area where Charbonneau, 24, was last known to have been seen.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Indiana man on trial in no body murder case
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No law, no body needed in murder trial
Updated: Tuesday, 02 Mar 2010, 11:49 PM EST
Published : Tuesday, 02 Mar 2010, 11:49 PM EST
* Kate Greene
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Brent England is on trial for the murder of Jack Berry Jr. of Terre Haute.
While it's unclear what the verdict will be for this case, one thing is clear it has been a controversial case.
You may have wondered how there can be a trial without the victims' body? However, News 10 found out there's no law stating otherwise.
It may be unusual for a murder case, but there's no law stating a body is required for a conviction.
It may be the first murder trial like this in Vigo County, but it's certainly not the only case the Hoosier state or the state of Illinois has seen.
Here's a breakdown of murder trials where no body was found before the trial.
According to author and federal homicide prosecutor Tad DiBiase, News 10 found five past murder trials in Indiana where the defendant was found guilty and two cases where the defendant was found not guilty.
In llinois, News 10 found 6 murder cases with no body.and all 6 defendants were convicted. One of those Illinois cases occurred in Clark County in the 1980s.
Prosecutor Terry Modesitt said there's no law that requires a body because it simply comes down to whatever evidence convinces the jury beyond a reasonable doubt.
"There aren't any definite requirements as far as what the evidence has to be or doesn't have to be to obtain a conviction," Vigo County Prosecutor Terry Modesitt said.
In fact, prior to October 2009, News 10 found 300 murder trials across the country where a body was never found and listen to this only 27 of those cases were dismissed, acquitted, or had the appeal reversed.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase
▣ No Body Guy in news on Leniart case
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Leniart convicted of murdering missing girl
By Karen Florin
Publication: The Day
Published 03/03/2010 12:00 AM
Updated 03/03/2010 10:31 AM
WTNH CHANNEL 8
George Leniart, seen at his arraignment in April 2008, is likely to be sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of April Dawn Pennington, who disappeared in 1996 and whose remains have still not been found.
Life-without-parole sentence likely; parents of victim still want answers
A guilty verdict in the capital murder trial of George M. Leniart brought some comfort Tuesday to the parents of a teenage girl who went missing from her Montville home 14 years ago.
Walter and Hazel Pennington know now that Leniart, a 44-year-old repeat sex offender, will be spending the rest of his life in a maximum-security prison. The 12-member jury convicted him on three capital-felony counts and one count of murder, so there is no doubt Judge Barbara Bailey Jongbloed will sentence Leniart to life in prison without the possibility of parole on April 27.
But the parents of April Dawn Pennington, who sneaked out a basement window after they had gone to bed on May 29, 1996, would like to know exactly what happened to their 15-year-old daughter that night. They never saw her again.
"I still have plenty of questions, and he (Leniart) is still not talking," Hazel Pennington said in a phone interview from Pleasant Garden, N.C.
Leniart had bragged that state police would never find April's body and would, therefore, never charge him with murder, according to jailhouse informants who testified at the trial. He fished commercially out of Point Judith, R.I., in a boat he had named after his own young daughter, and told a fellow prisoner he had dismembered April's body and put it in lobster pots. Others said Leniart told them April's body was "in the mud" in the Thames River, in Long Island Sound or in a well.
Despite his bravado, the Eastern District Major Crime Squad did charge Leniart in April 2008 after prosecutors agreed to take on the murder case without a body or other physical evidence. They relied heavily on jailhouse witnesses, whom Leniart's attorney called "snitches" and repeatedly attempted to discredit at the trial.
The state had another key witness, however, whose testimony the jury listened to a second time Tuesday before announcing the verdict. A 28-year-old Norwich woman had described being sexually assaulted by Leniart just six months before April Pennington disappeared.
The woman said she is pleased Leniart is locked away.
"I think that he is where he should be, and April's family can have a little closure," she said. "May April rest in peace with the angels."
Leniart, who opted not to testify on his own behalf, shook his head slightly but did not change his facial expression when the jury foreman announced the verdicts. Somebody whispered "Yeah!" from the back of the courtroom.
Prosecutors John P. Gravalec-Pannone and Stephen M. Carney were "psyched."
"We're grateful on behalf of the Pennington family and for the jury's hard work in this difficult task they had," Pannone said as well-wishers congregated in the state's attorney's office.
State troopers who investigated the case hugged and high-fived each other in the courthouse hallway.
"I'm thankful for the state's attorney's office for having the courage to prosecute what was a difficult case, and thankful to the jury for seeing George for what he is," said Sgt. William Bundy, who had supervised the investigation for the past five years.
"I'm proud of all the guys who have investigated this case over the years," Bundy added. "It goes back many, many years."
Bundy said that if April's body is out there to be found, the detectives want to find it.
Defense attorney Norman A. Pattis spoke to Leniart in a holding cell following the verdict and left the courthouse without taking a pile of dress clothes he had provided his client. He could not be reached to comment later in the day, but is expected to be heard at Leniart's sentencing.
The jurors also left quickly after Jongbloed thanked them for their service. Reached later by phone, the foreman said he had no comment.
Walter Pennington, a retired Navy sailor who was stationed at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton when his daughter disappeared, flew from North Carolina to testify on the first day of the trial and caught a return flight the same day. Hazel Pennington has been ill and was advised by a doctor not to attend the trial.
The family, who moved back to their hometown of Pleasant Garden in late 1996, has been reading on the Internet of the graphic testimony about the last hours of their daughter's life.
Patrick "PJ" Allain, a friend of April, testified he and Leniart picked her up and raped her that night in May 1996. Allain said Leniart dropped him off at home first and told him the next day that he had killed the girl and disposed of her body.
Hazel Pennington said she would like to have seen Allain prosecuted, though she knows the statute of limitations for rape has expired.
"He's the one who lured April out that night," she said. "April never knew Leniart. She met him that night, and PJ lured her out knowing he was putting her life in danger."
Allain, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence for an unrelated sexual assault, is hoping to have his sentence reduced in exchange for cooperating with the state.
The testimony of the woman who, at age 13, was raped by Leniart had also bolstered the state's case. The judge had ruled the damaging testimony admissible because of similarities between the two cases. The rape victim told the jury she sneaked out to meet her 15-year-old boyfriend, Allain, in November 1995. Leniart, who was 30, picked her up, she said, and they went back to a camper behind Leniart's parents' home on Massapeag Side Road to wait for Allain.
She said Allain never showed up, and when she tried to leave Leniart locked her in and forced her to have sex with him. She said Leniart choked her until she passed out, and that she woke up the next morning and ran for her life when he left to make a phone call.
Leniart was free on bond, awaiting trial for that case, when April Pennington disappeared. He later pleaded guilty in the first matter and was sentenced to four years in prison.
Thomas A. "Tad" DiBiase, a former federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia who tracks "no-body" murder cases, lists two other such convictions in Connecticut on a Web site devoted to the issue.
In the infamous "woodchipper murder," Richard Crafts was convicted in 1989 of killing his wife, Helle, even though Crafts had put her remains through a woodchipper and only fragments were recovered.
In October 2003, Miguel Estrella of Meriden was found guilty of murdering a rival gang member. He suffocated Juan Disla, then dismembered his body with a chain saw and dissolved it in acid.
"It's amazing the lengths some people will go through to dispose of a body," DiBiase said in a phone interview Tuesday.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Article examines rarity of no body murder cases
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No-body prosecution a rarity
Hearing soon to determine if Crow will face trial
By VIRGINIA HENNESSEY
Herald Salinas Bureau
Posted: 03/03/2010 01:28:54 AM PST
Updated: 03/03/2010 08:36:06 AM PST
Jesse John Crow He is being held as suspect in wife's disappearance.
* Ryann Bunnell Crow case
* Feb 25:
* Civilian clothing gets OK for Jesse John Crow murder trial
* Feb 23:
* Jesse Crow pleads not guilty to murder of his wife, Ryann Bunnell Crow
* Feb 20:
* Crow released, rearrested
* Feb 18:
* Jesse Crow charged with homicide, even though no body found
* Feb 17:
* Update 9:45 a.m.: Ryann Bunnell Crow's husband arrested on homicide charge, $3 million bail set
As sheriff's officials continue to search for Ryann Bunnell Crow, the decision to pursue a murder charge against her husband takes local prosecutors down a perilous path traveled only twice before by their office.
Experts say "no body" murder cases are among the most difficult to prove. Before convincing a jury the defendant is guilty, prosecutors must prove the missing person is dead and died as a result of a crime.
If they fail on either count, the defendant walks free and they cannot return for a second try if a body is found.
Ryann Crow, 23, was last seen Jan. 30 driving near her in-laws' Prunedale home. Her family reported her missing Feb. 2 after she missed two days of work and a family party. Her 2002 white Chevrolet Malibu was found Feb. 9 in a Foster City neighborhood.
A week later, the missing woman's husband, 33-year-old Jesse John Crow, was arrested on suspicion of murdering her. He has pleaded not guilty, and a preliminary hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to hold him for trial is to be scheduled this morning. He remains in Monterey County Jail in lieu of $3 million bail.
Officials at the Monterey County District Attorney's Office said they could remember only two bodiless murder prosecutions in the past three decades. In one of those cases, the victim's body was located before the preliminary hearing.
In 1979, then-prosecutor John Phillips, now a retired judge, filed a murder charge against Dale Gibson of Seaside,
whose estranged wife was missing and presumed dead. Phillips recalled recently that the two were in the midst of a nasty divorce and child-custody battle. After a lengthy investigation, Gibson was arrested in Florida.
The day before the preliminary hearing, investigators found Mark Watson, an Army buddy of Gibson's who confessed to shooting the woman at Gibson's urging. He took authorities to Big Sur, where they found Darlene Gibson's remains at the base of a cliff, her skull shattered by three shots.
Phillips said he garnered Watson's testimony at the trial by promising he would support his release when he came up for parole. Gibson was convicted and sentenced to life without parole. In the intervening years, laws and attitudes changed, Phillips said, and he has regretfully never been able to win Watson's release.
Blood evidence
Chief Assistant District Attorney Terry Spitz said he knows of only one no-body murder conviction won at trial in Monterey County.
In 1983, Gary Meyer, now a retired judge, charged Gary Hicks of Lockwood with killing Ron Simpson, a parolee whose body has never been found.
Meyer convinced the jury that blood evidence proved Hicks killed Simpson during a drug- and alcohol-influenced argument in his mobile home. Hicks was sentenced to life in prison, where he remains.
Salinas police have indicated they have blood evidence supporting their conclusion that Ryann Bunnell Crow is dead and that her husband killed her, which may be the reason prosecutors felt confident enough to file charges.
Lancaster defense attorney and author Michael Eberhardt said he was surprised prosecutors would file a bodiless murder case just two weeks after the alleged victim was reported missing. The opinion comes from personal experience.
Eberhardt gained national attention for his book "Body of Crime," a novel based on his 1982 defense of Steven A. Jackson, a 27-year-old man charged with killing former love interest Julie Church, 23. The case is a perfect illustration of the risks prosecutors take in filing a no-body murder case.
Similar to Ryann Crow, Church was missing a relatively short period of time when Jackson was charged. The case went to trial in 1983.
Prosecutors argued the victim would have called someone if she was alive. Eberhardt told jurors there was no evidence she was dead, let alone that Jackson killed her. She may have just decided to take off, he said.
The jury acquitted Jackson and he remains a free man. In 1992, Church's remains were found buried about 150 yards from the Antelope Valley house where Jackson was living when she disappeared.
In a 1995 article in the American Bar Association Journal, Eberhardt told investigative journalist Steve Weinberg that missing-and-presumed-dead cases are the ultimate challenge for a defense attorney.
"They're extremely rare, and the DA's office doesn't file such a case unless the circumstantial evidence against the defendant is overwhelming," he said.
"The biggest problem the prosecution has is the jury has to be convinced there is no other possibility," Eberhardt said. "If I was the defense attorney, I'd rush into trial as quickly as possible."
Past convictions
Convictions in such cases are not unheard of. The nation's first occurred in 1959 in the case of L. Ewing Scott, who was convicted on circumstantial evidence of killing his wife, Evelyn, in the Los Angeles area. Scott appealed on the grounds there was no corpus delicti, but the conviction was upheld. The victim's body was never found.
In Oakland in 2008, Hans Reiser was convicted of the first-degree murder of his wife, Nina Reiser, who was still missing during the trial. The computer entrepreneur was later allowed to plead to second-degree murder in exchange for leading authorities to his wife's remains.
Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo said there is "a substantial, tremendous amount of circumstantial evidence" against Jesse Crow. He said there is "persuasive" evidence of a motive, though no details have been released.
On Tuesday, Sheriff's Cmdr. Mike Richards said his office continues to search for Ryann Bunnell Crow.
Virginia Hennessey can be reached at 753-6751 or vhennessey@montereyherald.com.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Lisowski found guilty in no body murder case
0 Comments added to this post
Ocean Beach Man Found Guilty In Death Of Estranged Wife
POSTED: 4:28 pm PST March 1, 2010
UPDATED: 4:16 pm PST March 2, 2010
SAN DIEGO -- An Ocean Beach man was convicted Tuesday of killing his estranged wife to avoid paying child support.
Jurors, in their fourth day of deliberations, found 69-year-old Henry Lisowski guilty of first-degree murder, and found true a special circumstance allegation of murder for financial gain in the death of 50-year-old Rosa Lisowski.
Her body has never been found.
Henry Lisowski will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on April 2.
After Judge John Einhorn read the guilty verdicts, the defendant thanked and shook the hand of his attorney, Richard Gates.
Lisowski spoke when the judge asked him if he was willing to have his sentencing hearing on April 2.
"Your honor, I did not commit the crime ... but you can sentence me to anything you wish now," Lisowski told the judge.
Outside court, one juror, identified as Martha, said the defendant's story that his wife fell down some steps and hit her head didn't add up.
"At the end, we were all very sure of our decision -- completely sure," the juror said.
Veronica Ramos, who is married to Rosa Lisowski's nephew and takes cares of the couple's two young sons, cried as she spoke to reporters.
"For me, knowing Henry, Rosa, and the boys and their situation, it was obvious to me he was guilty," Ramos said. "She knew it could happen. She told me it could, and when it happened, I knew it was Henry."
The couple's boys now live with Ramos and her family in Bakersfield. Rosa Lisowski had two other children from a previous relationship.
Defense attorney Richard Gates maintained the evidence showed the victim hit her head when she fell down some steps at the defendant's home and eventually died.
Deputy District Attorney Nicole Cooper told jurors that the defendant followed through on his threats to kill his wife if she didn't drop her child support case.
Cooper said the defendant had been threatening his estranged wife since November 2006.
Lisowski had told the victim, "If you don't drop the child support case, I'll kill you. The children will be without a mother and I'll be in jail," according to Cooper.
The victim disappeared on March 24, 2008, after walking her 6-year-old son to school from her apartment in the Midway-Loma Portal District.
The day she vanished, Lisowski was looking forward to the resolution of the child support case and anticipating a $30,000 disability settlement from a grocery store, Cooper said.
When she didn't return from dropping off her son, friends and family immediately suspected the defendant, Cooper said.
In February 2008, Lisowski was ordered to pay the victim $1,029 a month and started to search the Internet for poison to kill his wife, Cooper said.
The story was corroborated by the couple's son "Junior," who said his father gave him some green powder and told him to put it in his mother's water, the prosecutor said. The child said he poured the powder into the carpet because he thought it was something bad, Cooper said.
Gates urged the jury to disregard the "incredible" claim that a father would give his then-5-year-old son poison that the child could have ended up ingesting. He said "Junior" most likely picked up from friends and family the notion that his father killed his mother.
Cooper said Lisowski had been facing a hearing on April 2, 2008, at which he was going to have to disprove contentions that he had underreported his assets by $1.3 million, followed by a child support hearing 27 days later.
After she went missing, police looked everywhere for the victim, eventually finding her blood on a kitchen counter in the defendant's home and in the trunk of his vehicle, Cooper said, adding that her blood also was found on the inside of the passenger side door of Lisowski's vehicle.
The prosecutor said Lisowski went to Mexico after his wife disappeared, resurfacing in September 2008 with a letter sent to friends and family giving his version of his wife's death.
In the letter, Lisowski said his wife was knocked unconscious by the fall and he revived her with water and put her in the car to go to the hospital. On the way there, the victim went into seizures and died, the defendant said.
Cooper told the jury that the victim's injuries were consistent not with a fall, but, rather, a violent attack with a hammer or having her head slammed into something.
Copyright 2010 by City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Arrest made in Chicago area no body murder case
0 Comments added to this post
Former boss arrested for murder in teen's 2002 disappearance
By Associated Press
10:39 PM CST, February 26, 2010
WOODSTOCK, Ill. (AP) — McHenry County authorities say that seven years after Brian Carrick vanished from a grocery store in the northwestern Chicago suburb of Johnsburg, his former boss has been charged with killing the 17-year-old stockboy.
Johnsburg police Sgt. Keith VonAllmen said Fox Lake police and an FBI agent arrested 26-year-old Mario Casciaro of McHenry late Friday afternoon, a day after he was indicted for first-degree murder and concealing a homicide.
Casciaro was being held on $5 million bond. A shift sergeant at the McHenry County Jail said late Friday she did not know if he had an attorney
Carrick disappeared on Dec. 20, 2002 from his job at Val's Foods. No body was ever found, but police said they found traces of his blood inside the store.
In 2009, Casciaro was acquitted of perjury charges stemming from Carrick's disappearance.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Jury deliberations underway in Connecticut no body murder case
0 Comments added to this post
Replay of testimony in Leniart murder trial sought by jurors
By Karen Florin
Publication: The Day
Published 02/26/2010 12:00 AMUpdated 02/26/2010 01:43 AM
A quartet of witnesses dubbed "The Four Horsemen" by defense attorney Norman A. Pattis quickly became the focus of a jury that began deliberating Thursday in the murder trial of George M. Leniart.
Leniart, 44, of Montville, is accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering 15-year-old April Dawn Pennington, who disappeared from her parents' Montville home on May 29, 1996. The state rarely prosecutes cases when no body has been recovered, but state police brought charges against Leniart, a convicted sex offender, 12 years after April went missing.
The jury of nine men and three women settled into their discussions in mid-afternoon after listening to closing arguments from the attorneys and to legal instructions from Judge Barbara Bailey Jongbloed. They elected a foreman, requested notepads, and as the business day came to a close sent the judge a note asking for a replay of the recorded testimony of the four men who implicated Leniart.
The panel will listen this morning to the testimony of Patrick "PJ" Allain, who said he and Leniart raped April on the night she sneaked out a window and climbed into the then-30-year-old Leniart's pickup truck. Allain, who said he was dropped off first, said Leniart told him the next day that he had killed the girl and disposed of her body.
The jury also wants to listen again to testimony from Kenneth Buckingham, Michael Douton and Zee Ching, jailhouse informants who testified that Leniart confessed the murder to them when they roomed together or crossed paths in prison.
Thursday morning, the New London courtroom had filled up with spectators for the closing arguments of the seasoned attorneys for the state and defense. Detectives who had investigated the case, some of whom had been sequestered during the trial, filled a few rows of benches behind the state's table to hear the attorneys' summations. Leniart, who had opted not to testify on his own behalf, busied himself with a pen and notepad at the defense table.
Prosecutor Stephen M. Carney gestured toward Leniart while describing him as a man who took pleasure in telling people he would not be charged with murder because April's body has not been recovered. "No body, no crime," Leniart allegedly said to fellow prison inmates.
Carney acknowledged the state's key witnesses are convicted felons, but asked the jury to consider that they "may just be trying to do the right thing" in this case. He pointed to the similarities between the sexual assault that Leniart had committed just six months before April Pennington went missing. The state had called the victim of that crime as its last witness.
Leniart's lawyer continued to attack the credibility of Allain and the three "snitches." He called them "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" in a Biblical reference to when God sends four horsemen to wreak havoc on the world. Noting each of the witnesses gave a different version of Leniart's alleged confession, he asked the jurors to play the "telephone" game in which each person whispers something to another, and the message becomes convoluted as it is passed on from person to person.
Pattis tossed out theories for the jury's consideration, including the fact that April Pennington could still be alive or that Allain is the one who killed her.
"I can tell you straight up: I don't know where April Dawn Pennington is, and you don't either," he said.
k.florin@theday.com
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ California man on trial in no body murder case
0 Comments added to this post
Arguments made in alleged OB wife murder
By Staff, City News Service
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 print page An Ocean Beach man followed through on his threats to kill his estranged wife if she didn’t drop her child support case, a prosecutor said Wednesday, but a defense attorney said evidence shows the woman hit her head while falling down steps at the defendant’s home and eventually died.
Deputy District Attorney Nicole Cooper, in her closing argument in the trial of Henry Lisowski, said the defendant had been threatening his estranged wife, Rosa, since November 2006 and killed her on March 24, 2008.
The defendant had told the victim, “If you don’t drop the child support case, I’ll kill you. The children will be without a mother and I’ll be in jail,” according to Cooper. The prosecutor said there was no body because Lisowski “threw her away like a piece of trash.”
The 50-year-old victim — a mother of four, including two young boys by the defendant — disappeared in 2008 after walking her 6-year-old son to school from her apartment in the Midway-Loma Portal District. “She was a devoted mother to her kids,” the prosecutor told the jury.
“Rosa would have never have left her kids unattended … would never have walked out on them.”
The day she disappeared, Rosa Lisowski was looking forward to the resolution of the child support case and was also anticipating a $30,000 disability settlement from a grocery store, Cooper said. When the victim didn’t return from dropping off her son, friends and family immediately suspected the defendant, Cooper said.
Lisowski, 69, had told his wife, “I’ll see you dead before I pay you child support,” according to Cooper. The victim had called 911 twice over the years, telling dispatchers her husband had threatened to kill her, the prosecutor said.
Friends and family members testified that she had told them that her husbamd told her “just one phone call and I can make you disappear,” the prosecutor told the jury. In February 2008, Lisowski was ordered to pay the victim $1,029 a month and started to search the Internet for poison to kill his wife, Cooper said.
The story was corroborated by the couple’s son “Junior,” who said his father gave him some green powder and told him to put it in his mother’s water, the prosecutor said. The child said he poured the powder into the carpet because he thought it was something bad, Cooper said.
The prosecutor said Lisowski was facing an April 2, 2008, hearing, at which he was going to have to disprove contentions that he had underreported his assets by $1.3 million, and an April 29 child support hearing.
After she went missing, police looked everywhere for the victim, eventually finding her blood on a kitchen counter in the defendant’s home and in the trunk of his vehicle, the prosecutor said. Lisowski’s blood was also found on the inside of his vehicle’s passenger side door, Cooper said.
After his wife disappeared, a friend testified that Lisowski had scratches on his face, arms, back and neck, which he said could have come from falling while trimming bushes or from his cats, Cooper said. The prosecutor said Lisowski went to Mexico after his wife disappeared, resurfacing in September 2008 with a letter sent to friends and family explaining his wife’s death.
In the letter, Lisowski said his estranged wife came to his house on March 24, 2008, fell down some steps and was knocked unconscious. Lisowski wrote that he revived his wife with water, and put her in the car to take her to the hospital.
On the way there, Rosa Lisowski went into seizures and died, according to his letter. Cooper said the victim’s injuries were consistent not with a trip and a fall, but rather a violent, bloody attack with a hammer or having her head slammed into something. Cooper said Rosa Lisowski was probably begging for her life and instead of letting her go, the defendant killed her in his home.
“How he did it? We won’t know,” the prosecutor said, urging jurors to convict the defendant of first-degree murder and murder for financial gain.
Defense attorney Richard Gates told the jury there was no evidence that his client picked his estranged wife up in his car and took her to his house that fateful day. Gates also said there was no evidence that Rosa Lisowski was begging for her life before she died.
The attorney said something bad happened to the victim, but what it was isn’t known. “They (prosecutors) don’t know how Rosa Lisowski died — other than what Mr. Lisowski said in the letter,” Gates told the jury. “If they don’t know how she died, they can’t prove murder.”
Gates said Rosa Lisowski went to her husband’s house on her own to talk about financial support. “Maybe she didn’t get what she wanted,” the attorney said. “This is a very odd relationship between these two … human through and through.”
The two lived apart, but Rosa Lisowski would come over to her husband’s house for “privacy time,” according to their young son. Gates told the jury to disregard “incredible” evidence that a father would give a then-5-year-old child poison that the child could possibly ingest himself.
The attorney said “Junior” most likely heard from friends and family the notion that his father killed his mother.
The jury began deliberating Lisowski’s fate about mid-afternoon. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of all charges.
City News Service staff wrote and edited this story.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 6:32 pm and is filed under Local News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Read more: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-02-24/local-county-news/arguments-made-in-alleged-ob-wife-murder#ixzz0gZ6Qu8Cm
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ More on John Spira case
1 Comment added to this post
Still no sign of missing St. Charles man after three years
Robyn Repeta, of Hoffman Estates, a friend of John Spira holds up a sign for passing traffic on County Farm Road, north of St. Charles Road, in front of Spira's West Chicago business. A missing person flyer with Spira's picture is fastened to the back of her sign. The event on Monday, Feb. 23, 2009 marks the second anniversary of his disappearance.
Bill Ackerman
Jurate Zubinas, of Willowbrook, a friend of John Spira passes out flyers to passing traffic on County Farm Road, north of St. Charles Road, in front of Spira's West Chicago business. The event on Monday, Feb. 23, 2009 marks the second anniversary of his disappearance.
Bill Ackerman
Donna Brownstone of Wilmette, a friend of John Spira holds up sign for passing northboud traffic on County Farm Road, south of North Avenue, in front of Spira's West Chicago business. The event on Monday, Feb. 23, 2009 marks the second anniversary of his disappearance. Sign says, "Where is John Spira? ...Someone Knows! and you know who you are!!"
More Photos
By Hal Conick, hconick@mysuburbanlife.com
St. Charles Republican
Posted Feb 23, 2010 @ 01:58 PM
St. Charles, IL — A lot can happen over the course of three years. In the missing person case of St. Charles resident John Spira, not nearly enough has happened, according to his family.
Tuesday marks the three-year anniversary of Spira’s disappearance.
Spira last was seen at Universal Cable Construction, a business he ran with Dave Stubben for more than a decade. Stubben and other employees of the company said they last saw Spira at 7:15 p.m. Feb. 23, 2007. His sister, Stephanie McNeil, of Phoenix, said 2010 will be the first year since Spira went missing that a public event won’t be held Feb. 23 to acknowledge his absence.
“It’s really difficult,” McNeil said. “Trust me, I’d love to do something publicly, (but) it’s going to be a hard day for me.”
Last year, friends of Spira held a gathering outside of Universal at the intersection of County Farm and St. Charles roads. A banner still hangs cater-corner from the business, letting passers-by know that Spira remains missing.
While no event will be held to commemorate the three-year anniversary of Spira’s disappearance, McNeil said they still are trying to move the case along. McNeil has hired “no-body” murder case specialist Tad DiBiase to see if he can find anything DuPage County investigators didn’t.
The Spira case also will be featured on Investigation Discovery television series “Disappeared” Monday, March 15.
“This is, in fact, a murder case,” McNeil said. “It’s not a missing-persons case, it’s a murder case. No doubt about it. I’ve been saying that from day one.”
Spira, 46, had made arrangements to meet a friend at an Oak Brook restaurant for dinner at 8:30 p.m. Feb. 23, 2007, but he never arrived. Friends’ suspicions grew when he didn’t show up the next day at a Montgomery restaurant for a gig with his blues band, the Rabble Rousers.
The St. Charles resident was in the middle of a messy divorce at the time of his disappearance.
His estranged wife filed a missing-person report with the St. Charles Police Department two days after he was last seen.
A fire broke out at Spira’s business in September 2007, almost destroying the building. A 20-foot-by-5-foot banner about Spira that friends and family hung across the street from the business two days before the fire also disappeared.
McNeil said there is “no way” that Spira would have left home without a trace voluntarily.
“It’s not even a remote possibility. We had plans. ... Our family is close,” McNeil said. “My brothers and I are best friends.”
Mark Edwalds, DuPage County Sheriff’s Office investigative commander, said the case still is being looked at as a missing-persons case and not much has changed over the past year.
“I think there’s always hope (for solving the case),” Edwalds said. “It’s just coming across the right piece of evidence.”
McNeil informed the Sheriff’s Office she hired DiBiase, but Edwalds said he has yet to hear from the outside investigator.
McNeil said she isn’t sure what to expect from DiBiase, but hopes he brings some movement to the case. She said she has tried to keep in close contact with the Sheriff’s Office, but isn’t happy with the status of her brother’s case.
“I beg them all the time, ‘Please just call it what it is. Please say there was foul play,’” McNeil said. “I think if we had never gotten any media on this, they would have quit.”
TIMELINE
2007
Feb. 23 John Spira last seen at Universal Cable Construction
Feb. 24 Spira doesn’t show for gig at Montgomery restaurant
Feb. 25 Estranged wife files missing person report
Sept. 14 Supporters put up sign across from business
Sept. 16 Fire at business and sign discovered missing
Dec. 8 Family meets with relatives of Stacy Peterson and Lisa Stebic to organize search
2008
Feb. 23 First anniversary marked with event at Kingston Mines
2009
Feb. 23 Supporters mark second anniversary
2010
Feb. 23 Three-year anniversary of Spira’s disappearance date
March 15 Spira’s story to air on “Disappeared”
Copyright 2010 Huntley Farmside. Some rights reserved
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ More on John Spira case
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Investigator wants missing musician case treated as a murder
Steve Miller reporting
(WBBM) -- Today marks three years since John Spira disappeared from his West Chicago office, and DuPage County authorities say they are investigating it as a missing persons case.
A former federal prosecutor thinks it should be treated as a murder case.
John Spira was a musician, a pilot and co-owner of a business in West Chicago. Three years ago today, he vanished.
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Tad DiBiase says he's convinced Spira is dead - and was murdered.
Spira did not, DiBiase says he believes, not kill himself.
"Oh I'm very strongly convinced. People like that don't just disappear."
"You can't bury yourself. You can't burn yourself up. Generally you jump into a body of water and maybe disappear that way. But most bodies, as gross as it is, rise to the surface of the water."
DiBiase was contacted by John Spira's sister Stephanie McNeil, who has led the search for Spira.
DiBiase says he's tracking this as a "no body" murder case.
"It's an interesting case because typically the victim in the 'no body' case is a female."
Think, as some would allege, Stacy Peterson.
DiBiase has taken the case pro-bono--at no charge. He says his job is to work with Spira's family and police - to maybe nudge police into pursuing some new leads.
"Generally most people don't want to kill random people. They want to kill people who piss them off of jilted them."
The DuPage County sheriff's office says it is still investigating, calling it a "missing persons" case.
More information at:
www.nobodymurdercases.com
www.johnspira.com
Contents of this site are Copyright 2010 by WBBM.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Illinois man missing for three years
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Most no body murders involve women as victims but here is a case outside of Chicago where the man has been missing for three years today:
Family still has no clues in case of missing STC man
By ERIC SCHELKOPF - eschelkopf@kcchronicle.com
Three years after her brother disappeared, Stephanie McNeil still doesn’t know what happened to him.
“We don’t have any more information today than we did three years ago, which makes it that more frustrating and unbearable,” said McNeil, sister of St. Charles man John Spira.
Spira, 45, last was seen Feb. 23, 2007, at Universal Cable Construction near West Chicago, which Spira co-owned. A fire in September 2007 totaled the business.
DuPage County Sheriff John Zaruba said Monday that sheriff’s detectives are continuing their investigation into his disappearance. He urged anyone with information on the case to call the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office at 630-407-2333.
Spira’s disappearance will be featured next month as part of the Investigation Discovery cable channel show, “Disappeared.” The segment will air starting on March 15.
“I am hoping the show will bring new leads and interest to the case,” McNeil said. “The more people who know about the case, the better.”
The family has also engaged the services of a former federal prosecutor who McNeil said is the country’s foremost expert in prosecuting “no body” murder cases.
Susan Olsen knows what it is like having a loved one seemingly disappear. Her son, Bradley Olsen, 26, of Maple Park, has been missing since January 2007.
“There never will be any closure for us if we don’t find some answers,” said Olsen, who keeps in touch with McNeil. “It is a sad, sad situation.”
DeKalb police continue to investigate the case. Bradley Olsen was last seen about 2 a.m. Jan. 20, 2007, at Bar One in DeKalb. DeKalb police have said he arrived at the bar with some friends late Jan. 19.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Jailhouse informants testify in Connecticut no body murder case
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Jailhouse informants tell of alleged confessions
By Karen Florin
Publication: The Day
Published 02/19/2010 12:00 AM
Updated 02/19/2010 12:52 AM
Details vary, but all say Leniart bragged about body's disposal
The testimony of jailhouse informants at the murder trial of George M. Leniart has been consistent about one thing - Leniart's confidence that state police would not charge him because they would never find the body of teenager April Dawn Pennington.
Troopers did charge Leniart with the murder in 2008, and the state is relying on the prison informants in the "no-body" murder trial taking place in New London Superior Court this month. April Pennington, 15, sneaked out of her family's Montville home on May 29, 1996, and they never saw her again.
Each of the convicted felons who took the witness stand to implicate Leniart in the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of the teen gave a slightly different version of Leniart's alleged prison confessions. They all said, however, that Leniart boasted he would never be charged because state police would not find the girl's body.
Kenneth S. Buckingham, an accused serial bank robber who testified Thursday, said Leniart was "pretty cool" when he talked about the state police "being after him" for a murder case.
"He said, 'No body, no crime,' '' Buckingham testified.
Leniart told him, when the two of them were housed together at Corrigan Correctional Institution, that he had accidentally killed April by choking her while they were having sex, Buckingham testified.
"He made reference that he dismembered her and put her in lobster pots," Buckingham said. Leniart said he dumped the body in Long Island Sound, Buckingham said.
Zee Y. Ching Jr., who has a history of drug crimes, also testified Thursday, saying Leniart was "kind of bragging" about hiding the girl's body when the two shared a cell at Corrigan in 2007.
"He thought the state police were a bunch of idiots and they were tearing up his property and they couldn't find her and she wasn't there," Ching said.
In Ching's version, Leniart said he and a younger friend got a girl drunk and raped her on a boat.
Ching said Leniart told him the girl started "flipping out" on the way back to the boat and he decided he would have to "do her."
"He said the younger man refused to cooperate, so he did it himself and hid the body," Ching said. Leniart told him he hid her body in a well at Wilson's Marina and later dumped it in Long Island Sound.
Michael Douton, who is serving a six-year sentence for three convictions of driving under the influence, testified Wednesday that Leniart referenced the murder when the two met up in a holding area at Corrigan in May 2009. Douton said Leniart told him April's body was "in the river" and pointed in the direction of the Mohegan Sun casino and the Thames River.
"He told me they would never convict him because they would never find the body," Douton said. Douton said he was amazed by what Leniart said and that he seemed "very confident."
Also Thursday, defense attorney Norman A. Pattis moved for a mistrial when Ching testified that Leniart asked him whether he should kill the man who was with him on the night April disappeared. He was presumably talking about Patrick "PJ" Allain, who has testified that he and Leniart picked up the girl after she sneaked out of her house, drank and smoked marijuana with her and raped her.
Pattis objected to the testimony, saying the state sneaked into evidence a statement that Leniart was speculating about killing Allain. Prosecutor Stephen M. Carney said the state is not alleging that Leniart took any steps to kill Allain, and that this was "just a conversation that took place in Corrigan back in 2007." Judge Barbara B. Jongbloed denied the mistrial motion.
Pattis again moved for a mistrial when Buckingham used the term "ripper" or rapist to refer to Leniart. Jongbloed denied the motion but agreed to strike the "ripper" testimony from the record.
The trial resumes today.
k.florin@theday.com
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Mistrial in Westchester County, NY no body murder case
1 Comment added to this post
Mistrial for NY jeweler accused of killing wife
FILE- In this undated file photo released by the New York State Police on Oct. 31, 2008, Faith Lippe is shown. Werner Lippe is accused of killing his wife Faith Lippe and burning her body. (AP Photo/New York State Police, File)
By JIM FITZGERALD
The Associated Press
Friday, February 19, 2010; 4:51 PM
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- A judge declared a mistrial Friday after a jury deadlocked in the trial of a 68-year-old jeweler accused of killing his wife and incinerating her body in an oil drum.
Relatives of the missing woman, Faith Lippe, gasped and burst into tears in the gallery when Westchester County Judge Barbara Zambelli announced the mistrial.
The jurors, seven women and five men, had announced they were split Thursday night over the fate of defendant Werner Lippe. The judge asked them to keep trying Friday, but they sent her a note midafternoon that said, "We are convinced that we are hopelessly deadlocked." It was their fourth day of deliberations.
The jurors were not polled, and it was not known how many favored conviction or acquittal or what the key issue was. They had asked questions about corroborating evidence, involuntary confessions and whether they can assume that Faith Lippe is dead.
After the mistrial was announced, the jurors were escorted away from reporters.
Lippe had confessed three times to the grisly killing and burning of his 49-year-old wife, and the jurors heard each of the confessions at least once.
"I hit her in the head with a piece of wood," Lippe said on one tape. "I dumped her in the barrel and burned her." Police never found the oil drum.
When Lippe testified, he said he made up the story to get investigators off his back until he could make a case to a judge. He claimed it was impossible to burn a body and leave no trace evidence. He said the last time he saw his wife - Oct. 3, 2008 - she was being driven away from their suburban home in Cortlandt, about 40 miles north of Manhattan, in an SUV he didn't recognize.
Prosecutors were hampered by the lack of any forensic evidence: no body, no bone fragments, no DNA. They said Lippe, who had acids and torches at his home jewelry workshop, was an expert who committed "almost a perfect murder."
Lippe testified that when his mother died in 2006, he asked a mortician, "By the way, how do you burn people?"
The district attorney's office said Lippe would be retried, and prosecutor John O'Rourke said he could be ready by next week, although preparations for a second trial are likely to delay it into next month at least.
Defense attorney Andrew Rubin said the trial had been "a long and difficult procedure," but he and Lippe would also be ready for a retrial.
Lippe, who remains in custody, showed no outward reaction when the mistrial was declared.
Faith Lippe's sister, Dawn Faigle, said outside the courthouse, "I'm extremely disappointed, but we are ready to do this again."
Shari Caradonna, Faith Lippe's cousin, said, "We will be back, and we will make sure Werner Lippe stays behind bars."
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Arrest in California no body murder case
0 Comments added to this post
Jesse Crow charged with homicide, even though no body found
Police say they have enough evidence against Ryann Bunnell Crow's husband
By JULIA REYNOLDS
Herald Staff Writer
Updated: 02/18/2010 08:40:33 AM PST
Jesse Crow Husband is being held on $3million bail.
Prosecutors in Monterey County may find themselves in the difficult position of having to prove a high-profile murder case without a body.
Salinas police arrested Jesse John Crow, 33, Tuesday night on suspicion of homicide in connection with the disappearance of his wife, Ryann Bunnell Crow.
Officers acknowledged Wednesday that Ryann Crow's body has not been recovered, but they said police investigators believe that the woman is dead and that her husband committed the crime.
They said investigators have been working closely with the Monterey County District Attorney's Office throughout the case.
Police spokesman Lalo Villegas said the District Attorney's Office was aware Tuesday night of the imminent arrest of Crow, indicating prosecutors felt confident they had enough evidence to file charges.
News of Jesse Crow's arrest — and the homicide charge — had a sodden impact on the woman's family and friends, who mounted a huge campaign to find the 23-year-old, who had been recently working part time for a Salinas florist.
The family's Facebook page, "Lets find Ryann Bunnell," was filled with expressions of condolence.
Jesse Crow, a longtime Prunedale resident, was arrested while driving in Pacific Grove about 9:15 p.m. Tuesday. Shortly after he was detained, officers executed a search warrant on the Pacific Grove home of his companion, Summer Donovan, who had previously been interviewed by detectives. Villegas said Donovan, who was riding with
Crow when he was stopped by police, was questioned again Tuesday night.
Following the arrest and a brief stop at the Salinas Police Department, Jesse Crow was booked in Monterey County Jail, where he is being held in lieu of $3million bail. Villegas said arraignment for Crow is expected today.
Villegas said police are still searching for more evidence — and especially for Ryann Crow's body.
"We're not stopping until we find Ryann," Villegas said.
Salinas Police Chief Louis Fetherolf and Monterey County Sheriff Mike Kanalakis have scheduled a news conference today to discuss developments in the case.
Ryann Crow was last seen Jan. 30 driving a white 2002 Chevrolet Malibu in the Prunedale area. Her family notified police three days later after she failed to appear at a family party and did not show up for work. Police found the car Feb. 9 in Foster City, but have declined to discuss evidence they may have found in the vehicle.
In the two weeks since she was reported missing, police investigators routinely said Jesse Crow was cooperating with authorities. However, Crow has been conspicuously absent during the various search-party expeditions and a candlelight vigil held by Ryann Crow's friends and family.
Even before Jesse Crow's arrest, the case had drawn national attention, particularly with victims' rights activist Nancy Grace, who last week included the case on her blog. On Tuesday night, just hours before Jesse Crow's arrest, Grace spent much of her hour-long program on CNN Headline News discussing the case — and much of that time was spent implicating Jesse Crow as the chief suspect.
On Wednesday night, again leading her show with the Crow case, Grace speculated at length on the role Donovan might have had in Ryann Crow's disappearance.
The day Ryann Crow was reported missing, sheriff's deputies allegedly seized about 300 marijuana plants from Jesse Crow's home on Chester Drive. The District Attorney's Office was reviewing whether the plants were legal because Jesse Crow had a medical marijuana card.
While Ryann Crow was last seen in Prunedale, Salinas police have been the lead investigating agency because the woman reportedly spent considerable time living with her sister in the city.
Sheriff's deputies initially joined in the search for Ryann Crow but said they have not been involved in the case since Saturday, when a deputy helped the family during a search party over some North County terrain.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Westchester County, NY jury hears no body murder case
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Conundrum for NY jury: Evidence in husband's murder trial includes confessions, no body
By: JIM FITZGERALD
Associated Press
02/15/10 3:31 PM EST WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Werner Lippe knows a lot about fire.
The 68-year-old jeweler, on trial on charges of killing and incinerating his wife, used a propane-and-oxygen torch to melt platinum and gold in his home workshop. He kept a 55-gallon oil drum as a burn barrel to get rid of trash, tomato plants, even the carcass of a deer he shot to protect his vegetable garden. When his mother died and her body was being prepared for cremation, Lippe testified that he asked a mortician, "By the way, how do you burn people?"
Prosecutors believe Lippe mastered that skill, using the barrel in 2008 to burn up the body of his 49-year-old wife, Faith Lippe, who was divorcing him. The drum disappeared soon after Faith Lippe did; her body hasn't been found.
Westchester County jurors have heard more than two weeks of testimony at Lippe's murder trial. They are expected to hear closing arguments and begin deliberating Tuesday. He faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors presented jurors with multiple confessions. The jury has repeatedly heard a recording of him saying, "I hit her with a piece of wood. ... I dumped her in the barrel and burned her" and details like the color of the ash that Faith Lippe's body was reduced to.
Lippe now insists the confessions were made-up stories concocted to get dogged investigators off his back until he could make his case to a judge.
During two days of testimony last week, he spoke coolly and confidently about the intricacies of jewelry making, dangerous acids and high-temperature flames. He said it was just his curiosity that prompted him to talk to the mortician and to ask a friend, after his wife disappeared, how deep a body would have to be buried to fool cadaver dogs.
Defense lawyer Andrew Rubin says Lippe was neither strong enough nor clever enough to pull off the murder.
Born in Poland, Lippe grew up in Austria and went to Germany to study jewelry-making. He came to New York in 1979 and became a topflight craftsman and goldsmith, with his own business in Manhattan's diamond district 40 miles from his Cortlandt home.
He considers his client list confidential, but grudgingly admitted on the stand that he made pieces for Donald Trump and Yoko Ono. An employee said some of Lippe's pieces sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Lippe was married twice in Europe. The first marriage lasted two years, the second eight weeks, he said.
He met his third wife, Faith, in New York. About 17 years younger than him, she had been in the fashion business but concentrated on home and children after they married in 1990, he said. At the time of her death at age 49, she was a part-time nutrition consultant to the Ossining schools.
In recent years, the marriage became contentious. Lippe told prosecutor Christine O'Connor that the couple argued constantly.
He had his son Andrew, now 15, secretly tape arguments for ammunition in the divorce.
"Your control-freakness has to stop. I will stop this. I guarantee it," Lippe told his wife in one recording played at trial.
It seemed both spouses wanted out. Werner Lippe, an accomplished skier, said he wanted to move to a log cabin near the slopes in Utah. His wife wanted no part of it, he said.
She served divorce papers, and he was fighting her claims for child support and maintenance. He envisioned that Andrew would go off with him, while their daughter Stephanie, now 13, would stay with her mother.
A meeting about the divorce between the Lippes, their lawyers, their children and their law guardians was scheduled for Oct. 7, 2008.
On Oct. 3, Faith Lippe missed several appointments. Her husband said he saw her being driven away in an SUV but could not see who was at the wheel. Her handbag was still at home.
Lippe said he became concerned when she did not return that night, but he did not call her cell phone.
The next day, he said, he drove an hour to ask a friend in Connecticut about the rules for filing a missing-person report. He had lunch and checked on his boat at a marina before coming home and calling 911.
Within a few days, state police with dogs searched the grounds of Lippe's home looking for his wife. They noticed, but did not confiscate, the burn barrel.
Later that month, Lippe confessed to a friend, James Learnihan, that he burned his wife's body. Learnihan was wearing a wire at the behest of investigators.
"She doesn't exist anymore," Lippe said in one taped conversation. "They cannot find her. It's impossible. ... I burned her in a barrel."
He said he hit his wife in the head with a piece of wood to knock her out, then shoved her into the barrel. "She burned for close to 24 hours," he said.
State police surprised Lippe with Learnihan's recording and he confessed again, describing to them the silver-gray color of the ash.
But he recanted his confessions after he was arrested. He said he made up the story because he was afraid of Learnihan and feared he was being framed. He said he repeated the story to police because they weren't listening to his claims of innocence.
Lippe testified that he thought he would eventually be able to explain to a prosecutor or judge and be let off. They would have more education and a "higher IQ" than police officers, he testified.
When police went to find the burn barrel, it was gone. Lippe said he had innocently thrown it out.
Prosecutors displayed photos that showed the barrel would have fit into Lippe's Audi.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/nation/conundrum-for-ny-jury-evidence-in-husbands-murder-trial-includes-confessions-no-body-84399237.html#ixzz0fiFWc4tE
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ "48 Hours" to air New York no body murder case
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Feb. 11, 2010
"48 Hours" Preview: A Time to Kill
A Woman Vanishes from her Upstate N.Y. Home the Day After 9/11; Was it the Perfect Time for a Crime?
48 Hours Mystery Preview: A Time to Kill
A mother of four vanishes the day after 9/11. Was it the day for the perfect crime? Erin Moriarty reports Saturday, Feb. 13 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
For family and friends of Michele Harris, the last 8 1/2 years have been a blur of investigations, trials and jury deliberations.
To the outside world, Michele and her husband, Calvin Harris, had a perfect life - they were young, attractive and successful with a beautiful family and a home in a picturesque upstate New York town. But Michele’s disappearance in the early morning hours of Sept. 12, 2001, revealed a much darker story. With much of New York State Police and canine forces diverted to New York City in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, local investigators were slowed by the limited resources available to them. Was this the perfect time for murder?
Michele’s disappearance remained shrouded in mystery until state police discovered tiny drops of blood in the Harris home. After four years, with no body or murder weapon, investigators felt they had enough circumstantial evidence and arrested Calvin Harris for Michele’s murder. In May 2007, the case went to trial and Harris was convicted of second-degree murder. As he awaited sentencing, a new witness emerged. Harris’ conviction was overturned and a new trial was set for 2009.
In the end, a second trial would reach the same guilty verdict, but as Calvin Harris continues to maintain his innocence, he is now fighting for a third trial. Meanwhile authorities have not given up the search for Michele’s body.
"48 Hours Mystery" correspondent Erin Moriarty has the rest of the story Saturday, Feb. 13 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Arrests and one guilty plea in Alabama no body murder case
0 Comments added to this post
From WTVY:
Investigators began digging for 25-year-old Victor Sanchez last Tuesday.
Sanchez had been missing since March of 2009.
A suspect told investigators last week that he could take them to where the body was buried.
After days of searching, no body has been found.
Officials say they have discontinued the search and will go forward with the trial.
Four people are being charged in the murder case.
District Attorney Doug Valeska allowed the wife of the victim, Jessica Wilson, to plead guilty to manslaughter and serve 17 years in prison.
Two others will be placed on the trial docket.
One suspect remains on the loose.
Posted by Thomas A. DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ No body murder trial begins in Connecticut
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A 1995 murder case without a body that relies on veteran informant. It wil be interesting to see whether the court permits the defense to call its expert witness on "snitches."
Tad
Lawyers are set for battle in cold-case murder trial
By Karen Florin
Publication: The Day
Published 02/07/2010 12:00 AMUpdated 02/07/2010 02:59 AM0
The state is ready to take its best run at murder suspect George M. Leniart, bringing him to trial Monday despite not having found a victim's body and with a case that relies heavily on jailhouse informants.
Leniart's defense attorney is prepared also. He gave signs during jury selection that he will assert there is no proof a murder even occurred and that he will aggressively cross-examine the jailhouse witnesses, whom he calls "snitches."
Leniart, 44, of Uncasville, is accused of kidnapping, sexually assaulting and killing 15-year-old April Dawn Pennington of Montville in May 1996. A panel of 12 jurors and four alternates is in place in New London Superior Court, and Judge Barbara B. Jongbloed is presiding.
On the first day of the trial, prosecutors John P. Gravalec-Pannone and Stephen M. Carney are expected to set the scene for the jury with testimony from one of April's family members and from the police officers who first responded to the report that April was missing.
Later in the week, the state plans to call on Patrick "PJ" Allain, a convicted rapist who has told police many times over the years that he and Leniart were with April Pennington on the night she disappeared.
State police immediately suspected Leniart, who was out on bond for the rape and near-strangulation of another teenager when April crawled out the bedroom window of her parents' home on Orchard Drive and disappeared. Detectives scoured the region for April's body without success and conducted hundreds of interviews.
Leniart was convicted of other sex crimes, and the detectives had information from Allain about the events of May 29, 1996. They kept a close eye on Leniart but could never build a case strong enough to prosecute him until several jailhouse informants told them Leniart had confessed to the murder.
One of those informants is Kenneth Buckingham, an accused serial bank robber from Old Lyme. He told authorities in early 2008 that Leniart, his one-time cellmate at Corrigan Correctional Institution, had confessed to killing a teenage girl. Buckingham said Leniart, who was again incarcerated on rape charges, got upset after another prisoner saw a TV news report about Leniart and started calling him a "ripper" or rapist. Leniart allegedly told Buckingham he would rather be known as a murderer, so he described how he strangled Pennington.
Buckingham is not a newly minted informant. In 2007, he testified at the murder trial of Richard Read, who was accused of fatally shooting a Bristol man. The prosecutor in that case said Buckingham's testimony helped convict Read, who is serving a 50-year prison sentence.
Leniart's attorney, Norman A. Pattis, represented Read, so this will be his second time cross-examining Buckingham. Pattis has indicated he wants "another piece" of Buckingham and is seeking the court's permission to solicit expert testimony from Alexandra Natapoff, a Loyola Law School professor and expert on jailhouse informants. Pattis said he contacted Natapoff in Los Angeles after reading her recently published book, "Snitching: Criminal Informants and the Erosion of American Justice."
The state, meanwhile, has asked the court to allow testimony about Leniart's previous convictions, including the rape and near-strangulation of a 13-year-old girl. Allain was involved in that crime, too, and the state will argue that the similarities in the allegations merit the jury's attention.
Though Leniart is charged with three counts of capital felony and one count of murder, the state is not seeking the death penalty because there is no body.
Posted by Thomas A. DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Texas men arrested for no body murder
0 Comments added to this post
Two held in the murder of former San Marcos man
Suspects under bonds of $500,000 each in death of Michael Van Dyke
By Anita Miller
News Editor
San Marcos — Two people, one a San Marcos resident, have been arrested in Bastrop County in connection with the murder of former San Marcos man Michael Van Dyke.
St. Ric Cole of the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office said 26-year-old Dennis Don Leetch of San Marcos has been charged with murder and is being held on a $500,000 bond. Also charged in the case is 24-year-old Dustin Dickman of Paige, who is also being held on a bond of $500,000.
Cole said Van Dyke was reported missing by his mother, Belinda Van Dyke of San Marcos on Dec. 27, but that he had not shown up at his job since mid-December.
“His parents hadn’t heard from him since Dec. 14. He didn’t show up for Christmas,” Cole said.
At the time of his disappearance, Van Dyke, 23, was living with Dickman at 321 County Line Road in Paige, an area in far eastern Bastrop County that Cole described as ranch country. He had been working at a Paige restaurant, but hadn’t shown up for work since mid-December.
Cole said there apparently were disagreements “over property and relationships” between the roommates. He said Bastrop County investigators “started digging at it and finally got enough information on who was involved to arrest Dickman.”
Dickman gave a confession, he said, that led detectives to Leetch, who also reportedly confessed.
Acting on that additional information, Hays County assisted Bastrop investigators in executing a search warrant Wednesday morning at 500 Roadrunner Road in Rocky Ranch 1, Hays Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Leroy Opiela said.
Cole said the search warrant turned up a vehicle with some evidence inside it and “some evidence of where the body had been.”
He said investigators believe Van Dyke’s body was initially buried on the property where he lived but that the suspects “got nervous and moved the body.” He said a dive team has searched three stock ponds on different area ranches.
Cole said no body was found but the searches did turn up “some of Van Dyke’s property.”
Investigators have found what they believe are the murder weapons, which Cole described as “construction boards and blocks.”
He said no additional arrests are anticipated but investigators are “still looking for some vital information that we haven’t got yet,” and have one more person in mind they would like to talk to.
“It’s a long process, and exhausting process for our guys,” he said. Van Dyke’s mother agreed. “Bastrop County has worked tirelessly on this case,” she said on Wednesday.
Van Dyke graduated from San Marcos High School in 2004 and served in the U.S. Army. Leetch graduated SMHS in 2002.
Van Dyke’s mother said her son and Leetch had been friends since high school. “The connection between those two was longstanding.”
Anyone with any information is urged to contact the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office at (512) 303-1080. Callers who wish to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 324-TIPS.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ No body murder trial begins in California
0 Comments added to this post
Ocean Beach man to go on trial for murder of estranged wife
Posted: Feb 03, 2010 10:13 PM EST
Updated: Feb 04, 2010 5:26 PM EST
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (CBS 8) - Jury selection is underway in the trial of an Ocean Beach man accused of killing his wife.
The body of 50-year-old Rosa Lisowski has never been found nearly two years after the mother of four went missing, but her husband Henry is charged with her murder.
Jury selection started Wednesday morning. It will be up to the panel to determine if Henry Lisowski, 60, is guilty of killing his wife.
Rosa Lisowski was 48 when she went missing March 24, 2008. She was last seen dropping her son off at Bernard Elementary School in Point Loma.
Rosa's oldest son testified an an earlier hearing that his mom lived in fear of Henry.
At that same hearing, police testified Lisowski had noticeable scratch marks on his face the day he was questioned for his wife's disappearance.
Investigators also stated they found blood on the kitchen counter in his Ocean Beach home along with traces of blood in the cargo area of his SUV.
Legal analyst and defense attorney Robert Grimes says there are a couple of angles the defense can take to help prove Lisowski's innocence.
He cites a letter forensic teams declare was written by Henry Lisowski detailing how his wife died. According to the five-page document, Lisowski claimed Rosa suffered a head injury when she fell outside his Ocean Beach home and died on the way to the hospital.
The letter continues, stating Lisowski decided not to call authorities and instead dumped her body in a trash bin near a Mount Hope neighborhood.
"If the defense agrees he wrote that, then they might argue that's what happened and it's not a murder," Grimes said.
Jury selection for Lisowski's trial is expected to continue into Friday. Opening statements could come as early as Monday.
Lisowski is charged with a special circumstance allegation of murder for financial gain. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ "Baby Gabriel" case
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Murder Charge Possible for Baby Gabriel Mom Even with No Body
Published January 26, 2010 by:
Jotworks
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21 Baby Gabriel's mother, Elizabeth Johnson, pleads "Not Guilty". On Monday January 25, 2010, in Phoenix Arizona, Johnson appeared before a Maricopa County Superior Court judge via video-feed from one of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Maricopa County Jails— Estrella Jail. Johnson pleaded 'not guilty' to four felony charges on the disappearance of her eight-month-old baby, Gabriel Johnson— nicknamed Baby Gabriel.
Clad in prison stripes, Johnson gave her name, birth date, and 'not guilty' plea. The four felony charges are: conspiracy to commit custodial interference; custodial interference; child abuse; kidnapping. Johnson's lawyer is public defender Jon Eliason. Baby Gabriel went missing on December 27, 2009 in San Antonio, Texas, where the investigation is ongoing.
Johnson could face a murder charge. If Baby Gabriel doesn't show up alive, Johnson could be charged and prosecuted for murder. Hearst newspaper The Beaumont Enterprise reports that Texas law needs no dead body in order to charge a suspect with capital murder. A defendant can be prosecuted in a murder trial even if no body is found. In 2001, Dallas-based lawyer Geoff Henley prosecuted and won a murder case even though he had no forensic evidence and no body.
Arizona, like Texas, has 'no body' murder cases. Arizona has a few 'no body' cases that have ended in convictions for the defendants. In 2001, Reuben Zavala was found guilty and sentenced for the disappearance of his girlfriend's son. The mother testified against Zavala saying that he had confessed to dumping the sexually-abused boy in a trash bin. No body was found. Yet, Zavala was convicted.
Johnson's case, ex-boyfriend Logan McQueary, Baby Gabriel's natural father, could testify against Johnson about how she confessed to him that she had killed Baby Gabriel, stuffed his blue dead body into a diaper bag, and thrown the bag into a dumpster.
Candlelight vigil for Baby Gabriel. Last night, McQueary led a candlelight vigil of hope and prayer for his infant son, who will turn nine months on February 3, if he his alive. A turnout of about 150 folk— family, friends, and supporters— rallied for Baby Gabriel's safe return. The vigil took place at Scottsdale's Chaparral Park near McQueary's childhood neighborhood. McQueary said of Baby Gabriel, "I hope he comes back soon... I love him. I want him back more than anything else."
McQueary and Johnson. McQueary has not yet had a face-to-face confrontation with Johnson. He has not visited her in jail. He has not even spoken with her by phone. In a CBS15 interview last night, he said he believes she would not tell him the truth. After her arrest on December 30 2009, Johnson told the police that she had lied to McQueary about murdering Baby Gabriel and that she had instead handed him over to strangers in San Antonio, Texas.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ "48 Hours" features no body murder case
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“48 Hours Mystery” to showcase Walker County’s Sam Parker murder case
by Josh O’BryantJan 20, 2010 |
CBS’s “48 Hours Mystery” will air an episode on the Sam Parker murder case on Saturday, Jan. 30, at 10 p.m. And, according to a “48 Hours” correspondent, the show could surprise some local residents.
About a half-dozen “48 Hours Mystery” producers and crew members, at any given time, were on site for Parker’s murder trial in Walker County Superior Court in downtown LaFayette from late August to early September.
Tracy Smith, a correspondent with “48 Hours Mystery,” was here for the beginning and end of the trial. She predicted viewers are in for a surprise when the episode airs next weekend.
Smith said eight jurors were interviewed for the episode and their “take” on the trial may not be what most in the area would expect.
Smith said the jurors took the case very seriously — and to heart, often leaving jury deliberations in tears. In the show the jurors discuss what rang true for them during the trial. That, she said, could be a big surprise for local residents who followed the trial closely.
Smith said “48 Hours Mystery” interviewed Parker as the jury deliberations were going on and after the trial ended.
Parker was accused of murdering his wife Theresa, a dispatcher with Walker County 911 who disappeared in March 2007. At the time Sam was a sergeant with the LaFayette Police Department. He was charged with his wife’s murder in February 2008, even though her body was never found. He was found guilty and is currently serving a life sentence.
Smith described Walker County and LaFayette as an inviting town that made the “48 Hours Mystery” crew feel like family.
“Everyone was so nice to us,” she said.
Smith said everyone had an opinion in the case, ranging from “he did it” to “she is still alive.”
Smith said the producers and crew members frequented Suzie’s Sunset Café in downtown LaFayette to “hear what the town was talking about” regarding the trial.
“Walking into Suzie’s was like running into friends,” she said.
The “48 Hours Mystery” crew spent a lot of time at Suzie’s, and of course at the courthouse, and stayed overnight in Chattanooga.
Smith even spent some time shopping for her children at Sew Cute in LaFayette.
She described her experience as becoming a part of the family in the community and, despite the fact that it was a murder trial, the experience was a positive one.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ California man sentenced to 15 years to life in no body murder case
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Felipe Cruz Hernandez gets life sentence for Leticia Barrales Ramos' Winters killing
Jason Kobely 18 days ago
WOODLAND, CA - A Winters man was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison Friday for the murder of his wife, according to the Yolo County District Attorney's office.
Felipe Cruz Hernandez was convicted by a Yolo County Superior Court jury last month, even though the body of his wife Leticia Barrales Ramos has never been found.
Barrales Ramos, 28, was reported missing by Hernandez in April 2009, according to district attorney's office investigator Pete Martin.
Evidence was presented at trial that Barrales Ramos had recently filed for divorce from Hernandez, was seeing another man and had filed for custody of their 10-year-old daughter, Martin said.
According to FBI testimony, a receipt was found for a carpet steam cleaner at the couple's apartment dated the day after Barrales Ramos was last seen. Three large bloodstains were also discovered on the floor under the apartment carpet.
Court testimony revealed Cruz Hernandez told conflicting stories about where his wife went. The jury was told that he had borrowed a firearm from a relative.
Investigators also found Barrales Ramos' wallet, driver's license, passport, Mexican consulate card, Mexican voter card and a credit card. She had not told anyone at her two jobs that she had planned to be gone which was out of character, according to the prosecution.
News10/KXTV
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Nobodymurdercases.com featured in Indiana's Journal & Courier Newspaper
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Murder suspect asks for public defender
By SOPHIA VORAVONG • svoravong@jconline.com • January 19, 2010
A public defender will be appointed to represent a Lafayette man suspected of killing his still-missing roommate following an altercation 13 months ago.
Wesley E. Kelly, 29, appeared for his initial hearing today before Tippecanoe County Magistrate Norris Wang on charges of murder, battery and being a habitual offender.
Kelly was brought to the brief hearing at the Tippecanoe County Jail from the Miami Correctional Facility in Bunker Hill, where he is serving a three-year prison sentence for failing to register as a sex offender.
The new charges against Kelly - filed Thursday - stem from the disappearance of Steven L. Smith, 52, of Lafayette. Smith was last seen alive on Dec. 6, 2008.
Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Pat Harrington said today that he was unaware of any prior occasions in which Tippecanoe County proceeded with murder charges against someone without recovering the suspected victim's body.
The Web site "No Body Murder Cases" - www.nobodymurdercases.com - has documented seven such instances in Indiana, dating to 1970 in Clinton County. Of those five ended in convictions and two with acquittals.
The site is run by Tad DiBiase, a former federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C. It includes a table of 300 cases across the country in which murder charges were filed despite investigators not locating a body.
Allegations against Kelly stem from an apparent fight he and Smith had at their apartment on South Fourth Street in Lafayette on Dec. 6, 2008.
According to court documents, the two men then ended up on a downtown railroad bridge over the Wabash River. Investigators suspect Smith was struck with a padlock, causing him to fall in the water.
During today's initial hearing, Wang read aloud the charges against Kelly.
Murder in Indiana carries a sentencing range of 45 to 65 years in prison. If convicted of that and being a habitual offender, Kelly faces an additional 55- to 165-year sentencing enhancement, Wang said.
Kelly requested the public defender. He said he has been incarcerated for 13 months thus far on the failure to register conviction.
Harrington previously told the Journal & Courier that authorities waited a year to file charges in case Smith's body or other evidence was found by people hunting or fishing along the Wabash during summer and fall.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Murder charges in Las Vegas no body murder case
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Officials seek murder trial in woman's disappearance
A year later, a murder case without a body
Attorney claims police threats prompted man’s confession
By Cara McCoy (contact)
Friday, Jan. 22, 2010 | 2:10 a.m.
Metro Police
Francisco Vazquez-Rosas
Sun Archives
■Man indicted in death of estranged wife (1-15-10)
Nobody knows for sure what happened to Teresa Guzman.
The mother of three hasn’t been seen alive since December 2008. Her body hasn’t been found, either.
Investigators believe she was murdered by her estranged husband, 26-year-old Francisco Vazquez-Rosas, who with the help of a Spanish-language interpreter pleaded not guilty Thursday to a charge of murder in district court.
After a lengthy questioning session and a polygraph test last month, police said Vazquez-Rosas confessed to killing Guzman after an argument. He told detectives he put her body into a trash bin and worried every night that police would be waiting for him when he got home. The body is still missing.
His attorney says the confession was coerced and that his client’s constitutional rights have been trampled on.
Vazquez-Rosas is being held without bail despite impassioned arguments from his attorney, Dan Silverstein, who asked Judge James Bixler to release his client on his own recognizance.
“It is unjust to keep a man incarcerated on this type of case on this type of investigation,” Silverstein said. “It is wrong.”
Silverstein said police threatened and harassed Vazquez-Rosas throughout the interview and that they used his two young daughters to manipulate his confession.
According to a police report, Vazquez-Rosas eventually told detectives that on Dec. 13, 2008, he had been with Guzman at an apartment in the 3100 block of South Nellis Boulevard.
Nearly six months passed before she was reported missing. No one remembered seeing her after that day.
Vazquez-Rosas told detectives that at first, Guzman sat on the couch that afternoon and wouldn’t speak to him. Eventually she told him she was planning to leave him and was taking their children with her, the police report says.
An argument and a physical struggle ensued.
Guzman fell as Vazquez-Rosas pushed her out the door, he told detectives. He went back inside and waited before realizing she hadn’t moved. Panicked, he pulled her inside and tried to revive her, according to the police report.
He tried hitting her in the face, kissing her and even rubbing alcohol on her body to try and get her to wake up, but nothing worked, he said. Unsure what to do next, Vazquez-Rosas says he dragged her to the nearest trash bin and put her inside, head-first.
Silverstein said the grueling 10-˝ hour interrogation left his client with no choice but to confess.
“Every time I say ‘confession’ in this case, I have to use air quotes,” Silverstein said.
Silverstein wasn’t present during the interrogation but said he has seen videotape of the questioning. Each time Vazquez-Rosas said he was innocent, he was told he was “a liar and a killer,” Silverstein said.
“The only truth that they will recognize for 10 1/2 hours in that room is that he had something to do with the disappearance of his wife,” Silverstein said, adding that for the first 9 ˝ hours, Vazquez-Rosas proclaimed his innocence.
Investigators threatened Vazquez-Rosas that he would never see his children again, Silverstein said.
“He doesn’t know the language, customs or whether the police in America are here to help him or hurt him,” Silverstein said. “After this encounter, your honor, I would question that as well.”
Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lalli, who is prosecuting the case, gave the judge a number of reasons to keep Vazquez-Rosas behind bars.
“Whether counsel likes it or not, his client confessed to the crime,” Lalli said.
Lalli said Guzman has family in Mexico who she would have contacted if she had been deported, which she hadn’t done. She hasn’t made phone calls or contacted anyone close to her.
“The victim fell off the grid,” he said.
And, he said, there are witnesses to the alleged crime: “The facts are that two little girls, the defendant’s own children, who were 3 and 6 at the time, witnessed a murder and told family members about it.”
Lalli said the girls gave testimony in front of a grand jury about what they saw. The grand jury indicted Vazquez-Rosas on the murder charge earlier this month.
Releasing Vazquez-Rosas on his own recognizance, Lalli told the judge, would have been “effectually an end to the case.” An immigration detainer against Vazquez-Rosas means he would likely be deported or would flee – either way, not held accountable for the charges, he said.
Guzman was reported missing in May 2009 by her brother-in-law, with whom she and Vazquez-Rosas lived for a time in the apartment on Nellis. The couple had separated about two months before she disappeared.
“This woman who has disappeared had told people she was tired of her life; she was tired of living with her family, she was tired of living with Francisco -- she wanted to start a new life,” Silverstein said. “Those were her own words from the people who reported her missing to the police.”
Her brother-in-law contacted police again in October. He said he had lunch with Guzman the day she went missing and that she was upset because she wanted to move, but her husband wouldn’t let her take their children.
In early December, another relative contacted police and said Guzman’s children had spent the night with her. When she asked the youngest daughter if she missed her mother, the girl replied that she had seen her dad choke her mom and put her in a trash bag.
Detectives interviewed both girls. The youngest denied her mother was dead and said she had seen her on the morning detectives interviewed her.
The detective “knew this was obviously not true,” according to the police report from the time of Vazquez-Rosas’ arrest.
The older daughter did describe to police an altercation that took place between her parents, but Silverstein said she was talking about a documented incident that had happened four months prior to Guzman’s disappearance.
“Normally, the lack of a body would be the biggest problem in the state’s case – it’s not,” he said. The claims of the children who say they have seen their mother alive further bolsters the idea that Vazquez-Rosas didn’t kill her, he said.
Vazquez-Rosas invoked his right to a speedy trial and a trial date was set for March 22.
Silverstein said he plans to file a motion to suppress his client’s confession as well as to file a writ of habeas corpus.
“Whether he is here legally or illegally, the Constitution still applies to Francisco Vazquez-Rosas,” Silverstein said.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ "No Body" Murder prosecutor featured in Ada Evening News
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Chris Ross has prosecuted four no body murder cases.
Published: January 18, 2010 11:41 am
Chris Ross helps with Colorado ‘no body’ case
ADA — Pontotoc County District Attorney Chris Ross was recently the speaker for a seminar hosted by the Colorado Homicide Investigators Association in Aurora, Colo.
Ross presented the prosecution of the murder of Logan Tucker.
Tucker, a 6-year-old boy living in Woodward County, disappeared on June 23, 2002. His body was never located. In October, 2005, Ross was asked by the Woodward County District Attorney to review the case and give his opinion on it.
After doing so, Ross was asked to prosecute the case. In February, 2006, Katherine Rutan Pollard, Tucker’s mother, was arrested and charged with First Degree Murder.
After a nine day jury trial held in Woods County, in August, 2007, Pollard was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
In 2009, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the sentence in a 5-0 opinion.
“I was contacted several months ago by a detective in Colorado working on a 'no body' murder case,” Ross said. "He asked me to look at the facts of his case and give him an opinion of his evidence and advise him as to what other areas he might investigate. This led to me being asked to come to Colorado and present the Logan Tucker case, and discuss the issues that arise during the investigation and trial of a murder case without a victim’s body.”
Ross has been asked to consult on such cases by other states, and has made similar presentations on “no body” murder investigations and trials for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the Oklahoma District Attorneys Association, the Association for Crime Scene Reconstruction, and the Oklahoma Court Reporter’s Association.
The presentation was attended by law enforcement officers and prosecutors from various parts of Colorado.
Ross also wrote an article on the subject that was published in the Journal of the Association for Crime Scene Reconstruction in 2009.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ No body murder case featured on NBC's Dateline
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The case of missing Michele Harris to be featured on NBC's Dateline tonight
Published: January 15, 2010
The case of missing Michele Harris to be featured on NBC's Dateline tonight
NBC's Dateline will be airing a show tonight that will feature the filming and story surrounding the Calvin Harris murder trial and the disappearance of his wife Michele.
The show, which will air at 9 p.m. ET, is entitled "Mystery at Empire Lake." The show will focus on the story of a mother of four who disappears, vanishing in the night from her family's property on a vast wilderness. The show will move into the following morning, when her car was found at the foot of the driveway, but no body, no murder weapon, and no witness. The show's producers take viewers into the story behind the Calvin Harris murder trial, and describe the proceedings as a time when things got really strange.
Calvin Harris, a wealthy Tioga county businessman, was convicted by a jury of second degree murder in the disappearance of his wife Michele not once, but twice, and was sentenced on Oct. 5, 2009, to 25 years to life in prison.
Attorneys for Calvin Harris have appealed the guilty verdict.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Indiana man charged in no body murder
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Murder charges filed against roommate
By SOPHIA VORAVONG • svoravong@jconline.com • January 15, 2010
Tippecanoe County's prosecutor is confident that investigators have sufficient evidence to go forward with criminal proceedings against a Lafayette man suspected of killing his roommate -- despite never locating the victim's body.
Wesley E. Kelly, 29, was charged Thursday in Tippecanoe Circuit Court with murder in the suspected death of Steven L. Smith, 52, who was last seen alive on Dec. 6, 2008.
The prosecutor's office met Wednesday with Smith's family.
"We are pleased and ready to move forward with the case," his cousin and family spokeswoman, Cyndi Miller of Danville, said.
Kelly also was charged Thursday with misdemeanor battery and being a habitual offender. He currently is serving a three-year sentence in the Indiana Department of Correction for failing to register as a sex offender.
The allegations against Kelly stem from an apparent fight with Smith on Dec. 6, 2008, at their apartment on South Fourth Street in Lafayette.
The investigation began when Smith's family and neighbors contacted police on Dec. 11, 2008, after days of not hearing from him or seeing him.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed Thursday, Smith's mother, Doris Smith, told police that her son's apartment was "unusually clean and neat" and that toiletry items were missing -- appearing as though no one lived there.
Neighbors also said that Kelly reportedly admitted to fighting with Smith, which included slamming Smith's head into a wall and a toilet. The affidavit does not provide a reason for the fight.
Investigators suspect that the two men were later standing on a downtown railroad bridge over the Wabash River when Smith was struck with a padlock that was attached to a rope.
The blow reportedly knocked Smith into the water.
"Any new information or leads that are developed -- we will continue to work those," Detective Mike Humphrey said.
Law enforcement and firefighters have searched in and along the Wabash's banks numerous times in the past year for Smith's body. Those attempts, which included searching via horseback, helicopter and by boat, were not successful.
"It presents a unique situation, proceeding with a murder case without having an actual body," Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Pat Harrington said. "But there have been a number of similar, successful prosecutions around the country."
It's a scenario that Patti Bishop, founder of volunteer search organization IN Hope, knows well. Her stepdaughter, Karen Jo Smith, went missing on Dec. 27, 2000, in Marion County.
Karen Jo Smith's body was never recovered, but the woman's ex-husband, Steve Halcomb, was convicted in December 2004 of murder and later sentenced to 95 years in prison.
Steven Smith and Karen Jo Smith are not related.
"You have the fear from the moment we knew the grand jury indicted," Bishop recalled Thursday. "Even though we knew that he did it, until the jury comes back with that conviction ...
"It was a surreal experience, especially since there was no body."
Bishop speaks daily with Miller, Steven Smith's cousin. Her organization also has helped the family put together prayer vigils and hand out fliers with Smith's information to Lafayette businesses.
What kept Bishop strong during the trial for her stepdaughter's convicted killer was faith in prosecutors and Marion County investigators.
"I give kudos to any law enforcement agency that has taken this step," Bishop said. "Crimes of this type -- where there is no body -- is happening more and more. It can be done."
Harrington said authorities waited a year to file charges in case Smith's body or other evidence was found by people hunting or fishing along the Wabash during summer and spring.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ No Body Guy quoted in Miami Herald
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Rilya Wilson's accused caregiver nears trial on murder charge
By DAVID OVALLE
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com
Where is the chubby cheeked 5-year-old who became the symbol of ineptitude by state welfare workers? Her body has never been found.
If Rilya is dead -- and most believe she is -- how and when did she meet her demise? Miami-Dade prosecutors can't say for sure, but insist that circumstantial evidence points to foul play.
And when will Geralyn Graham, 64, her jailed caregiver indicted for murder nearly five years ago and facing the death penalty, go to trial? Hopefully by fall, say her lawyers, who still must take depositions from several key witnesses.
``My client absolutely claims she is innocent of all the charges pending against her, and looks forward to having the opportunity to have the jury hear the quality and type of evidence the state will offer,'' defense attorney Michael A. Matters said.
The high-profile case sparked massive public interest and drastic reforms at the Florida Department of Children & Families, but Graham has remained largely out of the limelight in recent years. No trial date has been set.
For now, she is behind bars at the Miami-Dade Women's Detention Center. Done serving a two-year sentence on an unrelated case, Graham is eligible for a bond of more than $200,000 but cannot afford to get out, Matters said.
Both sides acknowledge the case has proceeded slowly, in part because the state is seeking the death penalty. Graham had to get two new lawyers in April 2006 because her previous attorney was not certified to handle capital punishment cases.
``Prosecutors always want to get their cases before a judge and jury as quickly as possible when recollections are clearest and witnesses are easily accessible,'' Miami-Dade State Attorney's spokesman Ed Griffith said. ``However, in many cases, particularly murder cases, circumstances can make that difficult.''
Both sides declined to discuss the evidence.
But without a body, forensic evidence, eyewitnesses or confessions, the state's thrust will likely focus on Graham's inconsistent accounts of Rilya's whereabouts -- a seemingly thin prosecutorial foundation, but details that Graham indeed would be expected to know because Rilya was so young.
Born to a crack-addicted mother, Rilya was under DCF supervision by 2000 and living with Graham and her lover, Pamela Graham, no relation. Rilya's younger sister also lived with them.
VARYING ACCOUNTS
DCF did not realize Rilya had vanished from the Grahams' home until April 2002, more than a year after she was last seen, because her case worker had not checked on the girl. Graham told case workers that an unidentified DCF worker -- ``a tall, heavy-set, light-skinned woman with an accent'' -- came to pick up Rilya. A second woman came later to pick up toys and clothes, she said.
``As crazy as the story sounded, I have to be honest, I believed her. She was a very nice, seemed like a lovely person, grandmother type of person,'' former DCF operations manager Barbara Ongay said of Graham, in an April deposition.
Police and DCF even printed out ID-badge photos of DCF employees to show Graham to find the mystery social worker, to no avail. Physical searches for Rilya also fizzled.
As detectives got varying versions of Rilya's whereabouts from people who had talked to Graham, the case turned from a missing persons to a homicide investigation.
During a Christmas 2000 get-together at the Graham home, friends wondered about Rilya's whereabouts. Graham claimed a ``Spanish'' friend had taken the little girl on a road trip.
`They were going to, like, all these different places, but I remember New York being specific and Disney World,'' friend Laquica Tuff said in a March 2007 deposition.
During the probe, authorities found that Rilya's DCF caseworker, Deborah Muskelly, repeatedly failed to make required visits to check on the girl. Yet she had vouched to a judge that Rilya was OK. Muskelly later told investigators she was basing her word on phone conversations with Graham.
Authorities accused Muskelly of falsifying her timesheets to improperly indicate she had visited yet another child assigned to her caseload. She pleaded guilty to official misconduct and grand theft and completed a stint on probation.
In February 2003, jurors convicted Graham of fraud for using a friend's ID to buy an SUV. Less than a year later, based on incriminating statements from Pamela Graham, Geralyn Graham was charged with aggravated child abuse of Rilya.
Pamela Graham, who also was charged, agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of child neglect and serve as a state witness against Geralyn. She has not yet been sentenced.
CAGED AND CUFFED
She told Miami-Dade Police that Geralyn Graham hit Rilya with switches. She said Geralyn had confined Rilya in a laundry room as punishment, and bound her hands to the railing of the child's bed with plastic ``flex cuffs.''
A friend of the pair told police that Geralyn Graham borrowed a dog cage that she put Rilya in when she misbehaved.
As for the social worker tale, Pamela Graham said Geralyn ``concocted the story and advised her whenever anyone inquired about Rilya Wilson to just say that DCF took her,'' Miami-Dade homicide Detective Sara Times, now retired, said in a February 2006 deposition.
But Pamela Graham told officials she never knew what happened to Rilya.
The big break in the case came in March 2005, when a grand jury indicted Geralyn Graham for first-degree murder. A jailhouse informant, Robin Lunceford, had come forward to say Graham had confessed to smothering the child, then dumping her in a South Miami-Dade canal.
But Lunceford's credibility is weak -- she also gave information to Miami-Dade prosecutors about fellow inmates in two other high-profile murder cases, but was dropped as a state witness in both cases after she stopped cooperating.
EASY TARGET
Lunceford, who claimed to be penning a book about her life in jail, also told authorities that a fellow inmate might have terrorist ties and was planning to kill a federal prosecutor. Agents found the story to be bogus, making her an easy target for defense attorneys questioning her credibility. She is unlikely to be called to the stand, legal observers say.
Another inmate, however, may testify. Prosecutors say Graham admitted killing a ``baby'' to Ramona Tavia, a convicted murderer, while the two women were briefly jailed together.
Defense attorneys have yet to depose Tavia, Muskelly or Pamela Graham.
Former Washington D.C. prosecutor Tad DiBiase, who consults with police nationally on murder prosecutions without a victim's body, said the state usually needs at least a solid confession, forensic evidence or an eyewitness.
Despite the lack of evidence, the state's advantage in Rilya's case is that because she was so young, she cannot be cast as a willing runaway, he said. And Graham's tale of a rogue kidnapper might work against her.
``The jury is going to be extremely suspicious of somebody giving a bunch of different stories in a case involving a child,'' he said.
Brian Tannebaum, Graham's previous attorney, offered his strategy: to shift the blame to DCF and Pamela Graham. ``I think this case is really all about DCF. If the defense puts DCF on trial and questions why police failed to fully investigate Pam, they've got a shot,'' he said. ``The bottom line: there is not a witness that can say Geralyn Graham killed Rilya Wilson.''
▣ Sentencing in New York no body murder plea
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Sentencing in 40-year-old Waterford murder case
Reported by: Walt McClure
Email: waltmcclure@fox23news.com
Last Update: 1/16 9:18 am
A 40-year-old murder case comes to a close in a Saratoga County courtroom Friday morning, as the man accused of killing the fiancee of a woman he briefly dated is sentenced to prison.
63-year-old Nelson Costello stood before a judge to accept his punishment after decades of trying to hide his crime.
Costello said very little in court as he listened to the prosecutor and his victim's brother in law describe the life he took back in 1969, and what that loss has meant since then.
Nelson Costello was a 23-year-old Waterford town constable in 1969, a man who wanted a woman who didn't want him, and made the decision to kill her fiancee and then hide the crime for the next 40 years.
Nelson Costello's run from the law ended in Ballston Spa when Saratoga county Court Judge Jerry Scarano sentenced him to 5 2/3 to 17 years in prison for the April 1969 murder of David Bacon.
Prosecutors say Costello, under the guise of being a police officer, talked Bacon into following him to a spot on the Mohawk River in Waterford and shot him three times in the chest.
James Murphy/R-Saratoga County District Attorney: “It's bittersweet today. We have answers. We know what happened, but now we begin to mourn the loss of a loved one and the death of a loved one 40 years later.”
The case came into focus in late 2008, when Costello's sister learned from her brother's former girlfriend that he admitted killing a man - and she consulted a minister about it.
Captain Steve James/New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation: “Certainly she is a champion in this regard as far as I'm concerned. I don't stand here and assume that it was strictly the interviews and the steps that were taken to this together. Certainly, that had to be a big lift on her behalf.”
The minister called Troy police, who got the investigation going with New York State Police.
The girlfriend got involved, too, getting Costello on tape admitting his crime.
David Bacon's elderly brother-in-law Donald Miles left a hospital bed where he was scheduled for heart surgery to read a victim's impact statement in court, saying in part, “You, Nelson Costello, executed a man that did nothing to you...you cut a good man down in his prime years while you, a despicable confessed killer, get to live out yours.”
Before he was sentenced, Costello said he has thought about this every day and said he is sorry, but the DA doesn't buy it.
James Murphy: “Whether or not Nelson Costello is remorseful is something that I don't know. I know that he's probably remorseful and sad that he got caught. I know that if he were truly remorseful he would have done the right thing 39 years ago.”
As part of his plea to first degree manslaughter, Nelson Costello told law enforcement that he buried David Bacon's body along the James River in Lynchburg, Virginia, where he drove non-stop after the killing.
DA Jim Murphy says they have begun looking in that area and hope they will find Bacon's remains come spring.
Below is a copy of the press release from the Saratoga County District Attorney’s office about the Costello sentencing.
NELSON COSTELLO SENTENCED UP TO 17 YEARS IN STATE PRISON
PRESS RELEASE
January 15, 2010
Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy, III announced today that defendant Nelson Costello (DOB 7-21-46) was sentenced by Honorable Jerry J. Scarano in Saratoga County Court today to maximum of 17 years in State Prison. This sentence follows the defendant’s plea of guilty on October 23, 2009, to Manslaughter in the First Degree in violation of section of Section 125.20 (1) of the Penal Law of the State of New York, (as that statute existed in 1969), a Class "B" felony offense in which the defendant admitted that he “killed Dave Bacon” on April 10, 1969, in the Town of Waterford. Because the killing took place 40 years ago, the Judge was required to sentence the defendant utilizing the laws from 1969, which dictate that the judge impose a sentence that includes a minimum time of one third the 17 year maximum. DA Murphy said:
The People are extremely satisfied with the final resolution today. This was an extremely difficult case. No body was ever found. Most DA's would not consider a case without a body, but I thought that justice required us to go forward with the case. Additionally, we did not have a murder weapon, although we have a weapon that was recovered. Unfortunately we were not able to tie the weapon to the death as there is no body and no bullets were recovered. There is no DNA or forensic evidence. Those are the type of evidence 21st century juries anticipate and expect. Also, memories after 40 years have faded. We did have, however, tapes of conversations between Mr. Costello and a witness in which the defendant made admissions that he had killed someone, but never identified his victim by name. It was due to the collaborative work of so many law enforcement agencies that this resolution was achieved. Nelson Costello's actions not only ended Mr. Bacon's life at the young age of 22, but also affected so many other people's lives. The family has waited 40 years for this day to come to finally have an answer to what happened to their loved one. Assistant DA Alan Poremba worked tirelessly with law enforcement to solve an illusive and complicated case and only through a detailed analysis and painstaking work did the pieces of the puzzle finally come together.
At sentencing today, Don Miles, the brother-in-law and “father figure” of Dave Bacon delivered a victim impact statement on behalf of Bacon’s family and close friends. Miles spoke about Dave Bacon and how his sudden disappearance on April 10, 1969, took a lasting toll on his family and friends. Many of Dave Bacon’s family members and close friends were in attendance. Don told the Court that on April 10, 1969, “one of the worst examples of mankind [Costello]…took the life of one of the best examples of mankind [David Bacon] that night.”
On April 10, 1969, at approximately 11:30 pm, David Bacon was driving from his home in Pleasantdale in Rensselaer County to his job at Behr Manning in Watervliet. He never made it to work that evening. The defendant was obsessed with David Bacon’s fiancée, Mary, and that evening Costello implemented a plan to eliminate David Bacon. That evening, Costello stopped David Bacon on his way to work and told Bacon that he was a police officer and needed to come with him right away to talk to his Captain. Bacon complied, and Costello drove Bacon to Riberty’s Grove in Waterford, where he got Bacon to step out of the car and stand near the trunk. Costello then fired three shots into Bacon’s chest using the same .357 caliber handgun he carried as a police officer/constable in Waterford. Costello placed Bacon’s body into the trunk of the rental car and drove non-stop to Lynchburg, VA where he arrived unexpectedly at a friend’s workplace. The friend showed Costello a place to bury Bacon along an embankment of the James River. Bacon was reported missing, and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance remained a mystery for over 40 years until 2008 when Nelson Costello’s sister heard from one of Costello’s former girlfriends that he had killed “Mary’s boyfriend” in the Troy, NY area sometime around 1968. The defendant’s sister and niece immediately told a minister who called the Troy Police Department on their behalf. A multi-agency, multi-state investigation commenced and culminated in the arrest of the defendant.
One of the significant pieces of evidence included tapes of conversations between the defendant and a former girlfriend. During those conversations, his former girlfriend, while working with the State Police, recorded a conversation with Costello corroborating her earlier statement that Costello killed a man back in that era. Costello stated that “what I did was permanent…what I did was irreversible”. The joint investigation of numerous law enforcement agencies culminated with the arrest, indictment and conviction of Costello today.
One of the more difficult facets of the case that prosecutors faced was that the David Bacon’s remains were never found. Therefore, they turned to the Social Security Administration for assistance. The prosecutors wanted to obtain social security records indicating that was no activity on Bacon’s Social Security number since April 10, 1969, as circumstantial proof that Dave did not just relocate without telling anyone. For months this task proved to be much more difficult than anticipated, even with the help of Congressman Scott Murphy. Congressman Murphy said, "I'm proud to have worked with District Attorney Jim Murphy to cut through the red tape and make Saratoga a safer and stronger community."
Congressman Murphy, knowing the great difficulty we endured, has told us that he hopes to introduce legislation in the future to correct this problem so that similarly situated District Attorney’s Offices throughout this country do not encounter the same obstacle.
Captain Steven James said, "The New York State Police in conjunction with the Saratoga County District Attorney's office have worked diligently to bring this case to a successful resolution. It is our intention that this overall investigation brings some measure of justice and satisfaction to the Bacon family."
District Attorney Murphy said, "This case has been 40 years in the discovery and 2 years in the investigation. Finally, today we have concluded a major chapter in this family's life. Let hope the next chapter is one of healing and peace."
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Investigation continues into case of missing Kansas boy
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Investigation Continues Into Adam Herrman Disappearance
Posted: Dec 31, 2009 5:12 PM EST
Investigation Continues into What Happened to Adam Herrman
Adam Herrman
What Happened to Adam? One Year LaterButler County Attorney No one has seen him in more than a decade, but it's only been a year since authorities have known about the disappearance of Adam Herrman.
Herrman was eleven years old when he was last seen in 1999. Last December, his sister contacted SRS concerned that she couldn't find her brother. That's when authorities started searching the areas where Herrman once lived with his adoptive parents. They put out his picture all over the country and interviewed dozens of potential witnesses.
Although the case is no longer making daily headlines, those involved say work is constantly being done to find out what happened to Herrman. Butler County Attorney Jan Satterfield says it's taking awhile, but in a case like this time is on their side.
"As each year and each day passes, I think that makes for a stronger case to argue to a jury that Adam Hermann is dead," Satterfield said. She says the fact that this is a decade old cold case and there's no body, makes it the most complex case she's ever worked. She's collected more than a dozen binders of information on Herrman's life. Satterfield says it will continue to be a priority to answer the question, what happened to Adam Herrman.
"It's very difficult not to get emotionally involved. Especially since Adam and I would have been around the same age," said intern Sara Freeman. She's one of many working to piece together what happened to the young boy. Her work at the Butler County Attorney's office is why she's applying for law school. "It's been such an awesome experience. If and when this case goes to trial, it will be a rewarding experience that I had something to do with it," Freeman said.
Satterfield says her goal is to have the case to a grand jury by this time next year. Since this is such a complex case, she'd like jurors to help determine whether there's enough evidence to charge Herrman's adoptive parents. A grand jury would be used instead of a preliminary hearing, when a judge determines whether a case should go to trial. Satterfield says a grand jury needs to be approved by a judge in order to happen. If a grand jury makes an indictment, the case would go directly to trial.
Satterfield says Herrman's adoptive parents are the only persons of interest in the case. They never reported he was missing and cashed SRS checks until 2005. She says they've moved out of the area but authorities are keeping track of them. She says two other big cases, the Emily Sander and Carol Mould murder trials have also slowed down the Herrman investigation.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Guilty plea in Florida no body murder case
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Murder Plea Deal: 19 Years In Prison
December 16, 1987|By David C. Scruggs of The Sentinel Staff
MELBOURNE — In exchange for 19 years in prison, a former Lakeland man pleaded no contest Tuesday to the second-degree murder of a state witness who disappeared during a 1981 drug-smuggling trial.
State prosecutors say they also hope that Thomas William Bryan, 39, will lead them to the body of Richard Hunt, 30, who was abducted by two men posing as federal marshals in January 1981.
Prosecutors said Bryan and Harry Bell, another man convicted in 1984 in connection with the abduction, were hired by Clarence Zacke, a former West Melbourne auto parts dealer, to get rid of Hunt, a car repossessor who was to testify against Zacke in a drug-smuggling trial.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ California man convicted of murdering his wife in no body murder trial
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Guilty
Jury finds Felipe Cruz Hernandez guilty in wife’s murder
By DEBRA DeANGELO
Express editor
There is no body, but there is a verdict: Guilty of second degree murder, with malice aforethought. The jury announced their decision in the Felipe Cruz Hernandez murder trial on Tuesday, Dec. 22, at approximately 3 p.m. in Yolo Superior Court, said a spokesperson from the Yolo County District Attorney’s office.
The trial began on Nov. 9, following Hernandez’ arrest in May for the murder of his wife, Leticia Barrales Ramos, 28, who was last seen alive on April 12. Her body has never been found, despite numerous searches in the area by the Winters Police Department and the FBI.
The DA spokesperson said the jury began deliberating late Friday afternoon, Dec. 18. She said sentencing will take place on Jan. 22, at 10 a.m. in Dept. 6 at the Yolo County Courthouse.
According to Crystal Ross-O’Hara, reporter for McNaughton newspapers, District Attorney Robert Trudgeon confirmed that DNA samples from the blood found in the couple’s Baker Street apartment in Winters matched Ramos. Ross-O’Hara noted that although Hernandez was found guilty of second degree murder, he was found not guilty of first degree murder.
She added that jury foreman Mike Sullivan commented on how tough this case was because there was no body, and another juror who asked to remain anonymous commented that the trial process “restores his faith in the system.”
Following the reading of the verdict, Winters Police Chief Bruce Muramoto had praise for Winters Police Officer Sergio Gutierrez, who headed up the investigation locally, and for the Yolo County District Attorney’s office as well, calling the overall investigation and trial “great teamwork."
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Wall Street Journal article wrongly claims Manhattan DA first to prosecute a no body case without evidence or witnesses
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No doubt that Robert Morgenthau was a great DA. But the first to prosecute a no body case without forensic evidence or a witness? Not quite....by a long shot. I exchanged emails with the reporter, Mr. Freeman, but I must've missed the correction....
OPINION: THE WEEKEND INTERVIEW DECEMBER 26, 2009 The World's District Attorney Legendary prosecutor Robert Morgenthau on his famous cases, his brawl with Mike Bloomberg, and why he's sounding alarm about Iran.
By JAMES FREEMAN
In the criminal justice system, the people of Manhattan have been represented for 35 years by New York County District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. This is his story.
Mr. Morgenthau, who inspired the original D.A. character on the television program "Law and Order," will retire on Thursday at age 90. Much of the barely fictitious drama is set in his office in Manhattan's Criminal Courts Building. This week, amid half-filled boxes and scattered personal mementos, he sat down to discuss his life's work.
Even though he knows I'm wearing a wire—actually an audio recorder placed on the table between us—America's D.A. speaks candidly, including about his public blowups with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Mr. Morgenthau says this is the first mayor he hasn't gotten along with, and that the relationship went south when his office started investigating the city's role in the death of two of New York's bravest in an August, 2007 fire. Among other mistakes, city inspectors had failed to note that the water had been turned off at the old Deutsche Bank building opposite Ground Zero. The blaze resulted in 33 "mayday" calls from firefighters, and the D.A. is amazed that only two lost their lives.
Mr. Morgenthau soon got a call from a city lawyer telling him that "the mayor wanted me to tell you that he's surprised that you're looking at the Deutsche Bank case." Mr. Morgenthau says he told the mayor's minion, "You tell the mayor that I'm surprised that he's surprised."
Why would the mayor encourage such a call? Because, says Mr. Morgenthau, Mr. Bloomberg "thinks all lawyers work for him" and "doesn't want anybody around who doesn't kiss his ring, or other parts of his body."
The mayor has also recently gone after Mr. Morgenthau's budget, with city officials demanding that he stop sending some of the money forfeited by criminals to the state government, and instead send all of it to the city. The D.A. reports that both governments benefit handsomely from the work of his office—$300 million so far this year, with another $230 million coming soon.
These big criminal forfeitures support his $80 million budget, but they are also the product of Mr. Morgenthau's unique legacy among district attorneys: his national and global reach. Such resources have allowed him to prosecute complex international business cases. Combined with his jurisdiction in the world's financial capital, he has become in a sense the world's district attorney.
Thomas Jefferson would have liked this bastion of local power as part of a federal system, but it is not always celebrated by federal officials. "I'm sure it [annoys] the hell out of them," Mr. Morgenthau observes.
The feeling is mutual. The D.A. says that while he's had to deal with the federal bureaucracy for decades, "it has just gotten worse" and "they ought to burn it down and start all over again. It's extremely worrisome."
For example, he says, "We had a lot of trouble with the Treasury Department" in his recent case against Credit Suisse, in which the bank coughed up $536 million and admitted to aiding Iran and other rogue nations in violating economic sanctions. The feds, as they did in a similar settlement with the British bank Lloyds, wanted only civil penalties.
Mr. Morgenthau would have none of it. He says Credit Suisse had been "stonewalling us" and only struck a deal after he threatened to bring criminal charges to a grand jury. "We would have gotten an indictment," he says.
In 2006, Mr. Morgenthau's office began an investigation into New York's Alavi Foundation, which turned out to be an Iranian government front. Money from the foundation "was being used to pay Iranian agents around the world," he says. Last month the U.S. government seized $500 million of the foundation's assets, including a Fifth Avenue office tower.
Mr. Morgenthau lacked the statute to bring legal action so he referred the Alavi inquiry to the FBI, while continuing to track a larger financial web. Individuals associated with Alavi had received money from Iran's government-controlled Bank Melli, which has been sanctioned by our government, the United Nations and the European Union for its support of the regime's nuclear and missile programs. The D.A.'s investigators found a money trail leading from Melli and other Iranian state-controlled banks, through legitimate banks in London and other European cities and into correspondent banks in the United States.
Credit Suisse, Lloyds and "eight other banks that we know about," according to Mr. Morgenthau, were involved in "stripping." This means disguising that Iran is the origin of transactions routed through American banks.
What are the Iranians buying with their ill-gotten American currency? Mr. Morgenthau obtained a shopping list that includes tantalum, a hard metal used in roadside bombs. But the Iranians are thinking bigger. He reports that he showed the shopping list to an executive at Raytheon, which manufactures missiles for the American military. Mr. Morgenthau says that after reviewing Tehran's wish list, the Raytheon official was stunned at the sophistication that would be required to create it, and replied, "My hands went cold."
The Iranian finance investigation led him to evidence showing the destination of a North Korean cargo plane that was seized in Bangkok by Thai police on Dec. 12. Despite Iranian denials, Mr. Morgenthau says the massive weapons shipment was bound for Tehran.
After years of prosecuting world-wide financial cases, including bringing down the criminal enterprise known as the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, Mr. Morgenthau has assembled a formidable intelligence network. "When people trust you, you get a lot of information from all around the world."
Mr. Morgenthau says "It takes a long time to build the kind of network we have" and adds that he expects his successor, Cyrus Vance Jr., will continue to focus on international financial crimes and Iranian finance in particular. That's because these cases are effective.
Regarding Iran, the lifelong Democrat scores both parties in Washington for ignoring the gathering threat. His own concern flows in part from his experience as a newly minted ensign aboard a destroyer the day Pearl Harbor was attacked. Mr. Morgenthau later saw action in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters, and was fortunate to survive one sinking when a convoy ship violated standing orders and picked him and fellow crew members out of the water. He doesn't want his country to be caught unprepared again.
'Everyone has dropped the ball on [Iran sanctions]. The president is smoking pot or something if he thinks that being nice to these guys is going to get him anywhere," Mr. Morgenthau says. He says economic sanctions can "have significant impact" because most of Iran's enablers are not terrorists, just people "trying to make a buck. . . . They don't enjoy being the focus of an investigation." The D.A. argues that more aggressive federal enforcement of existing sanctions, plus a new effort to restrict Iran's gasoline imports, could make life very difficult for a regime that is under increasing pressure from its own citizens.
"The president has to say this is a priority. We have sanctions and we ought to make them work," he says. "The boss," as he's known to Manhattan prosecutors, is particularly concerned about Iran's progress in missile development and its budding relationship with Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez. While the two countries have opened banks in each other's countries, the D.A. reports that they nonetheless are transacting business in dollars through New York.
Mr. Morgenthau says his habit is to "never look back," but he obliges when pressed to revisit some of his most famous wins and losses. Boss of mob bosses John Gotti evaded the long arm of Mr. Morgenthau for years but was ultimately convicted of murder by the feds. "The [FBI] didn't turn over key evidence they had to us," he says.
Asked whether he should have indicted board members along with Tyco Corporation CEO Dennis Kozlowski and CFO Mark Swartz, Mr. Morgenthau responds, "probably."
Of his recent prosecution of Anthony Marshall, convicted of stealing from his mother Brooke Astor, Mr. Morgenthau makes clear that the case had a significance beyond exposing the lifestyles of the rich and famous. He notes a disturbing trend of children ripping off their parents and grandparents. The case, he says, "sent a message all over the country: You can't steal from your elders."
Mr. Morgenthau notes that his office was the first in the country to "indict the footprint," which means securing indictments before finding a defendant. This has the practical effect of removing the statute of limitations.
Mr. Morgenthau is proudest of his victories in cases widely considered unwinnable. He notes that his office was the first in the country to successfully prosecute a murder case with no body and no witness. In 2000 he won convictions against Sante and Kenneth Kimes. The mother and son killed Irene Silverman when they believed she had caught on to their plot to swindle her out of her Upper East Side mansion. The son later admitted to disposing of the body in a dumpster.
Mr. Morgenthau took on another lost cause but finally prevailed, 15 years after the disappearance of Gail Katz-Bierenbaum. Discovering flight records at New Jersey's Essex County Airport led his team to conclude and ultimately prove that her husband had pushed her body out of a Cessna over the Atlantic.
Overall, it's hard to argue with the results. While he is quick to credit the police and other city officials, Mr. Morgenthau notes that when he became district attorney in 1975, Manhattan was suffering almost 650 murders annually. Last year, there were 62. From more than 39% of the city's murders, Manhattan's share has fallen to just 12%.
Manhattan's renaissance has allowed many New Yorkers to consider not just survival, but success, and more specifically how to keep more of what they earn from the tax collector. Mr. Morgenthau has aggressively pursued those who seek to preserve their capital in other jurisdictions, but that doesn't mean he favors the current system.
"I think taxes in New York City and State are much too high," he says. "But you're never going to see them reduced unless everybody pays what they're required to pay under the law."
Mr. Morgenthau's effort to go after citizens who park their money in tax havens has led to more frustration with the Mayor. The D.A. says Mr. Bloomberg "has never been any help. I've talked to him three times about it and each time the conversation is almost identical. I tell him how much money is offshore and in the underground economy and he always says, 'I'm paying my taxes.' And I always say, 'Mike, no one is suggesting you don't, but there are a lot of other people who don't.' And then he says, 'I'm glad I'm not a lawyer.'"
Before exiting the public stage, Mr. Morgenthau also wants to set straight the record on one of the most controversial episodes in the history of the United States Supreme Court. Justice Abe Fortas was denied a Senate vote in 1968 when President Lyndon Johnson sought to elevate him to chief justice to replace the retiring Earl Warren.
The following year, Fortas resigned his seat as an associate justice after it was revealed that he received money from the foundation of Louis Wolfson, who had been convicted of crimes related to a securities case.
But Mr. Morgenthau already knew about the payments from Wolfson. As a U.S. attorney appointed by John F. Kennedy, he had been investigating Wolfson for years, against the wishes of Wolfson's friends in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. (To be fair, politicians seeking contributions were not the only defenders of Wolfson. More recently, Henry Manne has written in these pages that Wolfson invented the modern hostile tender offer, enhancing the power of shareholders and making the U.S. economy more competitive.)
In any case, Mr. Morgenthau believes that Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach was fired by LBJ in 1966 because he refused to block Mr. Morgenthau's indictment and subsequent conviction of Wolfson. At the time, Mr. Katzenbach said disputes with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover caused his resignation.
Knowing of the $20,000 per year "for life" that Wolfson's foundation was sending to Fortas, Mr. Morgenthau contacted Mr. Katzenbach's successor Ramsey Clark, told him of the deal, and suggested that he tell Chief Justice Earl Warren to consider delaying his retirement. Mr. Morgenthau says Mr. Clark never informed Warren. Wolfson had powerful friends.
Just like viewers at the end of a "Law and Order" episode, observers of the legendary D.A. are treated to one more twist in the tale.
Mr. Freeman is assistant editor of the Journal's editorial page.
Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A9
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Greeley, Colorado man bound over for trial in "no body" murder case
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Thursday, December 17, 2009
Man accused of murder of former Windsor woman held over for trial
Sharon Dunn
John Sandoval will appear in Weld District Court at 11 a.m. Jan. 8 for a plea hearing and trial setting. Attorneys on Wednesday determined they would need a four-week trial to get through all the evidence and witnesses. They will have April, May or June to pick from for the trial. Also, public defender Ken Barker has planned to ask the court to move the trial to another county based on the amount of pre-trial publicity.The former Greeley man accused of killing his wife 14 years ago kept her memory close to him before his arrest last June in Las Vegas.
Police noted John Sandoval, 44, kept two pictures of his estranged wife, Tina Tournai-Sandoval, hanging above each post of his bed in his Las Vegas home. He told friends and a cell mate that he continued to harbor feelings for her, even though she had divorced him, got into tattoos and joined a biker gang.
The idea, however, that Tournai-Sandoval would quit the Greeley nursing job she loved and walk out on a new life she was living in a new apartment was not remotely logical, prosecutors said during a preliminary hearing.
Weld District Court Judge Gilbert Gutierrez said Wednesday that he was convinced there was enough probable cause to believe Sandoval committed the crime of first-degree murder under the relaxed standards of a preliminary hearing, with all the evidence being seen in the light most favorable to the prosecution. He set an 11 a.m. Jan. 8 time for a plea hearing and trial setting.
On Oct. 19, 1995, Tournai-Sandoval set off after her graveyard shift at North Colorado Medical Center to meet Sandoval to collect money he owed her for an IRS debt the pair incurred. She had moved into her own place in August and had filed for divorce. After that planned meeting with Sandoval, she was never seen again.
“All of these are clear indications of a woman looking forward to getting on with her life after her divorce,” said Assistant Weld District Attorney Michael Rourke. “But following her meeting with the defendant, there's nothing. Not one phone call, or document. ... Nothing. No documented use of her Social Security number, no credit card activity ... no other documentation on the divorce she was so looking forward to.
“She did not commit suicide, and she did not up and run away ... and she most certainly did not run off with a biker gang and use drugs.”
Prosecutors spent two and a half days presenting their case against Sandoval, which police built chiefly in 1995. Prosecutors then wouldn't touch the case because her body was never found. A death certificate was issued for Tournai-Sandoval in 2002 after a Weld District Court judge ruled there was enough evidence to believe she was deceased.
The evidence, however, may not hold up so well in trial, where the rules of evidence are greater. Public defender Ken Barker said prosecutors will have a difficult time proving the individual elements of first-degree murder, just from the first element of where the crime was committed.
“I believe the inquiry here stops at probable cause because there was a lack of evidence in 1995, and there's still a lack of evidence,” Barker said. “Nothing much has changed except for the length of time. ... Over time, people forget. Their recollection changes.”
That happened in the case of Sandoval's aunt, Graviela Delgado, who lived in his basement in 1995. She struggled in a second interview with law enforcement this fall to remember where she actually saw her nephew the night of Tournai-Sandoval's disappearance.
But even Delgado — who has never been helpful to police in the investigation, according to Greeley police detective Mike Prill — may be rethinking the case.
In an interview this fall with an FBI agent, Delgado got the first look at photos of Sandoval taken hours after his arrest, in which he has scratch marks on his chest and neck — marks the Weld County coroner determined were mostly likely caused by human fingernails.
“After seeing the photos ... she said it appeared to her that Sandoval had a struggle with someone, and they gave her more to think about regarding John Sandoval's involvement in Christina's disappearance,” Prill testified Wednesday.
Rourke said every bit of evidence — while no body has ever been found — points to Sandoval's guilt. He was the last known person to be with Tournai-Sandoval, evidence pointed to her dropping off the face of the earth with no signs of an intent to go anywhere, her purported fear of her estranged husband, and his actions since her disappearance were that of someone fleeing and trying to cover up his guilt. Tracking dogs tracked Sandoval's scent, incidentally the same scent tracked from Tournai-Sandoval's car to his house, even to the hospital where Sandoval was undergoing X-rays after his arrest. Three of her credit cards and a new jacket of Tournai-Sandoval's were found in her estranged husband's house the night of her disappearance.
Barker recalled a recent media report of a woman found in Australia 50 years after her disappearance.
“It's unlikely and uncommon, but it does happen,” Barker said.
He said people automatically pointed to Sandoval because of his reputation and convictions for being a peeping Tom, suggesting it was unlikely that kind of behavior could lead to murder. During a search of Sandoval's Las Vegas home, police found several videos in which Sandoval had filmed up women's skirts without their knowledge and filmed himself having sex with women, also without their knowledge.
“They have boots that have soil on them,” Barker said. “It's not uncommon for boots to have soil on them in October. The gun. There's lots of evidence that John Sandoval liked to target shoot. Where's the blood? I'm not sure what the prosecution's theory is at this point. They haven't tied anything together. ... There's very little physical evidence that points to John Sandoval committing this crime.”
The prosecution mentioned that Sandoval's whereabouts at certain points, such as the night of his wife's disappearance, couldn't be accounted for.
“We keep bringing up that he'd been arrested for peeping Tom, and he was out all night, perhaps that's where he was,” Barker said. “There was a warrant out for his arrest” for peeping. Maybe that's why he ran from police, Barker suggested.
Tournai-Sandoval's mother, MaryEllen Tournai, declined to comment after the hearing, as many of her family and friends stopped to hug her on the way out of the courtroom.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiasse, No Body Guy
▣ Arrest in Florida case involving missing pilot
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Arrest made in death of missing pilot
BARTOW, Fla., Dec. 18 (UPI) --
A Florida man was charged Friday with killing his former boss, a pilot who vanished more than a year ago.
Stobert Lindell Holt Jr., 42, was arrested at the Orlando airport on his return from a business trip to Colombia, an FBI spokesman told CNN. A state grand jury handed up an indictment Wednesday charging him with the first-degree murder of Robert Wiles.
Wiles was last seen at the Lakeland office of National Flight Services Inc., a company his father owns, on April 1, 2008. Holt also worked for the company at one time.
Thomas and Pamela Wiles received a ransom demand two days after their son vanished.
David Couvertier, a spokesman for the FBI in Tampa, said no body has been found. FBI officials have not said why they believe Wiles is dead.
In March, the FBI said an employee or former employee of the company might be responsible for Wiles' disappearance, the Orlando Sentinel reported. They said the kidnapper appeared to be familiar with Wiles' routine, company operations and his parents.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International
All Rights Reserved.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Missouri man posts bond in 1976 no body murder case
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From Columbia Tribune
Defendant returns for court
State granted a delay in revived murder case.
From left, Johnny Wright of Lawrenceville, Ga., walks away from the bench and his attorney, Cleveland Allen Tyson, after Associate Circuit Judge Christine Carpenter delayed a preliminary hearing for Wright Saturday at the Boone County Courthouse in the presumed homicide of Becky Doisy more than 30 years ago. Assistant Prosecutor Richard Hicks asked for the delay.
By T.J. Greaney
Published December 11, 2009 at 2:56 p.m.
Updated December 12, 2009 at 7:01 a.m.
Johnny Wright, charged in the 1976 disappearance of Columbia waitress Becky Doisy, appeared in Boone County Associate Circuit Court yesterday afternoon after being released on 10 percent of a $100,000 bond in November.
Prosecutors were granted a continuance for the preliminary hearing in the second-degree murder case until Feb. 5.
Wright declined to speak to reporters. His attorney, Cleveland Allen Tyson, said he planned to file a motion at the next hearing to dismiss the case.
Tyson said he believes prosecutors are weighing whether they have sufficient information to proceed with the prosecution of his client.
“My gut instinct tells me that they do not,” Tyson said. “But we’ll see.”
Wearing a suit, Wright appeared with his wife, Marva Edwards, and other relatives.
Tyson said Wright had been at his home in Lawrenceville, Ga., since he bonded out of jail last month.
Doisy of Columbia disappeared at age 23 in August 1976 after witnesses reported seeing her with Wright. A former roommate of Wright told police in 1985 that Wright had bragged about the murder and showed him Doisy’s lifeless body on the night of her disappearance.
Authorities obtained an arrest warrant in November 1985 accusing Wright of second-degree murder, but police could not find him.
Doisy’s body has not been found.
Wright’s whereabouts remained unknown to Columbia police until September, when he walked into a Georgia police station and asked for a background check as a qualification for getting a job. He showed police a week-old ID card with the name “John Wright.” When police in Georgia checked the name against an FBI database, it triggered a hit that said Wright was wanted on a murder charge in Boone County.
He was extradited to Missouri in October and held in the Boone County Jail with his bond unchanged since 1985 at $100,000. Last month, Wright’s family posted a $10,000 bond through a bail-bondsman to ensure he would return for future court hearings in the case.
According to multiple sources and public records, Wright has been living under the name of Eroll Edwards for about 25 years. He is married with two children.
Reach T.J. Greaney at 573-815-1719 or e-mail tjgreaney@columbiatribune.com.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Connecticut prosecutors fight taking DNA from victim's family member in no body murder casse
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In an interesting twist, prosecutors in Connecticut are resisting a defendant's efforts to have his missing victim's brother tested to see if the bones recovered two years after the murder actually belong to the victim:
DNA case heard in state's high court
Prosecutor: Judge can't order test via state law
By Ken Dixon
STAFF WRITER
Updated: 12/09/2009 11:14:20 PM EST
HARTFORD -- A special state prosecutor Wednesday told the Connecticut Supreme Court that state law cannot force the brothers of a teenager killed by a Bridgeport car thief in 1984 to submit to DNA testing to determine if bones found two years later are those of the victim.
But a special public defender said that if the bones were not those of 15-year-old Alex Palmieri, Thomas J. Marra Jr., 10 years into a 60-year murder sentence, might be a free man.
During a 50-minute hearing before the high court, Frederick W. Fawcett, representing the state's attorney's office, said there was no reason to believe that Marra would not have been convicted in 1990.
Fawcett said that most of the evidence hinged on the testimony of two gang members who described Marra beating the boy with an aluminum baseball bat until his brains splattered on the floor of the gang leader's Clark Street garage, and then locking the body in a refrigerator that was tossed into Bridgeport Harbor.
"There's no remedy the trial court can afford," said Fawcett, adding there's no room in state law for a judge to order the DNA testing of family member. "A third party is not included in the statutory language."
Chief Justice Chase T. Rogers asked what harm would be caused by taking a swab from inside the cheek of one of Palmieri's two surviving brothers.
Fawcett said that testing a sibling could result in personal information getting out that could make the person ineligible for health insurance. "The ramifications to the third party are limitless," Fawcett told the seven-justice panel.
"It doesn't give rise to a reasonable probability that Mr. Marra would have been acquitted or not prosecuted?" asked Associate Justice Richard N. Palmer.
"That's correct," Fawcett said, detailing the witness account of the killing and testimony from Palmieri's girlfriend and family who said he was never seen again until a sneaker and foot bones, later identified as belonging to a Caucasian at least 14 years old, washed up along the harbor in 1986.
The sneaker was identified by Palmieri's girlfriend as similar to those he wore, but DNA technology at the time could not identify the bones.
Fawcett said Marra sent state investigators on "wild goose chases" with hints where Palmieri's body might be buried. The refrigerator was never found, even though Coast Guard divers searched the harbor for a year.
Kenneth Paul Fox, the special public defender, said that at the time of Marra's sentencing in 1990, DNA forensics were not as sophisticated as they are today. In fact, blood stains lifted from the scene were lost at the time of the trial and the supporting evidence consisted of a written analysis of the blood.
"Thomas Marra has filed under the statute because he believes there is biological material, which, if tested, would be material to his guilt or innocence under his criminal conviction," Fox said, recalling that initially, there was no body -- or parts of a body -- to identify.
"So they were facing a situation where they would be trying Mr. Marra without physical evidence of the victim, even without physical evidence that the victim had died," he said.
Fox said there was a motion at the state court level to order a brother to submit to DNA testing, but the issue wasn't fully argued in court, even though the defense thought there was an agreement to get the sample for comparison. The family eventually declined to be tested.
"The claim is that if the DNA testing effectively shows that these remains are not remains of Alex Palmieri, then that is exculpatory evidence that is material to Mr. Marra's guilt or innocence," Fox said.
"So our position about that is that there isn't a sufficient record before you at this point to deal with that issue," Fox said. "Our expectation is that if we succeed under the statute we'll be back in court in Bridgeport and if we're going to seek an order to have the brother swabbed, we'll have that motion, but we're not barred from arguing that motion." But Justice Flemming L. Norcott Jr. and Justice Peter T. Zarella indicated that state law does not address the issue of possibly ordering people who are not accused of crimes to provide DNA.
"What we're saying is, it's outside the statute," Fox replied.
"If it's not under the statute, what authority is it under?" Zarella said. "Is it not a question of law?" Fox admitted that while there have been cases where courts have ordered third-party DNA testing, such action hasn't occurred in Connecticut.
"Testing is defined by the statute and comparison with a relative is not the only kind of testing that could be taken," Fox said. "It may tell us that the person's bones had some genetic disease of some sort and then we'll be able to show Alex Palmieri didn't have this disease, something like that," Fox said. "There's a lot of DNA technology. It is now possible to extract DNA from the bones with reliable results." He said that if the blood samples hadn't been lost, it would also be possible to extract DNA from them.
Fox asked the justices to imagine a new trial, without the admission of the bones, and decide whether it would be different from the trial that sent Marra to prison for 60 years. "The question is when you can have confidence in what the jury will do if this evidence hadn't been available to them," Fox said.
"The great strength of the state's case is these two witnesses, who claim that they had assisted Mr. Marra," he said. "Our position is that if the bones and sneaker are gone, this story is greatly weakened and the credibility of the two witnesses is weakened."
"How does that undermine the testimony of the two witnesses?" Zarella asked.
"Because the state has to concede that they made a tremendous effort to find something in the harbor and failed," Fox replied. "The foot and sneaker were very powerful."
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Washington man arrested in no body murder case
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Defendant’s bail reduced in dog-trainer slaying case
Skagit Valley Herald
November 25, 2009 - 11:55 AM
Scott Terrell
Murder defendant Michiel Glen Oakes of Kennewick appeared in Skagit County Superior Court on Wednesday for a bail reduction hearing.
MOUNT VERNON — A judge this morning cut in half the $5 million bail of a 41-year-old man accused of planning and carrying out the murder of an elite Anacortes dog trainer.
The dog trainer, Mark Stover, has not been found, though friends and family are grieving his death.
Meanwhile Michiel Glen Oakes of Kennewick, Stover’s ex-wife’s new boyfriend, is being held in the Skagit County Jail, charged with first-degree premeditated murder.
After a hearing during which Oakes’ lawyers touted the man’s good qualities, such as raising four children, Skagit County Superior Court Judge Mike Rickert lowered the bail from $5 million to $2.5 million.
The courtroom filled with supporters of both Oakes and Stover.
Stover was last seen Oct. 28 at his home and dog-training business south of Anacortes. Investigators found blood in his house and on his car, which was abandoned at a nearby casino. Stover’s police-trained dog, Ding, was also found at his home, wounded by gunshot.
Oakes was later arrested at Stover’s ex-wife’s home in Winthrop.
• Tahlia Ganser can be reached at 360-416-2148 or at tganser@skagitpublishing.com.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ No body murder case aired on 48 Hours Mystery
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After two trials, the jury could not reach a verdict against Chad and Shannon Floyd and the prosecution declined to try a third time. The case was covered on 48 Hours earlier this month:
Golub case to air on '48 Hours'
Published 12/5/2009 in Local News
By RACHAEL GRAY
rgray@gctelegram.com
The case of a missing man last seen in Johnson City will air on tonight's episode of "48 Hours Mystery" on CBS.
The episode, called "Justice in the Heartland," will feature the case of Michael Golub, a man who lived in Johnson City and mysteriously disappeared in 2005. The episode will be broadcast at 8 p.m. on CBS.
Chad and Shannon Floyd, formerly of Johnson City, were charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. They were tried twice, with both trials ending in hung juries. A third scheduled trial for the case never happened as prosecutors decided to drop the charges against the Floyds in wake of having no new evidence in the case.
Golub was an ex-boyfriend of Shannon Floyd, and together they have an 8-year-old son, Mikey. Golub was last seen on May 20, 2005. His body has never been found.
Susan Zirinsky, 48 Hours executive producer, said the story appealed to producers because "in a town where everybody knows everybody, someone knows something," she said.
"Yet two trials later, no one stands convicted of a crime, and there's still no body. Where's the justice?" she said.
Zirinsky said the size of the town and the circumstances around the case were peculiar.
"Something happened to him," Zirinsky said. What happened, she said, is unclear.
She said Golub's mother, Deb Golub, was compelled to find justice for her son.
"You feel like you want to take the journey with her," Zirinsky said.
The show brought in two private investigators to examine the evidence and uncover what they believe happened. The investigators will reveal new facts and new theories as to what happened and why, according to Louise Bashi, director of CBS News communications.
Two trials against the accused resulted in hung juries, and repeated requests for dismissal with prejudice -- meaning the state could not retry the accused -- had been denied by the judge, said Ashley Anstaett, a spokeswoman with the Kansas Attorney General's office.
Anstaett said prosecutors agreed to the dismissal in November 2008 because they were concerned that if a third trial with the exact same evidence resulted in another hung jury, the Floyds most likely would have been granted a dismissal with prejudice.
"Unless there is new and significant evidence that comes to light, the case will not be re-filed," Anstaett said in an e-mail Friday.
Richard Guinn, the lead prosecutor assigned to the case through the Kansas State Attorney General's Office, had said during the trial that the Floyds' motivation to kill Golub stemmed from a custody battle for their son. The Floyds' attorneys insisted their clients were innocent and that Golub had a history of substance abuse, suffered from depression and had been suicidal. The defense attorneys also argued because no body or murder weapon had ever been found, there was no certainty of Golub's death.
Small drops of blood belonging to Golub found on the Floyds' porch linked the couple to Golub and was key evidence for prosecutors. However, the evidence was not enough to convince the jury in either trial.
Golub, 6-foot tall with short brown hair and blue eyes, was last seen wearing jeans, T-shirt, hat, work boots and sunglasses.
Golub went by the nickname "California Mike" and had a tattoo on his right shoulder of Sonic the Hedgehog and the words "milk man" written underneath.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Utah man convicted in no body murder of his four year old son
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This case was in the system for a long time but Ulysses Roberson was convicted earlier this month:
From Tahoe Daily Tribune
By Adam Jensen
ajensen@tahoedailytribune.com
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — After nearly three days of deliberating, a jury found Ulysses Roberson guilty of second-degree murder in the 1985 killing of his 4-year-old son, Alexander Olive, on Monday morning.
Seated at the defense table, Roberson did not immediately show any emotion after the court clerk read the verdict, but proclaimed his innocence after Judge Suzanne Kingsbury had given final thanks to jurors for serving on the case.
“I did not kill my son,” Roberson told the courtroom.
By finding Roberson guilty of second degree murder, the jury concluded Roberson killed Olive but did not do so in the “willful, deliberate, and premeditated” way that defines first degree murder.
A first degree murder conviction carries a sentence of 25 years to life in state prison, while a second degree murder conviction carries a sentence of 15 years to life.
Roberson is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 6.
Alexander Olive's mother, Rosemary Olive, was seated in the audience and dabbed tears from her eyes following the reading of the verdict. Several lawyers, courthouse staff, investigators and alternate jurors also attended Monday's hearing.
Outside the courtroom, Rosemary Olive said the verdict brought closure to a more than two decades-old tragedy.
She profusely thanked everyone involved with the case and said it was her “assignment” to get Ulysses Roberson off the street following the disappearance of Alexander.
“I wish that my son were alive, but I'm very thankful that this man won't be able to hurt any more people,” Olive said.
Olive asked Hans Uthe, El Dorado County Assistant District Attorney, about the likelihood that Roberson would be paroled. She said she didn't want to have to think about Roberson any more.
Roberson won't be eligible for parole for at least a decade and the district attorney's office will fight any moves to parole him, Uthe said.
Uthe, who has been involved on the case since Rosemary Olive reported her son missing in 1986, said he felt “great” about the verdict.
He complimented prosecutor Patricia Kelliher on the prosecution.
“She put together a wonderful presentation of a very difficult case,” Uthe said.
The length of time that had passed since the killing occurred and the fact that Olive's body has never been found were two of the trickier aspects surrounding the prosecution.
Kelliher did not to attend the reading of the verdict, reportedly because of Monday's inclement weather. She was listening on the phone as the verdict was read.
Roberson's declaration of innocence was a move by a man who has done everything he can to use the system to his advantage, said South Lake Tahoe Police Captain Martin Hewlett, who has worked on the case for more than a decade. Hewlett said he was thankful for Monday's verdict, a statement echoed by South Lake Tahoe FBI Special Agent Chris Campion, a 13-year veteran of the case.
Most jurors declined to comment about their deliberations while leaving the courthouse on Monday.
Reaching the verdict took longer than expected, but everyone was on the same page during deliberations, said juror Phil Molton.
One female juror, who declined to give her name, said the jury did not have enough evidence to find Roberson guilty of first degree murder.
“We reached the verdict with the evidence we had,” the juror said.
Another female juror, who also declined to identify herself, summed up the feelings of the jurors following the trial, which has lasted more than two months.
“I'd really just like to go home,” she said.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Reversal ini Hawaiian no body murder case
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On December 15, 2009, the Intermediate Court of Appeals of Hawaii reversed the conviction of Jenaro Torres for the 1992 murder of Ruben Gallegos. The reversal was based upon the erroneous admission of testimony from a Navy Criminal Investigative Services (better known as NCIS) Agent. The agent, Robert Robbins, testified that a .38 caliber Smith and Weson revolver recovered from the defendant had been fired within 8 hours of its recovery, which was around the time that the defendant had been seen with the victim. Because Agent Robbins was never qualified as an expert, and given his experience on this topic probably could not be qualified as an expert, the appellate court ruled that he should not have been permitted to testify on this issue. The court further ruled that the prosecutor's use of Agent Robbins testimony in its closing meant that the testimony could not be harmless error. The case also contains a discussion of the history of no body murder cases and the specific evidence used against Torres. The case, State v. Torres can be found on Westlaw at 2009 WL 4810445 (2009) and points up the danger of using a lay person in a quasi-expert fashion.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Texas Man Arrested in No Body Murder Case
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Stobaugh charged with murder
Estranged wife of Sanger man vanished nearly five years ago
11:56 PM CST on Thursday, November 12, 2009
By Donna Fielder / Staff Writer
A grand jury has indicted a Sanger man on a charge of murdering his estranged wife, nearly five years after she was last seen at his house and never heard from again.
Immediately after the grand jury’s finding, armed with an indictment warrant, officers went to Charles Stobaugh’s farm and arrested him on a charge of murdering Kathy Stobaugh.
Texas Ranger Tracy Murphree and Denton County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Larry Kish arrested Stobaugh at his farm about an hour after the indictment. Though he had not known the case was being actively investigated again, he showed little emotion when he was taken into custody, Murphree said. Stobaugh did not talk to the officers.
“It was good to finally take him in,” Murphree said. “It’s been a long time coming.”
The Texas Ranger said he had always believed the case against Stobaugh was strong, but there was no body, which makes murder a more difficult charge to prove.
“We laid our case out for the grand jury and they agreed with us that there was only one conclusion: that Kathy Stobaugh is dead and that Charles Stobaugh killed her.”
Stobaugh, 54, was being held in the Denton County Jail late Thursday in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Kathy Stobaugh, 43, visited Charles Stobaugh on Dec. 29, 2004, at the farm near Sanger where she formerly lived with him. She did not return to her two children at the house she was renting in Sanger, and her car remained in his driveway. He told the children she had gone on a trip. When she didn’t return to teach her class at a school in Nocona after the holidays, she was reported missing, but she had been gone for several days by that time.
Charles Stobaugh told law enforcement officers that she stayed at the farm only half an hour and drove away, but her car was back in his driveway the next morning. He said they argued over property settlement issues in their divorce and she left angry, saying he might never see her again. He theorized that she had left with someone on a trip.
He said he called her cellphone several times because he was concerned for her. But phone records showed he never called her number. Her bank account was never accessed. He soon stopped cooperating
with the investigation, and Murphree described him as the only suspect in her disappearance and probable death.
Denton County sheriff’s deputies and the Texas Rangers searched extensively on Stobaugh property, in surrounding fields and on land in Cooke County for the missing mother and schoolteacher. They followed numerous leads and made pleas for information from the public. But the leads ran out and there was nowhere left to search, and the case faded from public notice.
Members of Kathy Stobaugh’s family never gave up. Her father, James Munday, her brothers, Chris and Mark, and their wives Keitha and Kim, waited tensely at the courthouse Thursday to find out if the grand jury would hand up an indictment. They sat in the courtroom as Judge Bruce McFarling read off the indictment list and smiled when they heard Charles Stobaugh had been indicted on a murder charge.
Then they waited for his arrest so they could watch him being arraigned.
“They called us a couple of months ago and told us they were working on the case again,” said Fort Worth police Officer Chris Munday, who pushed hard for an arrest over the years.
His brother, Mark, said the family always believed the day would come when there would be an arrest.
“I knew something would happen sometime to bring it out,” said his wife, Kim.
The Stobaughs met when they attended Texas Woman’s University, family members said. They married and she worked for North Central Texas College for a number of years. She had recently returned to TWU and obtained a teaching certificate. She was working in the Nocona school district when she disappeared.
Chris Munday said in an earlier interview that the marriage had always been rocky.
“She finally had enough and was getting out and making a life for her and her children.
He didn’t want the divorce and wouldn’t accept any divorce settlement,” Chris Munday said.
He said Charles Stobaugh told police that she got upset because he offered to sell everything and split it, and that’s why she left.
“Who would get upset about getting $500,000?” he said.
James Munday, Kathy’s father, said Thursday that his wife died a year ago not having seen justice for her daughter.
“It’s been a long time,” the elder Munday said. “Too long.”
The husband and wife team of Cary and Susan Piel will prosecute the case, said First Assistant District Attorney Jamie Beck. They began work shortly after they won a high-profile murder conviction in the Robert “Bobby” Lozano case in August. He also was accused of murdering his wife.
They began talking with Murphree about the old case, and he suggested they look at it, said Beck.
He said the subsequent investigation and review of the evidence did not produce a “smoking gun.”
“We don’t have a body,” Beck said. “But we believe we have enough evidence to go forward. That’s what a grand jury is for. They told us they believed we had a case.”
DONNA FIELDER can be reached at 940-566-6885. Her e-mail address is dfielder@dentonrc.com.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Body of missing North Carolia woman and husband arested.
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No longer a no body murder case but it's somewhat satisfying to have the victim and an arrest:
* Husband charged with murder in wife's death
* Friends react to arrest in Kelly Morris' death
* Web only: Kelly Morris' dad says he won't stop searching
* Photos: Candlelight vigil held for Kelly Morris
* Photos: Family remembers Kelly Morris at Christmas
* Nov. 17 emergency custody order in Morris case
* Scott Morris arrest documents
Related Links Related Links
* WRAL.com archive: Kelly Morris disappearance
Related Stories Related Stories
* Missing woman's husband detained after skeletal remains found
Missing mom's husband charged with murder
Scott Morris
Posted: Nov. 18, 2009
Updated: Nov. 18 10:39 p.m.
Oxford, N.C. — The husband of a Granville County woman missing for more than a year has been charged with first-degree murder in the case.
Family members of Kelly Morris, 28, also said Wednesday that authorities notified them that skeletal remains found Tuesday afternoon in the southern part of the county are those of the mother of two.
Husband charged with murder in wife's death
Morris was last seen Sept. 3, 2008. The following day, the house she shared with her family at 3220 Tump Wilkins Road caught fire, which officials ruled was arson. Hours afterward, authorities found Morris' car about a mile from her home with her keys, purse and cell phone inside.
William Scott Morris, 35, of 113 W. Church St., Creedmoor, was taken into custody and charged Tuesday evening. In addition to murder, he also faces a charge of fraudulently burning a dwelling.
He was being held in the Granville County Detention Center without bond Wednesday afternoon. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 2.
At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Granville County Sheriff Brindell Wilkins said authorities received information Monday that led them to a wooded area off Sam Moss Hayes Road in Creedmoor, where the remains – identified using dental records – were found Tuesday afternoon.
Family members told WRAL News that the remains were found in the Tar River Fox Pen along Sam Moss Hayes Road.
"There were searches conducted in that area,” Al Mignacci, a volunteer who searched for Kelly Morris, said.
Citing the ongoing investigation, Wilkins declined to comment further on the case or a possible motive.
"I hope this arrest will bring some closure to Kelly's family," he said.
James Ray, owner of the fox pen, also declined to talk about the case but did say Scott Morris is not a member of the preserve.
Meanwhile, Kelly Morris' father and stepmother – Pat and Juanita Currin – have filed a petition for custody of the Morrises' 6-year-old daughter, who has been staying with her father and grandparents.
A second daughter, Kelly Morris' from a previous relationship, has been staying with her father.
Chief District Court Judge Daniel Finch on Tuesday signed an emergency order that states that Kelly Morris was likely the victim of a homicide and that Scott Morris was likely involved in her death.
A custody hearing is scheduled for Friday.
The order states that Scott Morris had the “intent to deceive” investigators, made numerous inconsistent statements to authorities about his whereabouts the day his wife went missing and will likely be charged with kidnapping and/or murder.
The order further suggests that Scott Morris' father, Jimmy Morris, might have been involved in a cover-up.
According to search warrants in the case, family members and friends told authorities the couple was having marital problems and had talked about divorce. They also indicate inconsistencies between Scott Morris' account and those of others regarding his actions in the hours after he says he last saw his wife and the following day.
Lisa Thompson, Kelly Morris’ friend, said she wants to see justice served.
"He has no heart. He should not have anything to do with society or anybody else,” Thompson said of Scott Morris.
Family members, authorities and volunteers from as far away as Texas have searched relentlessly over the past year for the missing woman.
"She was a loving mother, a loving daughter," Kelly Morris' mother, Wanda Hollis, said Wednesday. "Today has been a bittersweet day, but we found Kelly."
* Reporters: Erin Hartness, Beau Minnick
* Photographers: Pete James, Richard Adkins
* Web Editors: Kelly Hinchcliffe, Kelly Gardner
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Article on Robert Morgenthau with no body murder reference
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Just thought this was interesting even though he didn't personally prosecute the case (which is the Kimes case).....
Morgenthau Night at the Javits Center
By Tom Robbins in Crime and Punishment, Featured, Town-Gown LowdownWednesday, Nov. 11 2009 @ 10:37AM
Being Veterans Day eve, it was fitting that past and present employees of the Manhattan District Attorney's office gathered last night to honor their outgoing boss, Robert Morgenthau, who has headed the office since 1975.
Morgenthau is a veteran of the Second World War where he served as a Lieutenant Commander on a series of destroyers. One of them, the USS Lansdale, was torpedoed and sunk off the North African coast by German planes. A troop carrier nearby exploded, taking 500 soldiers and sailors with it. Morgenthau, minus life preserver, spent hours treading water. The way he tells it, that's where he pledged to do good works if he made it out of there alive: "I made a lot of promises to the Almighty, even though I didn't have a lot of bargaining power at the time."
Last night there was no shortage of testimony about the good deeds he lived to accomplish. Most everyone had a tale of a personal kindness or courtesy extended to them by the executive director of the 800-person office. This is expected at events celebrating retiring managers. The difference here was that this one was held at the main exhibition hall at the Jacob Javits Convention Center and some 1200 people attending each had their own stories.
The event included a video tribute from a Morgenthau alumna, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and remarks by Cyrus Vance, Jr. who won election to the DA's post last week.
There was supposed to be a mini-roast from assistant D.A. Peter Kougasian, a narcotics prosecutor known for his office wit. But after a couple of jokes, the prosecutor launched into somber praise for Morgenthau's dedicated work in support of the Armenian people. Yes, the Armenians. Among his good works, the outgoing D.A. has campaigned to make sure the world doesn't forget the wholesale Turkish slaughter during World War I, a carnage that his grandfather, Henry Morgenthau Sr., vainly tried to stop when he served as American ambassador to Turkey. The ambassador's grandson has crusaded with equal fervor on behalf of victims of the holocaust, about which his father raised a similar alarm while a member of Franklin Roosevelt's wartime cabinet.
Morgenthau is 90 years old and his hearing, damaged during those hours spent in chilly waters, is fragile. But his voice, if hoarse, is strong as ever and he took the podium last night to talk about what he said had been the "privilege of leading this office."
"People are always asking me, 'What's the most important case you ever had?' My answer always is that every case is important to the victims.
"I will confess," he added, "that I got the most satisfaction out of doing things people told me I shouldn't or couldn't do." A few years ago he had insisted that murder charges be filed against a mother and son grifter team who had swindled an elderly widow who had then disappeared. There was no body or witness, and, as Morgenthau noted, the day before the trial "the paper of record ran a story quoting all the experts saying we couldn't win the case.
"I have a very low regard for experts," he said. "That goes back to my time in the Navy and the last ship I was on was hit by a kamikaze plane that skidded into us just below the water line." An expert, brought aboard to inspect the damage, assured them that only the plane's engine or undercarriage had been left behind. "Based on that sage advice," Morgenthau said, "instead of being repaired, we continued some 1200 miles to Leyte Gulf. We were out among the destroyers for about a week when we learned that we had a 550 pound bomb set against the bulkhead with the firing pin still intact. So I have never trusted experts. In the Navy, the expression for expert is 'The son of a bitch from out of town'."
He proudly touted something else the experts are still pondering, the astonishing drop in crime achieved during his years: 648 Manhattan homicides the year he took office; 62 last year.
"I was always reluctant to claim credit for any reduction in crime," he said, "because I knew it could always go up and I'd get the blame. But now that I'm leaving," he added with a trademark twinkle, "I don't hesitate to take the credit."
There had "obviously been no one factor in the criminal justice system that led to that extraordinary reduction," he continued. "Basically, it was the hard work of all of you. You are an extraordinary group of people."
Then he stepped off the stage to shake hands and pose for photographs with admiring fans and colleagues. There was a long line of them, even for the Javits Center.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Appeal of Harold Austin No Body Murder Case
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On October 8, 2009, I had the pleasure (?) of watching the oral arguments in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals for the case of United States v. Harold Austin. Those of you who follow this blog (both of you) will recall that this is the case prosecuted by yours truly (along with fellow prosecutor Tonya Sulia (now Goodman)) in January of 2006. Nearly four years later the case was up for appeal before DC's highest court. Not surprisingly the three judges, Judges Glickman, Blackburne-Rigsby and Ruiz, spent the entire time questioning the attorneys on the so-called re-initiation by the defendant, Mr. Austin. In a nutshell, two days before his arrest, we brought Mr. Austin up from the DC Jail to the DC Homicide Section to see if he would speak to us about the murder of Marion Fye. He invoked his rights, however, and therefore we could not speak to him. When he was arrested two days later, however, he asked to see the arrest warrant while in the car being transported, again from the DC Jail (where he was being held on armed robbery charges) to the Homicide Section. Austin was given the warrant and the affidavit by Detective Chris Kauffman. Eventually, having read the affidavit and warrant, Austin asked to talk to the police and made a confession where he admitted shooting Ms. Fye but claimed it was by accident during a struggle over the gun. He then stated that he dumped Ms. Fye's body in a dumpster behind Ben's Chili Bowl. (Yeah, that Ben's Chili Bowl.) The Court seemed troubled by two things: did the police trick or induce Austin to re-initiate a conversation with the police (even though the subjective intent of the police is irrelevant) and second, does the fact that Austin only asked for the warrant (a single piece of paper with virtually no information about the crime) but was given the multi-page affidavit make a difference? The Court explored this question even though it had not been raised by the defendant before the appellate hearing and had certainly not been raised in the trial court below. Moreover, in all liklihood when the defendant requested the "warrant" he really meant the affidavit that outlines the evidence against him not the warrant that simply lists the actual offense for which he is being arrested. There's no telling when the decision will be made but needless to say, the Court's questions left me a little nervous. Even if they find what the police did to be improper, however, they could still find the error to be harmless since the evidence against Mr. Austin was quite overwhelming. I eagerly await the result!
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Appeal pending in Pennsylvania no body murder case
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Pennsylvania
Continuance granted in latest Harshman appeal
By KATE S. ALEXANDER
October 27, 2009
kate.alexander@herald-mail.com
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — Franklin County President Judge Douglas Herman has agreed to continue the latest appeal by a convicted murderer in order for the district attorney’s office to acclimate new attorneys to the case.
Ronald Harshman, 59, was scheduled to appear Tuesday in Franklin County Court for the third day of his post-conviction relief act hearing. Testimony was also heard on Aug. 3 and Sept. 10.
Harshman, an inmate at Rockview State Penitentiary near Bellefonte, Pa., is appealing his 2001 murder conviction, claiming material witnesses gave false testimony during his trial in exchange for reduced jail sentences.
A jury found Harshman guilty in 2001 of first-degree murder in the death of Melvin Snyder. Snyder, 42, who had an relationship with Harshman’s ex-wife, disappeared May 25, 1985, from his Greencastle, Pa., home. No body or murder weapon were found.
Representatives of the District Attorney’s office declined to comment Tuesday, but defense attorney Chris Sheffield said the recent death of District Attorney Jack Nelson, coupled with the impending appointment of Assistant District Attorney Angela Krom to the bench has left the state short of representatives who are familiar with the case.
Nelson led the 2001 prosecution of Harshman; Krom was his assistant.
Losing the two attorneys most familiar with the case led the DA’s office to file a motion asking for more time, Sheffield said.
Herman, who presided over the 2001 conviction as well as Harshman’s latest appeal, signed the continuance Tuesday, according to the court administrator’s office. No date has been set for the next day of the hearing. Sheffield said it could be December before Harshman reappears in court.
Harshman’s latest appeal relied on recantations of testimony by key witnesses Keith Granlun, 57, and Randi Kohr, 35, as well as testimony from witnesses who alleged Kohr and Granlun admitted later to lying on the stand, Sheffield said previously.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania planned to call its first witnesses in the hearing Tuesday, Nelson said during the Sept. 10 hearing. Nelson said he was planning to call Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Daren Hockenberry to testify.
The state built its 2001 case against Harshman on circumstantial evidence and the sworn testimony of Hockenberry and several inmates, including Kohr and Granlun, Nelson said.
Kohr and Granlun declined to testify in the hearing Aug. 3 under the protection of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects witnesses from self-incrimination.
Of the 17 witnesses subpoenaed to testify for the defense, only two took the stand.
Sheffield previously said he plans to present Herman with evidence, including letters from Kohr, that supports Harshman’s claim. The evidence, he said, “speaks for itself.”
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Top Five Things to Do in No Body Murder Case
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I printed this on my website a few years ago but thought I would reprint it again:
I’m often asked by both the families of missing persons and law enforcement what the police should be doing once a person is missing but presumed dead. Here are five things the police should focus on early in an investigation. In any murder investigation, time is of the essence and the faster the police can gather clues, the greater their chance of finding the victim’s body and making an arrest. Note that all of these techniques are useful even if the victim is merely missing and not actually dead.
1. Cell phones
Cell phones have a wealth of information and their widespread use in today’s society make them a valuable source of information. The police, often with the help of a subpoena issued by the prosecutor’s office, can get the records from the victim’s phone and see who the victim was calling, when the calls stopped and who called after the outgoing calls stopped. Checking the frequency of calls also help police determine who was close to the victim. Cell phones utilize cell towers to make calls and obtaining cell tower records tell police where a call was coming from. Indeed, the cell towers to which a phone sends a signal can change during the duration of a call, so police can track the path of the victim. However, phone companies keep cell tower records for very limited periods, often as few as 20 to 30 days so police must move quickly to get these records. Of course, all of these techniques apply to potential suspects as well.
2. Interviews
Police should immediately interview as many who know the victim as possible. Close family members and friends must be interviewed in detail to gather information. Videotaping these interviews is best because if the story changes down the road, the police have an accurate record of what was said initially. Any suspects should also be interviewed and their story thoroughly checked out.
3 Search warrants
I have seen over the years the difficulties police have in getting search warrants for suspect’s houses or other possible scenes in missing person’s cases. First, police should aggressively pursue consent searches if possible. If that fails, they must at least try to get a search warrant. There’s nothing wrong with putting in a search warrant that the police suspect foul play and that the victim’s characteristics are inconsistent with having simply left town, e.g., left behind children, is a child, have not accessed bank accounts, failed to show up to work, etc. Citing other cases of missing persons who were later found dead or were never found, increase the chances a judge will agree the victim may be dead. Getting inside a suspect’s house often leads to very valuable scientific evidence. Any search should include a cadaver dog. You’d be amazed at how often suspects bury a body nearby, sometimes temporarily until they can move it to another, safer location.
4 Pressure suspect
If there is an obvious suspect, pressure must be applied. Through effective interrogation techniques, a suspect will often confess early on since the guilt is fresh and the suspect’s story not quite thought out yet. A suspect should be placed under surveillance to see if he or she returns to the crime scene or where the body was disposed of. Advances in GPS technology have led police to placing GPS tracking devices on a suspect’s car and using the information to see where the suspect goes. For an interesting recent article from the Washington Post about this see, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/12/AR2008081203275.html
5 Think creatively
Don’t treat the case like a missing person case, treat it like a homicide where the best evidence of the crime is missing: the body. Police must think outside the box. In one case, the family had not heard from the victim for sometime but was receiving letters allegedly written by the victim. The family, suspicious that the victim was actually dead, wrote back and reminded the victim to send the money he owed to another family member and to not forget that same family member’s birthday. A few days letter a birthday card arrived along with a check for $25. Of course, the victim did not owe that family member any money and it was not his birthday so the family knew that it was not the victim writing the letters. This is just one example of police and a family thinking creatively to ensnare a killer. Someone with the ability to conceal a body is not a criminal who is likely to make stupid mistakes like the bank robber who writes a stickup note on his own deposit slip. These cases are huge law enforcement challenges and require creative solutions and investigative techniques.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Various recent articles on no body murder cases
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These articles were collected by my research assistant Alexander Smith, a law student at George Washington University:
WBIR.com – Knoxville, TN
Reward money is about to expire
Emily Stroud Updated: 7/27/2009 7:17:57 PM Posted: 7/27/2009 5:50:08 PM
http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=94291
Reward money is about to expire for information about a missing East Tennessee woman who is presumed dead.
Jean Johnson of Scott County disappeared in February 2007.
Her ex-husband, Doug Whisnant, is charged in her murder. His trial is set for next February.
The family is focused on finding Jean Johnson's remains.
The suspect in the case isn't talking.
But they hope the reward will be an incentive for someone with knowledge to come forward.
"I just decided I would make a little memorial out there, and I called it my honor tree," Dorothy Taylor said, standing in the front yard of her home in Oneida.
An oak tree decorated in Taylor's front yard reminds her of her mother, Jean Johnson, missing for two and a half years.
"Still missing, and her remains have never been found," Taylor said. "When most people lose someone, they get to have a funeral, and they get to bury them. They get to say goodbye."
Taylor discovered a California foundation offering rewards in missing persons cases.
She contacted the group, it checked with the Scott County Sheriff's Office, and the group offered a reward.
But the economy limits its duration.
"If you, out there, know something, please, please come forward," Taylor urged.
An email from Victim Advocate Christina Barron with the Carole Sund / Carrington Foundation explains, "The reward expires October 1, 2009, and has been effective since March 31, 2009, our 6-month regular term. Our foundation has had to reduce our victim services and reward program so we will be unable to process any request for an extension of the reward."
"The reward money is there for you," Taylor said. "Take advantage if it, and get the reward money, and then also help us to find out mother so that we can lay her to rest."
A grand jury indicted Doug Whisnant in the murder case last year, even with no body.
His trial is set for February 16, 2010, three years after Jean Johnson disappeared
The Capital Times – Madison, WI
Dane County Circuit Court Judge Schwartz retiring
Mike Miller — 7/21/2009 7:14 am
http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/459003
Dane County is about to lose another of its veteran Circuit Court judges, with Judge Stuart Schwartz telling Gov. Jim Doyle in a letter delivered Friday that he plans to retire on Oct. 2.
The decision by Schwartz means that Dane County will have lost five of its 17 judges this year, with Doyle recently appointing successors for three retiring judges and another new judge being elected to office in the spring to replace the retiring Judge Michael Nowakowski.
"I've loved every minute of this job, but this is the right time to leave," Schwartz said Monday. "The timing is right."
Schwartz will keep handling his caseload until he steps down on Oct. 2, and then will remain active in the future as a fill-in, or Reserve Judge, for others on the circuit court.
This marks the first time in the history of the county when five Circuit Court judges have retired in one year, and with the county having 17 Circuit posts, it means nearly 30 percent of those making judicial decisions by year's end will be new to the job.
Under Wisconsin law, when judges retire before completing their term, a replacement is appointed by the governor and then must run for re-election in the next spring election. That will be true with four of the five new judges.
Nowakowski retired by not running for re-election this year and his successor, Madison attorney Julie Genovese won election to a full six year term she will not be on next year's ballot.
Three others, private practice attorney Nicholas McNamara, Department of Corrections Deputy Secretary Amy Smith and Division of Hearings and Appeals judge Peter Anderson were recently appointed by Doyle to succeed retiring Judges Steven Ebert, Diane Nicks and James Martin.
Schwartz leaves the bench after 17 years of service as a judge, but has been involved directly in the court operations since 1973, when he was appointed Court Commissioner by Dane County Circuit Court Judge P. Charles Jones.
Schwartz came on board specifically to help the transition in Wisconsin's laws on mental health, a system which was drastically re-worked after a 1972 court decision.
After serving as a court commissioner specializing in the newly enacted mental commitment laws, Schwartz ran for judge in 1992 and defeated former Dane County District Attorney Hal Harlowe for the post.
As a judge he has served in the criminal and juvenile divisions, and has handled civil lawsuit as well.
"I've done it all," he laughed. But Schwartz cited the evolution of the county's drug court as a milestone of his tenure. Under the drug court, first instituted by the late Judge Jack Aulik, people who commit crimes because of drug use are referred to a specialized court which seeks rehabilitation rather than penalties, and which has had much success.
Perhaps the most sensational and well known of the numerous cases which have come before Schwartz in his time on the bench is the 2001 trial of Daniel Kutz, convicted of killing his wife, Beth, after she disappeared on July 27, 2000, after leaving work.
The case is one of only three in the annals of Dane County courts in which someone has been convicted of murder when there was no body of a victim ever found. Beth Kutz' disappearance remains a mystery, even though her husband is now serving a life sentence for having killed her.
Schwartz handled other major cases as well, but says what he will miss the most in his retirement is the daily contact with lawyers, and those who appear before him. "I'll miss those contacts with the people," he said.
In his letter to Doyle he could not resist taking a mild and humorous shot at his the former Dane County district attorney.
On a personal note, it has been a pleasure to work with you over these many years," he wrote. "You and Jessica have always been warm and gracious even when my Little League team was beating yours."
Doyle's office has not yet set a deadline for applications for those seeking to replace Schwartz.
ABC News Channel 9 – Chattanooga, TN
New Developments In Sam Parker Murder Case
August 05, 2009 5:28 PM
http://www.newschannel9.com/news/parker-983439-evidence-sam.html
John Pless
A Walker County judge has decided what kind of evidence can, and can not be used against Sam Parker.
Parker is about to go on trial for killing his wife Theresa even though police have never found her body or evidence she's dead.
Some evidence the prosecution team spent a tremendous amount of time and money on will not be allowed against Parker.
Remember last month, when the prosecution showed the judge the video of cadaver dogs in action? Prosecutors argued the dogs alerted their handlers back in 2007 to the smell of a decomposing body near Teresa Parker's car and Sam Parker's garage.
Lisa Higgins with the Louisiana Search and Rescue Dog team testified in July "almost immediately I gave the command and she hit really hard, worked very, very hard inside the wheel well on the driver's side and gave a full indication right there."
After further cross examination it was learned that cadaver dogs can hit on other things, like pigs, or bark when they're excited about something not connected with the search. Parker's defense team argued that evidence should be thrown out since no one knows what excited the K-9's.
Walker County Superior Court Judge Jon "Bo" Wood agreed, saying in a previous case the Georgia Supreme Court "decided the alerts should not have been admitted."
The FBI had great interest in the Parker case because it was going to be a "test case" where cadaver dogs would help in the prosecution of a no body murder trial.
But on another issue Judge Wood sided with prosecutors about deputies going on Parker's property without a warrant. Judge Wood concluded in his July 31 ruling "...the Court finds that the officers had a right to be on the property of the Defendant and alleged victim for a safety/wellness check."
Theresa Parker seemingly vanished more than two years ago without a trace. Her husband Sam is accused of killing her despite no body and no evidence she's dead.
"When you don't have the body you don't have the best, single piece of evidence in a murder case," according to Thomas "Tad" DiBiase.
Dibiase was a federal homicide prosecutor for more than 12 years in the District Of Columbia who has spent the last five years researching so-called "no body murder cases."
The Parker murder case is only the seventh case known in Georgia where prosecutors have gone to trial without a body. DiBiase found the six previous Georgia cases span from 1949 to 2005. All but one in 2001 resulted in a conviction.
One of the more recent was the case against Calvin Hinton in Atlanta, who was convicted in 2005 for killing 19-year-old Shannon Melendi. Her body was never found before trial, but after his conviction Hinton admitted he burned and then buried her body in his yard.
In the Parker case we have yet to hear about any other physical evidence that could help win a conviction.
"Typically in an investigation the public does not know all the information that is there, so that's the first caveat, you can never predict what the police or the prosecution may have that hasn't been revealed yet," DiBiase said.
Dibiase said in most no body cases a conviction is based on three factors: there is forensic evidence tying the suspect to the victim, the accused gives a confession or the accused tells someone else about the crime.
Since the cadaver dog testimony won't be allowed we're not sure what physical evidence prosecutors may have.
We do know that the prosecution team is under pressure to make a challenging case. Chattanooga criminal defense attorney Jerry Summers, who's not involved in the Parker case, gave us his perspective about prosecutors under that kind of pressure.
"Of course there's an inordinate amount of public pressure in the Sam Parker case, it's been highly publicized and unfortunately that sometimes puts pressure on prosecutors because prosecutors are publicly elected," Summers said.
The process of picking a jury begins August 17 in Bartow County, Georgia. Jurors will be sequestered and brought to the Walker County Courthouse in LaFayette for the trial.
HometownAnnapolis.com – The Capital
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/top/2009/08/11-02/Police-identify-homicide-victim.html
Police identify homicide victim
DNA confirms skeleton of man missing since 2007
By SCOTT DAUGHERTY, Staff Writer
Published 08/11/09
A partial skeleton found last year in Baltimore is the missing remains of a 2007 county homicide victim, according to Anne Arundel County police.
Antonio Moore, 22, of Brooklyn Park, prepares for his third jury trial in regard to Michael Francis' April 14, 2007, death in Brooklyn Park. DNA confirmed last week the remains are those of Michael Francis, 21, of Brooklyn Park, said Justin Mulcahy, county police spokesman.
The discovery comes as Antonio Moore, 22, of Brooklyn Park, prepares for his third jury trial in regard to Francis' April 14, 2007, death in Brooklyn Park. Charged with first-degree murder, Moore saw his first trial end in a mistrial March 3, 2008, and his second trial end with a hung jury on May 30, 2008. The third trial is scheduled for Dec. 1.
It is unclear what - if any - effect the discovery will have on the case.
Prosecutors declined yesterday to comment about the remains, and police are staying quiet on exactly how the skeleton was buried and if any additional evidence was found.
During the first two trials, jurors didn't seem to care that the body was missing - only one juror refused to convict after the second trial, and he withheld his vote because he said he didn't believe the state's witnesses. Defense attorneys said they always thought Francis was dead.
"The mere discovery of the body doesn't change anything," said District Public Defender William Davis, Moore's defense attorney. He said he believes someone else - perhaps one of the state's own witnesses - pulled the trigger.
A relatively new database of missing persons, a keen-eyed scientist and an orthopedic screw found in the skeleton's right femoral bone led detectives to order the DNA tests and ultimately make the match, police and prosecutors said. According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System - identifyus.org - the skeleton was found April 20, 2008, in a wooded area off Strathdale Road in Baltimore. The skeleton was missing at least one limb and both hands.
Investigators at that time determined the person who died was probably black, male, 20 to 25 years old and about 5 feet 5 inches tall. The person probably died in 2007.
County police didn't learn about the remains until June, when a private company tasked with reviewing the database brought it to the attention of detectives.
Erin Jones, a forensic science analyst with System Planning Corp., said she was comparing the identifyus.org database to a sister database dealing only with missing persons - findthemissing.org - when she noticed several similarities between the skeleton and Francis.
Both, she said, were the same age, sex, size and race, and both appeared to have died at about the same time. And since the remains were found just a few miles from where Francis was shot, she decided to call county police.
From there, detectives confirmed that both Francis and the skeleton had screws in the right femur - making everyone involved think they had found their victim.
A special medical examiner looked at the remains in June with the hope that dental records would confirm the identity of the remains. The exam, however, was inconclusive and detectives ordered the DNA tests.
The shooting
Prosecutors said Moore shot Francis with an assault-style rifle at about 3 a.m. April 14, 2007, behind 5102 Brookwood Road in Brooklyn Park. Witnesses said he stuffed Francis into the trunk of a Toyota Solara, then drove off with his girlfriend in the front seat.
Witnesses also testified Moore beat another man, Teiko Johnson, earlier that morning with the butt of the rifle and tried to put him in the trunk.
While the second jury did not reach a verdict regarding the murder charge, it convicted Moore of first-degree assault and two lesser charges in the beating of Johnson. Moore eventually was sentenced to 25 years in prison for that assault.
Circuit Court Judge Michele D. Jaklitsch declared a mistrial in March 2008 after a state witness testified that the Toyota Solara that Moore was driving the day of the killing was stolen from Russell Toyota in Baltimore. The judge feared the jury could have concluded that Moore stole the car, even though he never was charged with the crime and someone else was under investigation for the theft.
Moore is being held at the Roxbury Correctional Institution in Hagerstown
Contra Costa Times
Curtis Dean Anderson confession draws mixed reaction
By John Simerman
Posted: 07/06/2009 04:20:35 PM PDT
Updated: 07/07/2009 11:02:35 AM PDT
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_12763360
When his dark star shone brightest — in Solano County Jail, accused of heinous crimes against one Vallejo girl and suspected of abducting another — Curtis Dean Anderson would spew about it in his slippery, cryptic way.
He counted on a future in prison as he awaited trial for snatching 8-year-old Midsi Sanchez in 2000, shackling her to his car and molesting her before her escape after two days captive.
In the meantime, Anderson relished the attention, the time with visitors, the chance to taunt and tease.
Then 39, he vaguely claimed an array of child abductions and killings. He told a reporter and the great-aunt of 7-year-old Xiana Fairchild that he took the girl off a Vallejo street in 1999.
He wanted money for the details, where to find her alive. He tried to send reporters on errands and remote searches for bones. He used code language and appeared to feel clever.
"He actually, at one point, referred to himself as Hannibal Lecter and said the reporters were like Clarice," said Kristi Belcamino, a former Contra Costa Times reporter who visited Anderson in jail several times. "He acted like he was smarter than anyone else, smarter than the cops. I think he was a miserable, lonely person and all of a sudden he was important for the first time in his life, and he was taking advantage of it."
As Pinole police closed the book Monday on the 1988 disappearance of 7-year-old Amber Swartz, of Pinole — noting a signed confession by Anderson a month before his death in 2007, and no evidence to refute it — the news brought hope of resolution for her family. But memories of his manipulating ways cast a lingering doubt.
Amber's mother, Kim Swartz, sounded cautious Monday. She said her sons are skeptical because no body has been found.
"The hard part is the roller coaster, the ups and downs. People would call up and say she was fed to pigs, she was pushed out of a plane. Who knows? Is this another one of those or is it real?" she said. "I don't want it to be him. I knew what kind of a person he was. It makes your mind run crazy with the possibilities."
Anderson confessed to several Bay Area abductions, sexual assaults and killings a month before his December 2007 death at a Bakersfield hospital while serving a combined 301-year sentence for Midsi's abduction and Xiana's kidnapping and murder. He only signed a confession in Amber's case.
"Wow. I hope this is real," said Marc Klaas, whose daughter, Polly, was kidnapped and murdered at age 12 in 1993 in Petaluma. "You want to know what happened to your child. You want to know who committed the crime against your child and you need assurance that that individual is no longer out there. People who are left hanging oftentimes seem to be suspended in time." Still, Klaas couldn't help but recall Anderson's prevaricating ways.
"I remember he played (Stephanie Kahalekulu, Xiana's great-aunt) for a long time, had her coming back to jail, sending letters to give him money, all these things so she could get the answers she needed," Klaas said. "He was a real monster, that one. If somebody like that were to tell the truth, you wouldn't know it."
It's unclear what other motive would prompt Anderson to describe a random snatching of Amber on June 3, 1988, and her killing in Arizona.
Eight years ago, it was time in the spotlight, and the hope for cash in jail.
"It'd buy me a TV, a Walkman, soup to eat every day, candy bars, ice cream, sodas, smokes, probably some sex — cuz you gotta have that," he told Belcamino.
Xiana's skull was found in Los Gatos as Anderson sat in jail for Midsi's abduction. A day after it was identified, Anderson offered the Times an account of his life — crime, drugs, growing up in Vallejo with dreams of being like motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel. He refused to admit or deny killing Xiana.
"That's a question for them 12 people in the courtroom," he said. "If I jumped up on the table and screamed 'I didn't do it!' would the headlines be as big?"
Staff writer Karl Fischer contributed to this story. Reach John Simerman at 925-943-8072 or jsimerman@bayareanewsgroup.com.
Clay Today
Arrest made in old murder case
Clay Today | June 23, 2009 | 1 Comments
http://www.claytoday.biz/content/1212_1.php
By Randy Lefko
ORANGE PARK – In a first-of-its-kind case in Clay County, a Melrose man who lived in Keystone Heights years ago will be prosecuted for the 1979 murder of a family member even though investigators have been unable to find the victim’s body, Sheriff Rick Beseler said Tuesday, June 23.
Clay County Sheriff's Office investigators arrested Kenneth Wayne Murwin, 53, on Monday at his Melrose home with no incident.
In 2006, detectives got two separate tips about the then-missing victim, 34 year old Benjamin James Parker. The first tip had detectives looking for Parker as a missing person. The second came from an eyewitness who gave a detailed account of the killing of Parker and the burying of his body. That tip led detectives to search a property in the 4700 block of Montana Terrace earlier this month for the remains of Parker's body.
Sheriff Rick Beseler would not divulge the name or location of the eyewitness. While no body was found, State Attorney’s office chief prosecutor Steve Nelson said they believe a crime was committed.
“We have been given a very prosecutable murder case,” said Nelson. “The only real complicator is the missing body, but that is not unheard of. If someone kills someone and dumps the body in the ocean, you might never find that body.
“If you have evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that someone committed a murder and it can be proven before a jury, then we can prosecute.”
Parker was Murwin’s son-in-law who, according to the charges, was killed sometime between Sept. 11, 1979, and Dec. 31, 1981.
Beseler emphasized that the “clan-like” living of the family made the murder situation almost a family secret until 2006.
“Some circumstances in the family situation changed over the last 10 years like relatives dying, divorce, some moved, some remarry, where a situation like that triggered talk of family secrets and a family member came forward in 2006,” said Beseler.
“She immediately told us the name of the victim which got our detectives trying to verify where this victim was; records of employment, driver’s license, etc.
We were trying to see if the victim was still around but he literally dropped off the face of the Earth.”
Beseler would not answer questions as to the type of evidence already gathered
“A lot of this we can’t talk about right now,” said Beseler. “This case will be very difficult because the event is so old. Murder has no statute of limitations as long as the suspect is still alive.”
Beseler characterized the case as an old one but not “cold” because it had not been reported until the eyewitness reported it to investigators in 2006.
Murwin’s court documents indicated that he has had arrests in Clay County dating back to 1992 when he was twice convicted of sexual abuse of a child. He was released from prison in 2002 when he started working as a land surveyor until 2007
CNN.com
Convicted Murderers whose victims weren’t dead
updated 8:49 a.m. EDT, Mon June 22, 2009Next Article in Living »
By Rob Lammle
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/06/22/mf.convicted.murders.victims.alive/index.html
2. The Brothers Boorn
In May of 1812, when Richard Colvin vanished, speculation amongst the townspeople of Manchester, Vermont, was that his brothers-in-law, Jesse and Stephen Boorn, were responsible. Without evidence of foul play, though, no charges were pressed.
Seven years later, the Boorn Brothers' uncle had a dream in which Richard said he'd been killed and his body buried in an old cellar on the Boorn farm. Upon excavation of the cellar, a penknife and a button were found, both identified as Richard's. But the "evidence" still wasn't enough to charge the Boorn Brothers. Soon after, when a barn on the Boorn farm burned to the ground, many believed it was arson to cover more evidence. But, again, no charges were filed.
Things finally came to a head, however, when a boy discovered bones under a tree near the Boorn home. While in custody, Jesse confessed that he and his brother had killed Richard. But before the trial began, a closer examination of the bones revealed they weren't even human, but those of an animal. The prosecution carried on, however, for they had the damning testimony of Silas Merrill, a forger, who was Jesse's cellmate.
Merrill said Jesse had implicated himself, Stephen, and their father in Colvin's murder. His testimony mentioned the suspected locations of the crime -- the cellar, the barn, and the tree -- all fitting together in a neat little package. For his cooperation in the case, Silas was set free.
As the evidence mounted, Stephen confessed as well, telling the same story as Silas, but without implicating his father. The Boorn Brothers were convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1819. Jesse's sentence would later be commuted to life in prison, but Stephen was set to hang.
Rather than sit idly by, Stephen placed an ad in different newspapers explaining his predicament. The ad included a description of Richard Colvin. Amazingly, the thing worked! Someone actually tracked Colvin down, who was alive and well in New Jersey.
The Boorn Brothers were released from prison and petitioned for compensation from the state. But because they had both confessed to the crime, they received nothing but their freedom. The Boorn case became the first documented wrongful murder conviction in American history. Mental Floss: 8 prolific female serial killers
The Daily Democrat Online
Winters man to stand trial in 'no-body' homicide
Created: 06/17/2009 09:55:57 AM PDT
https://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_12608034
A Winters man will stand trial for the murder of his wife, despite the absence of her body, the District Attorney's Office announced.
District Attorney Jeff Reisig reported the decision was made Tuesday at the conclusion of a preliminary hearing that lasted more than a day, before Judge Paul K. Richardson of the Yolo County Superior Court.
Richardson found sufficient evidence for Felipe Cruz Hernandez to stand trial for the murder of his wife, Leticia Barrales Ramos.
Barrales Ramos, a 28-year-old mother, has been missing from her home in Winters since April 12.
The last person known to have seen and talked to her was Hernandez.
Richardson found that Hernandez had a motive to kill his wife "because she had filed for divorce and was requesting custody of their daughter, who turned ten on May 6," according to Reisig. "Furthermore, some evidence suggested that Mr. Hernandez showed signs of jealousy - following his wife in a borrowed vehicle, confronting her and her boyfriend, and eventually borrowing a firearm from his brother."
Despite the fact that a body has yet to be found, FBI Special Investigator Christopher Hopkins described the apartment shared by Hernandez and his wife and daughter as "a homicide scene," Reisig reported.
"Apparent blood was discovered throughout the apartment, most notably on some of the living room furniture and in large areas of the carpet," Reisig stated.
Hopkins testified that there was also some attempt at a "clean up," noting that a rental receipt for a carpet steam cleaner was found during the search and that some of that furniture had been situated to cover some of the bloodstains on the carpet.
Hernandez had claimed that his wife went to Mexico for a family emergency. The defense introduced evidence that relatives of Mr. Hernandez received phone calls from someone who claimed to have seen Barrales Ramos at the Mexican border and that she had encountered deportation difficulties with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
However, investigators found no evidence she had any contact with ICE officials. Instead, during the search of the apartment, they found her purse, passport, Mexican Voter Registration Card, and a credit card in her name, Reisig stated. In addition, her niece produced her wallet, which contained her driver's license, her Mexican Consulate card, and over $1,000 in cash.
Richardson also noted that Barrales Ramos left no notice with anyone else that she was leaving or how to contact her, even though she had two jobs, where she was described as a responsible employee who always kept them up to date on her work schedule.
Hernandez is scheduled for arraignment on the sole count of murder in the first degree on July 1, at 10:30 in Department 6 of the Yolo County Superior Court.
The search for the body of Barrales Ramos continues.
Crime Shadows News.com
Where is Baby Daijsa Weaver? – This Post Ends Badly.
Jun. 15, 2009
http://crimeshadowsnews.com/main/2009/06/where-is-baby-daijsa-weaver-this-post-ends-badly/
There is a horrible story coming out of Dallas, Texas. Police are trying to unravel the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Daijsa Weaver, a nine-month-old baby that has been missing since June 9. Police say the parents in this case haven’t exactly been forthcoming –and what they have to hide might just be the murder of their own child.
At first, the child’s mother, nineteen-year-old Tamaira Creagh, told police that near midnight on June 9, a man in a red hooded sweatshirt broke into her home at the Oak Run Apartments. She said the man tried to rape her. Then, she said, he took off with her child. She told police that Daijsa’s father, Alandus "Landus" Weaver, wasn’t at home when the alleged kidnapping took place.
"I just want whoever has my little girl to bring her back," Tamaira Creagh told one reporter.
A $10,000 reward is being offered for the safe return of Baby Daijsa. Schepps Dairy is putting up the money. The reward, in effect for the next six months as of June 12, is being put up by Schepps Dairy. The reward will also be given for information leading to the arrest and indictment of whoever is responsible for her disappearance. The responsible party just might be too close to home.
Investigators say Creagh’s story just doesn’t correlate with Weaver’s. According to Dallas police, shortly after the baby went missing, Weaver told Craig that she shouldn’t have allowed police inside their home because there was blood inside.
A police search warrant affidavit indicated that investigators overheard Weaver speaking to Creagh in what was described as "a very threatening manner."
Various items were seized during a search of the residence –mostly items used in the care of an infant. Included among several other items were a red bath towel, stained baby outfit that had been thrown in the trash, a fitted sheet with red stains.
Alandus Weaver was arrested June 12 on suspicion of tampering with evidence. Police have changed the focus of their investigation from a missing child case to a homicide. An Amber Alert issued earlier this week remains in effect indicating there might be a glint of hope. No body has been found, and there is no solid evidence that the baby is deceased at this time. But, that hope is most fragile, as things do not look good at this point.
"She’s been lying from day one, so why start believing her now?" These, the words of Weaver’s uncle, Rudy Oliver who went on to say, "I think she had something to do with it, and she let her family know, but they are not telling us, they’re trying to get her out of trouble. I don’t think the baby is dead. I believe that she’s still alive and I believe that they know where she is." Meanwhile, the family of Tamaira Creagh is remaining silent.
Alandus Weaver is being held on a bond of $100,000.
Attention: While writing this post, some very disturbing information has just been released:
Police have just arrested Tamaira Creagh on suspicions of tampering with evidence. Little Daijsa Weaver is dead. Her body has been tossed, by her own father, Landus Weaver, into Lewisville Lake from the bridge crossing the water.
Creagh told police that Weaver picked her up from work on June 8. Weaver told her that he had given Daijsa a bath and then left the baby home alone.
When they got back home, the baby was on the floor unclothed and wrapped in a towel.
Creagh said she came home to find Baby Daijsa cold and without a heartbeat.. She tried to administer CPR to no avail. The next day, Creagh went to work as normal, while her dead baby waited at home. After work, Creagh and Weaver tied a sandbag to the baby –and tossed her into the lake. Authorities are searching the lake for the baby’s body today.
So, all this time, Tamaira Creagh has been lying to police, at the behest of Landus Weaver. Creagh was going to call the police at one point. Weaver did not want that to happen. He told her they must "stick together." It was then they invented the kidnapping ruse. On Friday, Creagh told reporters, "We’re not getting help from the detectives that were assigned to us. We have to do the investigation ourselves."
Creagh described herself on her MySpace profile as a "proud parent." She says "My name is Tamaira but you can just call me Diva. I get what I want, When I want it and Exactly How I want it." That doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.
The question now is, exactly how did Baby Daijsa end up dead? Creagh says that when she asked Weaver what happened to their baby, he became threatening and violent. Creagh says that she is afraid of Weaver. She claims to be 6-months pregnant with his child.
Belleville father, son indicted for murder despite no body found
by Paul Brubaker/The Star-Ledger
Monday June 15, 2009, 7:01 PM
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/belleville_father_son_indicted.html
BELLEVILLE -- Divers scoured the Meadowlands' marshes near Kearny for two months last October looking for the remains of Jordan Voorhees, but never found his body.
That didn't stop an Essex County grand jury from indicting Voorhees' uncle and cousin for the 22-year-old Bloomfield man's slaying -- triggering what may be the state's first murder trial without the victim's corpse as evidence.
Peter Toscano, 20, and his father, Gerald Toscano, 47, face multiple charges in connection with Voorhees' Oct. 19, 2008 death, Essex County Prosecutor Paula T. Dow announced today. The victim had been living with the Toscanos for six months before the younger Toscano allegedly shot him multiple times in their Belleville home, Dow said.
The two men later dumped Voorhees' remains near one of their favorite fishing spots in the marshes.
Both father and son were indicted on Friday for conspiracy to commit murder, unlawful disturbing and concealing human remains, hindering apprehension or prosecution, obstructing the administration of law and tampering with evidence.
Peter Toscano, who was reported to be absent without leave from the U.S. Navy at the time of crime, was also charged with murder and weapons offenses. He is currently being held at the Essex County Jail in lieu of $750,000 bail and faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted, said Assistant Essex County Prosecutor William Neafsey.
Patti Sapone/The Star-Ledger
Gerald Toscano waits for his son to be arraigned in Essex County court in October. Peter Toscano, 20, allegedly killed his cousin Jordan Voorhees, 22, during an argument . Authorities said that Gerald Toscano, 46, and his son loaded the body and the boat into a pickup truck and drove to dump the body in the Meadowlands.Gerald Toscano was released on bail of $75,000 in October. He worked his last day as a Public Service Electric & Gas Company meter reader on Oct. 17, 2008, said a spokeswoman for the utility.
Dow and Neafsey told reporters today their circumstantial case was strong enough to convince a jury and win the convictions of the two suspects, even without the victim's corpse.
A body can provide a wealth of information which won't be available to prosecutors, said Michael Risinger a Seton Hall Law School professor who specializes in evidence.
The medical examiner's autopsy report, post-mortem photographs of the victim, bullets removed from the victim's body and a coroner taking the stand to explain them are all common episodes in a murder trial that will be absent from Neafsey's case, Risinger said.
"This makes a trial a lot harder," Risinger said. "There's always the possibility of things going wrong in the jury room."
A single juror is able to conjure up theories about what may have happened during the crime to replace facts that would have been provided by the victim's corpse, he said.
Murder cases without victim's corpses have dotted the history of the Anglo-American judicial tradition, Risinger said.
But Risinger was at a loss to recall a New Jersey murder case that lacked the victim's body.
"It could be that we have never had a prosecution or conviction without a body available," he said.
George Thomas, a Rutgers Law School criminal law professor, was also hard-pressed to recall such a case.
Thomas said it was unlikely that prosecutors would bring a case to trial with strong circumstantial evidence such as the father's testimony against his son. Dow and Neafsey wouldn't answer questions about their gathered evidence.
A news release indicated that the Prosecutor's Office Crime Scene Unit seized a truck, rowboat and a weapon was recovered at the home.
No one answered the door today at the Toscano's home at 56 Smallwood Ave. in Belleville, where National Rifle Association decals were affixed to the windows and a motorboat sat on a trailer in the driveway.
John D. Frederickson, Gerald Toscano's private attorney, did not return a phone call seeing comment.
Peter Toscano's attorney, Robert J. DeGroot, said that prosecutor's have not told him whether Gerald Toscano was going to testify against his client.
Thomas said that no matter what the trial's outcome, the jury could be left with a haunting feeling.
"There will always be a lingering doubt in the minds of the jury of whether the victim is actually dead," Thomas said.
See more in Bergen County, Crime/Courts, Essex County, News
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Vermont no body murder trial where victim may have been found alive!
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Okay, so it happened in 1819 but still... I just learned about an 1812 murder in Manchester, Vermont where two brothers, Stephen and Jeese Boorn were accused of murdering their brother in law, Russell Colvin. After being tried for the murder and found guilty in 1819, both were sentenced to death by hanging. Before either one could be hanged, however, Colvin was found alive in New Jersey. Or was he? A book called The Counterfeit Man: The True Story of the Boorn-Colvin murder case, by Gerald W. McFarland, tells this interesting story. I haven't read the book yet but plan to do so and will review it once I have read it. The only other case that I'm aware of where the victim was later fond alive after a defendant was convicted of his murder is the Hudspeth case from Arkansas in 1886. The Boorn case is also the first and only no body murder trial in Vermont that I'm aware of.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Surprise guilty plea in 1969 Saratoga County, NY no body murder case
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Surprise plea in 40-year-old murder case
Posted: Oct 23, 2009 10:03 PM
A 40-year-old Saratoga County murder case has finally come to a close.
In a surprise move, 63-year-old Nelson Costello entered a guilty plea for manslaughter just two weeks before his murder trial was to begin. Costello says he shot and killed David Bacon in Waterford back in 1969.
News 10's Marie Luby has more on why Costello made that plea.
It was a difficult case from the start.
"We had no body, we had no murder weapon, we had no forensics," says Saratoga County District Attorney Jim Murphy.
The DA was relying on a taped telephone conversation in which Costello, then a Waterford police officer, admitted to shooting David Bacon to death. Even with no forensics, Costello's attorney knew a murder conviction meant his client would likely die in prison. So, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Bacon's few living relatives were in court to listen. "When they heard Nelson Costello say to the judge in open court, 'I killed a man. I killed David Bacon,' they breathed for the first time in 40 years," says Murphy.
It was a relief too for Costello, who carried his guilt for 40 years -- even as he raised a family.
"Because he has a conscience and because he's remorseful, it has been a tough life for him as well," says Costello's attorney, Gaspar Castillo.
Costello admits to killing Bacon in his jealosy over a woman. Even she was there to hear his confession. The now 63-year-old man faces 5 to 17 years behind bars, "and almost wants to be punished, because that's his way of sort of appeasing his own conscience," says Castillo.
"Despite some real tough hurdles, we have delivered substantial justice to these victims and for that I am grateful," says Murphy.
Now, Costello will guide police back to where he buried Bacon's body along a Virginia riverbank, in hopes that the family can finally give him a proper burial.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Oregon man accused of murdering fishing buddy and dumping body
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Oregon Fisherman Accused of Murdering Buddy, Dumping Body
By Caleb Hannan in Chalk Outlines, Crime & Punishment
Wednesday, Oct. 21 2009 @ 4:29PM
UPDATE: Newly released court documents give a brutal play-by-play. After the jump...
It's safe to say that if Erin Rieman ever asks you out on his boat, you're obligated to at least think twice. The Pacific City, Oregon man was arrested yesterday and charged with the murder of his friend and business partner, 53-year-old John Adkins. Adkins had been missing since July 4th weekend, when he, Rieman and a third man set off from Garibaldi, Oregon in The Tiger, the 48-foot fishing boat they co-owned.
Investigators say the point of the trip was to fix the boat in Ilwaco Harbor, just on the other side of the Oregon-Washington border. When The Tiger came back to port, however, Adkins was no longer on board. Adkins' family reported him missing three days later, but no body has been found. The key to arresting Rieman, says Pacific County prosecutor David Burke, was the third, yet identified, man on the boat.
"This is an odd situation," he says."They just came up here to get their boat fixed on fourth of July weekend. So we had to do a deal with the other guy to get what happened."
UPDATE: The third man on the boat, a hired deckhand, tells investigators he saw Rieman kill Adkins.
According to the newly released court documents, the third man on the boat, a hired deckhand, spent months denying he knew of Adkins' whereabouts. Then he came forward on Monday with his side of the story.
The deckhand claims he was out drinking on the night of July 5th. When he came back to the boat he saw Adkins and Rieman fighting in the pilot house. He said he then saw Rieman smash Adkins' head through a window, punch him several times then tie an extension cord around his head. Rieman then strangled Adkins and took the $5,000 he'd brought along on the trip, say the court documents.
For two days, the deckhand claims he and Rieman trolled around pretending to search for Adkins before finally dumping his body, wrapped in a sleeping bag and tied down with fishing weights, into the ocean. The reason the deckhand waited so long to come forward, he says: Rieman threatened to kill him and his girlfriend if he talked.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Calvin Harris gets 25 years to life in no body murder case
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Murderer to serve
maximum
By MATT HICKS
Staff Writer
Published:
Tuesday, October 6, 2009 9:10 AM EDT
OWEGO — Tioga County businessman and convicted murderer Calvin Harris will spend at least the next 25 years of his life in prison after the sentence was handed down by Judge James Hayden Monday.
In August, Harris was found guilty of second-degree murder by a jury. for the presumed murder of his estranged wife, Michele Harris, on Sept. 11, 2001.
Michele’s body has never been found.
Michele’s brother, Greg Taylor, said it felt good to have Harris convicted as he walked from the Tioga County Courthouse Friday with his wife, Shannon.
“We’re happy that he got the maximum, but it’s not going to bring Michele back,” said Taylor.
Although the Taylor family has been distanced from Calvin and Michele’s four children for several years, Taylor hopes his nieces and nephews will be able to get through having their only living parent now behind bars.
“But their dad is the one who’s done this to everyone involved here, and now he has to pay for what he has done,” said Taylor.
Before sentencing Friday, Harris again stated that he was innocent.
Arguing for a minimum 15 years to life sentence, defense attorney William Easton said Harris had not posed a threat to anyone in the time since he was first found “guilty” in 2007, when the verdict was thrown out due to surprise witness testimony.
Harris said he’s been active in the community while raising his children and coaching their athletics.
“I have been raising my kids, keeping my head up because I have nothing to be ashamed of,” said Harris.
Turning the focus of his statement toward District Attorney Gerald Keene, Harris said Keene’s arguments made for good drama, but “it wasn’t possible” that he could have murdered his estranged wife.
“It wasn’t possible” was a quote Hayden hung on to during sentencing, stating that Harris also said “it wasn’t possible” when testimony identified him speeding down a one-way road.
Hayden based his sentencing on the jury’s implication that Harris took a life; he took away his children’s mother; and disposed of Michele’s remains, never to be found again.
Harris’ defense plans to file an appeal in the next 30 days due to the strong local media coverage that has existed over an extended period of time, creating an “insurmountable obstacle” in the jury selection process, said Easton.
Harris said, “And I will fight every step of the way to get my family back together again.”
Harris’ father, Dwight, said his son was wrongfully targeted in the murder investigation.
“There’s no body; there’s no evidence; there’s no witness,” said Harris. “It’s ridiculous.”
Keene, however, maintained that Harris underwent a fair trial with a fair jury, with a judge who was careful to keep the record clean and protect the defendant’s rights.
“I’m not surprised that they would be taking an appeal. In a trial like this, it’s common for the defense to file an appeal,” said Keene, adding that he feels the August verdict will be held up by an appellate court.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Trial begins in Utah No Body Murder Case
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Roberson trial: First day, two distinct stories
Jury hears opening statements in murder trial of Ulysses Roberson, charged with killing his 4-year-old son
By Adam Jensen
ajensen@tahoedailytribune.com
Attorneys file into the courtroom Tuesday.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — The four-year-old boy in the photograph sits at what appears to be a kitchen table, smilingly broadly in a moment of happiness. The boy's head is topped with a tousled crown of red, tightly-curled hair. The boy's skin is black.
The picture shows signs of age — the whites discoloring into a dull yellow and the contrast starting to fade — but, still, the boy sits smiling.
What happened to the boy in the photograph — Alexander Olive — is the focus of a more than two-decades-old murder case that began in South Lake Tahoe this week. The photo was one of several pictures of Olive's childhood projected on a large screen by El Dorado County Deputy District Patricia Kelliher during her opening statement on Monday.
District Attorneys have charged the boy's father, Ulysses Roberson, with first-degree murder including special allegations of torture and racial bias in the December 1985 disappearance of Olive from a Tahoe Keys home.
Roberson has pleaded not guilty. He faces life in prison without parole if convicted of the murder and either one of the special allegations.
The trial is expected to last more than two months.
The prosecution's opening statement
During her opening statement, Kelliher described something she referred to as the “World of U,” a world where Ulysses Roberson allegedly lured women into a life of subservience with offers of free astrological readings and a promise of a better life.
“This case will take you to a world that never should have existed,” Kelliher told the 12 person jury on Monday.
In the “World of U,” Roberson took more than a half a dozen wives and moved frequently with them and their children with them between homes in Los Angeles, Sacramento, the Bay Area, South Lake Tahoe and Seattle, Wash., Kelliher said.
In the “World of U,” Roberson expected the women and children to obey all of his demands, or face harsh — sometimes violent — discipline, Kelliher said.
The violence in the “World of U” included Roberson hanging Olive — known as “Salaam” for most of his life — by his ankles for days and beating the 4-year-old as a punishment for wetting himself, Kelliher said.
The violence in the “World of U” would allegedly reach its peak when Roberson killed Olive after disciplining the small boy by making him stand naked in the garage of a Monterey Drive home in the middle of winter without food, Kelliher said. Roberson, who is black, would kill Olive because his mother is white, prosecutors allege.
Although Olive's body has never been found, witness testimony will leave no doubt in the mind of the jury as to what happened to Alexander Olive, Kelliher said on Monday.
“He is not here because of this man siting over here,” said Kelliher said pointing dramatically at Roberson, seated at the defense table wearing a traditional Muslim cap and robe.
The defense's opening statement
Defense attorney Monica Lynch presented a very different story during her opening statement on Monday.
Although Lynch told the jury the woman included with Roberson undoubtedly lived a “weird lifestyle,” she contended prosecutors do not have enough evidence to show Olive was murdered, let alone murdered in the fashion Kelliher describes.
“There is no proof that Alexander is dead,” Lynch told the jury, highlighting the fact that no body has never been found.
During the trial, a “handful” of witnesses will testify that they have seen Olive since he was allegedly killed by Roberson more than 20 years ago, Lynch said.
The defense attorney said several other deficiencies also exist in the prosecutions case, but the credibility of Roberson's fist wife — Raj Roberson —will be her primary target. Raj Roberson is expected to testify during the trial.
“She is the only witness, the only one that will come here and testify she saw Alexander, Salaam, dead,” Lynch said.
Inconsistent statements made my Raj Roberson on at least two occasions will show the matriarch of the Roberson clan is either a “liar or a child abuser,” Lynch said on Monday.
A promise of immunity that was granted to Raj Roberson when she first talked to police about Olive's alleged murder in 2001 will also be used to cast doubt on her trustworthiness as a witness, Lynch said.
“The narrow issue in this case is whether Raj can be believed for not,” Lynch said.
Following the opening statements, Kelliher called Olive's mother and one-time member of the Roberson family, Rosemary Olive, to the stand.
Olive began testifying Monday morning and Kelliher wrapped up her initial questioning on Tuesday afternoon. Cross-examination of Rosemary Olive by Lynch is expected to begin Wednesday morning.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Saratoga County, NY Man to Be Tried in No Body Murder Case
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Man to be tried in 1969 murder case
Defendant is accused of killing a romantic rival; trial set to begin Nov. 9
By LEIGH HORNBECK, Staff writer
First published in print: Tuesday, October 6, 2009
BALLSTON SPA -- Nelson Costello, a former Waterford man accused of killing a romantic rival 40 years ago, will face trial on Nov. 9.
Saratoga County Judge Jerry Scarano set the trial date Monday when Costello made a brief appearance in his courtroom. Scarano also denied a request from Costello's lawyer, Gaspar Castillo, for more access to the witnesses the lawyers from District Attorney James Murphy's office interviewed while preparing for trial.
Costello, 63, is accused of murdering David Bacon in April 1969 but no body or weapon has been recovered.
"I'm of the position witnesses don't belong to the prosecution, they're simply witnesses," Castillo said, adding that withholding information about the people who made statements about Costello interferes with his Constitutional right to prepare a defense.
Assistant District Attorney Alan Poremba, who is handling the case for the prosecution, said he has shared information freely with Castillo ahead of the deadlines imposed by law and turned over more than 100 statements to the defense attorney.
"The right to confront witnesses comes at trial, not beforehand," Poremba said.
He agreed, at Judge Scarano's suggestion, to give Castillo the minutes from the grand jury hearing by Nov. 2, a week before Costello's trial is scheduled to begin.
The case against Costello is based largely on incriminating statements he made after police investigated a tip from one of his acquaintances; and statements Costello allegedly made on tape to an ex-girlfriend.
Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=849538&category=SARATOGA#ixzz0ULAPipKA
Posted by Thomas A. DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Texas man charged with no body murder
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Mickey Patterson brought back to Lubbock
Posted: Oct 04, 2009 9:58 PM EDT
By Brittany Pieper - bio | email
LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - An accused killer is back in Lubbock following more than three years of his alleged crime.
Authorities transported Mickey Patterson from Oregon to Lubbock where he arrived Sunday afternoon. Patterson is accused of killing Peggy Merimon and Kay Harrelson in August of 2006 when the two women went missing from the Lubbock State School where they worked. Three years after the disappearance of Harrelson and Merimon, police charged Patterson with two counts of 1st degree murder.
As Patterson walked into the Lubbock County Jail he said he was innocent, but he had these few words for the victim's families, "I'm sorry for them." Merimon's husband Geral is confident Patterson is responsible for his wife's death. "The very next morning when I heard his name, I knew it was him," he said.
For Geral, the past three years have been painful ones, searching for his missing wife. "We have searched and searched for many months. A little over two years we searched, and I went searching again about three weeks ago. I've continued. I haven't stopped searching," said Geral.
He's happy Patterson is now in custody, but says it won't bring closure unless he finds his wife's body. He believes Patterson holds the key to that mystery. "That's always been our greatest hope is that he'll tell us where she's at. I mean, just knowing that he's been arrested, and I'm hoping that he has a conscience, and that he'll tell us where she is and we can bring her home. That's the most important thing to me," said Geral Merimon.
Harrelson's body was found 11 days after the two women disappeared, but after several searches Merimon is still missing. The fact that there is no body will likely come up in trial. It's not common, but it is possible to convict without a body. It happened in Lubbock in the 90's. A jury found Leisha Hamilton guilty of murdering the man she lived with, Roger Scott Dunn. Police could not find Dunn's body, but prosecutors found enough circumstantial evidence to get a conviction.
The District Attorney's office says while not having a body in the Merimon case presents a challenge, it does not mean they cannot convict Patterson in the murder.
©2009 KCBD NewsChannel 11. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Arrest in 1976 Missouri No Body Murder Case
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Suspect arrested for 1976 murder
From ConnectMidMissouri.com:
By Mark Slavit
Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at 4:47 p.m.
COLUMBIA -- An arrest has been made in a 33-year-old Columbia murder case.
Authorities in Georgia arrested Johnny Wright, 65, for the 1976 murder of Columbia waitress Becky Doisy.
Police arrested Wright last week after he asked Lawrenceville, Georgia police to run a background check on him to help him find a job. Wright didn’t realize a 1985 warrant for his arrest was in the FBI’s database for the 1976 murder of Columbia waitress Becky Doisy. Former Boone County Prosecutor Joe Moseley issued Wright’s 1985 arrest warrant after his former roommate told police he saw Doisy’s dead body in Wright’s car and heard Wright say he had “offed” Doisy.
“I was surprised there had been an arrest," Moseley said. "At the time we filed charges in 1985, some thought that Johnny Wright might be dead at that time. He hadn’t been seen in a number of years. He was involved in a number of high risk activities when he was last spotted and he traveled in fairly rough circles. So, there was some that thought that this might be an exercise in futility.”
The case ended up being an exercise in patience. Becky Doisy was 23-years-old at the time of her disappearance while she was a waitress at Ernie’s Café and Steak House in Columbia.
Today, none of the employees at Ernie’s Café and Steak House ever worked with Becky Doisy. However, Becky’s memory has been hanging on the wall of the old restaurant for more than 30 years.
A poster by Chester Gould, the creator of comic book detective Dick Tracy, hangs over the counter and endorses Ernie’s hamburgers. A reproduction of the poster in a smaller sketch by Gould asks the question, who killed Becky Doisy? Jamie Bedford has been a waitress at Ernie’s for 5 years and says that unanswered question is a dark part of Ernie’s 75 year history.
“Well, I think it’s good to solve the puzzle," Bedford said. "Everybody has been wondering. It’s been a mystery around here for a long time.”
In 1976, co-workers told police that Doisy and Wright went out on date. Witnesses last saw Doisy alive when the two were drinking alcohol at Columbia’s Heidelberg Restaurant. Today, investigators are searching for old witnesses to help with their new case against Wright.
“We definitely have a list of people that we will contact," Columbia police officer Jessie Haden said. "We’ve got them identified already. Making contact with them is the next step and figuring out if they are still in the area or not.”
Wright faces a second degree murder charge. Investigators have no body and no DNA samples to help them with their case, if and when, Wright goes to trial. Wright is awaiting extradition to Columbia while in Georgia on a $100,000 bond.
Former Columbia police investigator Chris Egbert worked on this case for 9 years before an arrest warrant was issued for Johnny Wright in 1985.
KRCG News left a message on the retired police officer’s answering machine at his Columbia home.
Egbert did not return our call.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Guilty plea in Oregon no body murder case
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Green van was crucial to investigation
By Rachel Beck, Gazette-Times reporter | Posted: Saturday, September 26, 2009 2:00 am | No Comments Posted
Soon after Brooke Wilberger vanished May 24, 2004, thousands of tips began pouring in to police. But only a handful provided solid leads - included persistent reports of a green van seen in the area that day.
For eight months afterward, a dark green 1997 Dodge Caravan harbored what would become a crucial piece of evidence in the case against Joel Courtney, who pleaded guilty to Wilberger's aggravated murder on Monday.
Authorities spoke about how the van helped lead to that conclusion.
On the evening of May 24, 2004, Oregon State University employee Bob Clifford reported seeing a green van with Minnesota license plates in the parking lot of Reser Stadium that morning.
When an Oregon State Police detective interviewed Clifford the next day, Clifford said he saw the driver talking to a female student. Something about the exchange raised his suspicions, and he made note of the vehicle and its driver.
The student, who worked for the OSU women's basketball team, later reported her encounter with the man in the green van to another employee in the athletics department, Sandy Santiago. Santiago called the police.
The third report came from another OSU student who was walking to class when a man driving a green van pulled in front of her and asked for directions. The woman walked away after he got out of the vehicle and opened the rear door. When she heard about Wilberger's disappearance, she called the police.
A fourth person who saw a green van on May 24, 2004 - a man who identified himself as "Brian" - never was found. "Brian" called 911 about 11 a.m. that day to report a speeding, recklessly driven minivan near Rickreall.
Courtney came to the attention of local authorities after his arrest Nov. 29, 2004 for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 22-year-old Russian exchange student near the University of New Mexico.
New Mexico authorities did a background check on Courtney and found he had an outstanding warrant from Lincoln County for failing to appear on a charge of driving under the influence of intoxicants. A New Mexico investigator called Newport, explained that they had arrested a man named Joel Patrick Courtney. They asked if Oregon had any missing women or girls in the area.
Lincoln County referred them to the Corvallis Police Department.
The Brooke Wilberger Task Force, a multi-agency team headed by the Corvallis Police Department, learned about Courtney on Dec. 7, 2004, and immediately started to investigate his proximity to Corvallis on May 24.
Investigators soon found that Courtney left Portland that day en route to Newport - but he never showed up. They also discovered Courtney was driving a green 1997 Dodge Caravan.
The van belonged to Creative Building Maintenance, which had briefly employed Courtney. Courtney drove the vehicle from Portland to New Mexico in early June of 2004; Creative Building Maintenance later reclaimed it and returned it to the Northwest.
Benton County District Attorney John Haroldson said the county purchased the van so investigators could freely search it. The exact cost was not available, but Haroldson said it was less than it would have been to litigate challenges related to searching the vehicle.
On Dec. 12, FBI agent Joe Boyer and investigator John Chilcote went to Washington and retrieved the van. Although more than six months had passed since Wilberger's abduction, authorities hoped they would find trace evidence to prove she had been in the vehicle.
According to an affidavit by lead detective Shawn Houck, trace evidence, including latent fingerprints, hair and DNA, "while fragile, will remain intact for many months if protected from the elements ... a crime scene found in a vehicle or a building, if not affirmatively cleaned out, can yield evidence of a crime for months or even years after the criminal conduct ... "
Houck said Oregon State Police criminalists and FBI recovery team members "dismantled" the van that week and sent numerous items to the FBI lab in Quantico, Va., to be examined for trace evidence, including DNA, fingerprints and fluids.
In terms of evidence, Houck's hopes were realized: Technicians were able to recover trace evidence of bodily fluids containing the DNA of both Wilberger and Courtney. Houck got the results one year to the date and almost the hour after Wilberger went missing.
"Tell me that wasn't divine," he said.
With no body, the DNA evidence was crucial to the case against Courtney.
"It was a touchdown," Houck said.
Authorities won't say where the van is now, except to say that it remains "under the control" of the Corvallis Police Department. Its ultimate fate has not been determined.
Posted in Local on Saturday, September 26, 2009 2:00 am Updated: 11:17 pm.
Posted by Thomas A. DiBiase (No Body Guy)
▣ Four no body murder trials in the last 30 days
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It's been a super busy month with four trials involving no body murder cases:
Sam Parker was found guilty in
Georgia.
Bruce Hummel was found guilty in Washington state.
David Hawk (covered in a previous blog entry) was found guilty in California.
Aaron Thompson's casse is undergoing jury deliberations in Colorado.
See below for articles on the Parker, Hummel and Thompson cases.
Sam Parker:
Sam Parker Found Guilty Of Murder
Sentenced To Life For Slaying Of Wife, Theresa
posted September 3, 2009
A criminal court jury on Thursday afternoon found former LaFayette Police sergeant Sam Parker guilty of murder.
He was sentenced to life in prison by Judge Jon "Bo" Wood.
Parker also received two concurrent five-year terms for violating his oath of office and giving a false statement.
He was found not guilty of computer invasion of privacy.
The jury from Bartow County deliberated for 23 hours over four days.
Parker was found guilty of the slaying of his wife, Theresa, whose body has never been found. She was last seen March 21, 2007.
The jury as late as at noon on Thursday said it was still deadlocked 8-4 on the murder count. Judge Wood then gave the Allen charge ("dynamite" charge) urging them to reach a verdict by focusing on the facts of the case and not becoming advocates for either side.
Parker, 51, showed no emotion. He was asked by Judge Wood if he wanted to say anything, and he declined.
Judge Wood said he was sentenced to serve "the rest of your natural life" in prison.
The judge told the jurors from Bartow County they could later speak with anyone about the case or they could decline to do so.
He let the jurors leave the courtroom first and get on the bus. He said a deputy would be at their arrival point in Cartersville to see that they were not disturbed.
The jurors had heard two weeks of testimony. Parker did not take the witness stand. His attorneys said he has always maintained his innocence.
Prosecutor Leigh Patterson from Floyd County said after meeting with the Theresa Parker family, "We will never stop looking for Theresa."
She said the former Walker County 911 dispatcher "got that close to getting away." Ms. Parker had gotten an apartment in Fort Oglethorpe and was in the process of moving items from the Parker home on Cordell Avenue in LaFayette when authorities said Parker killed her.
Prosecutors said Parker stashed her body in the back of her Toyota 4Runner, went out to meet a lady friend to establish an alibi, then hid the body the next morning before going fishing with attorney Bill Slack.
Ms. Patterson said, "He knows where the body is."
Concerning deputy Shane Green, who authorities said was close to Ms. Parker, Ms. Patterson said cell phone records showed he did not join her for a trip to Gatlinburg shortly before she disappeared.
Sheriff Steve Wilson said deputy Green was on patrol the night she was killed, and the fact that he used several tanks of gas is not unusual because of the size of the county.
Ms. Patterson said there had been previous successful prosecutions in Georgia of murder cases where there was no body found.
She said the prosecution was aided by the fact it was allowed to display to the jury "similar transactions" and "pattern of conduct" regarding Parker, including the testimony of a former wife who said he put a gun to her head, choked her and handcuffed her to a bed after dragging her by the hair through broken glass.
She praised GBI Agt. James Harris for spotting inconsistencies in Parker's statement soon after Ms. Parker was reported missing.
Sheriff Wilson said Agt. Harris "did a jam-up wonderful job."
He said it was one of the most difficult cases to prosecute he has encountered.
The sheriff said of Parker that "the fact that he did not participate in the early searches was a red flag."
Sheriff Wilson said of Theresa Parker, "She was a very sweet person. It was always a pleasure to talk with her."
Bruce Hummel:
Jury: Former Bellingham Man Guilty Of Wife's 1990 Murder
Tracy Ellis Reporting
kgmi@kgmi.com
BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- A former Bellingham man has been found guilty of killing his wife here 20 years ago.
A Whatcom County Superior Court jury found Bruce Hummel, 67, guilty of murder on Thursday.
He killed his wife and hid her remains.
Alice Hummel went missing in 1990.
Her body has never been found.
“The defense tried to emphasize, in this case, the lack of a body, and the lack evidence of the causation of the death of Mrs. Hummel,” said KGMI Legal Analyst Jeff Lustick.
“But obviously, the jury looked beyond that, and felt that beyond a reasonable doubt, there was evidence to convict Bruce Hummel of murder in the first degree,” Lustick said.
“This is not a capital case," he said. "The prosecutor did not request the death penalty, and Mr. Hummel will face a sentence anywhere from 22 years in prison, up to 26-and-a-half years, according to the sentencing guidelines."
Lustick said Hummel displayed very little emotion when the verdict was read.
The courtroom was packed with supporters of the Hummel family and others, but they sat silent during the proceedings, according to Lustick.
Aaron Thompson:
Defense rests after Thompson refuses to testify
posted by: Sara Gandy 8 days ago
CENTENNIAL - Defense attorneys for Aaron Thompson began their presentation of evidence and testimony Wednesday morning in Arapahoe County District Court, and announced they were resting after he refused to take the stand.
Thompson is on trial in the death of his 6-year-old daughter, Aarone, whose body has never been found. He is charged with child abuse resulting in death, rather than murder, because the prosecution has been unable to present any direct evidence that Thompson killed his daughter.
At 3:15 p.m., Thompson refused to take the stand in his own defense and his attorneys then rested their case. They started just after 9 this morning.
Authorities say on Thursday, the defense, the prosecution and the judge will spend the day coming up with jury instructions. That means closing arguments will start Friday morning.
It's likely the jury could get the case Friday afternoon and would start deliberating on Monday.
Because Thompson was indicted on 60 counts, deliberations could take two to three days.
Earlier on Wednesday, Thompson's lawyers played a 94-minute videotaped interview of Sheley Lowe's oldest son with two Aurora Police detectives. Lowe was Thompson's live-in girlfriend.
For more, including a timeline of Wednesday's events, see Mike McPhee's story in The Denver Post.
(Copyright KUSA*TV/Denver Post, All Rights Reserved)
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Arrest in case of missing five year old
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Missing 5-year-old Fremont boy's foster parents arrested
By Cecily Burt and Harry Harris
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 08/28/2009 08:14:16 PM PDT
Updated: 08/29/2009 08:25:38 AM PDT
Louis Ross, right, holds a picture of Hasanni Campbell while his wife Jennifer Campbell stands...«12»Related Stories
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Foster dad threatened to abandon 5-year-oldAug 14:
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Oakland 5-year-old with cerebral palsy still missingThe case of Hasanni Campbell has changed from missing persons to homicide, Oakland police said Friday after the arrest of the 5-year-old's foster parents.
Louis Ross, 38, and Jennifer Campbell, 30, have been arrested and are being held on suspicion of murder, authorities confirmed, all but dashing any hope of finding the boy alive.
"This is a not a missing persons case any more," Officer Jeff Thomason, Oakland police spokesman, said Friday evening.
"This is a homicide investigation, and we are talking to the people responsible."Campbell was arrested at 1:50 p.m. at the Union City BART station. Ross was arrested in the couple's Fremont home at 2:45 p.m. Hasanni's body has not been found, Thomason said.
Campbell was booked Friday night on suspicion of being an accessory to murder. Police were still interviewing Ross late Friday night and said they would be booking him on suspicion of murder.
Homicide investigator Sgt. Gus Galindo said police decided to arrest the couple "because our preliminary and follow-up investigations have shown Hasanni Campbell was never in the rear of the Rockridge shoe store as reported by Louis Ross."
Police plan to release additional details that they hope will draw more information from the public. The last confirmed sighting of Hasanni was Aug. 6 at a Wal-Mart in Fremont, where he was seen with both foster parents.
Ross reported Hasanni missing Aug. 10 outside the Rockridge shoe store where Campbell worked.
Ross and Campbell, who is also the boy's aunt, were active in searching for Hasanni and pleading for his safe return. Ross defended himself after word leaked he had failed a polygraph test and after the content of a damaging text message about the children he sent to Campbell went public.
Campbell, who is six months pregnant, has declined to take a polygraph test.
Ross, who used to live in Maryland, had a restraining order filed against him there in 2005. He also has had a number of judgments for unpaid state taxes there, including a number of income tax liens totaling thousands of dollars. As she has done since Hasanni's disappearance, Campbell's mother, Pam Clark, continued to defend her daughter and Ross after hearing of the arrests Friday evening.
"It's shocking. I think they made a mistake and arrested the wrong person," Clark said. " just feel like they don't have anything to do with it." Clark said the arrests did not dim her hopes of seeing her grandson again.
"This is not going to stop me from looking for Hasanni, because he still needs to be found. I have hopes he will come back alive," Clark said. "I just feel he's alive somewhere. I'm still looking." Police have scoured the area around the shoe store in the busy Rockridge shopping district but have turned up no clues. Police earlier served a search warrant at the Fremont home where Hasanni and his younger sister lived with Ross and Campbell, retrieving a small, decorative sword, a cell phone and other items.
Police also searched the 2002 BMW that Ross was driving the day Hasanni disappeared, taking swabs, the rear seat of the vehicle, carpet from the car, two car seats, molding and latches, according to a receipt of property from the FBI. An Alameda County Superior Court document also shows that four fingerprint lifts, eight DNA swabs and one pair of latex gloves were taken from the car.
Oakland police officers again searched the couple's home Friday, starting about 2:30 p.m. and continuing into the night. Officers could be seen searching a bedroom above the garage, going through clothes and papers, and flipping the mattress. Between 7:30 and 7:45 p.m., police officers removed a gray computer CPU tower and screen from the house. Two dogs, one large and tan-colored and the other black and white, were removed from the home and loaded into Fremont city vehicles.
Around 8:30 p.m., officers left the house with two grocery-sized paper evidence bags as they prepared to wrap up the search. Fremont police provided security during the search and restricted traffic to and from the subdivision for several hours.
Residents said they were shocked at the news of the arrests Friday. "I can't believe it," said Jim Pham, who has lived on a street adjacent to the couple's home in the Hampton Place subdivision.
Pham said the FBI came to his house in the days after the boy's disappearance and asked general questions about the couple, but Pham had never seen them. Other residents echoed his sentiments and added they were concerned about the negative publicity being brought to the quaint neighborhood.
More than a half-dozen neighbors interviewed in recent weeks described Ross and Campbell as a quiet couple rarely was seen outside their home. A woman who lives next door said sheâ d never seen Hasanni, and another woman who lives across the street said she only saw him once earlier this year. Although several of the neighborhood children play in the streets, Hasanni was never among them, they said.
Juan Bonuel, who lives in a home across the street from the couple's corner lot, had contact with Hasanni several times but never had spoken to Ross or Campbell. Bonuel said that every day during the school year he would see Hasanni on the school bus that takes kids to James Leitch Elementary School in Fremont's Warm Springs District. "He's a good-looking kid, adorable," Bonuel said recently, noting Hasanni always would say, "Hi." Bonuel said he had not seen Hasanni since summer vacation began in mid-June.
There is a $10,000 reward for information leading to Hasanni's whereabouts. Anyone with information may call Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572 or 510-777-3211. If those numbers are not working, call Sgt. Galindo at 510-238-7934.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Appeal in 2001 no body murder conviction
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Witness: DA made a deal in Franklin County murder case
By VICKY TAYLOR Staff writer
FRANKLIN COUNTY - In 2001 Franklin County District Attorney Jack Nelson made a deal with a key witness in a murder trial to get the man out of jail in return for his testimony, according to testimony in an appeal hearing Thursday.
Megin Chilcote testified that she talked to Nelson many times between August 2000 and the time of the July 2001 trial in which Ronald Harshman was convicted of killing his neighbor, Melvin Snyder.
The conversations centered around when Nelson would be able to get her then-boyfriend, Randy Kohr, released from jail, she said.
"Every conversation we had related to Randy being released in return for his testimony at the Harshman trial," she said.
Chambersburg attorney Chris Sheffield is appealing Harshman's conviction, claiming Kohr and another inmate, Keith Granlun, lied at the trial.
Last month, Kohr and Granlun were in court to testify on Harshman's behalf, but opted out after they were told they would be arrested for perjury if their testimony differed from what they testified to during the 2001 trial.
Kohr told President Judge Douglas Herman that his attorney had advised him that he would incriminate himself if he testified.
Herman recessed the hearing for several hours to get an attorney for Granlun. That attorney, from the public defender's office, also advised Granlun against testifying.
Sheffield's case hinges on proving that the two men lied at the murder trial.
Kohr's testimony that Harshman
told him while at Franklin County Prison that he had killed Melvin Snyder in 1985 was instrumental in Harshman's conviction.
Snyder disappeared in May 1985. His body was never found, but Harshman was developed as a suspect when police learned Harshman had an affair with Snyder's wife the prior year.
Charges were not filed, however, when police were unable to find a body or other evidence that Snyder had actually been killed. Some acquaintances later testified during Harshman's trial that Snyder had threatened to go to Montana and disappear someday.
Nelson reopened the case in 1998 after a grand jury recommended that it be pursued.
At Nelson's suggestion, Pennsylvania State Police checked the property in Antrim Township where Harshman had lived in 1985, using a metal detector to uncover a .25-caliber shell casing buried under three inches of soil near a clothes line pole in the yard at the property.
The casing matched a shell casing found on the floor of Snyder's barn following his disappearance in 1985. During the trial, prosecutors said they believed the casing was buried after Harshman test fired a .25 caliber gun he had bought before Snyder's disappearance.
The state's case depended on testimony that Harshman held a grudge against Snyder, the two shell casings and Kohr's and Granlun's testimony. The prosecution had no body or other evidence that Snyder had been murdered.
Harshman is currently serving a life sentence at a state prison in Rockview.
When Chilcote was called last month after Kohr and Granlun decided not to testify, Nelson objected that her testimony would be hearsay. Sheffield argued that there was legal precedent for such testimony in cases where other evidence is not available.
Herman continued the hearing until he could study the issue and make a ruling.
Last week Herman ruled that Chilcote could not testify about her conversations with Kohr or his letters to her in which he allegedly said he planned to lie in return for special consideration by the D.A.'s office, but she could testify about her direct conversations with Nelson.
On Thursday she testified that she had talked to Nelson numerous times about what she understood was a deal between Kohr and Nelson for his testimony.
At one point when asked by Sheffield what the conversations with Nelson were about, she said "there was a deal" between Kohr and Nelson's office.
Nelson quickly objected, and his objection was sustained.
She did not use the word "deal" again, testifying instead about the number of times she talked to Nelson "directly about Randy getting out of prison."
She said she talked to Nelson "a lot of times" and that the conversations "lasted for awhile."
Every conversation centered around a potential release date for Kohr. She was expecting Kohr's child at the time and she said the first release date was supposed to be before the birth of their child that November. When that didn't materialize, the conversations turned to other dates.
"Then it was before Christmas, then before Valentines Day," she said.
Kohr was finally released shortly after his testimony at the trial, but has since been jailed again.
In cross examination, Nelson asked Chilcote why she thought he could get Kohr released, since he was in a state prison and Nelson's authority did not extend to the state parole board.
"Because that's a conversation you and I had a number of times," she said. "You said that if Randi did his part, you would talk to the state about getting him released."
Nelson pushed the issue, and Chilcote said she didn't know if the parole board was mentioned in the conversations, but insisted that she thought at the time that Nelson was promising to get Kohr released from state prison.
Under Nelson's cross examination, she said Sheffield had contacted her in 2006 "to see what I knew about the case."
Nelson asked if a state trooper had come to her house to talk to her "within the last couple of years." She said no, but later reversed that, saying someone had visited her but wasn't sure whether it was a trooper or a detective.
Nelson pushed her about her memory, asking how she could be sure of her conversations with him if she didn't remember the visits by state police just three years ago.
"I know what you told me and I know what I told you too," she shot back. "I remember what happened."
Her testimony ended with her telling Nelson that "all I was concerned with (in 2000) was you keeping your promises. I don't remember all the details."
Nelson had planned to call Trooper Daren Hockenberry, the lead investigator in the case against Harshman, but Hockenberry was not available Thursday because of a prior job commitment.
Nelson asked and was granted a continuance of the hearing until 9 a.m. Oct. 27.
Vicky Taylor can be reached at 262-4753 or vtaylor@publicopinionnews.com
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Missing woman thought murdered found 50 years later!
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I'm often asked if there has ever been a trial for a no body murder and the "victim" was later found alive. The only case I'm aware of is the Hudspeth case from 1886 where Charles Hudspeth was tried twice and ultimately found guilty of the murder of his lover's husband, George Watson, in Arkansas. Hudspeth was executed in 1892 but the "victim" was later found alive in Kansas. Ooops. The below article points out that it could happen again although this case did not involve a trial:
From The Times August 22, 2009
Katharine Farrand Dyer found alive 50 years after she was 'murdered'Mike Harvey
A suspected victim of a notorious American serial killer in the 1950s has been found living in Australia.
Katharine Farrand Dyer was thought to have been “Boulder Jane Doe”, an unidentified woman who was found beaten to death, possibly at the hands of Harvey Glatman, the so-called Lonely Hearts Killer, in 1954.
However, carers for an 84-year-old woman in Queensland made a chance discovery as they were preparing to move the woman they knew as Barbara into a care home. As they packed up her possessions, staff stumbled across an address book belonging to “Katharine Farrand Dyer”.
An internet search linked her to the suspected murder victim and further research put them in contact with Silvia Pettem, the author of a book on the Boulder Jane Doe case.
The writer tracked down relatives of Ms Dyer, who explained the details of how she came to be living in Australia. According to Ms Dyer’s siblings, she left Denver for personal reasons, moving to California and Hawaii before emigrating in 1963.
Police in Boulder, Colorado, described the discovery as a “good news, bad news development”.
Phil West, operations division chief at Boulder County Sheriff’s office, said: “While it’s a relief to know that Katharine is alive, it’s also discouraging in that we are back to square one with essentially no viable candidates for who Jane Doe might be.”
The investigation into the murder was reopened in February 2004 after pressure from Pettem. She raised private money to have Jane Doe’s body exhumed and to have DNA testing and a facial reconstruction done. She also combed newspaper and police archives.
There are suspicions that the killer might not have been Glatman, who died in the gas chamber in 1959. If so, police suspect that Boulder Jane Doe’s real killer may still be alive.
When the unidentified body was found near Boulder, animals had left her face unrecognisable. Police believed the woman to be Ms Dyer, who disappeared about the same time. Some thought that she was an early victim of Glatman.
The young woman found in Boulder Canyon was in her early 20s with strawberry blonde hair. After being beaten to death, she was stripped and tossed off an embankment into the creek below. Ms Dyer was slender and blonde, like Jane Doe. Before she married Jimmie Dyer in 1949 she was called Katharine Farrand.
Detective Steve Ainsworth in Boulder, who has worked on the Jane Doe murder investigation, said that Ms Dyer was “quite a mysterious person”.
He said: “Even before she disappeared there is not a whole lot known about her life. I think for some reason she didn’t want to be found.” Glatman, who was arrested and jailed several times for burglary and sexual assault from his teenage years, moved to Los Angeles in 1957 and started contacting modelling agencies.
He would offer work to models then take them to his apartment and rape and strangle them.
He was arrested in 1958 after kidnapping a woman, who would have been his fourth victim. He confessed to three other murders and was executed at San Quentin prison on September 18, 1959.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ More No Body Murder news
1 Comment added to this post
Colorado man arrested for 1995 murder of wife
Suspect In 1995 Disappearance Of Wife In Colo JailGREELEY, Colo. (CBS4/AP) ― John L. Sandoval
CBS
Tina Sandoval
CBS
A former Colorado man has been extradited from Las Vegas and charged with first-degree murder in the 1995 disappearance of his estranged wife.
John Sandoval, 44, was returned to Colorado and booked into the Weld County jail Monday. He was in court Tuesday to hear the charge against him in the disappearance of Kristina Tournai Sandoval, who was reported missing on Oct. 19, 1995.
Her body hasn't been found.
Kristina's family issued a statement through a spokesperson on Thursday. "We'd like you to keep the number 5,000 in mind. It has been approximately 5,000 days since any of us last saw Tina or spoke with her. Not a day has passed that her absence has not been felt," said Robert Kuznik, family spokesman.
Authorities say Kristina Sandoval was to meet with her husband on the day she disappeared.
Greeley police have worked on the case since 1995. Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck has said the passage of time has weakened the likely defense that Kristina Sandoval just left.
A preliminary hearing for John Sandoval is scheduled for November.
More on the John Sandoval murder casse:
Note that the DA says 89% of no body cases result in convictions, hey that's my statistic!
Family hopes for new answers
Mike Peters
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Mike and Mary Ellen Tournai sat quietly at the press conference Thursday, knowing that they've waited 5,000 days for this day to come — the prosecution of the man they believe killed their daughter.
Tina Tournai Sandoval disappeared on Oct. 19, 1995, after she told friends and family she was going to talk to her ex-husband, John Sandoval, about some money he owed her.
Sandoval's actions after his ex-wife's disappearance have always placed him at the top of the suspect list, but it took almost 14 years to make the arrest. He was extradited this week from Las Vegas and is being held in the Weld County Jail on first-degree murder charges. His first court hearing is set for Oct. 14.
Despite never finding Tournai Sandoval's body, Weld District Attorney Ken Buck said prosecutors are confident of a conviction. “Eighty-nine percent of ‘no body' cases have resulted in a successful prosecution,” Buck said. He also said he didn't know of any “no body” murder trials in Weld County.
Police admit they have no new evidence in the homicide case, but they are confident that clues turned up during the 1995 investigation give them enough to present a case.
According to court records, some of the evidence includes:
» Witnesses who say that Tina told them she was afraid of Sandoval, but she had to meet with him on the day of her disappearance.
» Police who saw Sandoval return to his west Greeley home on the morning after the disappearance. In his car, they found a shovel, clothing with dirt on them, a bucket with a rope tied into a noose and a 9 mm handgun.
» On that morning, when police tried to talk to Sandoval in his house, he fled through a bathroom window and police caught him after a short footchase. There were fresh scratches on his neck and face, and police said Sandoval refused to let them take fingernail scrapings. He continuously chewed and cleaned his fingernails while in custody, they said.
» Tina Tournai's car was found in an apartment parking lot about four blocks from the Sandoval house, and police brought in a tracking dog to go through the scene. The dog tracked the scent from the car to the Sandoval home, making investigators believe Sandoval parked her car in the parking lot and walked back to his house.
» Police also have statements from acquaintances of Sandoval, including one man who said he and Sandoval were talking at a bar about their divorces and ex-wives, and Sandoval said “Too bad we can't just kill them.”
In speaking of the case, Buck had high praise for the Greeley police detectives — Sgt. Keith Olson and Lt. Brad Goldschmidt — who took another look at the cold case and came back with enough to charge Sandoval.
Two others also spoke at the morning press conference at the Greeley Police Department.
Howard Morton, executive director of a group called Families of Homicide Victims and Missing Persons, said the organization is grateful to Greeley police and the district attorney for going forward with the case.
“There are 1,487 unsolved homicides in Colorado, and we celebrate each time one of the cases comes to prosecution,” Morton said. “This serves the cause of justice.”
Speaking for the Tournai family was Robert Kuznik, a relative: “We're here to show our love for a daughter, a sister, an aunt — Tina. It takes a village to bring comfort for a grieving family, and that's what has happened here.”
Kuznik said members of the Tournai family will likely be called to testify in the trial.
“We would like you to keep the number 5,000 in mind. It has been approximately 5,000 days since any of us last saw Tina or spoke with her. Not a day has passed that her absence not been felt.”
Victim and suspect
Tina Tournai-Sandoval: Graduated from Windsor High School, where she participated in choir, band, volleyball, track, basketball and the Knowledge Bowl. She enrolled at Aims Community College and the University of Northern Colorado, where she received a degree in nursing. She worked at North Colorado Medical Center.
John Sandoval's criminal history: Arrest record includes assault, menacing, burglary in California (served two years in prison), harassment and trespassing. Five months after his ex-wife disappeared, he pleaded guilty to first-degree trespassing. In that case, he was found hiding in a Greeley woman's closet when she came home one night. He was sentenced to six years in prison in that case. When he was released, he was paroled to Las Vegas, where he lived until his arrest in the present case.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Some catching up to do.....
0 Comments added to this post
I've been in trial (not a no body murder case) so I've fallen a bit behind on updating the blog. Lots of catching up to do as there have been many no body murder trials and cases in the last month:
Guilty plea in Kentucky no body murder case
Steven Hafer A 20-year-old Northern Kentucky murder case wraps up in court today with no body recovered and nobody charged with murder. David Lee Smith pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence this morning as part of a plea agreement in the 1989 death of his brother-in-law Steve Hafer.
Smith was charged with complicity to murder and tampering with evidence when he entered the courtroom this morning. As part of his plea agreement, the prosecution dropped the complicity to murder charge.
Police arrested him just last year.... 19 years after the alleged murder of Hafer. Hafer's widow, Linda told police that Smith and another man, who has since died, suffocated Hafer. When confronted, Smith admitted to burying Hafer's body along the Licking River but not killing him.
Hafer's ex-wife later changed her story which made it a tough case to prosecute. Retired Campbell County Police Detective Dave Finckenscher told Local 12's Joe Webb, "Unfortunately in a 19-year-old case you've only got witness statements and not a lot of forensic evidence to go on. This case started out a little better than it ended with the deterioration of one of our witnesses. That happens."
The plea agreement includes a recommendation that Smith serve the maximum sentence of five years. He will be sentenced September 30th.
California man found guilty of no body murder
Dave Hawk guilty in murder of ex-wife
Published online on Friday, Aug. 28, 2009
By Tim Sheehan, Eddie Jimenez and Lewis Griswold / The Fresno Bee
Similar stories:
•Judge waits to decide Hawk trial location
Judge waits to decide Hawk trial location
A judge has decided to listen to prospective jurors next week before ruling whether David Hawk's murder trial should be moved out of Kings County.
Jury selection is set to begin Monday.
Lawyers for Hawk, accused of killing his ex-wife, Debbie Hawk, argued in court Tuesday afternoon that the case should be moved because, they say, extensive news coverage will prevent Hawk from getting a fair trial in Kings County.
•Attorneys outline cases as Hawk murder trial opens
Attorneys outline cases as Hawk murder trial opens
HANFORD -- The prosecution in the David Hawk murder trial told a Kings County jury Monday that Hawk had a reason for wanting his ex-wife dead: Debbie Hawk was demanding financial records that might show he was stealing money from his children's trust account.
"The evidence will show that the only person benefiting from Debbie's death ... was that man right there, the defendant," prosecutor Shane Burns said, pointing to David Hawk.
But one of Hawk's attorneys countered that no physical evidence links the defendant to the crime.
•No Hawk verdicts after Day 2
No Hawk verdicts after Day 2
HANFORD -- The jury in Dave Hawk's trial deliberated for a second day Thursday without reaching verdicts on whether he killed his ex-wife and embezzled from his children's trust funds.
Jurors will resume deliberations in Kings County Superior Court at 9 a.m. today.
Hawk, 51, of Lemoore was charged in mid-2007 with embezzling from his three children's trust accounts and was awaiting trial when he was arrested in May 2008 in connection with the murder of his ex-wife. Debbie Hawk, a Hanford resident, disappeared in June 2006.
•Hawk murder trial jury to start deliberations
Hawk murder trial jury to start deliberations
HANFORD -- A Kings County jury will begin deliberations today to decide whether Dave Hawk was the only person with a motive to kill his ex-wife or whether the prosecution failed to put Hawk at the murder scene.
Those were the key points hammered home Tuesday as the 11-day trial reached closing arguments.
Hawk, 51, of Lemoore, was charged in mid-2007 with embezzlement in connection with his three children's trust accounts and was awaiting trial in that case when he was arrested in May 2008 in connection with the murder of his ex-wife, Debbie Hawk. She disappeared in June 2006. Her body has never been found.
•Testimony ends in Hawk trial
Testimony ends in Hawk trial
HANFORD -- Jurors will hear closing arguments today in the murder trial of Dave Hawk, whose ex-wife disappeared three years ago.
Debbie Hawk's body has never been found.
Prosecutor Larry Crouch said outside Kings County Superior Court on Monday that investigators built a strong case by quickly identifying Dave Hawk as "the person who had a motive" to kill Debbie Hawk.
HANFORD -- Jurors convicted Dave Hawk on Friday of killing his ex-wife, with the foreman noting afterward they got "chills" from a secret recording in which Hawk talked hypothetically of dropping her body in a river.
On their third day of deliberations after a two-week trial, a jury of 10 women and two men found Hawk, 51, guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Debbie Hawk and of embezzling more than $300,000 from trust funds set up for the couple's three children.
But the verdict didn't solve the mystery that has transfixed Kings County since Debbie Hawk disappeared from her north Hanford home in June 2006: no sign of the 46-year-old has ever been found.
The murder conviction includes a special finding -- the crime was committed for financial gain -- that will land Hawk in prison for the rest of his life. Prosecutors alleged that Hawk killed his ex-wife to keep her from exposing his misuse of the trust funds set up by his parents for the children.
Prosecutors last fall opted not to seek the death penalty for Hawk, who showed no emotion as the court clerk read the verdicts.
JOHN WALKER / THE FRESNO BEE
Attorney Mark Coleman lays a hand on David Hawk after Hawk was found guilty in his murder trial on Friday.
JOHN WALKER / THE FRESNO BEE
Dave Hawk is escorted from a Kings County courtroom Friday after the guilty verdicts were read in his trial.
FRESNO BEE FILE
Dave Hawk of Lemoore, left, is accused of murder in the June 2006 disappearance of his ex-wife, Debbie Hawk of Hanford, right.
CLICK FOR MORE PHOTOS
Story archive on Debbie Hawk case
Judge Daniel Creed, a visiting judge from Santa Clara County who presided over the trial in Kings County Superior Court, ordered Hawk back to court for sentencing Dec. 4.
The jury also convicted Hawk on five counts of tax evasion for failing to file tax returns from 2001 to 2005 and one count of perjury for falsely stating under oath that he had filed a tax return. Hawk pleaded no contest earlier this month to a charge of loan fraud.
Hawk's attorneys agreed that Hawk mixed money from the trust funds with a household bank account but denied that he killed his ex-wife. No physical evidence tied Hawk to her disappearance and murder, his attorneys said.
But jurors said other evidence outweighed the absence of a body.
Jury foreman Kenny Knutson, 33, of Lemoore, said that when a neighbor testified about hearing screams the night Debbie Hawk disappeared, Dave Hawk's reaction seemed to be as if he "was almost remembering, yeah, that's exactly how it happened."
"That's when I first started to think he was connected to it," Knutson said.
Knutson said jurors spent time in deliberations listening to a conversation between Hawk and a friend, Keith Marshall, who secretly taped the conversation for investigators, including a passage in which Knutson recalled hearing Hawk say that "if he was a bad guy, he'd drop the body in the river."
"For some of the people, that just gave them chills," Knutson said.
In the same conversation, Hawk denied killing his ex-wife.
Juror Dee Reed, 35, of Lemoore was persuaded by other evidence.
"For me, the deciding factor was his youngest daughter stating she saw her father the month before driving by [Debbie Hawk's] house taking pictures," Reed said. "If you've been divorced that long, why would you drive by your ex-wife's house taking pictures?"
Prosecutors never elaborated on why they presented Savannah Hawk's testimony.
The defense team was "tremendously disappointed" by the verdict, said Mark Coleman, one of Hawk's attorneys.
Coleman said Creed should have granted a defense motion to move the trial out of Kings County because of the intense publicity the case had attracted in the Valley. Once Creed denied the motion, Coleman said, the defense knew the trial would be hard to win.
He said the defense plans to file a motion for a new trial.
Deputy District Attorney Larry Crouch, who prosecuted the case, alluded to a civil case that Debbie Hawk brought against her ex-husband -- but did not live to see concluded -- over Hawk's theft from the trust funds. "Today is the day Debbie Hawk finally got her hearing," Crouch said. "I'm happy about that."
Debbie Hawk, a pharmaceutical sales representative, was reported missing from her home on June 13, 2006, after her son and daughters returned from a custody visit with their father. The house was in disarray, and her van was gone.
The van was found a couple of days later in southwest Fresno -- keys in the ignition and a stolen license plate from Hanford on the rear bumper. Blood in the van and in Debbie Hawk's Hanford home was later found to be hers.
Intense searches of Kings County parks, fields and waterways in the following weeks yielded no sign of Debbie Hawk, and Hanford police classified the case as a homicide in July 2006.
In the months after Debbie Hawk's disappearance, several discoveries of unidentified remains in nearby counties stirred hope that at least part of the mystery might be solved. But each time, dental records and DNA comparisons determined the remains were not hers.
In one instance, bones found in a dairy drain near Dave Hawk's Lemoore home turned out to be animal remains.
JOHN WALKER / THE FRESNO BEE
Attorney Mark Coleman lays a hand on David Hawk after Hawk was found guilty in his murder trial on Friday.
JOHN WALKER / THE FRESNO BEE
Dave Hawk is escorted from a Kings County courtroom Friday after the guilty verdicts were read in his trial.
FRESNO BEE FILE
Dave Hawk of Lemoore, left, is accused of murder in the June 2006 disappearance of his ex-wife, Debbie Hawk of Hanford, right.
In the courtroom Friday was Hawk's daughter Chelsa, 17, who along with her brother, Conrad, 19, and sister, Savannah, 13, testified during the trial. Chelsa Hawk emerged from the courtroom in tears after the verdict.
Sandy Brown, retired pastor of Lemoore Presbyterian Church, where Hawk was an elder, said he was disappointed by the verdict and is heartbroken for Hawk's daughters, who are living with their grandparents, Stan and Lois Hawk, in Lemoore.
Brown said he considers himself Hawk's pastor and friend and is holding out hope Hawk can get a new trial in a different county.
"I just want to have somebody say and publish that Dave Hawk is not the monster the prosecution has made him out to be," Brown said. "He is a good man who has been caught up in something way beyond him."
Stan Hawk said he had no comment when reached by phone Friday afternoon.
Area attorneys offered mixed reactions to Hawk's guilty verdict on the murder charge.
"It's very difficult to convict anyone when there's no body unless you have an eyewitness to the killing, and they didn't have that in this case," said former Fresno County District Attorney Ed Hunt.
Another former prosecutor, Fresno attorney Michael Idiart, said that from what he has seen and read, "the case wasn't the strongest in the world," but added that Kings County's political conservatism may have helped prosecutors.
And then, Idiart said, "there's what I call a 'stench factor.' He's the most likely suspect and he had motive, and the jury looks for evidence to convict him."
Hawk's attorneys did not call him to testify in his own defense -- a move that would have opened him up to cross-examination by prosecutors.
Instead, the only words jurors heard from Hawk were in the secretly taped conversation.
"My experience, in 35 years as an attorney, is that jurors like to hear someone get on the stand and say, 'I didn't do it,' " Hunt said. "But most of the time, a conviction isn't the result of any mistake by the attorneys, it's just the weight of evidence such that jurors can reach no other verdict."
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Interview with prosecutor in Calvin Harris no body murder case
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http://www.wicz.com/news2005/viewarticle.asp?a=9957
▣ Dallas man charged with no body murder of baby
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Father charged with capital murder
Submitted by Larry on 25 July, 2009 - 09:37.
Nine-month old Daisja Weaver’s father, 20-year-old Alandus Weaver of Dallas, is charged with murdering her.
When Daisha was first reported missing from her far North Dallas apartment, her mother, 19-year-old Tamaira Creagh, told police that the baby had been kidnapped during an attempted sexual assault.
Investigators say Alandus Weaver, 20, has told them he accidentally drowned the baby while giving her a bath on June 8. He said he poured too much water over her head and she drowned.
Weaver and Creagh told police they then panicked and put the dead child in a car overnight. The next day they finally disposed of the body in Lewisville Lake.
www.txcn.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/tv/stories/wfaa090709_wz_daisja.24e1176e.html
No body has been recovered to date and Daisja is still listed as missing on missingkids.com
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase
▣ Prosecutor named Prosecutor of Year for No Body Murder Conviction
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Making a case for conviction
Deric Rothe/Auburn Journal
Suzanne Gazzaniga tells Auburn Rotary Club members Tuesday about the intensive effort by local law enforcement and the Placer County District Attorney’s Office that led to the conviction of Paul Kovacich Jr. for the 1982 murder of his wife Janet. Gazzaniga and her prosecution team created a timeline and calendar outlining Janet and Paul Kovacich’s daily and hourly whereabouts shortly before and after the homicide. “The trial came down to re-creating bit by bit what happened in September 1982,” she said. Despite facing long odds and having no body, no weapon, no crime scene, no indisputable cause of death, no eye witnesses and no confession, Gazzaniga and the Placer District Attorney’s team won a conviction. She was recently named a statewide Prosecutor of the Year for her efforts.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Colorado No Body Murder Trial Starting
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Aarone murder case finally going to trial
By John Romero Reporter
7:46 AM MDT, August 3, 2009
DENVER - After four years of accusations, speculation and investigation, the Aarone Thompson murder case goes to trial Monday as jury selection starts in Arapahoe County.
Aaron Thompson called Aurora Police in November 2005 saying his daughter had run away and not come back. But after an all out search for the missing girl, police turned their attention to Aaron Thompson himself and his girlfriend Shelly Lowe.
Now Thompson stands accused of child abuse resulting in death. He's facing a 60 count indictment accusing him of abusing Aarone and the other 7 kids he cared for with Lowe.
Lowe died of a heart attack. And Aarone has never been found.
We spoke by phone with Aarone's birth mother Lynette Thompson. She said the trial wouldn't bring closure for her.
"I want my child's remains," she told us. "Nothing can bring back Aarone."
Community activist Alvertis Simmons was once a vocal supporter of Aaron Thompson. Now he simply wants justice.
"Aaron will get his just desserts," he said. "And then the community can move on."
But prosecutors will face a high hurdle to get a conviction. They have no body. And no solid evidence of how Aarone died. They will have to build a circumstantial case to prove the girl was long gone before Thompson reported missing to police, according to legal analyst Dan Recht.
"The girl wasn't in school, they didn't have a bed for her allegedly," Recht says. "I think a jury would believe the girl was gone for a while."
Recht also says the 60 count indictment has enough serious charges of abuse relating to the surviving children, who can testify in court, that if convicted on those counts, Thompson could spend the rest of his life in jail, even if he isn't convicted of the death.
Copyright © 2009, KDVR-TV
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Calvin Harris found guilty of no body murder....again
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After the judge tossed out the first guilty verdict two years ago, Calvin Harris was found guilty in upstate New York again. From PressConnects.com:
Jury finds Harris guilty; Defendant stoic as verdict read
Attorney plans appeal
By Debbie Swartz • dswartz@gannett.com • Staff Writer *
OWEGO - It was 1:13 in the afternoon when Calvin Harris and his defense team stood to face the jury.
As the word “Guilty” reverberated through the silent Tioga County courtroom, Harris sank back into his chair, hung his head and slowly shook it back and forth.
Nearly eight years after his wife Michele vanished, a jury took about nine hours over two days to find her husband guilty of second-degree murder for a second time.
The complete lack of reaction to Wednesday's verdict was in stark contrast to the cries of “Oh God. Oh God. No,” Harris uttered after being found guilty in his first trial in June 2007.
As defense attorney William Easton rested his hand on Harris' shoulder, the defendant stood, was handcuffed and taken out of the courtroom. He was later transferred to the Tioga County Jail.
The second-degree murder conviction means Harris faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life and a minimum of 15 years to life, said Tioga County District Attorney Gerald Keene.
It's too early to say what Keene will recommend, but he said it depends, in part, on whether Harris shows remorse for killing Michele.
“It's the hardest case I've ever prosecuted,” said Keene, who also handled the first Harris trial.
Even though their long deliberation was a little nerve-wracking, Keene said, he had faith.
“I had a good feeling about this jury,” he said.Both times, Keene's case lacked a body and murder weapon and relied heavily on circumstantial evidence, including medium-velocity blood spatter in the Harris kitchen and garage, as well as testimony from several witnesses who said Harris had threatened his wife.
This trial was made more difficult, Keene said, because Harris testified.
During his testimony, the defense portrayed Harris as a caring father concerned about his wife's disappearance. Meanwhile, Keene painted a picture of a lying, cheating, manipulating husband. In his defense, Harris accused nearly every prosecution witness of fabricating evidence.
According to the prosecution, Michele arrived at her Town of Spencer home late at night on Sept. 11, 2001. Upon entering her kitchen, she was hit with an object, fell to her knees and was hit again. Her body was then dragged into the garage where she died.
At the time of her disappearance, the estranged couple was in the process of a divorce. While the defense argued that a settlement - worth more than $700,000 - was imminent and that Harris was in good sprits and good financial shape, the prosecution offered a different scenario.
According to Keene, Michele's attorney rejected the offer and instead, sought appraisals on Harris' multi-million dollar businesses.
Harris was obsessed with control and because of the pending divorce was about to lose his hold over his wife, children, finances and business, the prosecution argued.
“In his mind, she's the one that created all the problems,” Keene told the jury. “She's on her way up. He's on his way down.”
During the first trial, the father of four was found guilty after a jury deliberated four hours, but the conviction was set aside months later and a new trial ordered. That decision was handed down when a surprise witness - Kevin Tubbs - came forward after the verdict and said he thought he saw Michele with an unidentified man hours after the prosecution said Calvin Harris killed his wife.
Since then, Harris, a Tioga County businessman, had been free on $500,000 bail.
Outside the Tioga County Courthouse on Wednesday, people driving by stopped and asked for the verdict. Some beeped while passing the historic building, while others armed with cameras lined the street.
The verdict came as a shock, said defense attorney Terence Kindlon, who was not part of the first trial.
“This is not the result we obviously expected,” he said. “We are, frankly, quite surprised.”
Having the trial in Tioga County presented a significant problem for the defense, Kindlon said. When potential jurors were asked, he said, fifty percent said they had opinions about the first trial.
The defense filed two motions for a change of venue, both were denied.
“He was really up against it…” Kindlon said of Harris. “I firmly believe there should have been a change of venue in this case.”
Without being prompted, Kindlon said he would file an appeal by the Sept. 2 date set by Judge James Hayden, adding it is unbelievable that Harris was going to jail instead of back to his home.
“Cal did not commit this crime,” Kindlon said. “An innocent man has been wrongly convicted.”
Twelve people from Tioga County did not agree.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ No Body Guy in the News
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I spoke with John Pless, a Tennessee reporter regarding the Sam Parker case. Here's the link, http://www.newschannel9.com/articles/parker-983439-evidence-sam.html and the article:
New Developments In Sam Parker Murder Case
August 05, 2009 5:28 PM
John Pless
A Walker County judge has decided what kind of evidence can, and can not be used against Sam Parker.
Parker is about to go on trial for killing his wife Theresa even though police have never found her body or evidence she's dead.
Some evidence the prosecution team spent a tremendous amount of time and money on will not be allowed against Parker.
Remember last month, when the prosecution showed the judge the video of cadaver dogs in action? Prosecutors argued the dogs alerted their handlers back in 2007 to the smell of a decomposing body near Teresa Parker's car and Sam Parker's garage.
Lisa Higgins with the Louisiana Search and Rescue Dog team testified in July "almost immediately I gave the command and she hit really hard, worked very, very hard inside the wheel well on the driver's side and gave a full indication right there."
After further cross examination it was learned that cadaver dogs can hit on other things, like pigs, or bark when they're excited about something not connected with the search. Parker's defense team argued that evidence should be thrown out since no one knows what excited the K-9's.
Walker County Superior Court Judge Jon "Bo" Wood agreed, saying in a previous case the Georgia Supreme Court "decided the alerts should not have been admitted."
The FBI had great interest in the Parker case because it was going to be a "test case" where cadaver dogs would help in the prosecution of a no body murder trial.
But on another issue Judge Wood sided with prosecutors about deputies going on Parker's property without a warrant. Judge Wood concluded in his July 31 ruling "...the Court finds that the officers had a right to be on the property of the Defendant and alleged victim for a safety/wellness check."
Theresa Parker seemingly vanished more than two years ago without a trace. Her husband Sam is accused of killing her despite no body and no evidence she's dead.
"When you don't have the body you don't have the best, single piece of evidence in a murder case," according to Thomas "Tad" DiBiase.
Dibiase was a federal homicide prosecutor for more than 12 years in the District Of Columbia who has spent the last five years researching so-called "no body murder cases."
The Parker murder case is only the seventh case known in Georgia where prosecutors have gone to trial without a body. DiBiase found the six previous Georgia cases span from 1949 to 2005. All but one in 2001 resulted in a conviction.
One of the more recent was the case against Calvin Hinton in Atlanta, who was convicted in 2005 for killing 19-year-old Shannon Melendi. Her body was never found before trial, but after his conviction Hinton admitted he burned and then buried her body in his yard.
In the Parker case we have yet to hear about any other physical evidence that could help win a conviction.
"Typically in an investigation the public does not know all the information that is there, so that's the first caveat, you can never predict what the police or the prosecution may have that hasn't been revealed yet," DiBiase said.
Dibiase said in most no body cases a conviction is based on three factors: there is forensic evidence tying the suspect to the victim, the accused gives a confession or the accused tells someone else about the crime.
Since the cadaver dog testimony won't be allowed we're not sure what physical evidence prosecutors may have.
We do know that the prosecution team is under pressure to make a challenging case. Chattanooga criminal defense attorney Jerry Summers, who's not involved in the Parker case, gave us his perspective about prosecutors under that kind of pressure.
"Of course there's an inordinate amount of public pressure in the Sam Parker case, it's been highly publicized and unfortunately that sometimes puts pressure on prosecutors because prosecutors are publicly elected," Summers said.
The process of picking a jury begins August 17 in Bartow County, Georgia. Jurors will be sequestered and brought to the Walker County Courthouse in LaFayette for the trial.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Fairfax Detective discusses no body murder case
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This was a no body murder plea from 2002...
Fairfax detective solves difficult homicides
By: Freeman Klopott
Examiner Staff Writer
July 12, 2009 Homicide detective Chester Tony, 47, has worked for the Fairfax County Police Department for 23 years, 10 in his current position. Previously, he worked as an assistant manager at a pizza restaurant in the District. He grew up in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and moved to D.C. more than 25 years ago. He graduated from Alabama A&M University and is married with one son.
How did you enter law enforcement?
I always knew, even when I was in college, that I wanted to get into law enforcement. I wanted to do local police work before working for the federal government. I expected to stay only a few years [at Fairfax] and did apply with a couple federal agencies but kind of backed out because I liked the department.
What is the most interesting part of your job?
Any death in the county that may be questionable or may need to be looked into, we are tasked with that. I like the whole aspect of it. What keeps me motivated is that not only is it the best job in the police department, it's the most important. You're dealing with victims' families and being able to help them find some degree of understanding on what happened. You help them try to move on.
What interesting cases have you worked on?
My partner and I worked on one case where a young Chinese kid killed his family in 1993. He left the [bodies of the] family in the house until 1999. In 1999, he dumped them in the Chesapeake Bay and in 2002 his ex-girlfriend reported it. Within 11 days we had enough information to lock him up. He was charged and got 33 years in prison for each of three counts of first-degree murder. It was a good case because we never had their bodies but we had enough information from witnesses involved.
-- Maria Schmitt
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ More on DC's latest no body murder case
0 Comments added to this post
Gee, wonder who did one of the only two no body murder trials in DC? Perhaps moi?
2 Arrests Made in Separate Decade-Old Deaths
By Martin Weil
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Two men were arrested last week in homicide cases that go back 10 years, D.C. police said. One case involved a woman whose body has never been found.
The woman, Yolanda Baker, 35, of the 400 block of 44th Street NE, was reported missing Aug. 4, 1999. Police said they investigated for a year but did not find her remains. She was declared legally dead in February.
The U.S. attorney's office and "cold case" detectives began a new investigation that involved interviews and forensic testing, and Terrence Barnett, 44, the father of Baker's twin children, was arrested Tuesday, police said. Barnett, of Capitol Heights in Prince George's County, was charged with second-degree murder.
"No body" murder prosecutions are difficult; it was reported last year that only two such trials had ever been held in the District.
In the other case, police said Lawrence Davis, 45, was arrested Wednesday and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Elizabeth Singleton, 32. Singleton was found stabbed in her home in the 1700 block of A Street SE in March 1999, they said.
Police said Davis, for whom no address was given, was her estranged husband. An investigation begun last year incorporated DNA evidence, police said.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ DC Police make arrest in no body homicide case
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The Yolanda Baker case is one I worked on when I was with the US Attorney's Office. Nice to see an arrest:
From the PD press release:
On August 4, 1999, 35-year-old Yolanda Baker of the 400 block of 44th Street, NE was reported missing. At the time, she was living with the father of her twin children, 34-year-old Terrence Barnett. The couple had a history of domestic violence. The case was investigated for a year, but Ms. Baker’s remains were never found.
In February of this year, Ms. Baker was declared legally deceased. At the same time, Homicide Branch Cold Case detectives and the United States Attorneys Office began re-investigating the case. After additional forensic testing and numerous interviews the Homicide Branch obtained an arrest warrant, and subsequently the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested the now 44-year-old Barnett on June 23, 2009. Barnett had been residing in Capitol Heights, Maryland, and is charged with Second Degree Murder.
This is the second “no body” case now being prosecuted by the United States Attorneys Office in the past year.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Police may have found body of missing Maryland victim of no body murder
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Expert says missing homicide victim found
Police hope dental records will make positive identification
By SCOTT DAUGHERTY, Staff Writer
Published 06/20/09
A partial skeleton found last year in Baltimore may be the missing remains of a 2007 county homicide victim, according to police, prosecutors and a new federal database.
Forensic investigators are trying to use dental records to positively identify the body as Michael Francis, 21, of Brooklyn Park, but an orthopedic screw found in a right femoral bone makes them believe they are on the right track.
"We are hopeful the remains are those of Michael Francis so the family can have some closure on that end," said Capt. David Waltemeyer, the head of the county's Criminal Investigation Division.
The discovery comes as Antonio Moore, 22, of Brooklyn Park, prepares for his third jury trial in regard to Francis' April 14, 2007, death in Brooklyn Park. Charged with first-degree murder, he saw his first trial end in a mistrial March 3, 2008, and his second trial end with a hung jury on May 30, 2008.
While prosecutors had no body during either trial to prove Francis was dead, jurors said they weren't worried about that. Only one juror refused to convict after the second trial, and he withheld his vote because he didn't believe the state's witnesses could be trusted, other jurors said.
Still, prosecutors hope a special medical examiner will be able to positively identify the remains on Tuesday, giving them one more piece of evidence when they take the case back to court Dec. 1.
"We are anxiously awaiting the results of the special medical examiner," said Kristin Fleckenstein, a spokeswoman for the State's Attorney's Office. "We look forward to proceeding with the new evidence."
District Public Defender William Davis, Moore's defense attorney, could not be reached for comment.
Police and prosecutors credit a relatively new database with tentatively identifying the remains. According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System - identifyus.org - the skeleton was located April 20, 2008, in a wooded area off Strathdale Avenue in Baltimore. The skeleton was missing limbs.
Investigators at that time determined the person who died was probably black, 20 to 25 years old and about 5 feet 5 inches tall. The person probably died in 2007.
Erin Jones, a forensic science analyst with System Planning Corp. who provides technical support for the federal database, tentatively identified the body earlier this month after Francis' information was added to a sister database dealing only with missing persons - www.findthemissing.org.
Jones said she noticed several similarities between Francis and the skeleton - both were the same age, sex, size and race, and both appeared to have died at about the same time. The body also was found in relative proximity to where Francis was shot.
"They were similar enough that I contacted Anne Arundel County Police," she said.
Jones explained the big question at that point was whether Francis had a screw in his right femur. She asked detectives to check with Francis' family, who confirmed he had been in an accident and had needed such a screw.
"This is my first hit," Jones said, happy to be able to reunite Francis' family members with their loved one. "We've gotten several hits, but this is the first one I have gotten."
Richard A. MacKnight, Jones' boss, said the U.S. Department of Justice launched the database dealing with unidentified bodies in 2007, but didn't launch the one dealing with missing persons until January. He said NamUs - the system's common moniker - is still working with different police departments to get them involved.
"Given the number of law enforcement agencies, it is a long-term proposition in getting the majority of the agencies to use the system," he said, eager to get the word out about this apparent success. "This is how the system is supposed to work."
According to court testimony, Moore shot Francis with an assault-style rifle about 3 a.m. April 14, 2007, behind 5102 Brookwood Road in Brooklyn Park. Witnesses said he stuffed Francis into the trunk of a Toyota Solara, then drove off with his girlfriend in the front seat.
Witnesses also testified Moore beat another man, Teiko Johnson, earlier that morning with the butt of the rifle and tried to put him in the trunk.
While the second jury could not reach a verdict regarding the murder charge, it did convict Moore of first-degree assault and two lesser charges in the beating of Johnson. Moore was eventually sentenced to 25 years in prison for that assault.
Circuit Court Judge Michele D. Jaklitsch declared a mistrial in March after a state witness testified the Toyota Solara Moore was driving the day of the killing was stolen from Russell Toyota in Baltimore. The judge feared the jury could have concluded that Moore stole the car, even though he never was charged with the crime and someone else was under investigation for the theft.
sdaugherty@capitalgazette.com
Copyright © 2009 The Maryland Gazette and Capital Gazette Communications, Inc.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Boston pair charged with no body murder
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Pair accused of murder, dismembering man in drug deal
Jessica Fargen By Jessica Fargen
Monday, June 8, 2009 - Updated 16d 22h ago
Two Catholic high school buddies are accused of murdering a 37-year-old Guatemalan immigrant and then dismembering and burning his body at a Walpole cement business all over a massive drug debt, prosecutors alleged today.
Mass Pike toll collector Paul E. Moccia, 48, murdered Angel Ramirez because he couldn’t afford to pay his $70,000 drug debt, and then enlisted his friend to help make the body disappear, Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Robert Nelson alleged today during an arraignment.
Ramirez, who was killed March 20, brought kilos of cocaine to Massachusetts from the West Coast and allegedly sold the drugs to Moccia, he said.
Moccia’s longtime buddy, Daniel P. Bradley, 47, an assistant football coach at Xaverian Brothers High School, was allegedly involved in the shooting and the dismembering and disposed Ramirez’ body at his cement business. “The body was cooked,” Nelson said.
Nelson said investigators found blood spots inside Bradley’s concrete business, RJ Bradley Co. Inc., as well as blood on a pair of Bradley’s boots inside his Westwood home. Police executed six search warrants in connection with the case.
A Wrentham District Court judge ordered both men held without bail.
Defense attorneys for Moccia and Bradley said the pair have been friends since their days at Catholic Memorial High School in West Roxbury.
Moccia, who has two sons, lives in Dedham and has worked for the Mass Pike collecting tolls for 13 years, said his attorney, Steven Boozang. “He’s a good man and he’s a good father,” Boozang told reporters after the arraignment.
Bradley lives in a quiet Westwood cul-de-sac with his 4-year-old son and his fiance. His attorney, John Gibbons, said his client doesn’t even know Ramirez. “He never met Ramirez,” he said.
Ramirez’ body has not found, but Norfolk County District Attorney William R. Keating in the past successfully charged a man with murder when there was no body.
Police began investigating Ramirez’ disappearance after his girlfriend reported him missing March 24. Ramirez picked up a friend from Logan International Airport on March 20 and the two went back to Ramirez’ Framingham apartment, where Ramirez told him he would be meeting a man, later identified as Moccia, to talk about a power washer, Nelson said.
Ramirez was actually Moccia’s drug supplier, and when the two met up that night Moccia shot him in the back somewhere near Bradley’s concrete business, Nelson said. Bradley was allegedly present for the shooting, he said.
Bradley and Moccia have been arrested for cocaine possession in the past. Bradley was arrested in June 2001 after police searched his car in a Walpole Wal-Mart and found crack cocaine. The case was dismissed because the search was later ruled illegal.
Moccia was arrested in 1987 on cocaine charges.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ South Carolina police investigate case of man missing 24 years
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Lexington Co. investigates 24-year-old murder
Posted: June 3, 2009 03:55 PM
Updated: June 9, 2009 05:26 PM
Lexington Co. investigates 24-year-old murder, Susan-Elizabeth Littlefield reports
PELIOD, SC (WIS) - Deputies think they are closing in on whoever killed Darryl Morris. The 24-year-old disappeared in 1985.
"It's almost a Mayberry, you know your neighbors, know everyone, went to school with everyone," says Lexington County Sheriff James Metts.
And everyone around there knows what happened to Darryl Morris.
"We just believe from people we've talked to recently, he's met foul play and his body may still be somewhere around here," says Metts.
Metts was sheriff when it happened in 1985. Morris, a 24-year-old heating and air technician, disappeared after stopping at what used to be Shumpert's Grocery.
No official suspects were ever named and no body was found. The sheriff, who has been working the case for many years, says folks have been talking in the small town and he's got a hunch.
"We developed some good information on suspects in this case, but we need more," he says.
Darryl Morris' sister, Delores Hoover, called us asking us to help reopen the case.
"Some days are good, some days are bad. His birthday was May 12th, it just so happens it falls in the same month as Mother's Day and that's tough," Hoover says.
Hoover was 17 when her big brother disappeared. He was last seen cashing a check.
"He was a good person, loved his family, worked all the time," said Hoover.
The case has been pretty much cold until about a year ago when they got a tip that Morris had an ongoing dispute with some folks at a store that was knocked down. The rumor was he was buried out back. Deputies excavated the place with the help of USC anthropologists.
"We hand-dug the area and it turned out to be a garbage pit," said Metts.
But they still think his body is somewhere in this town and so is the person who could crack this case.
"We have some persons of interest we've interviewed and we just need a little more," said Metts.
"We don't want to know details, but I think it would be much easier to have a body and bury it and to bury him and know he's where you put him. You can go visit the place," said Hoover.
This case is a little different. Deputies say they're not sure if the person who did it is even alive. But they say someone in Pelion has the answers. If you have a tip, call 1-888-CRIME-SC.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ No body murder case against Utah man remains alive
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Although Christopher Jeppson plead guilty to greatly reduced charges in the Kiplyn Davis case, Timmy Brent Olsen still has murder charges pending against him in Utah:
Judge issues a no-ruling on the no-body issue in Kiplyn case
By Sara Israelsen-Hartley
Deseret News
Published: Monday, June 1, 2009 5:03 p.m. MDT
PROVO — A judge has deferred judgment on a potentially case-ending motion against a man charged with killing Kiplyn Davis.
Kiplyn was 15 when she disappeared from Spanish Fork High School in May 1995, and prosecutors charged a former classmate, Timmy Brent Olsen, with murder.
However, attorneys for Olsen have argued that the murder case against him should be dismissed because Kiplyn's body has never been found, and neither has a murder weapon, blood nor DNA evidence. The only evidence against Olsen is alleged incriminating statements Olsen made to several people regarding his knowledge of and participation in Kiplyn's death.
Defense attorney Jeremy Delicino has argued that the case fails under the "corpus delicti" rule, which requires the state to present a "body of evidence" — which in this case would be an actual body — to support Olsen's incriminating statements.
However, prosecutors argue that foul play is the only likely option because Kiplyn didn't have money, a driver's license or any personal problems that would have led to her running away or committing suicide.
Fourth District Judge Lynn Davis recently ruled that he is not in a position to make a decision on the motion because prosecutors have not yet brought their full case, according to court documents. The evidence already presented was in a preliminary hearing nearly a year and a half ago and under a lower burden of proof, he wrote.
"Ruling on corpus delicti without considering all facts (presented) at trial or at an evidentiary hearing is an invitation to commit error," Davis wrote. "At this stage, the facts in evidence are simply incomplete. The parties are essentially asking the court to test a cake for done-ness before it has even been put into the oven."
Olsen's murder case is still on hold while an appeal is pending regarding a change-of-venue motion.
E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Tulsa missing persons profiled
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Not having closure for a family is one of the worst features of any missing/no body murder case:
A purgatory of sorts: Families suffer from the uncertainty
Robert and Juene Soper can cover their table with photos and artifacts related to their son Alan, who has been missing since 1974. JAMES PLUMLEE / Tulsa World
By NICOLE MARSHALL World Staff Writer
Published: 5/25/2009 2:18 AM
Last Modified: 5/25/2009 3:27 AM
Read more about Tulsa’s cold-case missing-persons investigations, watch a video of a woman who sells pies to fund a reward for information about her missing daughter, and read the stories in the first part of the series
Thirty-three people have vanished from Tulsa in the last three decades.
By definition, police classify this core group of cold-case missing persons as "endangered." In most cases, however, investigators say they are likely dead.
"Every year we have two, maybe three cases where we know that a fatality has most likely taken place," Tulsa Police Sgt. Mike Huff said. "But when you have no body or scene, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack."
The victims linger in a purgatory of sorts. Their names are never added to any homicide count. But even years and decades later, their families still post fliers pleading for information that might bring them home. And for decades, the lack of a uniform state and nationwide system to match unidentified remains with missing people has prevented some families from learning that their missing loved one has died.
Hundreds of people are reported missing in Tulsa every year. During 2008, 323 people age 18 or older were reported missing, Detective Margaret Loveall said.
More than 95 percent of missing-persons cases are closed quickly — when the victim is found, Loveall said.
"In
a lot of cases, people are just gone for a few days and they don't tell their family, or they are involved in a situation where they are trying to distance themselves from someone they know," she said.
Adult missing-persons cases — and those of children who are missing along with them — are investigated by the Homicide Unit. Missing people younger than 17 are referred to the Exploitation Unit. Most of these youths are categorized as runaways if there is no reason to believe that they were harmed.
In Tulsa, few people remain missing long term. A person of any age who is "missing under circumstances indicating that his/her safety may be in physical danger" is considered endangered, according to the FBI's definition. The chance of finding them alive declines with time, so police must act accordingly.
Maj. Matt Kirkland, commander of the Detective Division, said, "I think it is important to recognize when you have certain criteria present in a missing-persons case, you have to treat that case like a homicide and utilize all of the resources that you have available."
A third of Tulsa's 33 missing-endangered cold cases might have resulted from illegal drugs or domestic problems or a combination, a Tulsa World analysis shows.
"Most of these cases are going to be caused by lifestyle issues, whether it be domestic, drug-related or a transient life they are leading," Loveall said. "The stranger abductions are going to be rare, but they do happen."
Searching for answers
Police believe that drugs led to the disappearance of Karen Heim on Dec. 26, 2006. But Heim hadn't always lived such a risky lifestyle.
"She was a cheerleader, pompom girl, played softball, and all of sudden she got hooked on drugs," her uncle Roy Heim said.
Heim is retired from the Tulsa Police Department after spending many years in the Homicide Unit. Even before his niece's disappearance, he began tracking missing-persons investigations in Oklahoma and compiling them in a database.
"Karen was involved in meth production in Osage County and in Tulsa," he said. "She testified in a federal drug case right before this happened, the spring before it happened. It was a huge case."
Karen Heim, 42, was last seen at residences in the 3400 block of West 48th Street and in Sand Springs.
Her car was found abandoned the next morning in Red River County, Texas. It contained a receipt indicating that it had exited Oklahoma's Indian Nation Turnpike at the Eufaula exit. Her family went to Texas to search for her, but she has not been found.
"I think everyone has given up hope she will be found alive," Heim said.
He believes, however, that "there is a good possibility that she will be found and identified someday."
In at least seven of Tulsa's 33 cold missing-persons cases, the reason the person disappeared remains a mystery. There isn't enough information for police to say why they are gone.
Analysis shows that at least two disappearances, including Lisa Addington's on May 16, 1984, might have been stranger abductions.
Addington attended her bachelorette party at a nightclub near 21st Street and Garnett Road with a group of friends. When her friends left, she decided to stay, and she was never seen again.
"Stranger abductions are harder cases to solve," Loveall said. "When a suspect has some type of relationship with the victim, the connection itself generates leads to follow. With a stranger, it is much more difficult. It is a shot in the dark."
At least two of the missing people, including Alan Soper, who disappeared in 1974, were last known to be traveling with truck drivers.
Soper, 22, graduated from Oklahoma State University and had planned to travel during the summer by working for truck drivers. When he last called his family on June 7, 1974, he said he was in Sacramento, Calif. His wallet and clothing were found near Needles, Calif., in 1977, but he has never been found.
Soper's parents, Juene and Robert Soper, knew within weeks after he left that something was wrong because he didn't call them again, as he had said he would.
"A mother does not give up thinking that your child might be alive," Juene Soper said. "I was determined to learn what happened."
While searching for their son, the Sopers found a note from him that was posted on the bulletin board of a truck stop along Interstate 40 west of Oklahoma City. The note indicated that Soper was seeking a job with a truck driver so he could travel cross-country.
The trail eventually turned cold, and his belongings that were found in California were thrown away before DNA testing became available.
"We just want him found so we could give him a Christian burial," his mother said.
Transitory lifestyles, hitchhiking and truck drivers have been linked to many serial killings.
Last month, the FBI unveiled its Highway Serial Killings Initiative, which includes a database of 500 murder victims found along or near highways, as well as a list of about 200 potential suspects.
The FBI began the initiative after an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation analyst saw a pattern of slain women being dumped along the Interstate 40 corridor in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Mississippi.
The suspects in the FBI's database are predominantly long-haul truck drivers. The mobile nature of the suspects, the lifestyles of the victims, the significant distances involved, and the scarcity of witnesses or forensic evidence make the cases tough to solve.
Missing links
Unexplained links between missing people make their cases even more mysterious. In Tulsa, two families have each had two members disappear during different years.
Paula Phillips was 26 when she was last seen on Oct. 3, 1991. She left her home about 7 p.m. and said she was going to a store. But detectives say she might have met up with her sister, Londa Phillips, who disappeared in 1992.
Londa Phillips was 22 when she was reported missing by her boyfriend after she failed to arrive at a relative's home.
"Their disappearances could potentially be connected to one another and to drug activity," Loveall said, adding that although detectives have had "persons of interest" in the cases, they never had enough evidence to make an arrest.
In another unusual case, Terrence Haney was 36 when he was last seen leaving a relative's house about 5 p.m. April 2, 2001, to walk about two blocks home. He was never heard from again.
Haney's brother-in-law, Edward Martin, 50, is also on Tulsa's missing-persons list. Martin, known by the nickname "Chicken," was last seen about July 1999. His disappearance was not reported until a few years later, Loveall said.
Martin and Haney disappeared from the same area.
Haney's wife, Corlina Haney, still calls Loveall frequently, hoping to hear some good news. The couple were separated when her husband disappeared, but the last time they talked, they spoke of reuniting.
She believes that "there is more to the story than we know," Loveall said, referring to a potential link between the Martin and Haney cases.
A partial skeleton and some clothing were found in 2006 at an old dump site at 3000 N. Victor Ave. Authorities are investigating whether the remains are either man's and are waiting for DNA results.
If the bones belong to Terrence Haney, his wife feels certain that he was forced into the woods and slain.
"He would not go off in some woods unless it was with someone he knew," she said. "I hope they find whoever did this. That is all I want. I want closure to it."
Nicole Marshall 581-8459
nicole.marshall@tulsaworld.com
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Texas man and woman convicted of no body murder
9 Comments added to this post
Jury convicts Arlington man of murder in 2007 killing
BY MARTHA DELLER
mdeller@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH -- Alejandro Orona’s attorneys contended that there was no evidence that Orona intentionally killed Scott Sartain or that the homeless diabetic was even dead.
Prosecutors argued that Orona, 33, was linked to Sartain’s 2007 beating death by numerous witnesses, even though Orona and another man cleaned up the bloody Arlington house where Sartain was killed, chopped up his body and his car and disposed of them.
Apparently believing the witnesses that the defense had denounced as liars, a Tarrant County jury convicted Orona Friday of Sartain’s Sept. 6, 2007, murder. Jurors deliberated for two hours and 45 minutes before delivering the verdict to 396th District Judge George Gallagher.
Orona’s relatives did not react to the verdict as instructed by Gallagher. Afterward, they wailed outside the courtroom. Sartain’s parents conferred briefly about the punishment phase scheduled to resume later Friday.
A string of witnesses testified this week that Orona and co-defendant Kelly Munn killed Sartain, 40, in retaliation for the arrest of a woman for forging a check that Sartain gave her to cash for his grandmother.
After beating Sartain, some witnesses said Orona and Munn confined him to a back room next to a garage where he was deprived of insulin. A deputy medical examiner said the lack of insulin could have killed him within 24 hours.
Some witnesses said they witnessed the beating. Others said they saw blood or smelled rotting flesh. Still others say they were shown Sartain’s severed head or were told by Munn that they had killed him and chopped up his body.
In closing arguments, however, defense attorneys Jerry Woods and Brett Boone said those witnesses were not credible because they hoped to get favorable deals from prosecutors for pending criminal cases.
The defense contended that Brian Johns was an accomplice in Sartain’s beating and, as such, his testimony could not be used to convict Orona unless it was supported by other evidence.
Johns acknowledged that he punched Sartain once and his wife backhanded him because they blamed him for her arrest. But he said that Orona and Munn inflicted most of the blows and were still beating him when they left the house to pick up their children from school.
Several days later, Johns said, the men summoned him to the house and asked him to buy cleaning supplies. That’s when he noticed an assault rifle, knives and a saw laying on a table near a back room where Munn picked up a Sartain’s severed head by the ear and showed it to him, he said.
Woods made much of the fact that neither Johns or others who said they witnessed parts of the crime didn’t tell police about the crime until Arlington Detective Jim Ford began investigating a tip nearly three months later. Even then, they lied about what they knew, he said.
Sartain was not reported missing until Ford contacted his mother nearly five months after he was killed. Woods said that means Sartain could have survived the beating, given Munn his car and split for the West Texas oilfields where he had previously worked.
“That’s no more absurd than the scenario (state witnesses) gave you,” he said.
Prosecutors Kevin Rousseau and Robert Huseman denounced the defense alternate theories of the crime as “murky.”
On one hand, Rousseau said, defense attorneys wanted jurors to believe a witness who said Johns joined Munn and Orona in beating, kicking and punching Sartain. On the other hand, he said, Orona’s attorneys wanted to discount that woman’s testimony, saying she just wanted the state to help her get a reduced sentence on a drug charge.
Rousseau said prosecutors didn’t even know that the woman was facing a drug charge when she testified before the grand jury in October.
He acknowledged that many of the state’s witnesses had criminal records and that there was not much physical evidence because Orona and Munn cleaned up the crime scene.
But there is ample evidence, Rousseau said, that Sartain is dead.
“Scott is dead,” he said. “He’s not going to come riding back in his pickup with a hard hat and a bouquet of flowers for his mother.”
MARTHA DELLER, 817-390-7857
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Nebraska man who confessed to no body murder seeks to withdraw plea
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Confessed Child Killer Claims CSI Planted Evidence
Posted: May 11, 2009 11:46 PM
Updated: May 12, 2009 02:08 PM
Omaha, NE - He confessed to killing his own son and pleaded guilty to the crime, but now Ivan Henk wants his conviction thrown out.
Henk filed a 21 page motion in Cass County claiming a CSI, already under fire, planted evidence in his case.
The Commander of the Douglas County Crime Lab, Dave Kofoed, faces four federal charges and one state charge in connection with the April 2006 double murder of Wayne and Sharmon Stock in Murdock, NE. He is accused of mishandling evidence and misdating a report about when he searched a suspect's car. Two men, Matt Livers and Nick Sampson, were falsely arrested and spent seven months in jail. The men are suing Cass County, the investigators and Kofoed. Kofoed has said he made a mistake, but was not malicious.
In Ivan Henk's case, he claims Kofoed planted blood evidence in his case, even though Henk admitted he did it and even took investigators to the Bellevue dumpster where he says he put Brendan's remains and the knife he used to decapitate his son in January 2003.
Kofoed examined the dumpster, found Brendan's blood and gave the sample to the lab, which confirmed it was Brendan's DNA. However, Henk's motion claims there is "compelling circumstantial evidence" to believe Kofoed planted evidence and-or falsified reports concerning Brendan's blood and the dumpster. The documents say no one was around when Kofoed found the blood and mentioned that he's accused of mishandling evidence in the double murder case in Cass County.
Brendan's grandmother is outraged with the accusations. Hannah Gonzalez says she is appalled to think of Henk being set free. She says, "I don't see how they would bring that case up again. He confessed. what else is there, there wasn't even a trial."
The Plattsmouth Police Chief, who still keeps Brendan's picture on his desk, wants Henk to stay in prison.But he understands why this is happening now. Chief Brian Paulsen says, "We have to make sure everything was done properly. I think it was. I have nothing but accolades for those guys and girls who worked case for us ."
Brendan's mother, who lives in Louisiana, believes if searchers would have found Brendan's body in the landfill, no one would want Ivan Henk out of prison.
The same judge who sentenced Henk will review the motion.
Reported by Michelle Bandur;michelle@action3news.com
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ More No Body Murder News
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My friend Steven Banic in Australia, the only other person I know of who tracks no body murder cases as obssessively as I, sent me the following updates:
Virginia man pleads guilty in no body murder case
GUILTY PLEA ENDS TRIAL
Gaudenzi pleads guilty to murder, agrees to serve 25 years
BY ELLEN BILTZ
Date published: 5/7/2009
BY ELLEN BILTZ
Joe Marto said he got some relief yesterday, but he didn't get closure.
His long-missing daughter's husband, Lawrence Gaudenzi, pleaded guilty to second degree murder.
But the plea agreement does not require Gaudenzi to say what happened to Lisa Gaudenzi's body, or whether he destroyed it.
"He took away a bright star out of my life," Marto said, holding back tears after yesterday's plea. "I wanted to know where the body was so I could bring her back home."
As part of the plea deal, Caroline County Commonwealth's Attorney Tony Spencer agreed to reduce a first degree murder charge to second degree in exchange for the guilty plea.
Spencer and Gaudenzi's defense attorneys also agreed on a 25-year sentence. The maximum for second degree murder is 40 years in prison.
The plea came about a day and a half into what was supposed to be a four-day jury trial.
A tape was about to be played, potentially showing that Gaudenzi was planning his life without his wife before anyone knew she was missing.
Lisa Gaudenzi's disappearance had been a cold case for 13 years until Spencer announced last year that he would be prosecuting Gaudenzi for murder following a Virginia State Police investigation.
Marto had already spent more than a decade hiring private investigators and searching for his daughter.
He said yesterday that he didn't get what he really wanted, but he's glad Gaudenzi is behind bars.
"I'm still in shock," he said.
That feeling was shared by many of the other 30-plus family and friends gathered outside the courthouse after the trial.
Most were glad the case had finally come to an end.
"I just wish it were sooner," said Leah Burdette, Lisa Gaudenzi's first-born, 23-year-old daughter.
Burdette had told the jury earlier in the day that her mother's relationship with Gaudenzi was an abusive one. Her mother disappeared when she was nine years old.
Burdette said she'd always known Gaudenzi killed her mother.
Kathleen Marto, Lisa's mother and Joe Marto's ex-wife, said she also doesn't feel closure, but for another reason.
"I won't have closure until I meet by daughter again," she said. "I have justice though. I don't want a body. I was relieved that he is finally out of society."
The hours leading up to Gaudenzi's guilty plea were full of testimony from those who were close to Lisa Gaudenzi near the time of her disappearance.
Lisa Gaudenzi had just finished basic training in the Army when she disappeared Jan. 26, 1995. She was supposed to report for a new training program two days later.
But she never showed up.
And witnesses told the jury yesterday what Gaudenzi said to them about Lisa after she vanished.
Their stories varied between Lisa going AWOL from the Army, leaving suicide notes and running away to Florida to be with a Cuban man.
Though Judge Horace Revercomb III has accepted Gaudenzi's guilty plea, he is expected to sign the formal plea agreement this morning.
At that time, there will also be a sentencing hearing so that Lisa Gaudenzi's family can express their victim-impact statements.
"I wrote a statement in anticipation," Joe Marto said. "I want him to know he left two of my grandchildren without a mother."
Ellen Biltz: 540/374-5424
Email: ebiltz@freelancestar.com
Plea and sentence in Craiglist No Body Murder case
John Burgess To Be Sentenced; Donna Jou's Family To Send Letter To Craiglist
Monday, May. 18 2009 @ 10:13AMBy Spencer Kornhaber in Crime & Sex
A press release sent out this weekend by lawyer Gloria Allred notifies us that John Steven Burgess, the man who plead guilty to manslaughter and concealing an accidental death in the case of Rancho Santa Margarita's Donna Jou, faces sentencing in Los Angeles Superior Court today at 1:30 p.m. As part of his plea agreement, Burgess is expected to face five years in state prison.
[Update, 5/19: Burgess was sentenced to five years. Read more at the LA Times.]
Additionally, the Jou family will release a letter that they plan to send to Craigslist founder Craig Newmark. The letter will be "suggesting specific changes in the policy and practice of Craigslist, which could help to prevent other convicted sexual predators from being able to use Craigslist to contact unsuspecting young women such as Donna Jou."
No additional information is provided as to what exactly that could mean. But Allred recently spoke to the Weekly about Craigslist. Then, she said that Craigslist should implement some sort of screening system that will either block convicted sex offenders from the site, or flag their posts with a warning message.
When Burgess plead guilty on May 6, he said that he had injected 19-year-old Donna Jou with a "speedball" of heroin and cocaine during a party at his home in Los Angeles in June 2007. When he awoke the next morning, he found her dead. In a panic, he says he took her body out to sea and dropped it off the side of his sailboat. Burgess had previously been convicted for lewd acts against a child, and in October 2007 was convicted for failing to register as a sex offender. He refused to speak with law enforcement about the Jou case while serving time for the failure-to-register conviction.
The Jou family request to Craigslist comes less than a week after Craigslist it announced it would bend to criticism from law enforcement around the country by eliminating its "erotic services" section. Jou and Burgess reportedly met on Craiglist, when Burgess answered Jou's ad offering her services as a math tutor.
Did no body defendant lead police to body before sentencing?
Sedlak Cooperates On Body Search, Sentence DelayedPITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
KDKA
Sentencing has been delayed for a Greenfield man who has been convicted of third-degree murder.
Man arrested in no boy murder of his brother
May 05, 2009
Missing Man’s Brother Arrested for His Murder
Los Angeles: Detectives are investigating the murder of a man who has been missing for more than a year; the man’s brother has been arrested in connection with the disappearance and murder.
On May 16, 2008, 48-year-old Mohammad Reza Shirazi was reported missing by his family members. He was last seen on or about April 24, 2008, at his home in West Hills.
The Los Angeles Police Department’s Missing Persons Unit (MPU) has been investigating Shirazi’s disappearance. All efforts to locate Shirazi have failed, and Shirazi has made no attempts to contact his family, causing increasing concern that he has met with foul play. In February 2009, family members contacted a private investigator to help search for Shirazi.
Over the course of interviewing Shirazi’s family members, the private investigator uncovered information that led him to believe that Shirazi had indeed become the victim of a violent crime. That information was relayed to the MPU who passed it on to West Valley homicide detectives in March 2009.
After all of the information and evidence was gathered, detectives determined that Shirazi had been murdered on or near the date that he was last seen alive, April 24, 2008. Though his body has yet to be found, efforts to locate Shirazi’s remains are ongoing.
On April 30, 2009, Detectives arrested Shirazi’s 34-year-old brother, Hossein Shirazi of Canoga Park for murder. He is being held on $1 million bail.
Anyone with information is asked to contact West Valley Homicide Detectives John Doerbecker or Gregory Crowe at 818-374-7725. During off-hours, calls may be directed to a 24-hour, toll-free number at 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (527-3247). Callers may also text “Crimes” with a cell phone or log on to www.lapdonline.org and click on Web tips. When using a cell phone, all messages should begin with “LAPD.” Tipsters may remain anonymous.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
Bryan Sedlak, 37, led authorities to the victim's body, which had gone undiscovered for four years.
Sedlak was convicted of third-degree murder in the shooting death of Patrick Kenney, of Jefferson Hills.
Sedlak claimed he shot Kenney in self-defense at a Homestead hair salon.
Kenney's body was dismembered.
Friday, Sedlak reportedly led police to an undisclosed location where pieces of vertebrae were found.
Sentencing will be delayed until those bones can undergo DNA testing.
Stay with KDKA for more details.
▣ Case dismissed against no body defendant in Utah
0 Comments added to this post
A rarity: a no body murder case was dropped in Utah against one defendant:
Jeppson pleads no contest to lesser charge in Kiplyn case
By Sara Israelsen-Hartley
Deseret News
Published: Wednesday, May 6, 2009 10:43 p.m. MDT
PROVO — Christopher Jeppson shuffled into the courtroom Wednesday afternoon with a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
His family members put their arms around each other and wiped away tears as they watched him sit down between his two attorneys.
Less than an hour later he walked out, still shackled at hands and feet but free of a murder charge for a crime he says he knows nothing about.
"Christopher Jeppson knows nothing about the circumstances or cause (of Kiplyn Davis' disappearance)," said his attorney Scott Williams. "He has never wavered on that. Now (he) can start cleaning up from the tornado that has hit his life."
Jeppson was charged with murder in 2007 in the death of Kiplyn Davis, a sophomore at Spanish Fork High School who disappeared on May 2, 1995. Her body has never been found.
And although prosecutors tried to link Jeppson to the crime through two joking-type statements he made regarding Davis, he has maintained he doesn't know what happened to her.
Because of that, Jeppson was only willing to plead no-contest Wednesday to an obstruction of justice charge, based on his 2005 grand jury testimony, that meant no increase in prison time, Williams said.
Jeppson is already serving a five-year prison commitment for a federal perjury conviction related to the case.
So, as part of the plea deal, both sides agreed to a one-step reduction of the obstruction of justice charge, meaning that Jeppson was technically sentenced on a third-degree felony.
That zero-to-five prison sentence will be served at the same time as his federal sentence, which is appropriate, given that they are the same facts in both cases, Williams said. Jeppson also agreed to drop his appeal of his federal sentence.
The final element of the plea deal was a small, signed statement from Jeppson. It said only two things.
First, that he is the defendant in the case and second, "I have no knowledge of, nor involvement in the cause or circumstances of the disappearance of Kiplyn Davis."
This prevents him from coming back later and trying to add or remove blame from someone else.
Although they were hoping for more information about Kiplyn, this is an appropriate solution, said prosecutor Mariane O'Bryant.
She said she still doesn't believe Jeppson is as innocent as he claims to be, but it's hard to prove guilt without a body, or blood, or a murder weapon or DNA evidence or anything actually linking Jeppson to the alleged crime.
"It's a difficult case from the beginning," she said. "We got some, we lost some. But when you take a jury, you never promise anybody anything."
For the Davis family, it feels mostly like a loss.
"It hurts quite a bit," said an obviously upset Richard Davis after the hearing. "We didn't really want to go with this, but we have to go with it. It's more than we've had in the past. We'll ride with it, go on with our lives."
Over the past 14-plus years, parents Richard and Tamara Davis have faithfully attended nearly every hearing in federal and district courts, a fact that hasn't gone unnoticed by Judge Lynn Davis in 4th District Court.
"This is a painful but only partial closure of this case as it relates to the Davis family and also the Jeppson family," Judge Davis said. "The Davis family is no closer to discovering the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of their beautiful daughter than they were before. There is some measure of closures but nothing that comes close to any final closure."
There is still a murder case against co-defendant Timmy Brent Olsen; however, his case is on hold due to a pending appeal.
For Jeppson's family, Wednesday meant a huge sigh of relief.
They too, have attended hearing after hearing and listened to hours and hours of testimony, waiting for their side of the story to be seen.
"I'm just glad it's done," Jeppson's wife, Jessika, said after the hearing.
The family have already braced themselves for five years without Jeppson while he's serving his federal sentence, so they can handle this, they said.
The last-minute plea deal canceled a three-week jury trial slated to begin in late May.
Williams said the deal was mutually arranged and represents not only the right decision but a financially prudent move that saves tens of thousands of dollars and could potentially save hundreds of thousands of dollars in trial and appeal costs.
E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Lots of No Body Murder news!
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From the arrest of Drew Peterson to a ongoing trial in Virginia, lots to report on:
Appeal in Iowa no body murder case:
Jamee Corean appeals kidnapping conviction
By Heidi Bell Gease, Journal staff | Wednesday, April 01, 2009
A woman sentenced to life in prison for her role in the 2004 kidnapping of Troy Klug has appealed to the South Dakota Supreme Court, asking that her conviction be overturned.
Jamee Corean, 29, was convicted last August on charges of aiding and abetting aggravated kidnapping and being an accessory to murder. State prosecutors say she knew that Klug, then 26, was being held, bound and gagged, in a toolbox in the garage of her Belle Fourche home but failed to call authorities.
Fourth Circuit Judge John Bastian sentenced Corean to five years in prison for accessory to murder and to a mandatory life sentence for kidnapping. Tory Teigen is serving a 100-year prison sentence for kidnapping and is now charged with murdering Klug, although no body was ever found.
In a brief filed March 3 with the state Supreme Court, defense attorney Dave Claggett argues that the evidence introduced at trial was insufficient to convict Corean on either charge.
Claggett objects to the fact that jailhouse letters from Teigen – one of which mentions “James and Jaime” in writing that is lighter than the rest of the letter, suggesting it may have been written at a different time – were allowed to be introduced at trial.
Claggett also says the state did not prove that Corean was involved in any conspiracy.
“Corean was not a co-conspirator of Teigen’s under any theory, given the facts of the case, certainly not at the time that the letters were written,” the brief reads. “The introduction of these letters is prejudicial and, at a minimum, grounds for a new trial.”
In the brief, Claggett argues that Judge Bastian should have told jurors that three people who testified for the prosecution at Corean’s trial were “accomplices as a matter of law,” which could have led jurors to give their testimony less weight.
Witnesses James Kusick, Abby DeJong, Eric Haar, Tell Cook and Cynthia Kindall all testified that they knew about Klug’s kidnapping and had “varying levels of participation in the crimes for which Corean was charged,” the motion states.
Kusick pleaded guilty to accessory to murder and perjury and is serving 20 years in prison. Cook pleaded guilty to failure to report a felony and served probation. Kindall pleaded guilty but mentally ill to kidnapping and is serving a 20-year sentence.
DeJong and Cook were given immunity in exchange for their truthful testimony.
Claggett also argues that Coren’s sentence is excessive and “disproportionate to the severity of the crime” in light of evidence used to convict her.
Contact Heidi Bell Gease at 394-8419 or heidi.bell@rapidcityjournal.com
Rare acquittal in Kansas no body murder case:
Jeffrey Salas Found Not Guilty in Death of Tony Epps
Last Update: 4/27 9:19 pm
by Cliff Judy (WICHITA, Kan.)
Jeffrey Salas says he's relieved and praying for Tony Epps' family after being released from the Sedgwick County Jail. He and family members walked out of the jail shortly before 3:00 p.m., three hours after a jury found him not guilty of Epps' murder.
"I'm relieved," Salas told Eyewitness News Reporter Cliff Judy. "It's been 21 months (in jail). I have a lot of sympathy for Tony's family, and I'm praying for them."
Salas' mother and brother carried out two large grocery bags worth of belongings and mail he'd collected since he was arrested in July 2007. Epps disappeared in March 2007. Sandra Salas, Jeff Salas' mother, cried as she told Eyewitness News, "I just want to take him home."
Salas agreed.
"I just want to get some fresh air and go home," he said. "We placed our faith in God that this day would come."
Epp's family was crushed by the news of the not guilty verdict. His body has never been found, and they were hoping for answers at Salas' trial. Epps' mother told Eyewitness News she didn't feel justice had been done.
"They had enough evidence to convict him, and they didn't," said Emily Epps. "We got a bad deal. This man can go free for killing (Tony). Whoever (the jurors) were, I don't know what they were listening to."
Update - Monday AM
A jury has found Jeffrey Salas not guilty in the death of Tony Epps.
by Cliff Judy (WICHITA, Kan.)
Jurors have begun hearing evidence in the murder trial of Jeffrey Salas. He's accused of the March 2007 killing of Tony Epps, whose body has never been found.
During opening statements, prosecutors told jurors Salas killed Epps because he owed the man a drug debt of somewhere between $11,000 and $18,000.
Prosecutors say a man called Wichita police after Epps disappearance saying Salas had wanted to store an SUV in his garage, and the man suspected the vehicle was stolen. Police later found the SUV in Oklahoma City, and a small amount of Epps' blood was found in both the SUV and the garage.
The man told police Salas also asked him if anyone hunted near the garage.
"Mr. Salas had told Mr. Malloy that if you hear a shot, don't worry about it," said prosecutor Kevin O'Connor. "Don't come out and check. Don't ask any questions."
Prosecutors also plan to call Salas' ex-girlfriend to the stand who says while talking about Epps, Salas told her, "I did it."
Salas' defense attorney told jurors there's no evidence to show Epps is even dead, and Salas didn't have anything to do with his disappearance.
"No one in this courtroom knows where Tony Epps is except Tony Epps," said Philip White, Salas' attorney. "Tony Epps is alive, and he is not dead."
Epps' family members tell Eyewitness News Reporter Cliff Judy even they didn't know the details told in court Wednesday morning.
Cliff was in the courtroom to hear both prosecutors and defense attorneys lay out their strategies for the trial.
Below are his updates from inside the courtroom.
Update: 10:15 a.m.
PROSECUTION OPENING STATEMENT:
KEVIN O'CONNOR TELLS THE JURY NO ONE HAS SEEN OR HEARD FROM TONY EPPS SINCE 3/21/07. HIS VEHICLE WAS FOUND TWO DAYS LATER. FAMILY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS SAY HE'D TOLD THEM HE WAS GOING TO SEE JEFF SALAS.
MANY SAID SALAS OWED EPPS A DRUG DEBT...THE PROSECUTION BELIEVES THE DEBT WAS FROM $11,000-$18,000.
OFFICERS WENT TO TALK TO SALAS AFTER HEARING THAT'S WHO EPPS WAS SUPPOSED TO MEET THE DAY HE DISAPPEARED. AS THE OFFICER BEGINS TO TALK TO SALAS, HE SAYS HE WAS SUPPOSED TO MEET EPPS. O'CONNOR SAYS SALAS THEN SAID TO THE OFFICER, "WHY IS EVERYONE LOOKING AT ME?" THE OFFICER THINKS THIS IS STRANGE AND SAYS HE'S ONLY CHECKING INTO A MISSING PERSONS CASE.
AT ONE POINT, A WITNESS CALLS POLICE SAYING SALAS HAD ASKED HIM IF HE COULD PARK HIS SILVER DENALI AT THE MAN'S GARAGE. THE MAN BELIEVED THE SUV WAS STOLEN.
THE MAN SAYS SALAS HAD ASKED HIM IF PEOPLE "SHOOT" (HUNT) NEAR THE AREA OF THE GARAGE AND IF THE MAN HEARD A SHOT, "DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT." POLICE WENT TO CHECK ON THE SUV, BUT IT WAS GONE BY THEN.
IN MAY 2007, OKLAHOMA CITY POLICE FOUND THE SILVER DENALI AND IMPOUNDED IT. WICHITA POLICE PROCESSED THE CAR FINDING SALAS' FINGERPRINTS...THERE WAS ALSO EVIDENCE OF BLOOD IN THE CAR THAT WAS A MATCH FOR TONY EPPS.
WHEN WICHITA POLICE PROCESSED THE WICHITA MAN'S GARAGE, THEY FOUND A SMALL AMOUNT OF BLOOD THAT ALSO WAS A MATCH FOR EPPS. POLICE BELIEVED THERE WAS EVIDENCE OF SOMEONE TRYING TO CLEAN UP BLOOD.
O'CONNOR SAYS SALAS AND HIS LIVE-IN GIRLFRIEND WERE CLOSE TO BREAKING UP, BUT SALAS WANTED HER TO STAY. THE WOMAN HAD HEARD RUMORS ABOUT TONY EPPS, MENTIONED EPPS' NAME, AND SAID SHE WAS LEAVING SALAS. THE WOMAN SAYS SALAS CRIED AND SAID, "I DID IT."
SALAS DIDN'T RESPOND WHEN THE WOMAN ASKED, "DOES THAT MEAN WHAT I THINK IT DOES?"
Update: 10:25 a.m.
DEFENSE'S OPENING STATEMENT:
SALAS' DEFENSE ATTORNEY STARTS BY SAYING, "NO ONE KNOWS WHERE TONY EPPS IS EXCEPT FOR TONY EPS. EPPS IS NOT DEAD. HE'S ALIVE."
THE ATTORNEY GOES ON TO SAY THERE'S NO DEATH CERTIFICATE, NO BODY, ETC., AND EPPS IS A MISSING PERSON...NOT A HOMICIDE VICTIM.
THE ATTORNEY ADDRESSES SEVERAL OF THE ACCUSATIONS O'CONNOR MENTIONED EARLIER EXPLAINING THEM AWAY.
FOR INSTANCE, THE ATTORNEY SAYS SALAS WAS INTIMIDATED AND SCARED BECAUSE HE'D RECEIVED DEATH THREATS FROM EPPS' FAMILY AFTER HE DISAPPEARED. THAT'S WHY SALAS ASKED AN OFFICER "WHY IS EVERYONE LOOKING AT ME?" WHEN THE OFFICER FIRST BEGAN INVESTIGATING EPPS' DISAPPEARANCE.
Murder trial begins in Virginia:
Murder trial starts in case of missing Caroline County woman
By AP
Published: May 6, 2009
BOWLING GREEN — Fourteen years ago, Lisa Gaudenzi disappeared. Now her husband is on trial in Caroline County on a charge of murdering her.
Circuit Court jurors were set to hear evidence today in the trial of 45-year-old Lawrence Peter Gaudenzi, who prosecutors contend killed his wife then destroyed her body.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Tony Spencer told jurors that even though Lisa Gaudenzi’s body was never found, circumstantial evidence points to her husband.
He said one witness will testify that Gaudenzi cut up his wife’s body and dumped it in a swamp in Surry County.
Defense attorney Kathy Hancock countered that there’s no proof Lisa Gaudenzi ever died.
And finally, Drew Peterson, long suspected to have killed and disposed of his fourth wife, is arrested for murdering his third wife:
Drew Peterson arrested — but will it stick?
Lawyer: Case against him for murder of third wife is ‘weak, circumstantial’
May 8: Drew Peterson, the former police sergeant suspected in the disappearance of his fourth wife, is being held on $20 million bond in the drowning death of his third wife. Amy Robach reports from Illinois and Joel Brodsky, Peterson’s attorney, discusses the charges.
Peterson's attorney: 'His spirits are high'
TODAY staff and wire
updated 9:21 a.m. ET, Fri., May 8, 2009
The murder case against Drew Peterson is not a strong one, the former police sergeant’s attorney said. Peterson was arrested Thursday and charged with the murder of his third wife. He is also the prime suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife.
“This is a weak, circumstantial case at best,” lawyer Joel Brodsky told TODAY’s Natalie Morales Friday in New York. He pointed out that Will County, Ill., prosecutors have to prove that Peterson drowned his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in her bathtub in 2004. “Drew doesn’t have to prove his innocence,” Brodsky said.
Joking in cuffs
After Peterson was arrested at a traffic stop in his hometown of Bolingbrook, Ill., he was led to jail in handcuffs. He quipped to reporters, “I guess I should have returned those library books.”
Morales asked Brodsky if Peterson understood the gravity of the charges against him.
“He takes it very seriously,” Brodsky said, dismissing the flip remark as a way to deal with tension. “That’s just Drew’s way of reacting to his stressful situation. That’s just his nature. It’s impossible not to take it seriously.”
Peterson, 55, was scheduled to be arraigned on charges of first-degree murder in the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.
Peterson is being held on $20 million bond, Illinois State Police Capt. Carl Dobrich said, and his young children are in the custody of local child welfare officials.
“We are very confident in our case,” Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow said.
Savio’s body was found in a dry bathtub, hair soaked in blood from a head wound, just before the couple’s divorce settlement was finalized. Her death originally was ruled an accidental drowning, but authorities later said it was a homicide staged to look like an accident.
The indictment alleges that “Peterson on or about Feb. 29, 2004 ... caused Kathleen Savio to inhale fluid,” causing her death.
Savio’s family has long voiced suspicions, saying she feared Peterson and told relatives if she died it would not be an accident. Their fears resurfaced after the October 2007 disappearance of Peterson’s fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, then 23.
Drew Peterson is a suspect in the disappearance, which police have called a possible homicide. But he has not been charged and has repeatedly said he thinks Stacy Peterson ran off with another man.
Former police officer Drew Peterson was arrested for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, near his home in Bolingbrook, Ill.
In one of several appearances on TODAY after Stacy Peterson’s disappearance, Peterson told co-host Matt Lauer, “I can look right in your eye and say I had nothing to do with either of those incidents.”
‘Lock-tight alibi’
One of Peterson’s attorneys, Andrew Abood, said the indictment was not a complete surprise.
“There was tremendous pressure for the government to do something in this case,” Abood said Thursday evening. But Abood said one of Peterson’s sons with Savio has “provided a lock-tight alibi” for his father, who faces up to 60 years in prison if convicted.
In an appearance on CBS’ “The Early Show” last month, 16-year-old Thomas Peterson appeared alongside his father and defended him.
“I highly do not believe that my dad had murdered my mom. Because, first off, he wasn’t there, he was with us during that period of time,” Thomas Peterson said on the show.
Peterson has seemed to relish the spotlight since Stacy Peterson's disappearance, appearing in a People magazine cover story and on multiple national talk shows — most recently to tout his new engagement to a 24-year-old woman.
TODAY
Stacy Peterson had two children with Drew Peterson before her disappearance.
From the day Stacy Peterson was reported missing, her husband, a cop of nearly 30 years, knew if investigators weren’t focused on him, they soon would be. And it wasn’t two weeks before the Illinois State Police made it official, calling Peterson a suspect and her disappearance a possible homicide.
When at the same time authorities announced they believed Savio’s death looked like it was a homicide, Peterson knew authorities were looking closely at him as well.
“The husband is always a suspect, whether you declare him so or not,” another of Peterson’s attorneys, Joel Brodsky, said when authorities revealed an autopsy on Savio’s exhumed body showed she was murdered.
Savio’s body was found by a friend of Peterson’s after the police sergeant called him to say he was worried because he had not talked to or seen Savio for a few days. The couple had recently divorced.
The friend, Steve Carcerano, has said he went to the house and went upstairs while Peterson waited downstairs. When he found Savio’s body in the bathtub, he called downstairs to Peterson, who has said he then ran upstairs, took Savio’s pulse, but found none.
Video
Peterson’s fiancee: ‘I just don’t believe it’
Feb. 13: Drew Peterson, who is suspected in the disappearance of his fourth wife and the death of his third, and his fiancee, Christina Raines, talk about their plans for the future.
Today show
Peterson’s next wife was Stacy, who was 30 years younger. They had two children, who lived with the couple along with Peterson’s two children from his marriage to Savio.
On the morning of Oct. 28, 2007, Stacy Peterson talked to a friend. Stacy’s sister, Cassandra Cales, tried to call her in the middle of the afternoon, and did not get through. Late that night, Cales went to Peterson’s home, but neither Drew nor Stacy was there. A few minutes later, she reached Peterson on his cell phone, with Peterson telling her that Stacy had left him.
Cales didn’t believe it and reported her sister missing the next day.
Pamela Bosco, a friend of Stacy’s family who has acted as an unofficial family spokeswoman, said, “We’re just happy for the Savio family.
“We always said that Stacy and Kathleen had one thing in common ... Drew Peterson,” Bosco said.
For more details on Drew Peterson's arrest in the death of his third wife, watch Dateline on NBC Friday, May 8, at 9 p.m. ET.
—Mike Celizic, with additional reporting by The Associated Press
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ No Body murder case in Washington relies on suspect's saliva
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Interesting case going forward in Washington state:
Spit on letter could help prove woman's murder
The playbill from a local production, pulled from the files of producer Peggy Coverdale, is displayed on her table in Westport, Wash. Bruce Allen Hummel, back center in plaid shirt, portrayed the murderer in the play.
Story Published: Apr 17, 2009 at 7:40 AM PDT
Story Updated: Apr 17, 2009 at 7:40 AM PDT
By Associated Press
BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) - Prosecutors say a little bit of spit on an old letter could help prove an 18-year-old Bellingham, Wash., murder case.
Bruce Hummel is accused of killing his wife, Alice, in October 1990. After she disappeared, Hummel told their children she had simply run off, and the children didn't report her missing for more than a decade.
Whatcom County Prosecutor Dave McEachran says Hummel sent relatives a letter in the mid-1990s purporting to be from his missing wife, to make them believe she was still alive. The prosecutor wrote in court papers this week that detectives tracked down the letter and plan to analyze DNA taken from the stamp and the envelope to prove that Bruce Hummel - not Alice - sent it.
No trace of Alice's body has ever been found. Hummel's murder trial is set to begin next month. He fled to Westport, on Washington's coast, when he realized police were after him. There he joined a community acting troupe - and played the killer in a dinner-theater mystery.
Accused husband plays role of killer
In the small-town dinner-theater mystery, Bruce Hummel had no trouble admitting he was the killer: "I got my revenge," he told the audience. "Tell that to the sheriff."
Now he must answer to a real-life murder charge. Whatcom County Prosecutor Dave McEachran charged the handyman and amateur actor with first-degree murder in the disappearance of his wife.
McEachran has no body and no blood - only Hummel's bizarre words and actions since his wife vanished. Detectives say Hummel told his children their mom had abandoned them; he sent them gifts purporting to be from her; and only in 2004, after being questioned by police, did he write them a rambling, implausible letter acknowledging she had been dead all along.
He also continued to cash her disability benefits from the Alaska Teachers Retirement System - for which he is serving a 27-month federal prison sentence - and led police on a yearslong cat-and-mouse game that ended in Westport, a small fishing village on Washington's coast, last year.
Hummel blended in there by tutoring children at a low-income housing complex, driving senior citizens to doctor appointments and starring as the killer in a dinner mystery put on by a local theater group, the Grayland Players.
"Oh my gosh, it's so long coming," Hummel's niece, Laura Keithley, said during an interview last year. "It's a bittersweet moment. I so want some kind of resolution for my aunt."
In the words of her husband: Alice Hummel's sudden departure
In 1990, Bruce and Alice Hummel lived in a house atop Bellingham's Alabama Hill, after more than a decade teaching in some of the remotest parts of Alaska: Bethel, a hub for dozens of native villages; St. Paul Island, 200 miles into the Bering Sea; Naknek, a salmon fishing outpost.
One day that October, Alice Hummel disappeared. According to charging papers, Hummel told his three children that their mother left to take a job in California, and for the next few years he sent them letters and gifts - from fictitious return addresses - so they would believe she was alive.
One typewritten letter to the younger daughter said her mom "had found another man and he did not want to have any kids around," McEachran wrote in charging papers.
The children, then ages 13, 17 and 21, had suspicions, he wrote. It seemed strange that their mother would have no contact with them, that she would skip her son Sean's high school graduation, and that through the 1990s they were unable to locate her.
There was one other troubling fact, the charging papers say: Two weeks before Alice Hummel disappeared, the younger daughter told her she had been molested by her father. Alice Hummel promised it would never happen again.
"Alice Hummel disappeared, never to be heard from again, after agreeing to confront her husband, Bruce Hummel, about his molestation of their 13-year-old daughter," McEachran wrote. "The evidence clearly shows that Bruce Hummel had the motive and opportunity to murder Alice Hummel and in fact did so in October 1990."
The children did not report their mother missing until August 2001. Bellingham police detectives spent the next six years tracking down Bruce Hummel and contacting state, federal and foreign authorities searching for any trace of Alice Hummel.
Bruce Hummel was living in Billings, Mont., with a new wife. The only sign Alice Hummel was alive was that someone was cashing her disability checks.
During an interview with investigators in 2004, Hummel insisted he had last seen Alice alive when he took her to the airport in October 1990. He denied cashing her checks until confronted with evidence, they wrote in interview reports.
Hummel fled after being questioned by police and made his way to Westport. Police found him there after he registered his van to a P.O. box; he pleaded guilty last year to stealing the disability payments.
While on the lam, Hummel wrote a letter to investigators claiming his wife slit her wrists in the bathroom of their home. He insisted he disposed of her body by towing it in a makeshift raft out into Bellingham Bay, and that he invented the story that she had run off to keep the children from learning she had killed herself.
"I rowed and bailed for an hour and a half at least but the wind got worse and I had to let her body go," the letter said. "I was too tired to cry but I remember saying a silent prayer."
Bellingham Detective Glenn Hutchings said there's no way Hummel could have handled his wife's corpse in the way he described; there was no wind on Bellingham Bay that night; and there was no trace of blood in the bathroom when detectives processed it for evidence.
Cadaver-sniffing dogs and ground-penetrating radar also turned up no indication of a body buried on the Bellingham property, McEachran said.
Keithley, now 50 and living in Bellevue, said Bruce Hummel - her father's brother - tried to molest her in the 1970s, when she lived with Bruce and Alice in Alaska for several months. For years after Alice disappeared, Bruce Hummel continued to attended the family's annual reunion picnic on Mercer Island and behaved as if nothing was wrong, she said.
"It was sort of an unspoken thing; our family didn't talk about it at all," Keithley said. "But the circumstances of what we heard - that she left without saying goodbye to her own children - we knew she would never have done that. A mother would never go off
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ No body murder case begins in Kansas
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The article says there have been three no body murder cases in Kansas but there have actually been at six, all of which resulted in convictions except for the Floyd case:
Unusual murder trial begins
Reported by: Anthony Powell
Email: apowell@ksn.com
WICHITA, Kansas – Prosecutors are asking a Sedgwick County jury to convict a man of murder even though the body of his alleged victim has never been found.
On Tuesday, attorneys finished selecting a jury, including alternates. It includes 10 women and 4 men. Opening statements are set to begin Wednesday morning.
Tony Epps and Jeffrey Salas knew each other from what police say was criminal activity. Now, more than two years after Epps disappeared, Salas is on trial for his murder.
Epps, a father of two, has not been seen since March 2007. The only trace of him was his car and cell phone found at the Green Mill Restaurant on E. Kellogg.
"Even though we have not located his body, through our investigation, we believe Mr. Epps was murdered,” said Capt. Randy Landen with the Wichita Police Department.
While evidence to support the theory that Salas is the murderer, legal analyst Dan Monnat says without a body, prosecutors can face an uphill battle.
"In a bodiless case, the prosecutor is trying to prove both a killing and a killer by circumstantial evidence, while the jury is required to presume innocence as to both elements,” Monnat said.
Monnat has been involved with one of the handful of Kansas murder cases that went to trial when there was no body. Only two convictions have resulted. He defended Shannon and Chad Floyd of Johnson City. They were accused of killing Shannon’s ex-boyfriend Michael Golub, who was also the father of her child. His body was never found, but DNA evidence linked to blood was. Still, two juries emerged hung. Several months ago, prosecutors dropped the charges.
"Blood or the presence of DNA doesn't mean anybody died,” Monnat said. “And it doesn't mean that somebody died other than by accident or suicide."
Now only time will tell if the jury hearing Salas’ murder trial will decide if there’s enough evidence to convict – even without a body.
Monnat could soon find himself in the middle of another bodyless case. Butler County Attorney Jan Satterfield is still deciding whether or not to file charges – possibly murder charges – against Doug and Valerie Herrman. Their adoptive son Adam disappeared 10 years ago and the two never reported him missing.
Monnat is Doug Herrman’s attorney.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ New No Body Murder Cases Table uploaded
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Check out the latest table of nearly 300 no body murder trials. Will be more to add soon....
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ No Body Guy in the news....
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Lawyers question evidence in Levy case
April 11, 2009 - 2:55pm
This undated file photo released by the family shows Chandra Ann Levy, a 24-year-old graduate student from University of Southern California. A spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons says Ingmar Guandique, a Salvadoran immigrant facing charges in the slaying of Washington intern Chandra Levy, was transferred Thursday, April 9, 2009 from the Adelanto, Calif. prison where he was serving a 10-year sentence for assault to the bureau's federal transfer center in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Family Photo via The Modesto Bee, File)
By NAFEESA SYEED
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - There are plenty of witnesses in the case against an imprisoned Salvadoran immigrant accused of killing former D.C. intern Chandra Levy _ the ex-girlfriend who says she was beaten, other women he's convicted of attacking and a man believed to be a fellow inmate.
But none of the dozen prosecution witnesses outlined in a March 3 affidavit actually saw the attack on the young woman in a Washington park about eight years ago. Only two directly link Ingmar Guandique, who's expected to arrive in Washington in the next few weeks, to Levy's death.
Prosecutors have nailed convictions in other cases with no physical evidence and only secondhand or circumstantial witness accounts. New evidence could also emerge in the Levy case.
But without forensic evidence linking Levy and Guandique or an eyewitness account, the Levy case offers weaknesses the defense could pounce on, say several attorneys not connected to the case.
"It's long on witnesses and short on direct evidence that Guandique had anything to do with this," said David Benowitz, a criminal defense attorney who once worked as a public defender in the District of Columbia.
The same team of prosecutors and detectives working the Levy case last year solved the 1996 D.C. slaying of Shaquita Bell, even though her body has never been found and no one saw the killing.
Michael Dickerson, her ex-boyfriend and a convicted felon, pleaded guilty in October to killing her after authorities lined up evidence from ballistics, past domestic violence and witnesses who saw the couple argue.
Thomas A. "Tad" DiBiase, a former federal prosecutor in D.C. who now runs the Web site nobodymurdercases.com, recalled many other cases in which suspects were convicted even though a body was never found and no witnesses actually saw the killing.
"You line all these things up and that ends up being quite powerful and difficult for the defense to deal with," DiBiase said.
The Levy investigation has been problematic since it started. Critics have long pointed to early missteps such as the police department's failure to find Levy's body until a year after the Modesto, Calif., resident disappeared.
Some former investigators also say police remained too focused on former U.S. Rep. Gary Condit, the California lawmaker who was reportedly romantically involved with Levy. Condit lost his bid for re-election in 2002.
Guandique is accused of sexually assaulting and killing Levy on a trail in Rock Creek Park on May 1, 2001. By the time her remains were found, they were so decomposed that valuable evidence probably was lost.
The March 3 arrest warrant and affidavit make no mention of DNA or other forensic evidence pointing to Guandique. U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Taylor said that there was no physical evidence linking Guandique to the crime, but that the "cumulative weight" of circumstantial evidence led investigators to Guandique.
Guandique has been serving a 10-year federal prison term in California for two other attacks in the same park where authorities say he attacked Levy. Federal Bureau of Prisons officials said he was moved to their federal transfer center in Oklahoma City on Thursday.
Authorities have said they don't have a date for Guandique's arrival in Washington, but they expected the U.S. Marshals Service to transfer him to D.C. within 30 to 60 days of the arrest warrant date.
Channing Phillips, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, said a grand jury will convene to consider indicting Guandique, but he could not say when. In D.C., suspects must be indicted within nine months of being charged.
Santha Sonenberg and Maria Hawilo, Guandique's public defenders, have called authorities' investigation "flawed."
Some criminal defense attorneys say prosecutors, lacking forensic evidence and eyewitnesses, are relying too heavily on secondhand witnesses.
None of the witnesses are named, but police describe some of their identities. There's an ex-girlfriend who says they argued and that he occassionally hit, grabbed and bit her. Then there are the two women he's convicted of attacking along with another woman who was walking in the park and believes Guandique followed her around the time Levy went missing. Another witness is merely the dog-walker who discovered Levy's remains a year later.
Others include those who claim to have known Guandique for many years and those who say they've exchanged letters with him. One of the most extreme characterizations of Guandique comes from a witness who says Guandique boasted about being known as "Chuckie" because he had a reputation for killing and chopping up people.
In the affidavit, the interview with witness 11 is dated from February. That man also was present when Guandique allegedly heard a recent news report about authorities' plan to arrest him in the Levy murder. The witness claims Guandique said he was involved in her slaying and described the incident in detail. Given that Guandique was in jail at the time, it's likely that man is an inmate.
Another witness also said that Guandique admitted to killing Levy, though police say the account Guandique provided that person was "inconsistent in some respects with accounts he gave to other witnesses." The affidavit does not specify the discrepancies. Only that witness and the 11th witness connect Levy by name to Guandique.
Benowitz, the former public defender, said he would question witnesses' motivation for speaking to police and under what circumstances they were interviewed. He said that the 11th witness appears to be a "jailhouse snitch," and that the defense would need to know whether the inmate received any favors in exchange for the interview.
As for the two witnesses directly linking Guandique to Levy, the defense may question whether they could have gotten those details from published reports or other sources and not actually from Guandique, said Paul Rothstein, an evidence expert at Georgetown University's law school.
Rothstein also said it would help if authorities could get evidence to show how Levy died _ evidence that would square with Guandique's alleged admissions outlined in the affidavit. And if Guandique had accomplices, as some witnesses suggest, they would need to testify, too.
"What's set forth in this affidavit, without more facts, does not seem to add up to a sound case of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, if it went to trial," Rothstein said.
Associated Press writer Gillian Gaynair in Washington contributed to this report.
___
On the Net:
U.S. Attorney's Office, Washington: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/dc/
Public Defender Service, Washington: http://www.pdsdc.org/
Georgetown University Law: http://www.law.georgetown.edu/
No Body Murder Cases: http://www.nobodymurdercases.com/
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Pre-trial skirmishing in Utah no body murder case
0 Comments added to this post
From Salt Lake Tribune:
Tribtowns.com
Prosecutor: Murder only explanation for Kiplyn Davis disappearance
Court » Defense argues no body, no crime scene means no case.
By Donald W. Meyers
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 04/09/2009 04:10:37 PM MDT
Provo » There is no body, and a judge has ruled the death certificate is inadmissible. But prosecutor Mariane O'Bryant still believes she can prove Kiplyn Davis was murdered, and that Timmy Brent Olsen was involved.
"The only conclusion that can be reached under these circumstances is that Kiplyn is dead, and the cause is unnatural," O'Bryant said Thursday in a 4th District Court hearing where she recounted the May 1995 disappearance of the 15-year-old Spanish Fork resident.
Prosecutors are fighting a motion by Olsen's lawyer to drop the case for a lack of evidence.
Earlier this week, Judge Lynn W. Davis had tossed out the death certificate as evidence. This issue was raised by attorneys for Christopher Neal Jeppson, who, along with Olsen, is being charged in connection with the Davis disappearance.
On Thursday, Olsen attorney Jeremey Delicino told the judge that without that certificate, the body or a crime scene, prosecutors "only have circumstantial evidence and innuendo."
But O'Bryant said the death-certificate decision does not affect her case. The evidence --including Olsen's statements to others admitting he killed her -- shows Kiplyn is dead.
Delicino retorted that Olsen's statements were made when he was intoxicated, thus rendering them untrustworthy without corroborating evidence.
While Olsen and Jeppson have both been convicted on federal perjury charges for making false statements to investigators and a grand jury, Delicino said that is not evidence of guilt. It just means they made inconsistent statements.
He also said Kiplyn also had problems with her parents at the time of her disappearance, was cutting classes and even talked of suicide.
Countered prosecutor O'Bryant: Kiplyn was a typical teenager with all the usual emotional ups and downs, but there was nothing to suggest she would run away or kill herself.
O'Bryant is taking a fall-back position, though: If the court agrees there is insufficient evidence, she wants the charges left intact pending an appeal. She said that is necessary because Olsen is also serving a federal prison sentence for perjury, and the state would lose any chance of trying him if he were to go back into federal custody -- even if Kiplyn's body were found.
The judge also will decide if prosecutors can introduce testimony from Olsen's ex-girlfriend that he raped her when she pressed him about Kiplyn's disappearance.
U.S. Attorney Richard Lambert, who is serving as co-counsel with O'Bryant, said the woman's testimony, which was used in the perjury trial, not only shows Olsen is guilty, but illustrates how Kiplyn was killed.
The woman, Lambert said, testified that when she asked Olsen about his role in Kiplyn's disappearance, Olsen struck her, forced her into his truck and drove to a railroad tunnel in Spanish Fork Canyon where he raped her.
That testimony corresponds with an account Olsen gave another woman as to what he did to Kiplyn.
But Delicino wants that testimony excluded. It would unduly prejudice the jury against his client, he said. He also noted that Olsen was never charged with the alleged rape.
Davis will conduct a closed hearing on the matter May 5.
Richard M. Davis, Kiplyn's father, said after Thursday's hearing that he believes the judge will evaluate the arguments fairly. But regardless of the decision, Davis said his goal is to give his daughter a proper burial.
"I'm not stopping until I bring her home," the father said.
dmeyers@sltrib.com
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Trial opens in Tennessee no body murder case
5 Comments added to this post
Suspect goes to trial for murder of Jean Johnson
WBIR.com Updated: 3/30/2009 12:00:29 PM Posted: 3/30/2009 11:54:01 AM
Jean Johnson went missing in February of 2007. No body has ever been found. Monday, her ex-husband Douglas Whisnant went to trial for her murder.
Jury selection began Monday morning.
Douglas Whisnant was sentenced to 25 years in prison on two gun-related charges. As a convicted felon, Whisnant was barred from owning firearms. During the search for Johnson, authorities reported finding a Sten machine gun in his home.
A grand jury indicted Whisnant for Johnson's murder in February, 2008.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Evidence previewed in Oregon no body murder case
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Lawyers in Wilberger case build strategy Prosecutors hope to present evidence of Joel Patrick Courtney’s “previous acts”
By Karen McCowan
The Register-Guard
Posted to Web: Sunday, Mar 29, 2009 12:23PM
Appeared in print: Sunday, Mar 29, 2009, page A7
News: Local: Story
CORVALLIS — Court documents filed in advance of a May hearing in Joel Patrick Courtney’s death penalty murder case allege that the man accused of killing Veneta resident Brooke Wilberger told his sister days after Wilberger’s 2004 disappearance about a “blonde girl who was kidnapped” and dies a violent death.
Wilberger was a blonde, 19-year-old Brigham Young University student when she vanished five years ago from a summer job cleaning lamp posts at an apartment complex near Oregon State University. Her body has not been found, although investigators reported finding DNA evidence that the Brigham Young University student had been in a green van Courtney was driving in May 2004.
Among the details in prosecution filings is a claim that an agitated Courtney appeared at his sister’s Portland home two weeks after Wilberger vanished. According to prosecutors, the sister told investigators that Courtney acted “like he was on something” and told her that someone with a gun was in the sister’s car. When the sister walked outside with Courtney to show him that her car was empty, the motion continued, he told her there was “a blonde girl who was kidnapped,” that “there was blood all over her,” and “she dies.”
Courtney’s trial is still 10 months away. But motions filed in Benton County Circuit Court reveal a prosecution plan to present evidence of Courtney’s “previous acts” — including two sexual assault convictions — in the Feb. 1 trial. The documents include new details about Courtney’s alleged and proven attacks on other women and about his behavior in the aftermath of Wilberger’s May 24, 2004, disappearance.
Benton County District Attorney John Haroldson and deputy district attorney Karen Kemper also have filed a motion to consolidate Courtney’s kidnap, rape and murder charges in the Wilberger case with another case involving two other women he allegedly approached in Corvallis the day Wilberger vanished. A Benton County grand jury in May 2007 indicted Courtney on charges of attempted kidnap, rape and murder of the other Corvallis women.
In both motions, prosecutors charge that Courtney had a pattern of prowling the outskirts of college campuses for petite, college-age females he could lure into his vehicle and attack.
Courtney has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. His defense team has filed responses urging Benton County Circuit Judge Locke Williams to deny both prosecution motions. Williams is expected to rule on the matters after hearing oral arguments beginning May 4.
In the motions, the prosecutors ask Williams to let them present evidence of Courtney’s alleged attempts to abduct two other young Corvallis women the morning Wilberger disappeared; his subsequent behavior as observed by his sister and others; his conviction for the November 2004 abduction and sexual assault of a young, blonde University of New Mexico student; and his sexual abuse conviction for what they call the attempted rape of a Portland woman in December 1984.
The documents assert that one of the other Corvallis women reported she was walking along a sidewalk the morning of May 24, 2004, when the driver of a green minivan pulled into a driveway ahead of her, blocking her path, and asking for directions. She reportedly became nervous and walked away after he got out of the vehicle and opened a sliding door on the side of the van. Less than a half hour later, the prosecutors wrote, another young woman became suspicious when the driver of a green van slowed down and stared at her as she walked near Reser Stadium. When she saw what may have been the same van coming back toward her moments later, she reported the incident to an athletic department employee, who called police, according to the motions.
The prosecutors also allege that Courtney used force in a 1985 case in which he sexually assaulted an acquaintance in her car. And they want to include evidence from a December 2004 Utah incident in which they say Courtney used a knife to force a young woman into his car and to strip. After sexually assaulting her, they write, he used her shoelaces, scarf and socks to tie her up and gag her. She managed to escape from his car; Courtney later pleaded guilty to kidnapping and criminal sexual penetration.
In responses filed this month, Courtney’s attorney, Steven Gorham, challenged as speculative the prosecution’s linking of the Wilberger case and the attempted kidnap, rape and murder charges involving the other two Corvallis women. The only “overt action” alleged by the state in the latter case, Gorham wrote, is “that someone in a green van” asked the two women for directions. He said prosecutors failed to meet two state legal standards for consolidating cases: that they cover acts of “the same or similar character” or are parts of a common plan.
He also argued that Courtney could not get a fair trial under consolidation of the cases or inclusion in the Wilberger case of testimony about his “other acts.”
“Each act offered is too remote, too dissimilar, too tenuous or not proved,” Gorham said.
In their motions, Haroldson and Kemper acknowledged that a defendant’s other acts are inadmissible “for the purpose of saying ‘once a bad person, always a bad person.’ ”
But, they argued, Oregon law allows that other acts committed by the defendant are admissible if direct relevancy can be established and the “probative value” of the evidence outweighs undue prejudice against the accused. They cited Oregon evidence rules that past acts may be admissible to prove motive, opportunity, intent, preparation or plan. Haroldson and Kemper wrote that such “relevant circumstantial evidence” is crucial to the state’s case in a no-body homicide.
Earlier documents in the case revealed that Courtney went to Oregon Health & Sciences University in Portland complaining of chest pains and high blood pressure two days after Wilberger’s disappearance. Records also show that Courtney’s relatives said he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Those documents also said residents of the apartment complex reported hearing a woman scream some time after 10 a.m. the day Wilberger disappeared. Relatives looking for her later in the day found only her flip-flops and the bucket of soapy water she’d been using to wash lamp posts.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ San Francisco attorney charged with no body murder
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S.F. Attorney Charged With Capital Murder in Palm Springs Fraud Case
By Matt Smith in Breaking News, Crime
Thursday, Mar. 19 2009 @ 7:50PM
ShiningMurder.jpg
David Replogle, a San Francisco attorney famed for winning a $7 million sex abuse settlement from prominent local stockbroker Thomas White, has been charged with murder in connection with an unrelated Palm Springs fraud case, according to new charges filed in Riverside County court. Replogle has been charged with murder while committing a robbery, and murder carried out for financial gain, as well as fraud, embezzlement, and damage to property of over $1 million. If convicted of murder under these special circumstances, Replogle faces the death penalty, or life imprisonment without possibility of parole, according to the California Penal Code.
Replogle was arrested earlier this month on forgery charges in connection with an alleged scheme to steal the assets of retired art dealer Cliff Lambert, 75, who was last seen in early December. Also arrested were four other suspects in connection with an alleged scheme to empty Lambert's bank accounts, loot paintings and other valuables from his house, steal his Mercedes sports car, and fraudulently sell Lambert's $1 million home.
When Replogle was arrested earlier this month, he demanded to see a Palm Springs district attorney, so that he might cut a plea deal, said Detective Frank Browning, of the Palm Springs police department.
"He was very arrogant," Browning said, during an interview prior to the filing of the murder charges. Browning said Replogle was told there would be no deal.
Also charged with murder in connection with the case are Kaushal Niroula, 27, who police say is Replogle's boyfriend, and Daniel Garcia, 27, who served as Replogle's key client in a 2003 sex abuse lawsuit against San Francisco financier Thomas White.
As reported in this week's SF Weekly, Replogle has a reputation among some San Francisco attorneys for pushing ethical boundaries. White's attorneys, meanwhile, have long accused Replogle of conducting a sophisticated frame up, in order to extract a large settlement from the San Francisco financier. White now faces sex abuse charges in Mexico and San Francisco, spurred in part by Replogle's tireless recruitment of Mexican boys willing to say they had sex with White. Now that Replogle has been charged in connection with the Lambert case, White's attorneys claim the case against their client may be tainted by Replogle's damaged credibility.
Prior to their arrest in Palm Springs earlier this month, Niroula had gained a reputation among associates for battling accusations that they repeatedly defrauded people. Niroula faced separate charges of stealing more than $600,000 from victims in San Francisco and Marin County, while facing a lawsuit alleging he stole $500,000 from a Japanese woman visiting San Francisco.. Garcia, meanwhile, faced charges of impersonating and stealing from a friend in Las Vegas. Garcia had also been accused of stealing thousands of dollars from White's bank accounts.
Replogle's bail, which had been set at $5 million, was revoked, according to court records. Replogle is scheduled for a preliminary hearing March 23, at which time a judge will determine whether there exists sufficient evidence for a trial.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Article on DC's first "no body" murder trial
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They have an article on a DC "no body" murder case and they don't even quote me!? The outrage of it......(They do quote my friend Det. Jim Trainum, however.)
From the Washington, DC Examiner:
Police don’t always need a body to solve a murder
By Teddy Kahn
Special to The Examiner 3/16/09
Discovering a dead body is usually what starts a murder investigation. But in the case of Patsy Gaisior, her body was never found, so investigators had to work backward, tracking her activities in the days leading up to her disappearance, in order to prove that a murder had been committed.
The 31-year-old disappeared in 1980 from Harrisburg, Pa., where she lived and worked for the Bell Telephone Co. Two men, Robert Ruff and Frank Johnson, approached her in a parking lot at midday on Dec. 3 and forced her at gunpoint into a car.
They drove Gaisior to Washington and holed up in the Diplomat Hotel on New York Avenue in Northeast, where one of the men sexually assaulted her. She was then taken to Anacostia Park in Southeast, shot one time and thrown in the river.
These details are now known thanks to the work of former D.C. police Detectives Bill Corboy and Tom Kilcullen, who handled the investigation for the department, said D.C. police Detective Jim Trainum, head of the Violent Crime Case Review Project. The detectives pored over past cases in which no body was found to see whether they could bring a murder charge against the suspects, who were standing trial in Harrisburg on kidnapping charges.
Building a murder case without a body is a challenge because investigators have to show that there is no way that the person could still be alive, Trainum said.
“We do this by establishing their normal routine and showing that nothing has occurred since the disappearance,” he said. ”We also do exhaustive background checks into credit history, DMV stuff — and if there is no paper trail, especially with folks who live in the mainstream, then it is more probable than not that they are dead.”
The detectives took vacation days and spent hours of their own time hunting for clues, police said.
Their work paid off when the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington charged Ruff with felony murder in 1983 and won a conviction. Johnson had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder the month before and agreed to testify against his accomplice.
But it was Corboy’s and Kilcullen’s meticulous investigation that laid the groundwork for the case, Trainum said.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase
▣ Virginia man charged with murder of Arizona man whose body has never been found
0 Comments added to this post
Note the timeline at the end of the article neatly laying out the sequence of events and the evidence against the defendant:
Virginia Man Faces Murder Charges For Man Missing From Dana Point Harbor
February 17, 2009
By Nathan Wright
The bizarre disappearance of Arizona investor Robert Vendrick took an unexpected turn last Friday when the man who last saw him alive was charged with his murder.
The Orange County District Attorney’s office on February 13 charged Gary Shawkey, 46, of Virginia with one count of murder with a sentencing enhancement of murder for financial gain. If convicted, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The charges came just three days before the one year anniversary of Vendrick’s disappearance.
“It just takes time, unfortunately, for cases like this to come together with sufficient evidence to file charges,” said Senior District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh. “This case has been investigated continuously since it happened.”
Vendrick, 71, vanished on February 16, 2008 after meeting with Shawkey at the Dana Point Harbor. Vendrick’s family later told police that he had planned to take a sailboat to San Clemente Island with Shawkey to meet with government agents to discuss a lucrative investment in “top secret computer software.” Records later showed that Vendrick had wired $100,000 to Shawkey before flying to Southern California.
Vendrick was never seen again and his body has never been found.
His wife reported him missing two days later on February 15 after he missed his flight back home to Phoenix, and authorities found only his suitcase, clothes and diabetes medicine when they searched his hotel room at the Dana Point Marina Inn. His rental car was found in the parking lot.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department declared Shawkey a person of interest, but he told authorities that he had dropped Vendrick back off at the Harbor and had not heard from him since. Investigators later discovered that Shawkey had purchased the 23-foot sailboat just days earlier to make the trip, and that he’d replaced the motor and the anchor two days after Vendrick disappeared.
The old motor, which Shawkey claimed to have abandoned at the Harbor’s fuel dock, was never found. Divers found an anchor at the Harbor’s bottom, but it could not be identified as one replace by Shawkey.
With Shawkey’s denials and no body, investigators have spent the last 12 months gathering enough evidence to file charges. On Feb. 13 those charges were finally made, much to the relief of the Vendrick family.
“We’re glad he was finally arrested, although we don’t know what the smoking gun was,” said Fred Vendrick of Hermosa Beach, Robert’s brother. “I think the weight of the evidence finally added up.”
Vendrick said Tuesday that his brother’s death—assumed, although never proven—has been hard on the family. His opinion of the man accused of murdering his brother for financial gain?
“He’s a sociopath, in my opinion,” said Fred Vendrick. “A narcissistic sociopath. He thinks that nothing will stick to him.”
Shawkey is currently in a Virginia jail on theft charges unrelated to the Vendrick case. The Orange County District Attorney’s office has requested he be extradited back to California following the court proceedings for the theft charges have concluded. “I’m hoping we get him back in California hopefully in the next few weeks,” said Baytieh.
Vendrick Timeline
Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008: Gary Shawkey buys the Odyssey, a 23-foot sailboat, from a San Clemente boat owner. Robert Vendrick’s name is included on the sale’s receipt, although he is not present at the time of purchase.
Friday, Feb. 15, 2008: Vendrick flies from Phoenix to Long Beach, rents a car and drives to Dana Point. He checks into the Dana Point Marina Inn at around 4:30 p.m. and later meets Shawkey for a meal. Shawkey also buys a new outboard engine for the Odyssey, and later claims he abandoned the old motor at a fueling dock at the Dana Point Harbor after it had closed for the night. The old motor has not been found.
Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008: Vendrick meets Shawkey for a sailing trip aboard the Odyssey. The two head out to sea at around 7–8 a.m. Vendrick is never seen again. What happened aboard the Odyssey is currently in dispute. The Vendrick family told police that the two were headed to San Clemente Island to meet with highly placed government officials to complete a deal worth more than $1 million.
“Shawkey’s statement is different than the story the family has told us,” said Orange County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Mike Thompson. “They are in conflict with each other.” While the Vendricks don’t know how the sailing trip ended, Shawkey gave his own version. “He said he came back in and dropped him off,” said Thompson. “[Vendrick] walked away and [Shawkey] never saw him again.”
Thompson was not been able to verify Shawkey’s story.
Monday, Feb. 18, 2008: Vendrick misses his flight home to Phoenix and his wife reports him missing. Deputies search his room at the Dana Point Marina Inn and discover his clothes, suitcase and diabetes medicine. They later find his rental car parked in a Harbor parking lot.
Shawkey buys a new anchor and chain for the Odyssey. He later tells investigators that he lost the anchor and chain at sea. Investigators have since recovered what they believe to be the anchor and chain, although Thompson said it’s impossible to be sure if they are the originals.
Shawkey contacts police from Long Beach and gives his statement on what happened the morning of the boat trip. Based on the interview and evidence gathered he remains only a person of interest and is not arrested or charged with any crime. He later returns to the East Coast, telling investigators he plans to look for Vendrick in Florida.
Monday, May 12, 2008: In a bizarre twist, Shawkey is himself reported missing from a Santa Ana motel after he fails to report in to a friend. “He told his co-worker on Sunday that if he didn’t call by 12 on Monday something horrible had happened,” said sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino.
Deputies arrive at the Golden West Motel in Santa Ana and find Shawkey’s wallet, passport, medication and his clothes, eerily similar to what was found in Vendrick’s room after he was reported missing.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008: Shawkey is discovered in Nogales, Mexico by Mexican authorities after he’s identified as a missing person. He’s sent back to Orange County.
Thursday, May 15, 2008: Shawkey returns to Orange County and tells investigators that he went looking—and found—Vendrick in Mexico, but that the missing man had jumped off a bus in Tijuana and had fled. The story was never verified.
Friday, Feb. 13, 2009: Shawkey is charged with murdering Vendrick by the Orange County District Attorney’s office. The charges include a special circumstance for murdering for financial gain.
Monday, Feb. 16, 2009: The one-year anniversary of Vendrick’s disappearance.
Below is the full release issued by the Orange County District Attorney's office:
SANTA ANA - The Orange County District Attorney filed special circumstances murder for financial gain charges against a Virginia man, for luring an elderly Phoenix investor onto a boat off Dana Point Harbor last February.
Gary A. Shawkey, 46, Mechanicsville, VA, was charged with one count of murder with a sentencing enhancement of intentional murder carried out for financial gain. If convicted, the defendant will be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Shawkey is currently in custody in Virginia on unrelated theft charges. The defendant is not eligible for bail. The Orange County District Attorney has requested that Shawkey be extradited to Orange County, CA to face charges. There are no California court dates set at this time.
In the past, Shawkey has claimed to be a professional fisherman and a bail bonds man, among other professions. At the time of the arrest by Virginia authorities on the unrelated charges, the defendant claimed he was working for a limousine company in New Jersey. For a few years prior to February 2008, the defendant is accused of swindling about $1 million from a 71-year-old Phoenix man, who had retired from the software industry, by promising him great returns on imaginary investments. In February 2008, with victim Robert Vendrick becoming reluctant to invest more money, the defendant is accused of convincing him to invest in a new venture involving the development of "top secret computer software" for the federal government. The defendant is accused of convincing the victim to wire $100,000 to a bank account and telling the victim to fly to Orange County to meet with federal agents to finalize the project.
When the defendant and the victim arrived in Orange County, the defendant is accused of buying a boat and convincing the victim to sail to San Clemente Island to meet with "federal agents." Shawkey and Vendrick got on the boat and sailed out of Dana Point Harbor and the victim was never seen again. Sometime between Feb. 14, 2008, and Feb. 24, 2008, Shawkey is accused of murdering Vendrick and disposing of the body for financial gain.
The Orange County Sheriff's Department investigated this case. Senior Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase
▣ No body murder case updates!
0 Comments added to this post
Been too busy at work to update so lots of catching up to do:
Feb 18, 2009 5:42 pm US/Eastern
Sedlak Found Guilty Of Murder
PITTSBURGH (From KDKA) ―
KDKA
A jury has found Bryan Sedlak guilty of third degree murder and abuse of a corpse in the death of Patrick Kenney.
Sedlak was accused of killing and dismembering Kenney at a hair salon in Homestead three years ago, but Kenney's remains were never found.
Sedlak admitted to killing Kenney, but claimed he acted in self-defense after Kenney fired at him during a cocaine-induced frenzy.
The judge in the case said Sedlak's sentence would heavily depend on whether he provided details on the location of Kenney's body.
Many of the earliest no body cases were ones on the "high seas." A recent case tried in Miami also involved a defendant killing a crew of a charter boat:
Guillermo Zarabozo found guilty in Joe Cool murder case
A federal jury found a one-time Hialeah security guard guilty of killing four Miami Beach charter boat crew members.
BY JAY WEAVER AND SCOTT HIAASEN
jweaver@MiamiHerald.com
Guillermo Zarabozo -- one-time security guard, Miami-Dade police applicant, CIA wannabe -- didn't flinch as 16 guilty verdicts for four murders and other crimes on the high seas were read aloud in a federal courtroom Thursday.
The Hialeah High School grad -- his tearful mother, head bowed, seated a few rows behind him -- faces spending the rest of his life in prison for the 2007 fatal shootings of four Miami Beach charter boat crew members.
Zarabozo, 21, convicted of conspiracy, murder, hijacking, kidnapping, robbery and using a firearm in those crimes, will be sentenced May 6. Jurors deliberated for eight hours over two days in the retrial, reaching verdicts in lightning speed compared to the first trial in September, which ended with a hung jury and four guilty verdicts thrown out.
Portrayed by prosecutors as a liar, Zarabozo showed no remorse on the witness stand in the retrial, saying the tragic Sept. 22, 2007, incident on the Joe Cool sportfishing boat had destroyed his family's life.
That grated on the family of the murder victims: boat captain Jake Branam; his wife, Kelley Branam; his half-brother, Scott Gamble; and crew mate, Samuel Kairy.
''Zarabozo showed no compassion,'' said Jake Branam's grandfather, Joe Harry Branam Sr. ``He didn't feel any way responsible for their deaths.''
But Branam also expressed sorrow for Zarabozo's mother, Francisca Alonso, and father, Guillermo Zarabozo: ``I feel a lot of compassion for his parents. They've lost a son, too.''
Zarabozo's partner in the killings, Kirby Archer, a fugitive from Arkansas, had already pleaded guilty before the first trial in September and was sentenced to life in prison. Archer, 36, in his plea hearing, confessed he shot two of the victims, the Branam couple, who are parents of two young children, and he then accused Zarabozo of killing the other two, Gamble and Kairy.
But Archer, a former U.S. Army guard, didn't testify at the murder retrial or the first trial because of credibility issues.
Archer came to know Zarabozo in 2007 when the Arkansan moved to Miami-Dade County. He was fleeing from a warrant for his arrest on charges of stealing $92,000 from a Wal-Mart where he had worked in Arkansas.
Zarabozo, who testified at both trials, always spoke in flat tones as he blamed Archer for the four murders.
Zarabozo said he and Archer paid $4,000 in cash to charter the Joe Cool for a one-way trip to Bimini to guard high-ranking government officials there -- then planned a CIA secret mission in Cuba for as long as a year. He maintained he had no inkling that Archer would hijack the Joe Cool to Cuba on the way to Bimini, which led to the carnage at sea.
In the retrial, the team of prosecutors -- Karen Gilbert, Michael Gilfarb and Jeffrey Tsai -- put on a stronger case because they had newly discovered evidence from Zarabozo's computer hard drive. It revealed that Zarabozo, in the weeks before the chartered boat trip to Bimini, had corresponded online with his best friend and former girlfriend only about the spy mission to Cuba.
His close friend, Any Pla, and ex-girlfriend, Gretel Martinez, testified that Zarabozo never mentioned a planned trip to Bimini -- only Cuba. In other words, the Bimini charter was a ''pretext'' to hijack the boat, according to prosecutors.
But on the witness stand, Zarabozo stuck to the Bimini story. He testified that Archer killed all four crew members with Zarabozo's Glock 9mm while Zarabozo was in the vessel's bathroom.
Jury foreman Edison Farrow said Zarabozo's version of events was unbelievable, contrary to the evidence from other witnesses. ''His story was impossible,'' he said. ``His testimony contradicted all of the evidence.''
Farrow also said there was ample evidence that Zarabozo was in on the hijacking plan from the start. ''He had many opportunities to leave the whole plot,'' the juror said.
On the witness stand, Zarabozo said he lied along with Archer when the Coast Guard and FBI questioned them separately about what happened on the Joe Cool. Both men said Cuban ''pirates'' hijacked the boat, killed the four crew members and then let them escape in a life raft.
The victims' family members, while expressing relief over the guilty verdicts, still felt deep pain -- mainly because the defendant seemed so cold to them throughout the case.
''I believe in my heart he shot my brother and he shot Sammy,'' said Scott Gamble's sister, Amie Gamble. ``He felt no remorse whatsoever.''
Cousin Jonathan Branam -- one of the last to see the four victims alive -- said Zarabozo bears as much responsibility as Archer. ''If he wasn't part of it, well then he should have known,'' he said. ``I think life in prison is harsher than death.''
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Mario Flavio Garcia conviction upheld
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In a decision issued by the Third District Court of Appeal in California, the first degree murder conviction of Mario Flavio Garcia for the murder of Christie Wilson in October of 2005 was upheld. The opinion, which is not yet officially published but can be found at 2009 WL 466086 (Cal. App. 3 Dist.), lays out in great detail the evidence against Garcia. The key pieces of evidence were casino surveillance tapes showing the two of them leaving the casino and the Wilson's DNA found in Garcia's car despite his denials that she was in his car.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Case of Kansas boy who disappeared 10 years ago receiving increasing media coverage
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The case of Adam Herrman, who disappeared ten years ago but his adoptive parents never reported it, is receiving increasing attention. Two articles below, one on the case and one (from 2007) on no body murder cases in Kansas.
MURDER CONVICTIONS HAPPEN EVEN WITHOUT A BODY
No body? Murder case still possible
BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle
WICHITA | The investigation of Adam Herrman's disappearance has gone on for more than two months, and the Butler County prosecutor has said that murder charges are possible.
But so far, no one has uncovered any remains.
This Saturday, Butler County investigators plan to search a fourth time in woods near the Towanda mobile home park where Adam disappeared in 1999 at age 11.
Prosecutors say that even without a body, a case can be made if the state can present enough circumstantial evidence to convince jurors that a person is really dead.
Defense lawyers counter that in a murder case involving a disappearance, it is difficult to show proof beyond a reasonable doubt without a body or bones that can be linked to the victim.
"All they have is a missing person," said Warner Eisenbise, the Wichita attorney representing Valerie Herrman, Adam's adoptive mother.
"They have conjecture. But conjecture doesn't rise to proof beyond a reasonable doubt," Eisenbise said. "For all we know, this young man is living somewhere. We can argue that there's no body, there's no crime....
"And then we can argue there's a body, (but) who did it?"
Unless investigators "are holding a card that we don't know about, they do not have any physical evidence... even trace evidence proving that the child was a victim of a homicide," Eisenbise said.
It's possible that Valerie Herrman could be charged with child abuse or not reporting Adam missing -- but not murder, he said.
Butler County Attorney Jan Satterfield has said that Doug and Valerie Herrman are suspects in Adam's disappearance and that the investigation could lead to murder charges, with the underlying crime being child abuse.
She could not be reached for comment on what Eisenbise said about the case.
Morrison's view
Paul Morrison, former Kansas attorney general and former Johnson County district attorney, indicated there are elements in the Adam Herrman case that could bolster the prosecution.
It is easier to prove that someone who disappeared was murdered if the person led a stable life, Morrison said. And the longer they remain missing, the easier it is to show they were victims, he said.
As the Johnson County prosecutor in 1990, Morrison obtained murder convictions against Richard Grissom in the deaths of three young women who disappeared in June 1989 and whose bodies were never found. According to court records, all three women were known to be reliable. They weren't likely to disappear unless they had been harmed.
Most children lead stable lives, but an exception is a chronic runaway, said Morrison, who now has a private law practice in Olathe.
Adam had a history of running away, Valerie Herrman said in an Eagle interview.
Convictions do happen
Despite the challenges of proving guilt in a bodyless case, it can be done.
At least four Kansas inmates are serving life sentences in bodyless murder cases. A fifth was paroled in January 2007 after serving more than two decades in prison.
Although Eisenbise has never defended someone in a bodyless case, he said his understanding is that such cases often end up with deadlocked juries.
"And for good reason," because the cases are "purely circumstantial," he said.
Butler County investigators have distributed a computer-generated photo of what Adam might look like now. They have conducted interviews and searched the Towanda mobile home park where Adam disappeared, along the nearby Whitewater River and in the manufactured home where he lived and have executed search warrants at the Herrmans' current home in Derby.
Next page >
Reach Tim Potter at 316-268-6684 or tpotter@wichitaeagle.com.
'Bodyless' murders challenge courts
BY HURST LAVIANA
The Wichita Eagle
This story was originally published in The Wichita Eagle on April 9, 2007.
In a typical murder trial, a jury reads the autopsy report, studies crime-scene photographs and listens to a pathologist discuss in detail the cause of the victim's death.
But in what lawyers refer to as "bodyless" murder cases -- cases in which a victim's body is never found -- prosecutors don't have the option of bringing those key pieces of evidence into the courtroom.
Sedgwick County prosecutors last week (April 4, 2007) filed their own bodyless case against Buddy A. Jones, who is suspected in the disappearance of Michelle Rawls from her south Wichita home in July. Wichita police have said little about the case other than that the two did not know each other, and that a rug is missing from her home.
Murder cases in which no body was found are set to go to trial this summer in Butler and Stanton counties.
A review of murder cases in Kansas in which no body was found shows that prosecutors who have taken a risk and filed such a case have generally fared well. Prosecutors know going in that if they lose before a jury, the case can't be retried if the body turns up after the trial.
"As a prosecutor, it's not something that your prefer and not something you take lightly," said Butler County Attorney Jan Satterfield, who is preparing for a June trial in the case of a Rose Hill man who has been missing since 1997.
"It's important, when the case is in the right posture, to proceed even if you don't have a body," she said. "You know a murder has occurred, and you can't let a murderer get away with it because there's no body."
At least four Kansas inmates are serving life sentences in bodyless murder cases. A fifth was paroled in January after serving more than two decades in prison.
Over the years, the Kansas Supreme Court has issued rulings in several bodyless murder appeals, but the court does not track the number of such cases that are filed, said Supreme Court spokesman Ron Keefover.
"It's rare, but it's certainly not unheard of," he said.
Wichita lawyer Jack Focht was appointed special prosecutor in a Kiowa County case that the Kansas Supreme Court said was the first in Kansas to result in a murder conviction when not even a part of the victim's body was found.
Focht said the defendant in the case was the grandson of a wealthy 78-year- old woman who disappeared at about the same time her house burned down. Focht said he had to prove not only that the woman's remains were not in the ashes, but that she was killed by the grandson so he could inherit her estate.
"She lived in a town of eight people," Focht said. "They said they all saw her all the time. Then all of a sudden, she just wasn't anywhere."
Focht said he did not take the filing of charges in the case lightly.
"When you have that kind of case, the potential for error is just great," he said. "You could be wrong as hell."
The defendant in that case, Michael Duane Pyle, has spent the past 35 years in prison serving a life term for first-degree murder.
Wichita lawyer Dan Monnat, who will be a defense attorney in the upcoming Stanton County case, agreed that courts should be extremely cautious when dealing with bodyless cases.
"Such cases are classical circumstantial-evidence cases _ and with all circumstantial cases, there is a great risk that an innocent person will be convicted," he said.
"There is no eyewitness. There is no direct evidence that the accused person did it. There is not even direct evidence that a death occurred."
Perhaps the most notorious of the state's bodyless cases involved serial killer Richard Grissom, who was convicted in 1990 of murdering three Johnson County women whose bodies were never found.
Joan Marie Butler, 24, disappeared on June 18, 1989. Christine Rusch and Theresa Brown, both 22, were last seen eight days later. Grissom also was the only suspect in the death of Terri Maness, 25, who was strangled and mutilated in her southeast Wichita apartment on June 6 or 7, 1989.
Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison prosecuted the case when he was Johnson County district attorney. He said it wasn't a difficult call to file charges against Grissom when investigators realized he could be an active serial killer.
"We had plotted his activities, and in our opinion he was on a killing spree at the time," Morrison said. "We thought he was killing women about once a week. There was clearly some urgency for us to act."
When the case went to trial, Morrison said, the lifestyles of the victims helped convince the jury that they were all dead.
"We had three women who had just dropped off the face of Earth," he said. "They were all very stable. They all had jobs. They all had families, and they all had no history of disappearing."
He said the trial was anything but routine.
"In most murder cases, you find a body and you start working backward," Morrison said. "Bodyless murder cases are different. What you do is work in reverse. You start with the last time they were seen, then work forward. I think it's an extra challenge, but it's not insurmountable."
The Butler County case involved the disappearance of Franklin "Pinky" Harrod, a former custodian for the Andover school district who was last seen on July 29, 1997.
Investigators said he was shot to death in a plot hatched by his wife, Kelly Bishop. She was sentenced to 32 months in prison last year after pleading guilty to solicitation of attempted first-degree murder. Prosecutors said Bishop persuaded Jerry and Tammy Trussell to kill Harrod.
Tammy Trussell, the person authorities say shot Harrod, was sentenced to 136 months, or just over 11 years, after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.
Jerry Trussell is scheduled to stand trial in June for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and aiding and abetting. Investigators think Harrod's body was buried near the Walnut River and was probably washed away in a 1998 flood.
Satterfield said she ultimately decided she had to file charges without a body.
"It's not the preferred course, but when you have exhausted everything and you're confident the person was murdered, you try the case with what you have," she said. "The murderer can't go free just because the body can't be located."
Bodyless murder cases in Kansas
These Kansas murder cases resulted in convictions despite the fact that the victims' bodies had not been found:
• On April 8, 1971, the Kiowa County home of Goldie Millar, 78, burned to the ground, and she was never seen again. A thorough search of the ashes turned up no trace of human remains.
Millar's grandson, Michael Pyle, who had been a troubled child prone to aggressive assaults and discipline problems, was later charged with murdering Millar so he could inherit her 3,100-acre ranch.
Although Pyle eventually claimed that he had set the fire with his grandmother inside, the confession didn't match the facts of the case. Although Millar's remains were never found, he was charged and convicted of first-degree murder.
Pyle, now 62, is in the Larned Mental Health Facility serving a life prison sentence. The case marked the first time that a bodyless murder case reached the Kansas Supreme Court, which upheld Pyle's conviction.
• In March 1978, 5-year-old Amber Haen disappeared from her apartment at 2730 S. Seneca in Wichita, and a massive search turned up no sign of her. Two years later, Larry D. Crawford, a former neighbor, confessed that he strangled Amber after she wandered into his apartment.
The confession came shortly after Crawford was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping, raping and slashing the throat of another 5-year-old girl, who survived the attack.
In the confession, Crawford told police that he put Amber's body in a plastic bag and left it in a trash bin near 31st Street South and Seneca. Police traced the trash to a nearby landfill but were never able to find her body.
Crawford pleaded guilty to Amber's murder and was sentenced to life. He died in prison in 1989 at age 40.
• On June 10, 1985, a Reno County jury convicted Leslie Walker of the Aug. 6, 1984, kidnapping and murder of Eugene "Bud" Branton, a co-worker at a Hutchinson grain elevator.
The case was filed after another man said he and Walker had robbed Branton of $350 and then each shot him four times on a county road west of Hutchinson. Walker apparently returned to the scene and moved the body to an unknown location.
Walker, now 53, was convicted of first-degree murder and is serving a life sentence at the El Dorado Correctional Facility.
• In January 1986, Sedgwick County prosecutors filed first-degree murder charges against Ronald Dougherty of Kingman in connection with the disappearance of a Liberal truck driver.
Witnesses at his preliminary hearing said that within two days of the disappearance of Ernest Harris, Dougherty was seen with Harris' coat, flashlight, thermos bottle and wedding ring.
Dougherty pleaded guilty to first-degree murder after prosecutors agreed to drop an aggravated robbery charge. Harris' body was later found near the Kingman-Pratt county line.
Dougherty was paroled in Sedgwick County in January after serving more than 20 years in prison.
• On Nov. 4, 1990, a Johnson County jury convicted Richard Grissom of murdering Joan Butler, 24, Christine Rusch, 22, and Theresa Brown, 22. All three disappeared in June 1989, and their bodies were never found.
Before his arrest, Grissom was seen driving a car rented by one of the victims. Investigators said he had credit cards and personal belongings of all three women. Police said he worked as a painter and had copies of keys to the apartments where the women lived.
Grissom also was suspected in the June 1989 murder of Terri Maness, a 25-year-old legal secretary who was strangled in her southeast Wichita apartment.
Grissom was not prosecuted in Maness' death, but his Johnson County sentence made him ineligible for parole for 105 years. He is serving his sentence at the Lansing Correctional Facility.
• On March 24, 1994, a Wyandotte County jury convicted Jerry D. Rice of first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Dorlinda Stakley-Rice.
Prosecutors contended that Rice dumped his wife's body in an old mine shaft near their home. Rice claimed that his wife left him and her two young children after a fight.
Four people testified at Rice's trial that they had seen Stakley-Rice after she was reported missing. Prosecutors called her two children to the stand, and they testified that they had seen their mother battered, bruised and unresponsive on the floor the day she disappeared. Rice, 61, is serving a life sentence at the Lansing Correctional Facility.
Reach Hurst Laviana at 316-268-6499 or hlaviana@wichitaeagle.com.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body Guy"
▣ More on Kevin Bron no body murder case in California
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Court today for La Quinta man accused of killing his mother
Desert Sun wire services • February 9, 2009
A 25-year-old man accused of murdering his mother will be in court this morning for a hearing to determine if he should stand trial on a first-degree murder charge.
Kevin Brom, who is being held in lieu of $1 million bail, has pleaded not guilty to killing his mother.
Terri Brom, 59, was last seen around 11 p.m. Nov. 27 before leaving for work at a Stater Bros. supermarket in La Quinta. Her body has not been found.
According to a document prepared by La Quinta police Detective Kenneth Patterson, Terri Brom told a friend that she was upset on Thanksgiving morning because of her son's insistence that his girlfriend's daughter move in with them.
Patterson, who prepared the court declaration in support of an arrest warrant, wrote that Terri Brom also told her friend that she asked her son and his girlfriend to move out and that she did not like the girlfriend, Kelly.
Terri Brom was reported missing by her son on Dec. 1. Her car was found the following day in the parking lot of the supermarket at Washington Street and Highway 111 where she worked.
Investigators have said they are searching for a large brown Burrtech garbage missing from a neighbor's driveway.
Deputy District Attorney Lisa DiMaria has said she believes there is enough evidence ``to believe Terri Brom is deceased'' and that the district attorney's office has ``convicted no-body homicides before.''
Linda Church, Terri Brom's sister, is expected to testify as a witness during today's preliminary hearing, according to court records.
Kevin Brom told investigators that his mother went to visit Church, who lives in Lake Havasu, Ariz., while she was missing, Patterson wrote.
Brom said he had spoken with Church on the phone on Nov. 30 and she said her sister had just left for La Quinta, according to Patterson.
Investigators contacted Church, who said ``she had not seen Terri, spoke to her or had any contact with Kevin over the weekend,'' Patterson wrote.
Church told investigators she had told Terri on Thanksgiving not to drive to her Lake Havasu house because ``it was too long of a drive for basically a one-day visit.''
Brom said during the interview he had not reported his mother missing until Dec. 1 because ``he thought she was in Lake Havasu,'' Patterson wrote.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge William Lebov issued a gag order Friday barring prosecutors and defense attorneys from making public comments about the case.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body Guy"
▣ Testimony continues in Pittsburgh no body murder case
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Witness says he saw corpse in defendant's shop
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
By Daniel Malloy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A former friend of the Hazelwood man charged with killing a man who has never been found testified this afternoon that he saw the corpse of Patrick Kenney in the back of Bryan Sedlak's tanning salon.
Robert Hoover, 30, testified that Mr. Sedlak, 37, asked him several times to help him move the body. The first time, early Feb. 3, 2005, Mr. Sedlak brought him to the Waters Edge Tanning Salon in Homestead, which Mr. Sedlak owned and was renovating at the time.
Mr. Hoover said he saw a body on the floor, and Mr. Sedlak jumped on the corpse and kicked it, claiming that the dead man had ruined his life. The second time, Mr. Hoover said he saw Mr. Kenney's body wrapped in a carpet, but he again refused to move it.
Mr. Hoover said Mr. Sedlak later told him he had chopped up the corpse and skinned it, and had put some of the skin in sulfuric acid. Mr. Hoover said Mr. Sedlak frequently spoke about the killing to friends and acquaintances around the Greenfield area.
In a fiery cross-examination -- during which Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning threatened to hold defense attorney Lisa Middleman in contempt -- Mr. Hoover insisted that he did not help Mr. Sedlak dispose of the body. Ms. Middleman pointed out that Mr. Hoover asked his mother for a generator and a saw, which Mr. Hoover said he only did as favor to Mr. Sedlak.
Mr. Hoover also spoke with Mr. Sedlak several times after the killing and went to the tanning salon with him.
"This is someone you know shot and killed someone and asked you for help and you were so scared of him, and you still got in his truck?" Ms. Middleman asked.
"Just because a kid made a few mistakes in his life doesn't mean I have to ignore him," Mr. Hoover responded.
Mr. Hoover testified that Mr. Sedlak told him Mr. Kenney was trying to rob him, a central point of Mr. Sedlak's self-defense argument. Ms. Middleman said in her opening statement that Mr. Kenney attacked Mr. Sedlak and shot at him, demanding more cocaine, prompting Mr. Sedlak to kill Mr. Kenney, who was 22 when he disappeared.
Also today, Mr. Sedlak's friend John Reed testified that he was involved in ditching Mr. Kenney's Cadillac Escalade in Greenfield, though he didn't know what was going on. Another friend, Stephen Tucibat, testified that Mr. Sedlak asked him to help move the body and he refused.
Prosecution testimony is scheduled to conclude tomorrow. Mr. Sedlak also is expected to take the stand in his own defense.
More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
First published on February 11, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ No body murder news updates
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Guilty verdict in South Carlina no body murder case
Note: Article incorrectly says this was the second no body conviction in the state. According to my table there have been at least 10 such convictions in South Carolina.
Bradley Family Gets Guilty Verdict, Wants Body To Bury
An Allendale man may spend the rest of his life in jail for the murder of 17-year-old Ericka Bradley. Thursday night, a jury found 20-year-old Dereck Maner guilty of her death. WJBF News Channel 6’s Joy Howe spoke with Bradley’s family, Friday, who says, still, with no body to bury, the verdict is bittersweet.
By Joy Howe
WJBF News Channel 6 Aiken County Reporter
Published: February 13, 2009
Allendale, SC—It ends where it all started…
17-year-old Ericka Bradley left work, in November of 2006. Witnesses say she ended up in front of the courthouse, in an argument with her boyfriend, and son’s father, Dereck Maner.
It was the last time she was seen alive.
Jackie Bradley, Ericka Bradley’s Mother: “Very good Mom, very independent too.“
The entire town turned out to help look, but her body was never found.
Annie Wright, Bradley’s Grandmother: “I don’t think there was a person in Allendale who wasn’t concerned about this case and what happened to Ericka.”
Cherry Jones, Allendale, SC: “It’s been the biggest talk in Allendale, and it’s been going on a long time.“
Maner was named as a suspect, and this week, put on trial for murder. Thursday night, he was found guilty.
J. Bradley: “It lifted a big burden off me, I know that much and I’m glad the judge did what he did, because he deserved it, because he didn’t have to do what he did.“
Jones: “But I think the worst part about it, both sides lost a family member.“
Now, the family’s attention will turn away from the past two years, towards the couple’s son Ty, now 2 year’s old.
Wright: “One day, I don’t know how we’re going to sit down and tell him, because I’m sure he’s going to sit down and ask questions about his mother. One day, and I pray that when we get to that point, it won’t be a rough time for him.“
Jones: “He lost his mother, and father. Which one? He isn’t going to know either one of them now.“
The Thanksgiving after Ericka disappeared, her family left a place at the table for her. This year, they plan to let Ty fill in.
J. Bradley: “At least he can take her spot at the table. I’ll be able to raise him, and take care of him like she would want me to do.“
Bradley says she is now sharing custody of Ty with Dereck Maner’s parents. They go back to court next month; Bradley is asking for full custody.
It is not over yet for the Bradley family. Johnathan Capps is accused of helping Derek Maner cover the crime, and is charged with accessory after the fact. He will go to trial as well, but that date has not been set yet.
The Allendale Sheriff tells this is the first time in Allendale County a guilty verdict has been reached without a body being found. It’s believed to only be the second time this has happened in South Carolina’s history.
We were unable to reach anyone in the Maner family for comment.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Jesse Watkins found guilty of no body murder in New Jersey
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From Cape May County Herald:
Friday, February 6:
COURT HOUSE — Nineteen years after Craig White was last seen alive, a jury of his peers found Jesse Watkins guilty of murder on Feb. 6.
Watkins and White were cousins, and good friends, but things between the two turned sour in late 1989, when Watkins reportedly learned of White’s summer affair with Watkins’ long-time girlfriend.
White, 18, was last seen Feb. 23, 1990, in Whitesboro, leaving his home in the 400 block of Washington Avenue in a pickup truck driven by Watkins. His body was never found neither was the murder weapon or exact location of the killing.
The already crowded courtroom was additionally manned with sheriff officers as Superior Court Judge Batten announced that the jury had a reached a verdict.
Watkins sat with his lawyer Christopher Robertson as the verdict was read. He did not display any emotion as the jury foreperson answered that he was found guilty of murder.
On the other side of the courtroom, White’s immediate family immediate family, including his mother Lee White, were overcome with emotion as the guilty verdict was read. As the jury exited the courtroom, White’s brother stood and said “thank you.”
Lee White then rushed from the courtroom to tell Craig White's aunt, Kay, who had not yet heard the verdict but had been present during the duration of the trial.
“It was all very emotional and a long time coming for closure,” Vincent Watkins, Craig White’s uncle, told the Herald after the family had left the courtroom.
“But there is a lot of mixed emotion. On the one hand there is the conclusion of my nephew’s disappearance that was in fact murder. And on the other hand, you have my uncle that had to watch his son be convicted of murder,” Watkins said.
Robertson told the jury during closing arguments that the state hasn't produced any evidence that Jesse Watkins murdered his cousin Craig White.
“The state wants a conviction,” he had told the jury. “But all they have is hearsay.”
Those statements, he said, created a constant stream of stories and exaggerations. Watkins, according to his defense, is not always truthful as many family members, including his sister and daughter testified to.
Robertson said that the prosecution doesn't have a crime scene, DNA, eye witnesses to the murder or ballistic evidence. And, most importantly, he told the jury, there is no body.
Robertson said that his client had the “unfortunate luck” to be the last person to be seen with Craig White. However, as he referred to three defense witnesses, not the only person to see White after Feb. 23, 1990, the date of the alleged murder.
White, he said, had pending charges against him, $40,000 buried in the woods and had, according to George Watkins Jr.'s testimony, kept in contact with a girl in California.
“This wasn't a very good investigation for a homicide case,” Robertson said and noted that their were no search warrants, no photos and no physical collection of evidence.
Robertson said that there was three major physical searches for White's body, but they all came up negative.
Robertson related the story to the jury of a pit bull shot by its owner for harming a baby when circumstantial evidence seemingly made the animal look guilty. The real culprit in that story was a wolf that the pit bull had protected the child from.
“Circumstantial evidence can lead to the wrong conclusion,” Robertson told the jury. “In this case it is simply not enough.”
Chief Assistant Prosecutor Rob Johnson told the jury that Craig White didn't run away in his closing statements.
“Craig White is dead. And he has been since Feb. 23, 1990,” Johnson said.
Johnson suggested that Watkins killed his cousin because of White's affair with Watkins’ long time girlfriend.
“He had time to talk about it, tell people how mad he was and even ask a friend the best way to get rid of a body,” Johnson said. “He had planned this for a couple of months.”
Johnson told the jury that despite pending charges, White had a lot of ties to area, including his 1-year-old son and entire family.
“Everything he ever owned was left in his room,” Johnson said. “His lights were left on and his music was playing. He told Ty and Tony White that he'd be right back. These men were cousins, but they were as close as brothers. Don't you think he would have mentioned something if he were planning on leaving?”
Johnson said that he realized that 19-years is a lot of time and noted that many witnessed needed to refresh their memory over statements made years ago.
“This case needed that time,” Johnson said. “Because Donald Watkins isn't threatened by Jesse Watkins until 2007. That's when he is afraid his brother will ‘do me like he did Craig.’”
Johnson said that the state also need Karen Fox, Watkins' ex-wife, and Margarette Marion, Watkins' ex-girlfriend, to come forward with their testimony of Watkins' confessions.
Johnson also noted that the lengthy searches and the fact that White's own son and mother haven't heard from him in 19 years.
Watkins’ bail was revoked as a result of the verdict and sentencing date was set for April 17.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body Guy"
▣ No Body Guy quoted in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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An article on the prosecution of no body murder cases quotes yours truly....
Prosecutors don't always need a body as evidence
Sunday, February 08, 2009
By Daniel Malloy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Corpus delicti means the body of the crime, but it doesn't have to mean a corpse.
The term refers to the legal requirement to prove a crime has been committed in order to prosecute it. It is often defined as the body in a murder case or charred remains of a house in an arson.
But in the case of Bryan Sedlak, scheduled for opening arguments tomorrow morning in an Allegheny County courtroom, there will be a rare homicide trial without the corpus. The alleged victim, Patrick Kenney, of Jefferson Hills, disappeared in 2005.
Thomas A. DiBiase, a former federal homicide prosecutor in Washington, D.C. who has researched no-body murder cases, has found 285 such trials have been held in the United States, dating back to 1843.
A handful of corpse-less cases have been prosecuted in Allegheny County, beginning in 1942 with the case of Wilma Lettrich, of Tarentum. Ms. Lettrich, 26, was convicted of smothering her sister Anna's 9-day-old baby and burning the body in a furnace on the family farm. She did it to avoid shame for the family because Anna Lettrich was not married. Wilma Lettrich initially confessed to police, but denied committing the crime at her trial.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported at the time that attorneys sought out Irish law for legal precedent, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision upholding her conviction set a state precedent that a body isn't required to obtain a murder conviction.
But it certainly makes things easier.
In October 1994, Sherman S. Mack, of Oakland, was arrested for the murder of his girlfriend, Donya Bell, who had been missing for 10 days. At a coroner's inquest, defense attorney James Ecker argued that Mr. Mack's alleged confession to a friend of Ms. Bell was insufficient evidence because no body had been found.
"She could have very easily been somewhere else on a joyride or on a trip," Mr. Ecker said he argued at the time.
Deputy Coroner Arthur G. Gilkes Jr. agreed and dismissed the charges, but Ms. Bell wasn't joyriding. A motorist found her remains a month later next to Interstate 79 in Sewickley Hills. Mr. Mack was convicted of first-degree murder in June 1995.
The longer the disappearance, the easier it becomes for prosecutors to assert that the victim is indeed dead. A Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision from 1989 allowed a jury to assume a person is dead if he or she disappears for seven years, lowering a hurdle for the prosecution.
That change in the law enabled Allegheny County prosecutors to file charges against Timothy Wayne Widman in 2006 for killing 3-year-old Nicole Lynn Bryner, his girlfriend's daughter, 24 years earlier. Mr. Widman, who claimed the death was an accident, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in 2007.
Mr. Widman confessed to the crime in 1986, but investigators couldn't find the body in the wooded area in Brookline where he said he had buried it.
Because of the corpus delicti rule, a confession alone is not enough to file charges, so prosecutors had to wait. Allegheny County Deputy District Attorney Mark Tranquilli said neither police nor prosecutors knew about the Supreme Court ruling until years later, so the prosecution was delayed.
"[The seven-year law] is helpful when no one has seen the body," Mr. Tranquilli said.
The evidence against Mr. Sedlak, 37, of Hazelwood, appears to be stronger, which is why he was arrested a mere 2 1/2 years after Mr. Kenney's Feb. 1, 2005 disappearance.
A witness testified at a preliminary hearing that he saw the dead body, and Mr. Sedlak asked him to help dispose of it. Other witnesses corroborated the story in grand jury testimony. Mr. Kenney's Cadillac Escalade was found abandoned near Mr. Sedlak's residence.
Of the 285 no-body trials he has researched, Mr. DiBiase estimates that 26 cases have resulted in acquittals or have been reversed on appeal.
Only once, he found, did a supposed victim turn up alive after someone was convicted.
Charles Hudspeth was executed in 1892 in Arkansas after being convicted of killing his lover's husband. The husband was found living in Kansas a short time later.
Mr. DiBiase said the 91 percent conviction rate is partly attributable to caution by prosecutors who don't want to go forward with a no-body case without a bundle of circumstantial evidence.
The evidence comes from an upside-down investigation that starts with a perpetrator instead of a body, often when police learn of a confession.
"That's usually what gets the ball rolling," Mr. Tranquilli said. "Until then, we just have a missing person. We need that hook ... then we have the opportunity to put that person under a microscope."
Investigators then set to gathering as much evidence as they can to overcome the legal hurdles.
First, prosecutors must satisfy the requirements of corpus delicti -- that the person is dead, and that he or she died by criminal means. Unless a witness can testify to seeing the corpse, this is done through circumstantial evidence.
Technological advances have made this much easier and have led prosecutors to push these cases sooner. They can look at cell phone, ATM and bank records. They can determine if the victim has applied for government assistance. And they can establish that it would be out of character for the victim to disappear without contacting friends or family.
Proving foul play occurred can be a bit more tricky, but Mr. Tranquilli said a common argument is that if the death was an accident or suicide, the body would have been found. If a victim falls into the Ohio River, that corpse will eventually float to the surface downstream -- unless it is tied down with weights.
If prosecutors present enough corpus delicti to get the case to trial, Mr. DiBiase said defense attorneys should beware of insisting the victim is alive.
"Just about the stupidest defense you can make is, 'the person's not dead,' " Mr. DiBiase said.
That opens the door for prosecutors to spend a lot of time talking about the victim, bringing in, for example, children whose birthdays their mother has missed.
"That gets an enormous amount of sympathy from a jury," he said. "You show the victim was a regular person and had regular contact with people. That is generally pretty devastating to the defense."
But there's always the chance that tugging on jurors' heartstrings may be outweighed by raising the question of whether the so-called victim is still roaming the Earth.
As defense attorney Mr. Ecker put it, "That's reasonable doubt, right there."
Daniel Malloy can be reached at dmalloy@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1731.
First published on February 8, 2009 at 12:00 am
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiasse, "No Body Guy"
▣ Ex-sheriff's deputy found guilty of no body murder
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Kovacich found guilty
Alternate jurors: Circumstantial evidence was strong
By Jenifer Gee Journal Staff Writer
Ben Furtado/Auburn Journal
Former Placer County Sheriff, Paul Kovacich, is found guilty of murder with the use of a firearm of his wife Janet.
After 26 years of wondering who killed a beloved Auburn mother of two, the answer came.
A jury found Paul Kovacich, Jr., a former Placer County Sheriff’s Office sergeant, guilty of murder with the use of a firearm in the Sept. 8, 1982 death and disappearance of his wife, Janet Kovacich.
The defendant did not display emotion and kept his head down as the jury was asked individually to answer whether or not their verdict was guilty of first-degree murder and agreeing that the allegation of the use of firearm was true.
Each juror said, “yes.”
The jury deliberated almost four days before reaching a decision.
Judge Mark Curry said a gag order, prohibiting anyone involved with case from discussing it publicly, will remain in place until a February hearing. The defense has issued a motion to dismiss.
Neither prosecutor Suzanne Gazzaniga nor defense attorneys John Spurling and Michael Sganga could comment on the case as a result of the gag order.
Outside of the courtroom, Auburn Police Chief Valerie Harris, as well as other investigators involved in the case gathered but were also instructed not to comment.
It was not apparent if family or friends of either Paul Kovacich or Janet Kovacich were in attendance.
The jury was quickly shuttled out of the courthouse by court officials. Three of the six alternates were in the courtroom.
Beverly Copren, of Auburn, an alternate juror, said the moment was “bittersweet.”
“It’s sad, but it’s what I felt,” Copren said.
Another alternate, who declined to give her last name, said she also agreed with the verdict.
“I felt the evidence strongly favored that verdict,” Sandy said.
Sandy added she felt Paul Kovacich’s alibis were not credible.
Copren added that despite the fact that many of the witnesses were testifying from events that happened more than 26 years ago, she felt they were strong. She said there wasn’t one specific piece of evidence that swayed her decision.
“I think it was a combination of all of the evidence,” Copren said. “Even though it was circumstantial, it was strong.”
Before Curry released the jury, he thanked them for fulfilling their civic duty during the four-month long trial.
“As far as I am concerned you’ve gone above and beyond the call of duty,” Curry said.
Paul Kovacich was remanded into custody. He remained seated as court bailiff’s secured handcuffs around him.
He will appear again in Placer County Superior Court at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 20 in Dept. 4 in the historic Auburn courthouse.
The Journal’s Jenifer Gee can be reached at jeniferg@goldcountrymedia.com or post a comment at auburnjournal.com.
▣ No body murder trial in New Jersey
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Investigator says Watkins ducked police, changed story
By BRIAN IANIERI Staff Writer, 609-463-6713
Published: Friday, January 30, 2009
CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE - Blake Moore waited outside the funeral of Bessie Williams at the First Baptist Church in Whitesboro.
He had a subpoena in his pocket.
Moore, a Middle Township detective, heard Jesse Watkins might attend his grandmother's funeral in 1991, the year after Watkins' cousin, Craig White, disappeared and Watkins left town.
The detective spotted Watkins walking down the church's steps and yelled to him, Moore testified in Superior Court on Thursday.
Watkins raised his finger, as if to say, in a minute, he said.
He then ducked and disappeared behind the cars on Main Street waiting to go to the cemetery, Moore testified.
The prosecution alleges that Watkins repeatedly avoided police officers for questioning of White's whereabouts, told conflicting statements about seeing White, and over the years confessed to acquaintances that he killed White.
In March 1990, Watkins broke an appointment with Moore, who asked him to return to Cape May County for questioning, Moore testified.
The prosecution alleges Watkins killed his White over an affair White had with his girlfriend. White disappeared Feb. 23, 1990. Witnesses point to Watkins as the last person to see White alive.
Several witnesses said White got in Watkins' red pickup truck to help him cut poles in the woods.
A long line of searches using law enforcement, the public, cadaver dogs and helicopters scoured local gravel pits, woods and bodies of water.
After 18 years, the search for Craig White's body led investigators to a Whitesboro yard overgrown with knee-deep weeds, underbrush and junk vehicles.
Working on a new lead in August 2008, investigators and a Public Works crew axed and sliced the underbrush down to the dry-brown dirt at Langston Street in Whitesboro.
Ground-penetrating radar and electromagnetic induction equipment were dragged over the ground, Bill Henfey, a forensic and crime-scene investigator from the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office, testified Thursday.
They found household trash, but no evidence and no body, Henfy testified. Henfey said investigators were working on a tip from Karen Fox, the ex-wife of Jesse Watkins.
Watkins had already been indicted for White's murder at the time of the August search,
But Henfey testified there were issues with the August 2008 effort. The equipment failed to detect a cesspool on the site, he said.
"You've got a big open hole in the ground, and the radar did not find it," he said.
And if White's body were located in the surrounding tree line, it could not be found, he testified.
A year and half before the search, investigators tried to use Watkins' brother, Donald Watkins, to elicit a confession that could be caught on tape.
The brothers were living in South Florida, but an argument prompted Jesse to threaten his brother "to do me like he did Craig," Donald Watkins testified Tuesday.
Henfey testified Thursday that he arrived in Florida in March 2007 and met Donald at a fire station after work.
Donald Watkins wore a small digital recorder in his shirt pocket when he next spoke to his brother. Jesse Watkins almost immediately accused his brother of wearing a wire, and the effort proved fruitless, Henfey said.
The prosecution is expected to rest its case Monday, at which time the defense will begin questioning its witnesses. The trial started Tuesday.
E-mail Brian Ianieri:
BIanieri@pressofac.com
▣ Famous Gotti no body murder case solved
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From the time I watched my law school professor, John Gleeson, now a federal judge in Brooklyn, try John Gotti the last (successful) time, I've always been fascinated with the Gottis and the mob in general. Now, an enduring mystery has been solved:
Informant says John Gotti Sr.'s neighbor, John Favara, was killed; dumped in barrel of acid
By JOHN MARZULLI
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Updated Thursday, January 8th 2009, 12:17 AM
Gotti Murder Mystery
John Gotti's fall from 'Dapper'
New York and the Mob
The corpse of John Gotti's Howard Beach neighbor - murdered after he accidentally killed the gangster's 12-year-old son in a traffic accident - was dissolved in a barrel of acid, an informant says.
John Favara's grisly fate is disclosed in court papers filed Tuesday in the upcoming racketeering trial of reputed Gambino soldier Charles (Charlie Canig) Carneglia.
He has long been suspected of getting rid of Favara's body after the father of two was shot in March 1980 on orders of the late Gambino crime boss. Favara's body has never been found.
Carneglia told a Gambino family associate, who is a government witness, that he disposed of the body by putting it in a barrel of acid, Assistant Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Roger Burlingame said.
The associate is not identified in the court papers, but sources told the Daily News it is Kevin McMahon, a mob wanna-be close to Carneglia.
Young Frankie Gotti was riding McMahon's minibike when the mob scion was fatally struck on 86th St. by Favara, who was briefly blinded by the setting sun as he drove home from work.
Prosecutors say Carneglia "protected" McMahon from retaliation by the Dapper Don for lending his son the minibike and - in a bizarre twist - McMahon is the one ratting him out.
No one could save Favara.
He found the word Murderer scrawled on his auto and was attacked with a bat by Gotti's wife, Victoria, but failed to heed repeated warnings to move out of the area, sources said.
Several weeks after the tragic accident, Favara was abducted outside the Castro Convertible warehouse where he worked in New Hyde Park, L.I.. Cops identified his killers as Gambino members John Carneglia, Charles' brother, Gene Gotti, Wilfred (Willie Boy) Johnson, Anthony Rampino and Richard (Redbird) Gomes.
Favara was forced into a van, sources said, and shot in the legs. He was taken to another location in Brooklyn where he was killed and stuffed into a 55-gallon drum, sources said.
"In a later discussion concerning his expertise at disposing of bodies for the Gambino family, which included a discussion of a book (Charles Carneglia) was reading on dismemberment, (Carneglia) informed another Gambino family associate that acid was the best method to use to avoid detection," Burlingame wrote.
Carneglia, 62, who is charged with five murders, including the fatal shooting of a hero court officer scheduled to testify against him, asked McMahon to help him move barrels of acid stored in his basement.
Former Bonanno crime boss Joseph Massino told the feds he thought Favara's remains were buried in a mob graveyard on the Brooklyn-Queens border. The feds believe the barrel was tossed into the ocean, sources said.
jmarzulli@nydailynews.com
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ An innocent man convicted of a no body murder?
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I was a prosecutor in the District of Columbia for 12 years and spent most of those years prosecuting murderers. In virtually every case, the defendant claimed he hadn't done it. Go into any prison in the country and you'll find hundreds of defendants claiming they're innocent and are wrongfully imprisoned. Obviously most of their claims are bogus. I've had people ask me many times if I've ever thought someone I convicted was innocent. Aghast that they think the system works that way (prosecutors aren't suppose to simply convict people but to do justice which means not prosecuting people they believe to be innocent), I always patiently explained that my job was only to prosecute if I thought the defendant was guilty and could prove by a greater than 50% chance that the defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Given the difficulty of winning convictions before very skeptical D.C. juries and the problems we had convincing witnesses to come forward, I also assured my questioners that it was higly unlikely I had ever convicted an innocent man. Impossible? Of course not. But I always worried more about the cases where the defendants were found not guilty or where we couldn't even bring the case to trial than I did worry that someone I had prosecuted was actually innocent. Indeed, I have dismissed cases where I had doubts about the guilt of a defendant or suspect. The past few years, however, have shown that innocent people do get convicted. Advances in DNA and a better understanding of the fallacies of eyewitness testimony have lead to exonerations including in murder cases where the defendant was facing a sentence of death. Groups such as the Innocence Project have performed an admirable role in advocating for innocent defendants. Given the difficulties of no body murder prosecutions, it might seem that no body murder cases would be fertile grounds for claims of innocence. I am generally skeptical of most claims of innocence and while most no body murders are actually fairly strong circumstantial cases, the book The Dreams of Ada by Robert Mayer has given me pause. Written in 1987 and updated in 2006, The Dreams of Ada is the story of the investigation and prosecution of two Oklahomans, Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot, who were accused, tried (twice) and convicted of the 1984 murder of Denice Haraway, a convenience store clerk and college student. Mayer spent time in Ada, Oklahoma and interviewed both defendants but in particular Tommy Ward. Ada, Oklahoma is also the setting for John Grisham's nonfiction book, The Innocent Man, which details the wrongful conviction of another defendant in Ada, Ron Williamson. Leading the investigation of both the Ward/Fontenot case and the Williamson case was District Attorney Bill Peterson and Detective Gary Rogers. The evidence against Ward and Fontenot was remarkably thin: both men were seen at a nearby convenience store shortly before the murder and both men confessed to the murder. Hold on, you say. They confessed? They must have done it, right? Without going into the long history of false confessions suffice it to say these confessions were pretty bad: replete with errors about the crime that later proved not to be true. Both men implicated a third man who they said was involved with the rape and murder of the victim. It turned out, however, that that man had a severely broken arm at the time of the murder and could not have been involved. In addition, the defendants said they stabbed the victim but in fact, when her body was found between the first and second trials, it turned out she had been shot. One defendant said the body had been dumped in the woods while the other said she had been placed into a house and the house then burned to the ground. In fact, the house had been burned down one year before the victim's disappearance. Ward, on whom the book mostly focuses, says he told the police, who admitted as such, that he had dreamed the scenario he confessed to the police and that he was not admitting to the crime. (Both Ward and Fontenot appear to be learning disabled and highly susceptible to suggestions made by the police.) There was no forensic evidence in the case but there was a jailhouse snitch who testified that Fontenot had confessed to the murder. The book is extremely well written and riveting. Even allowing for the poetic license and sympathy that was bound to develop with the author spending so much time with Ward and his very supportive family, the book raises very troubling questions about justice in a small town and the strength of this particular conviction. (For a alternative view, please go to DA Bill Peterson's website where he defends both the Ward/Fontenot convictions and the Williamson conviction, http://myweb.cableone.net/ldpeterson/grishamsfolly/grishamsfolly.htm. Chris Ross, a member of the No Body Murder Hall of Fame, worked on the Ward/Fontenot case and is now the county DA.) Anyone interested in no body murder cases or cases of actual innocence should read this beautifully written book and draw their own conclusions.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Man sentenced in DC no body murder case
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More on the Michael Dickerson case in DC:
SUPERIOR COURT
Judge Sentences Man to 15 Years In 1996 Slaying of Ex-Girlfriend
By Keith L. Alexander
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 10, 2009; Page B10
A Southeast Washington man was sentenced to 15 years in prison yesterday for his role in the slaying of a former girlfriend 12 years ago as part of a controversial plea agreement with the U.S. attorney's office.
In November, Michael E. Dickerson, 39, a former drug dealer, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in connection with the 1996 shooting death of his ex-girlfriend, Shaquita Bell, 23. In return, prosecutors did not charge Dickerson with the shooting death of Sean Thomas that same year.
Prosecutors said they agreed to the deal because of the difficulty in investigating and trying the case so many years later. D.C. Superior Court Judge Neal E. Kravitz explained why Dickerson received what many of his victims' relatives in the courtroom consider a light sentence.
Kravitz said he could not legally throw out the plea agreement without the case then going to trial. It was a gamble that Kravitz said he was not willing to make.
"A 15-year sentence was a compromise given the difficulty of prosecuting this case," Kravitz said.
Dickerson also promised to help lead detectives to Bell's body. He took them to a wooded spot in rural Prince George's County where he said he had buried her. Her remains have not been found. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Haines said police will resume the search in the spring when the weather clears.
Bell's mother, Jackie Winborne, said that although she agreed to the sentence in hopes of finding her daughter's body, the prison term was too short. "There's no such thing as closure," she said. "I felt like the prosecutor was working against us. I'm really hurt."
D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier spearheaded efforts to reopen the cold case in summer 2007.
Before Dickerson's plea, Haines said her office "never thought we would have so much luck or a miracle to close this case." The sentencing, she said, "won't be able to undo what happened in the past but it can help begin the healing."
With his arms shackled, Dickerson apologized to the families. Watching was his 13-year-old daughter, Alexis, whom he had with Bell and who wept in her grandmother's arms as Dickerson spoke. "If I could just take back time, I would, but it's something I can't do," he said. "The only thing I can change is myself and try to be a better man."
Relatives of Thomas were angered that Dickerson was not charged with killing Thomas. "I don't feel it's enough time," said Jeannette Hinnant, Thomas's sister. "They dismissed one murder and gave him 15 years for another."
Before his plea, Dickerson, who has been imprisoned since 1996 for assault and a weapons offense, was scheduled to be released next month.
Staff writer Janie Boschma contributed to this report.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Back by popular demand: More book reviews
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A few weeks ago I finished Darker than Night by Tom Henderson (not the prosecutor named Tom Henderson who prosecuted the Lindsey and Rimmer no body murder cases). This is the story of the Michigan murder investigation of brothers Raymond and Donald Duvall who murdered two hunters in 1985 after getting into a dispute with the victims in a local bar. The crime remained unsolved for 18 years despite the persistent efforts of several police detectives, most notably Bronco Lesneski of the Michigan State Police. The author is a long time journalist who has covered a variety of fields including sports and finance, and it shows in his writing skills. The book is well written and even though the suspects are identified in the beginning, Henderson keeps the story vivid by tracking the relentless efforts of the police and the complete depravity of the defendants for whom the term "complete dirtbags" somehow seems inadequate. (The multiple discussions of the boys, uh, adventures with pigs was enough to swear me off bacon for a month.) An interesting aspect of this case is that there was no forensic evidence inculpating the defendants and the case was based almost solely on the brothers' statements to others and an eyewitness to part of the murders. Occasionally the prose is a little purple, but the story is so fascinating and the thoroughness of Henderson's coverage so complete that these lapses are easily forgiven. He develops the characters of the detectives, especially Lesneski, and the prosecutor, Donna Pendergast, so well that they almost appear to be fictional, if that's a compliment. I enjoyed this book and anyone interested in the no body murder genre (there's got to be more of you out there than just me and Banic!) will enjoy this book as well.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Recent no body murder news
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Been too busy at work to blog so here's the catch up.....
California man pleads guilty after two days of trial
Mohammed Monie pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and other felonies in return for 30 years in prison. The deal came less than two complete days after jurors began hearing the case against Monie, accused of masterminding the plan to kill Perruquet and prodding Jesse Rodriguez, then 14, to carry out his wishes with a stolen handgun.
Monie, now 41, will spend a minimum of 15 years incarcerated under the terms of the deal reached Wednesday afternoon. Monie also pleaded no contest to the use of a weapon, infliction of great bodily injury, robbery with the use of a weapon, car theft, possessing stolen property, selling drugs and providing drugs to others at a residence.
The parents of victim Bobby Perruquet were supportive of the deal, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe who called the decision a good settlement.
“We were finding as witnesses testified that the years since the crime occurred were weighing on their memory and might lead to questions about their accuracy,” Wagstaffe said.
The witness testimony was expected to be key to the case, as jurors would not have any physical evidence or even Perruquet’s body to consider. Adding to the challenge, admitted shooter Jesse Rodriguez could not stand trial alongside Monie because he was a 14-year-old at the time of Perruquet’s April 29, 1989 disappearance and assumed death.
Instead, the prosecution focused on Monie, then 21, who it contended masterminded the fatal shooting so he could have parts from Perruquet’s prized baby blue Monte Carlo. Monie also had a Monte Carlo but it was less pristine.
According to opening statements presented Monday, Perruquet’s mother last saw him when he stopped at home for a shower before heading out with Monie, Rodriguez and a female friend.
Perruquet’s disappearance was odd as he was only weeks away from a scheduled drive to Southern California with a family friend to start a new job and his uncle was about to have a birthday party.
But Perruquet’s car was found four days later abandoned at a train station near San Francisco, stripped and sprayed with primer. Rodriguez and Monie drew suspicion but the investigation was dormant until 2005 when the cold case was re-evaluated. Rodriguez, now a father of two, reportedly told police after the men drank and smoked marijuana, Monie urged him to kill Perruquet by making throat slitting and shooting hand gestures. Rodriguez said he shot Perruquet multiple times with a gun stolen from his father and the men drove the body in the car’s trunk to Half Moon Bay where it was dumped down a ravine. The remains have never been found.
Defense attorney Connie O’Brien conceded Monie helped dispose of the body but told jurors he did not request the killing. She said Rodriguez, who could not recall the victim’s name, implicated her client after being intimidated and interrogated by authorities.
“This case is not about how Mohammed Monie committed murder. This case is about how Jesse Rodriguez got away with it,” O’Brien told jurors.
Rodriguez could not be tried because, in 1989, a 14-year-old could not be charged as an adult for murder and now at 33, he is past the 25-year age limit for juvenile inmates. Instead, Rodriguez was expected to testify for the prosecution.
Monie’s plea change ended a case that already had one other false start. In Fall 2007, a judge declared a mistrial after a police chief testified to information previously barred from the trial.
Monie remains in custody on no-bail status. He returns to court June 2 for sentencing.
Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102.
California man arrested for murdering his mom and disposing of body
Paging Norman Bates....
Kevin Brom will be back in court for a preliminary hearing
City News Service • January 7, 2009
A 25-year-old man accused of killing his mother, possibly because of a dispute over his girlfriend, will be in court Thursday for a hearing to determine if he should stand trial on a first-degree murder charge.
Kevin Brom, who is being held in lieu of $1 million bail, appeared in court Tuesday for a felony settlement conference, an informal discussion before a judge between a defense lawyer and a prosecutor to discuss a possible resolution to a case.
He will be back in court for a preliminary hearing Thursday before Judge Thomas Douglass.
Last Wednesday, Deputy Public Defender David Prendergast filed a request for a gag order to prevent information about the case from being leaked to the media, but the request was denied.
Prendergast said outside court he could not comment on the case because he has not received any information from prosecutors.
“The prosecution promised some materials today,” Prendergast said. “I know as much as the average guy in the street about this case.”
Terri Brom, 59, was last seen around 11 p.m. Nov. 27 before she left for work at a Stater Bros. supermarket in La Quinta. Her body has not been found.
Deputy District Attorney Lisa DiMaria said outside court that the district attorney's office “has convicted no-body homicides before.”
“We believe there is enough evidence to believe Terri Brom is deceased,” DiMaria said.
According to a court document prepared by La Quinta police Detective Kenneth Patterson, Terri Brom told a friend that she was upset on Thanksgiving morning because of her son's insistence that his girlfriend's daughter move in with them, according to court records.
Patterson, who prepared the declaration in support of an arrest warrant, wrote that Terri Brom also told her friend that she asked her son and his girlfriend to move out and that she did not like the girlfriend, Kelly.
Terri Brom was reported missing by her son on Dec. 1. Her car was found the following day in the parking lot of the supermarket at Washington Street and Highway 111 where she worked.
Investigators have said they are searching for a large brown Burrtech garbage can that is missing from a neighbor's driveway.
Parents suspects in case of missing 11 year old boy
From KSN.com
DA: Herrmans are suspects in Adam's disappearance.
DA: Herrmans are suspects in Adam's disappearance
By Justin Kraemer
Story Created: Jan 17, 2009 at 3:43 PM CST
Story Updated: Jan 18, 2009 at 11:18 AM
EL DORADO, Kansas (KSN) -- Butler County's top prosecutor says the adoptive parents of an 11 year old boy who vanished ten years ago are suspects in his disappearance and could face murder charges even if police never find his remains.
"There's been no record of him for ten years," said District Attorney Jan Satterfield. "That means something in my mind. It’s not as if he's been a short period."
No one has seen Adam Herrman alive since 1999. His adoptive parents Doug and Valerie Herrman have told police he ran away after she spanked him with a belt and they never reported him missing out of fear they would lose their other adopted children over claims of child abuse.
In the last week, deputies have searched the lot in Towanda where the Herrman's trailer stood when the family lived there at the time of his disappearance. They've also searched fields on the outskirts of town looking for any trace of Adam.
"You need to be searching, getting the word out," said Satterfield. "If he's alive you need to exhaust all resources trying to find him."
Satterfield said even if no body is ever found it is still possible for the Herrman's to be prosecuted on murder charges.
"Yes, it’s rare," said Satterfield. "Understand he hasn't been seen in 10 years. It hasn't been 2 weeks or 2 years."
While public pressure has been mounting to move the case forward and hold someone accountable, Satterfield said police and prosecutors will take their time building a case. She said if and when charges are brought against the Herrmans her office will present its entire case at once.
Records show Valerie and Doug Herrman continued to collect money from the state for their foster care of Adam for years after he disappeared. Satterfield said her office will hold off on theft or fraud charges until the investigation is complete because of concerns about double jeopardy and constitutional due process laws.
Satterfield said if her office convicts the Herrmans of child abuse it may make it difficult to charge them with murder charges related to the abuse because of double jeopardy.
"We're not going to respond to the public pressure," said Satterfield. "We're going to do the right thing and these things take time."
The Wichita Eagle is reporting the Herrmans are now represented by different attorneys. Both had been represented by Warner Eisenbise of Wichita. Doug Herrman is now being represented by Dan Monnat according to the Eagle.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Recent No Body Murder News
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Thanks to Australian No Body Murder expert Steve Banic for bringing these to my attention:
Charges brought against Connecticut man for 1986 no body murder of teen:
Sex Offender Charged In Murders Of Teenagers
By DAVID OWENS | The Hartford Courant
4:09 PM EST, December 5, 2008
A registered sex offender from New Britain was charged with capital felony, felony murder and murder in connection with the killing of three Hartford teenagers in the 1980s.
Pedro Miranda, 51, is being held on $7.5 million bail and is to be arraigned Monday in Superior Court in Hartford.
The cold case squad in the Chief State's Attorney's office, along with state, Hartford and Bloomfield police, worked to bring the new charges against Miranda.
Miranda, who was arrested today at his New Britain home, is charged in the deaths of Rosa Valentin, 16, who was last seen alive in Miranda's car on July 26, 1986; Mayra Cruz, 13, who was reported missing Oct. 8, 1987 and whose body was found Nov. 8, 1987 in East Windsor; and Carmen Lopez, who was last heard from on Jan. 2, 1988 and found strangled Jan. 5, 1988 in an apartment on Nelton Court in Hartford.
A man is now serving a 60-year prison sentence for the killing of Lopez and lawyers for that man, Miguel Roman, brought evidence of his innocence to the attention of prosecutors, who opened the new investigation. A petition for a new trial for Roman is pending in Superior Court in Hartford.
Case dismissed in no body murder trial in North Carolina
In a rare set back in a no body murder case, a judge in North Carolina tossed murder charges against Eric Quick one of four men charged with the murder of Linda Watts based upon a lack of evidence:
Murder charge tossed in case of missing Sanford woman
Posted: Dec. 16, 2008
Sanford, N.C. — A judge on Tuesday dismissed charges against the first of four men tried in the disappearance of a Sanford woman.
Eric Quick, 38, was charged with murder and kidnapping in the May 11, 2004, disappearance of Linda Watts, who police believe was abducted as she walked home from her job in the mailroom at the Sanford Herald newspaper.
Her body has never been found.
Superior Court Judge Gregory Weeks ruled prosecutors failed to link Quick to Watts' disappearance and presumed death, and he granted a defense motion to dismiss the charges.
Phillip Bunnell, Gilbert Stone Jr. and Frederick Spinks also have been charged in the case.
Copyright 2008 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
And an earlier story on the same trial:
Murder trial begins without body of missing Sanford woman
Posted: Dec. 8, 2008
The murder trial for a man charged in connection with the death of a missing Sanford woman began Monday, even though the victim's body has never been found.
Police said Linda Darlene Holder Watts was walking from her job at The Sanford Herald on May 11, 2004, when someone saw two men force her into a vehicle near McIver and Jenkins streets. Investigators found some of her belongings and a pool of blood nearby.
Eric Quick, 37, was arrested in February 2006 in Detroit, on charges, including, first-degree kidnapping , rape and murder, in connection with her disappearance.
Evidence in the case has not been made public, and both families and friends of both the victim and Quick expect the trial to provide new information about the case.
"To me, I'm thinking why (has the investigation) been going on so long? Because they are trying to gain evidence. You can't gain nothing that you don't got," said Eric Quick's brother, Franklin Quick.
For Watts' family, they say the trial offers a piece of closure to for them.
"It's not something I want to hear," said Watts' daughter, Casey Holder. "But it is something we're ready for, because we want it to be over."
Frederick Spinks also faces the same charges as Quick. He will be tried separately. Two other men, Gilbert Delano Stone Jr. and Phillip Jason Bunnell face aiding and abetting charges in the case.
Reporter: Bruce Mildwurf
Suspected serial killer Robert Zarinsky dead at 68:
by The Star-Ledger Continuous News Desk
Saturday November 29, 2008, 10:49 AM
Robert Zarinsky, a suspected serial killer who spent the last three decades in prison for the murder of an Atlantic Highlands girl, died Friday at the South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton. He was 68.
Zarinsky died at 8:25 p.m. in the hospice unit at the South Jersey prison, said Matt Schuman, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections. An exact cause of death was not given, but Zarinsky had suffered from "major respiratory issues" before his death, Schuman said.
Zarinsky's death came as he was nearing trial for the 1968 murder of 13-year-old Jane Durrua of Keansburg.
Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-LedgerRobert Zarinsky appeared in Superior Court in Monmouth County earlier this year handcuffed, strapped to a gurney and breathing oxygen.
He had been in prison since his 1975 conviction for killing Rosemary Calandriello of Atlantic Highlands. The timid 17-year-old disappeared Aug. 25, 1969, on her way to the corner store for a carton of milk. She was last seen alive in Zarinsky's Ford convertible, but her body has never been found.
Zarinsky was the first person in New Jersey to be convicted of murder without a body for evidence. He was sentenced to life in prison and was entitled to an annual parole review. He consistently denied committing the murder, and only in recent years, in his bid for early parole, admitted killing Calandriello. Then, he claimed, she died when he accidentally backed over her with his car.
In 2007, Zarinsky was transferred from the maximum security New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, to the extended care unit at South Woods State Prison.
In correspondence with The Star-Ledger, Zarinsky denied any role in the Durrua homicide. "I most certainly was not involved in it, as I was not not involved in the numerous other allegations made against me over the years," he wrote on May 26, 2007.
A Dec. 10 hearing was scheduled in Superior Court in Monmouth County in which the prosecutor's office was seeking the court's permission to use testimony about Zarinsky's alleged attempts to lure four other Monmouth County teenagers into his car to buttress the Durrua case. Those alleged incidents took place nine months after Durrua's death.
Authorities also believe Zarinsky had a long list of victims, most of them teenage girls. Among the unsolved murders for which he was a suspect are that of Linda Balabanow, 17, of Union in 1969, and Joanne Delardo, 15, and Doreen Carlucci, 14, of Woodbridge in 1974.
In 1999, Zarinsky's sister, Judith Sapsa, implicated him in the 1958 unsolved murder of Rahway police officer Charles Bernoskie. Sapsa turned on her brother after he reported her to authorities for stealing money from his mutual fund. She, in turn, told police she remembered, in vivid detail, a November night, four decades earlier, when her older brother and their cousin stumbled into the Zarinsky home, wounded and bleeding. According to Sapsa, they told Zarinsky's parents they were caught breaking into a Rahway car dealership and Robert shot a cop.
Sapsa claimed her mother used a pair of tweezers to dig a bullet out of Zarinsky and then swore the family to secrecy about the shooting. Theodore Schiffer, the cousin who was there that night, corroborated Sapsa's story. He spent three years in prison for his role as an accomplice in the shooting.
Zarinsky was acquitted of Bernoskie's murder after a jury trial in 2001. Members of the jury said afterward they believed Zarinsky killed the officer, but the prosecutor had not convinced them "beyond a reasonable doubt." Ironically, Zarinsky died on the 50th anniversary of Bernoskie's murder.
Elizabeth Bernoskie went on to sue Zarinsky for causing her husband's death. In 2003, a jury awarded the widow $9.5 million in damages. She collected $154,000 from Zarinsky's mutual fund account. But last year an appeals court ordered her to give the money back. Zarinsky returned her check, demanding additional interest.
For more information on Zarinsky, read Deadly Secrets the 15-part series on one of New Jersey's most notorious killers.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Caylee Anthony's body identified
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The highest profile no body murder case of recent times is no longer a no body case. The next question is whether the State of Florida will move to reinstate the death penalty.
From ABC News:
DNA Testing Identifies Child's Remains as Caylee Anthony
Medical Examiner Rules Death a 'Homicide of Undetermined Means'
By LEE FERRAN
Dec. 20, 2008
The bones and skull found near the home of missing toddler Caylee Anthony have been determined to be the skeletal remains of the little girl, police concluded Friday.
Authorities identify remains as those of the missing Florida toddler.
Using DNA testing, officials identified the remains of a young girl found last week as the missing Florida toddler. Caylee's mother, Casey Anthony, is being held on first-degree murder charges.
The bones showed no evidence of trauma before Caylee died, and the death is being ruled a "homicide of undetermined means," said Orange County chief medical examiner Dr. Jan Garavaglia. The medical examiner has asked for toxicology tests to be performed on the remains.
The announcement brings just one tragic answer to a mystery that has gripped the nation since Casey reported the 2-year-old missing a month after she disappeared in June. It is not clear whether Caylee died before or after her third birthday on Aug. 9.
Caylee's remains, including a skull, were discovered in a wooded area less than half a mile from the Anthony home in Orlando, Fla on Dec. 11. Police have since found "most of [a] skeleton," Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Carlos Padilla told ABC News.
According to Padilla, the child's final resting place was in a section of woods people regularly use to dump trash and "bury their pets."
The discovery of evidence that the scene that was linked to the Anthony home prompted police to execute a search warrant on the home last week. Police were seen removing boxes and bags of evidence from home.
Related
It's Official: Skeletal Remains Are Caylee
Anthony Lawyers Angry Over Access
The skull fell from a bag that was found at 9:30 a.m. by an Orlando utility worker. The worker then reported it to authorities. Click here to hear the 911 call.
That worker had called police three times to urge them to search the area back in August, but after police responded twice to investigate, no body was found.
Preparing for the Worst
With Caylee's body positively identified, attention turned towards her mother, 22-year-old Casey Anthony, who was charged with the toddler's murder in October.
Casey Anthony was arrested the day after she reported Caylee missing on charges including child neglect. She became a person of interest in the little girl's disappearance after police found traces of chloroform and strands of hair similar to Caylee's in the trunk of a car last driven by Casey Anthony.
Anthony was officially charged with first-degree murder Oct. 14. She has pleaded not guilty to charges ranging from first-degree murder to lying to investigators. She faces life in prison if convicted.
The discovery of a body was not an unanticipated possibility for Casey's defense attorney Jose Baez, Baez's spokesman Todd Black told ABC News last week.
"From the beginning we started preparing for the worst," Black said. "We were working under the assumption that a body could be found."
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ More Book Reviews!
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I recently finished Never Seen Again by Jeanne King. This book recounts the ten year battle to convict Nashville attorney Perry March for the murder of his wife, Janet Levine. It's a fascinating story since March was, by all accounts, a seemingly successful attorney who had no history of violence towards his wife. When Levine discovers steamy letters March wrote to a law firm colleague, she threatens to divorce him. She soon disappears and, according to March, left on a "12 day vacation" while leaving March behind with their two young children. One of my favorite clues in the case is when Levine's travel bag is found in her car, suspiciously located only blocks from the March home, there are no bras packed in her bag. Thus, it was clear that a man had packed the bag and forgotten about packing bras. Little things like this are often what trip up even smart criminals. Despite the interesting story the book was not particularly well written. King is a journalist who covered crime for Reuters and the book reads more like a long newspaper story. Factual and in complete chronological order, it is well reported but lacks any particular hook or style to pull it outside the realm of the ordinary true crime genre. (Admittedly a genre not exactly know for stylish prose or great writing.) That said, it's a fun read and offers those of us interested in no body murder cases a detailed look at how these cases are investigated.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Alchemy of Bones by Robert Loerzel
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In my continuing review of books involving no body murder cases, today I review Alchemy of Bones by Robert Loerzel. This book covers the forgotten trial of Adolph Luetgert who was convicted, after two trials, of murdering his wife in Chicago in 1897. Luetgert owned a sausage factory and the trial was luridly covered by numerous Chicago and United States' newspapers who were fascinated by the possibility that Luetgert had encased bits of his wife's body into his sausage, a notion even the prosecution did not put forward. The book is exceedingly well-written, meticulously investigated and well-done throughout. It reads more like a novel than a true crime book and Loerzel does an excellent job of portraying Chicago, especially its burgeoning immigrant population, at the dawn of the 20th century. The various tactics of the press would shock us today including the newspapermen who managed to secrete themselves in a shaft outside the jury room where they managed to listen in to the entire deliberations after the first trial. My only (mild) complaint is that the book dragged a bit in the middle and there was a little too much focus on the defendant's thoughts and comments (much of it self-serving) throughout the book. That said, I highly recommend this book and it goes to the top of the no body murder genre heap.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Man charged with no body murder after already having been convicted of kidnapping
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Thanks to a heads up from fellow no body murder researcher Steve Banic from Down Under:
Convicted kidnapper Tory Teigen charged with murder
By Heidi Bell Gease, Journal staff | Thursday, November 20, 2008
BELLE FOURCHE -- The man convicted in 2005 of kidnapping Troy Klug has now been charged with killing him.
Tory Teigen, 32, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in 4th Circuit Court to a four-count grand jury indictment charging him with first-degree murder, felony murder and two counts of second-degree murder. He could face the death penalty if convicted of any of the first three counts. The fourth count carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
Teigen was transported to the hearing at Butte County Courthouse in Belle Fourche from the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, where he is serving a 100-year sentence for kidnapping Klug.
Teigen, who has now has a beard, appeared in court Wednesday in shackles. He listened solemnly as state Judge John Bastian explained the charges against him, then entered his pleas.
Klug, 26, disappeared July 12, 2004, after going to the Rapid City home of Cynthia Kindall to buy methamphetamine. Prosecutors believe Teigen bound Klug with duct tape, took him to Belle Fourche in the trunk of Kindall's car and later beat and killed him.
Although Klug's body has not been found, two people are in prison for being accessories to his murder.
Prosecutors and witnesses said Teigen and Kindall took Klug to the Belle Fourche home of James Kusick and Jamee Corean, where Klug was kept in a toolbox in the garage and later died. Witnesses also said Kusick and Corean knew Klug was there but did not contact authorities.
Klug's mother, Joyce Klug, said Wednesday that she would be satisfied to see Teigen in prison with no chance for parole. With the 100-year sentence, he could be freed after serving about 50 years.
"I think that he needs to sit, you know, for the rest of his life and think about what he's done," Joyce Klug said. "I'm not a forgiving person in his case."
She doesn't look forward to another trial, she said, but, "I think I'm better prepared now. I know everything. I've been up there (in Montana) where they think Troy is at. And I've come to peace with that part of it."
Kusick pleaded guilty to accessory to murder and perjury and was sentenced earlier this year to a total of 20 years in prison. Corean, his former girlfriend, was convicted of aiding and abetting an aggravated kidnapping and accessory to murder after a trial in August and was sentenced to a mandatory life prison sentence.
Corean is appealing her conviction. She also faces perjury charges in Pennington County.
Kindall, 44, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to kidnapping and received a 20-year prison sentence.
If convicted of first-degree murder, felony murder or of killing Klug to prevent detection of a crime, Teigen could face a death sentence. Butte County State's Attorney Tim Vander Heide and Assistant Attorney General Rod Oswald, who are prosecuting the case, have not determined if they will seek the death penalty.
Teigen's next court appearance is Thursday, Dec. 18.
Contact Heidi Bell Gease at 394-8419 or heidi.bell@rapidcityjournal.com
▣ Nancy Grace and No Body Hall of Fame
2 Comments added to this post
I was on Nancy Grace (with Jane Velez-Mitchell hosting) on Friday night talking about the Caylee Anthony case. Trial is set for January 5, 2009.
I have spoken before of the No Body Hall of Fame, that is, prosecutors who have prosecuted more than one no body case. (I suppose I could add any defense attorneys who have tried more than one case but 1. I haven't found any and 2. it just doesn't seem right!
So here are the prosecutors I'm aware of who have prosecuted more than one no body murder case:
1. Chris Ross, OK: Gary Lee Rawlings, 1985; Karl Alen Fontenot, and Thomas Jesse Ward,1989; Darren Elliott, 2001; Katharine Rutan, 2007
2. Steve Kaplan, Mich.: Robert William Pann, 2001; Arthur Nelson Ream, 2008.
3. Donna Pendergast, Mich.: Junious Maurice Hall, Jeffrey Holmes and Michael Monford, 2001; Raymond and Donald Duvall, 2003.
4. Marv Stern, CA: Barbara and Larry Carrasco, 1999; Kevin Clark,and Helen Tibon, 2002.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ More on "Joe Onions"
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From the Providence Journal:
No body? No problem in nearly 300 murder prosecutions
01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, November 19, 2008
By Tracy Breton
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — When Andrew F. Merola and Nicholas S. Pari were charged with assassinating Joseph P. “Joe Onions” Scanlon 30 years ago, their lawyers cried foul. In arguments before and during their trial, and again after a jury convicted the men of first-degree murder, the defense attorneys tried to derail the prosecution.
“The state has no body, no weapon, no bloodstains, no scientific evidence, no physical evidence,” Merola’s lawyer argued to the jurors.
But even though the state could not produce a body to prove that Scanlon was dead, prosecutors had a live witness –– Scanlon’s girlfriend –– who testified that she had watched Merola fire a handgun into the back of her lover’s head while Pari diverted his attention by punching him in the face.
They also had another witness, who said he helped Merola wrap Scanlon’s body in plastic garbage bags and place it in the trunk of Merola’s car. Then there was the FBI informant from Brooklyn, N.Y., who told the jury that Merola came to his home and told him he had killed Scanlon because he was a “stool pigeon.”
Jurors interviewed after the trial said they found the testimony convincing. After nearly six hours of deliberation, they pronounced both defendants guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Years later, after their convictions were overturned based on errors made by the trial judge, Merola and Pari admitted killing Scanlon. As part of a plea agreement, the now-deceased Merola pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and was sentenced to serve 10 years of a 25-year term. Pari was ordered to serve 7 years of a 20-year sentence for manslaughter.
While the Joe Onions case was the first murder prosecution in Rhode Island where no body had been recovered, there have been nearly 300 of them in the United States dating back to the 1800s. And most of the prosecutions have resulted in convictions.
Washington, D.C., lawyer Thomas A. “Tad” DiBiase –– who spent more than 12 years as an assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting mostly homicide cases –– keeps track of all of the “no body” cases in the United States as a hobby. His Web site –– www.nobodycases.com –– lists all of the “no body” trials ever held.
One of the first, in 1843, involved three men accused of murdering the master of their schooner, the Sarah Lavinia, on the “high seas” off the coast of New England. But most such prosecutions have been in the last 30 years. According to DiBiase’s research, as of Nov. 13 of this year, there had been 279 “no body” murder trials in the United States and the Virgin Islands, and only 25 of them had resulted in acquittals or had been overturned on appeal.
DiBiase said in an interview yesterday that he believes there are just three states ––Vermont, New Hampshire and Idaho –– where prosecutors still haven’t tried a “no body” case.
One of the most high-profile cases now being played out on the nightly news is a “no body” case in Florida. Casey Anthony, 22, is facing a first-degree murder prosecution and a possible death penalty in the disappearance of her toddler daughter, Caylee Anthony.
Bloody carpeting, broken eyeglasses, strands of hair, dentures, tooth fragments, a bloodied hatband, a bullet hole in a missing person’s winter coat. These were the key pieces of evidence that have linked defendants to murders in some of the “no body” prosecutions throughout the country. In some of these cases, like the “Joe Onions” murder case, there is also eyewitness testimony. But often it was just circumstantial evidence that led to convictions.
DiBiase, who prosecuted a “no body” murder case in the District of Columbia in 2006, won a second-degree murder conviction against a man who allegedly shot and killed his girlfriend during an argument in their home, even though none of the five children who were home at the time witnessed the killing and the victim’s body was never found.
While some prosecutors may be loath to take them on, DiBiase asserts that “no body” cases often aren’t all that hard to win. If there isn’t good forensic evidence, often a suspect will confess to the police or “it’s a case of friend rats on friend. … A lot of these cases are not stranger-on-stranger crimes but usually a husband killing a wife or a boyfriend killing a girlfriend. The second most common type is parents killing children or in some cases, strangers killing children. Typically, the first “no body” cases were those where ships would come back without a captain or a first mate because they’d been thrown overboard. The murder trials that followed were against crew members.”
In an interview yesterday, former Rhode Island Attorney General Dennis J. Roberts II said that “some of the people in my office thought I was crazy to base my decision to present the [Joe Onions] case to a grand jury on the testimony of a hooker. But I thought she was a credible witness.” And, he pointed out, “we got convictions” and Merola and Pari both served substantial time in prison.
tbreton@projo.com
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Search is on in RI for "Joe Onions" in 30 year old "no body" murder case
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Are you kidding me? "Joe Onions"????
After 30 years, new clue in mystery of missing mobster
01:00 AM EST on Tuesday, November 18, 2008
By W. ZACHARY MALINOWSKI
Journal Staff Writer
Authorities yesterday use a backhoe to search for the remains of Joseph “Joe Onions” Scanlon, a murder victim allegedly buried behind the Lisboa Apartments in East Providence.
The Providence Journal / Bill Murphy
EAST PROVIDENCE — The low drone of an orange backhoe hummed yesterday through the Riverside neighborhood where the authorities believe Joseph “Joe Onions” Scanlon was buried after he was shot in the back of the head in a Providence social club three decades ago.
As the late afternoon sun turned to darkness, a gaggle of state police troopers in marked windbreakers peered into the 10-foot hole, hoping to find bones, clothing or some other evidence of Scanlon.
Also watching were the two highest-ranking state law enforcement officials in Rhode Island, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch and Col. Brendan P. Doherty, superintendent of the state police.
“That’s wild,” said a woman who stood outside her modest home as the digging continued. “I thought it was a drug bust.”
Earlier in the day, Nicholas “Nicky” Pari had told investigators where the body was buried, according to the state police.
The arrest of Pari, a longtime mob associate, and 17 others yesterday on a host of racketeering, weapons and drug charges, led investigators to a grassy area behind the Lisboa Apartments, at 378 Bullocks Point Ave., just a stone’s throw from the East Bay Bike Path.
Pari, 71, is dying from cancer and is confined to a wheelchair. The state police knew this might be their last chance to solve a mystery that has been part of Rhode Island mob lore since April 3, 1978, the night the victim with a catchy nickname disappeared.
“The state police were very considerate, sensitive and empathetic about his condition,” said his lawyer, Gerrick Van Duesen, who said that he was not aware of any disclosures his client may have made regarding Scanlon. “His prognosis is imminent, immediate, bleak and grim.”
A Superior Court jury, in 1979, returned guilty verdicts of first-degree murder against Pari and Andy Merola for their roles in killing Scanlon in Merola’s social club on Knight Street in Providence. The case marked the first time in state history that the state got murder convictions without producing the body of the victim.
A key witness in the trial was Scanlon’s girlfriend — Sandra Surprise. She testified that she saw Pari divert Scanlon’s attention in the social club by punching him in the face. Then, she said, Merola approached him from behind with a handgun and pumped a bullet into the back of Scanlon’s head.
A second witness, Edwin DiFonzo, testified that he helped Merola wrap the body in plastic garbage bags and stuff it into the trunk of Merola’s red Cadillac. Another witness, an FBI informant, told the jury that Merola came to his home in Brooklyn, N.Y., and told him that he had killed Scanlon because he was a “stool pigeon.”
Over the years, there had been plenty of speculation about where the body had been dumped. Some believed that Merola and Pari rolled Scanlon in a carpet and dumped him in Narragansett Bay. One tipster told the police he was buried in Merola’s social club. Detectives found a trapdoor with a metal ladder leading to a storage space. They climbed down, tore up the cement floor and dug down about 7 feet. They found a few bricks and broken bottles, but no body.
Merola and Pari appealed their convictions and, in 1982, the Supreme Court ruled that they were entitled to a new trial. In May 1982, both men pleaded no contest to reduced charges and were sent back to the Adult Correctional Institutions. As part of the plea agreement, lawyers for Merola and Pari told prosecutors that Scanlon’s body was driven to Narragansett and dumped in Narragansett Bay. No body ever washed ashore and investigators doubted the story.
Last year, an anonymous caller told a Journal reporter that Merola’s Cadillac was crushed in a scrap yard north of Providence. He said he was told that Scanlon was in the trunk.
Pari was the only person left with direct knowledge of the murder. In April 2007, Merola, who was released from prison in the late 80s, died. He had put his criminal ways behind him and he became a successful restaurateur, who ran Andino’s, a popular Italian bistro on Federal Hill.
This time, investigators say, they believe Pari is telling the truth. He lived in East Providence back in the ’70s, and the site where the apartment complex stands was built around the time of the murder. Police believe that a construction site was a prime spot to dump a body.
For now, the police will have to wait another day. At 4:45 p.m., darkness enveloped Riverside and the search came to a halt. A uniformed trooper was posted for the night outside the apartment complex.
The dig will resume this morning.
“We’re pretty sure he’s there,” said one investigator.
With staff reports from Mike Stanton.
bmalinow@projo.com
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Washington, DC defendant doesn't lead police to body
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Another defendant who cuts a deal with the police and "promises" to lead the police to the body. Not quite:
A Killer's Plea Does Little to Ease Parents' Pain
12 Years After Slaying, Md. Woman Still Missing
A Search for Closure
Michael Dickerson, who admitted that he shot Shaquita Bell in 1996 and hid her remains in rural Prince George's County, has yet to find the wooded spot where he dug her grave.
By Paul Duggan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 12, 2008; Page A01
Jackie and Thomas Winborne dared hope that this time, at last, the saga of their missing daughter would come to a close.
A dozen years after Shaquita Bell, 23, disappeared, her admitted killer, an ex-boyfriend, pleaded guilty in D.C. Superior Court last month in a bargain with the U.S. attorney's office. It was the sort of compromise that prosecutors and victims often settle for in the real world of law and order: a deal for imperfect justice.
Michael Dickerson agreed to make a good-faith effort to lead police to the wooded spot in rural Prince George's County where he buried Bell's body in 1996. In return, he would get a 15-year sentence without parole for her killing -- less than the maximum -- and would not be prosecuted for another slaying he confessed to committing.
Guided by Dickerson, who admitted shooting Bell in the District on June 27, 1996, investigators recently combed acres of forest near Fort Washington. But his memory of the exact burial site apparently is vague.
"He took the detectives to a particular location," said D.C. police spokeswoman Traci Hughes. "And there was nothing there."
A deal is a deal, though. Dickerson, 39, promised he would try to find the grave, and he did try, authorities said. Which is small consolation to the Winbornes, whose nightmare goes on.
"We're going to find her if I have to go out there and find her myself," said Thomas Winborne, Bell's stepfather, who helped raise her.
Authorities declined to discuss specifics of the investigation, and Dickerson's attorney did not return phone messages seeking comment. But new details, including intriguing early twists in the search, have emerged from Dickerson's plea hearing Oct. 16, from police affidavits filed in court and from interviews with the Winbornes.
They reveal Dickerson's role in another 1996 killing and state that Bell informed on him in that case. They disclose that another man helped Dickerson dispose of Bell's body before he also became an informant. That man was fatally shot as he worked with investigators to elicit incriminating statements from Dickerson, one of two slayings possibly connected to Bell's disappearance.
In the years after Bell vanished, the sensational case of missing Washington intern Chandra Levy consumed countless hours of investigative work by squads of D.C. police and federal agents, while the Winbornes wondered why their daughter's disappearance seemed a far less urgent mystery to authorities and the media.
Then D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier took a personal interest in Bell's whereabouts.
"I promised Jackie when I first met her that we'd never stop looking for Shaquita," Lanier said this week. "And we won't."
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Retrial, 40 years later, in Wisconsin no body murder case
0 Comments added to this post
From NewsTalk 1410:
SECOND PRENTICE TRIAL STARTING
November 09, 2008 by Brad
Former Vernon County Resident Goes On Trial Again In California For Allegedly Killing Daughter Nearly 40 Years Ago
DONNA PRENTICE IS BACK ON TRIAL IN CALIFORNIA, ONE YEAR AFTER HER FIRST TRIAL...AND 39 YEARS AFTER THE APPARENT MURDER OF HER LITTLE GIRL.
PRENTICE WAS LIVING IN VERNON COUNTY, WISCONSIN IN 2004 WHEN POLICE CHARGED HER WITH KILLING THREE-YEAR-OLD MICHELLE PULSIFER. MICHELLE DISAPPEARED IN 1969, SHORTLY BEFORE THE FAMILY MOVED FROM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TO THE MIDWEST. A PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR SAID HE COULD NEVER FIND ANY EVIDENCE OF THE GIRL BEING ALIVE AFTER 1969, BUT NO BODY WAS EVER FOUND. THE JURY COULD NOT REACH A VERDICT AT PRENTICE'S FIRST TRIAL IN JUNE OF LAST YEAR. PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY BELIEVE THIS COULD BE THE LONGEST PERIOD OF TIME BETWEEN AN ALLEGED CRIME AND A COURTROOM TRIAL IN THAT COUNTY.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Settle man convicted in no body murder case
0 Comments added to this post
Interesting case because no forensic evidence nor a confession by defendant:
King County man convicted of slaying despite lack of body
A South King County man charged with the slaying of a member of a rival motorcycle club whose body has never been located was found guilty today.
By Jennifer Sullivan
Seattle Times staff reporter
A South King County man charged with the slaying of a member of a rival motorcycle gang whose body has never been found was convicted today of first-degree murder with a firearm and two counts of witness tampering.
John Price, 37, is facing about 35 years in prison when he's sentenced for beating Donald Jessup with an ax handle and shooting him in the face inside a Ravensdale home in December 2004. King County sheriff's deputies say Price believed that Jessup stole his Harley-Davidson motorcycle and was trying to sell it back to him for $800.
Jurors had been deliberating since Tuesday afternoon. A sentencing date hasn't been set.
Senior Deputy Prosecutor Scott O'Toole said one of the most difficult elements of the case was that Jessup's body has never been found. At the start of Price's trial on Oct. 13, O'Toole told jurors that witnesses heard Price claim to have rolled Jessup up in a rug and buried him "up north."
O'Toole said that deputies searched unsuccessfully for DNA and other evidence linking Jessup's slaying to the Ravensdale home. In the nearly four years since Jessup disappeared, his family and friends haven't heard from him, O'Toole said.
Price was a member of the Ghost Riders motorcycle gang and known among fellow bikers as "Nazi John," O'Toole said. Jessup was a past president of the Gypsy Jokers, a rival gang.
"I'm very, very pleased. There was no body, no forensics and no weapon," O'Toole said of the verdict.
Defense attorney Julie Gaisford told jurors that the testimony by many of the witnesses should be discounted because of their drug addictions, criminal histories and anger at Price.
The 23-year-old mother of Price's three children testified against him during the first week of the trial.
Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this report.
Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Arrest in NY no body murder
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Man charged with killing wife he reported missing
By JIM FITZGERALD
Associated Press Writer
HAWTHORNE, N.Y. (AP) -- Werner Lippe told authorities he was eager to help them locate his missing wife after she vanished while running errands.
He told a newspaper reporter he was in anguish over Faith Lippe's disappearance.
But now the wealthy 66-year-old jeweler has been charged with killing the mother of two - becoming the third suburban New York husband accused of slaying his wife this week.
State Police Capt. Keith Corlett said Lippe admitted killing his third wife, and described disposing of the body "in a way that would make it difficult to locate."
A search for 49-year-old Faith Lippe's remains was under way Friday on the leafy grounds of the couple's multimillion-dollar house about 40 miles north of Manhattan, and a barbecue pit was among the sites being explored, the captain said. He would not confirm that the body had been burned.
Corlett said Lippe, who was born in Poland, told police how he killed his wife and why, but the captain would not disclose the details. He said the motive Lippe suggested was one that "nobody in this room would think was a good reason."
Lippe, who had been "very cooperative" with police from the start, sometimes offering help several times a day, made his incriminating statements during police questioning Thursday, Corlett said.
He was arraigned Friday in Cortlandt Town Court but was in the process of hiring a lawyer and did not enter a plea. He was sent to the Westchester County Jail and is due back in court on Monday.
The other two alleged wife-slayings this week were in Long Island. William Walsh of Bethpage is accused of strangling his wife, dumping her body and making it seem she had been a victim of roadside violence. David Steeves of Center Moriches allegedly slipped cyanide into his estranged wife's coffee, leaving her in intensive care for nearly two weeks before she died Friday. Both men have pleaded not guilty.
Corlett say police believe Lippe killed his wife on the morning of Oct. 3; she did not show up for an appointment that morning. Her husband reported her missing the next afternoon and offered "three different versions of how she went missing," the captain said.
After she disappeared, Lippe told The Journal News, "It's hurting and killing me how my daughter is falling apart."
The couple's children, a 14-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl, were in the care of a neighbor, Corlett said. They have had a legal guardian since the divorce proceedings went to court. The couple had been married 18 years.
Corlett said he was present when the boy learned his father was being charged, and the teen was distraught. "How else would you take the news that your father was accused of killing your mother?" the captain said.
Faith Lippe had worked as a nutrition consultant at the Ossining schools since 2004. The school district issued a statement praising her work and expressing sadness.
Werner Lippe owns a jewelry design business in Manhattan. Employees who answered the phone on Friday would not comment.
Corlett said there was no indication either of the Lippes, who owned a home in an upstate ski area and property in Utah, was having an affair.
Neighbor Cindy Marino said she didn't know Lippe, but his wife was "just a really, really, wonderful woman, a wonderful Girl Scout mom."
The National Network to End Domestic Violence says three women a day die from domestic violence in the United States. Kim Grady, president of the National Organization for Women, said Friday that domestic violence "is far more common than anyone realizes."
"These three men in New York may not get away with it, but we don't know how many cases of homicide or disappearance are really cases of domestic violence that simply can't be proved," she said.
© 2008 The Associated Press.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ More no body murder book reviews
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I just finished reading Trail of Blood by Wanda Evans in collaboration with James Dunn, father of victim Scott Dunn. It was quite well written and told the story of how Leisha Hamilton murdered her boyfriend with the assistance of another boyfriend, Tim Smith. The story unfolds from Jim Dunn's perspective and captures the pain a loved one feels from a missing family member. As horrible as it is to think of a person as missing, the greater heartache occurs when it slowly becomes clear that the victim is not only missing but is dead. Hamilton comes across as a twisted psychopath for her attempts to pretend to be helping the father all the while covering up her monstrous crime. My only critique is that the book could've spent more time on the actual trials (Hamilton and Smith were tried and ultimately convicted separately) but overall it was well done.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Texas conviction in no body murder case
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One I missed from last month:
Man gets life in murder case with no body
10/09/2008
Associated Press
A man convicted of murder in the disappearance of a woman whose body was never found has been sentenced to life in prison.
Earlier Thursday, a Tarrant County jury found a 41-year-old Rodney Owens guilty.
Owens was accused of murdering his 51-year-old former neighbor Glenda Gail Furch. The General Motors assembly plant worker hadn't been seen since Sept. 28, 2007.
Prosecutors lacked a body to support their case. Police linked Furch's disappearance to Owens with a thumbprint on duct tape found in a trash bin outside her apartment. Police say they also found in the same trash bag electrical and telephone cords tied in unusual knots, a towel, clothes and other items belonging to Furch.
About a week after she disappeared, Furch's car was found burned at an abandoned car wash.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Texas men indicted for no body murder
8 Comments added to this post
Arlington pair indicted on murder charges
By MARTHA DELLER and MITCH MITCHELL
mitchmitchell@star-telegram.com
ARLINGTON — It wasn’t unusual for Scott Anthony Sartain’s friends and relatives to lose contact with him for several months.
But when Sartain dropped out of sight for more than four months, one associate told Arlington police that the 40-year-old man was missing and might have been killed. After a 10-month investigation, Arlington residents Kelly Munn and Alejandro Orona were indicted last week on murder charges.
Authorities believe that Sartain was slain Sept. 6, 2007, in a room behind a garage at an Arlington residence.
Witnesses told police that Sartain was severely beaten. The homeless, unemployed diabetic may also have been deprived of his insulin, according to an Aug. 7 arrest warrant affidavit.
Police continue to search for Sartain’s body, which witnesses said was dismembered and disposed of at an undetermined location.
Prosecutor Robert Huseman said the men could be tried even if Sartain’s body is never found. A Tarrant County jury sentenced Rodney Owens to life in prison Oct. 9 for the 2007 murder of Glenda Furch, whose body has never been found.
Munn, 33, and Orona, 32, were in custody on other charges when the murder indictments were returned. Each is being held in the Tarrant County Jail with bail set at more than $1 million.
Huseman said, "We’re still investigating possible locations where the body was disposed of, but we had enough to indict them for murder," he said.
A woman who would only identify herself as Sartain’s mother declined Thursday to discuss details of Sartain’s slaying and the investigation leading to the indictments.
"He was employed out of state from time to time, so it wasn’t unusual not to hear from him. But this was different," she said.
Authorities say the convoluted case took them months to piece together after Sartain was reported missing in January.
After interviewing 11 witnesses, Detective Jim Ford concluded that Munn and Orona were angry after Sartain gave them a forged check that led to the arrest of another associate.
Four witnesses said they were in the house in the 1900 block of Ridgeway Street when Munn and Orona beat Sartain and tied him up in a room behind the garage. The beating scared the witnesses so badly that they left. Two of the witnesses who lived at the house never returned, according to the affidavit.
However, one witness told detectives that they smelled decaying flesh in that room several days after the beating. Another witness said he saw Orona and Munn mopping the floor with cleaning fluid.
Orona said they "had to teach Scott a lesson," but Munn said they didn’t mean to kill him, a witness said.
After Sartain died, a witness said, Munn and Orona dismembered and disposed of Sartain’s body.
They also cut Sartain’s black Grand Prix into small pieces with a torch and power saw and sold the pieces to a scrap-metal business, a witness said.
MARTHA DELLER, 817-390-7857 MITCH MITCHELL, 817-548-5411
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ No Body Guy in the News
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Check out the blog posting on no body cases by Diane Dimond where yours truly is quoted:
http://dianedimond.net/
Also, I'll be on Justice Interrupted on Tuesday night at 11:00 discussing the Casey Anthony case.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Killer cuts deal to lead police to body in DC case
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Although I am always sympathetic to a family's desire to find a loved one's body, the idea of a murderer using that body as a bargaining chip is quite distasteful. Moreover, while I am loathe to comment on a case without knowing all the facts (and this case was prosecuted by my old office by an excellent prosecutor and detective), this does seem like a generous deal: 15 years for TWO murders and no requirement that he lead police to the body. Yuck.
From the Washington Post:
With Help of Killer, Woman's Remains May Soon Be Found
On Jan. 15, 2008, the District charged a convicted felon with two 1996 killings, including that of Shaquita Bell, of Alexandria.
By Paul Duggan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 25, 2008; Page B03
Two weeks before she disappeared in 1996, Shaquita Bell told D.C. homicide detectives that she heard her boyfriend describe how he fatally shot a man in a gunfight. Police later suspected that the boyfriend, Michael Dickerson, killed Bell to prevent her from testifying against him. And for years, they tried in vain to find her body.
Now, with Dickerson's help, they might be close to ending the mystery.
Dickerson, charged in January with murder, is nearing the end of a prison term for a weapons offense. He earlier served more than eight years for assaulting Bell with a gun shortly before she vanished. Last week, he admitted in D.C. Superior Court that he shot Bell in Southeast Washington in June 1996, wrapped her body in a blanket, put it in a car trunk, drove to woods and buried it in a deep hole.
And as part of a plea bargain, Dickerson, 39, agreed to help police find her remains. Bell's anguished mother, Jackie Winborne, who has urged police over the years to keep looking for her, said yesterday that Dickerson has led investigators to a wooded area in Fort Washington.
But Bell's body has not turned up.
"It would mean the completion of things after all this time," Winborne, of Alexandria, said by telephone. "We just didn't know what was going to happen at first, whether she'd return home or if she had, in fact, been murdered. We know she was murdered now. So finding her would finalize things, at least.
"If we find her, then I'll be satisfied," she said. "But that hasn't happened yet."
Bell, a bakery clerk at a Giant supermarket, was a mother of three. "She'd be 35 now," Winborne said.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier disclosed during an appearance Thursday on News Channel 8 that Dickerson was helping police look for the body.
"Her mother, Jackie, for the last 12 years, every year in June [she] came to police headquarters and protested," Lanier said. "She kept her daughter's murder very much in the forefront."
Describing the search as "an arduous process," even with Dickerson's help, the chief said: "For Shaquita Bell's family, there is nothing more important than recovering her. And for us -- and we are presently looking -- if we recover Shaquita, it'll be the best day in 18 years of law enforcement for me."
Dickerson pleaded guilty Oct. 16 to second-degree murder in Bell's death. In return, prosecutors will recommend a sentence of 15 years in prison without parole eligibility. In addition, Dickerson admitted culpability for the fatal shooting that Bell heard him talking about. As part of the plea deal, he will not be prosecuted for that slaying, which occurred during a shootout in Southeast.
Police affidavits filed in court, and a transcript of Dickerson's plea hearing, offer new details about Bell's death and the likely motive.
The shootout, in the 3100 block of Massachusetts Avenue SE, occurred Feb. 17, 1996. A group of men, including Sean A. Thomas, 27, had come to the neighborhood to rob drug dealers, police said. Another group, including Dickerson, confronted them, and gunfire erupted. As Thomas was fleeing, police said, he was felled by a bullet in one of his legs, then shot in the head execution-style.
In June that year, police said, Bell and Dickerson got in an argument, and Dickerson pointed a gun at her, threatening to kill her. Bell told police not only about the assault, but about hearing Dickerson talking about a homicide.
During a police interview June 13, according to an affidavit, Bell said Dickerson had described the confrontation with the robbery crew and the gunfight. Dickerson "said one of the robbers left his injured friend in the street because he was shot in the leg and could not keep up," the affidavit says.
"At that point, Dickerson admitted, within Bell's hearing, that he walked up to the wounded subject and shot him in the street."
That day, June 13, Dickerson was stopped by police while driving in the District and charged with illegal possession of firearms. But he was not immediately charged with Thomas's slaying. "I know [Bell] is the one that called the police on me," Dickerson told detectives, according to the affidavit. "Me and her cannot get along. . . . And I can't live with her, man."
Facing the gun charges and the assault case involving Bell, he was released to await further court proceedings.
Early on the afternoon of June 27, Bell left her grandmother's home in Alexandria, where she was staying with her children. Dickerson was with her, police said. About 2 p.m., she phoned relatives at the Alexandria home to say she would be returning in about an hour. But as the affidavit says, "She never appeared or was heard from again."
For a dozen years, what became of her was a mystery. Then, Oct. 16, Dickerson stood in Courtroom 302 and swore to tell the truth.
"Did you shoot and kill Shaquita Bell in the back yard of 3224 G Street Southeast, here in the District?" Judge Neal E. Kravitz asked.
"Yes," Dickerson replied.
"Did you then wrap her body and take her body to some woods and bury the body there?"
"Yes."
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Three no body murder cases resolved in one day
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Kudos to Meaghan Good of the excellent missing persons website,Charley Project at www.charleyproject.org, who pointed out to me that on October 10th, three no body cases were resolved: Tynesha Stewart at http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/stewart_tynesha.html (which I mentioned on my blog; Glenda Furch at http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/f/furch_glenda.html (which I also blogged about) and Shakeima Cabbagestalk at http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/cabbagestalk_shakeima.html. In the last case, the defendant Sam Harmon was acquitted of the murder but convicted of the kidnapping, certainly an odd verdict.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Guilty plea in District of Columbia No Body case
0 Comments added to this post
From Friday's Washington Post:
Man Admits Killing Ex-Girlfriend in 1996
A District man pleaded guilty in Superior Court yesterday to a second-degree murder charge in the 1996 killing of his ex-girlfriend.
Michael Dickerson, 39, has long been suspected by police of killing Shaquita Bell, 23, in June 1996 and disposing of her body in a wooded area in Fort Washington, days before she was to testify in an assault case against him. Her body has not been found. Prosecutors decided in January to move forward with a murder charge.
Dickerson was convicted in the assault case, which stemmed from a March 1996 attack on Bell.
-- Keith L. Alexander
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Arrest in missing Florida tot case
0 Comments added to this post
Caylee's mom named in murder indictment
* NEW: Mother arrested in traffic stop after swapping cars on highway
From Natisha Lance
Nancy Grace Producer
ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) -- The mother of missing Florida toddler Caylee Anthony was arrested Tuesday in a traffic stop, shortly after a grand jury indicted her on seven counts, including capital murder, for the disappearance of her 3-year-old daughter.
Casey Anthony was taken into custody Tuesday after a grand jury indicted her on a capital murder charge.
Casey Anthony was taken into custody Tuesday after a grand jury indicted her on a capital murder charge.
Casey Anthony was taken to jail after officers observed her switch cars on a highway and pulled her over, an Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman said.
Earlier Tuesday, Anthony's lawyer said his client would turn herself in if the grand jury returned an indictment against her.
"She's not running from this," attorney Jose Baez said as his 22-year-old client wiped tears from her eyes during an impromptu media briefing before the charges against her were announced. "She's doing her best to stand strong, to stand up to the powers that are working against her. And they threw the kitchen sink at her a long time ago."
After the indictment, undercover officers followed Anthony as she traveled in her mother's SUV. The officers saw the SUV stop under a highway overpass, at which point Anthony got into another vehicle and drove off. Officers made the traffic stop after she entered the second vehicle, the spokesman said.
Prosecutors are asking Anthony be held without bond.
Anthony is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and four counts of providing false information to police.
Lawson Lamar, the state attorney for Orange County, Florida, said the first count is a capital charge -- which could carry a penalty of life in prison or death.
The 19 grand jurors -- 10 women and nine men -- deliberated for about half an hour after hearing from police, a cadaver dog handler, an FBI agent and the missing child's grandfather.
Authorities were quick to remind the public that, despite the indictment, Caylee's whereabouts remain a mystery.
"Despite the charges against Ms. Anthony we have not achieved our objective," he said. "We have not found little Caylee Anthony."
Before her arrest, Anthony's lawyer continued to maintain her innocence.
"She has been living a nightmare," the attorney added. "She has a missing child. She's also a child."
Earlier in the day, Casey Anthony's father -- Caylee's grandfather -- testified before the grand jury. The panel was convened to look into the suspicious circumstances surrounding the child's disappearance.
George Anthony was prepared to do the "unthinkable" -- testify against his own daughter, lawyer Mark Nejame told a clutch of reporters gathered on the courthouse steps Tuesday morning.
Struggling with his emotions, George Anthony clutched a "find Caylee" binder in his folded arms.
"This is going to be very hard for me to do. The focus has always been on my granddaughter and always will be. I love my daughter, I love my wife, I love my son," Anthony said.
He asked for the public to keep his family, especially Caylee, in their prayers. "If someone could take a moment out at 11 o'clock this morning and 11 o'clock tonight and just pray for her. That's all I'm asking for. That's all I can say."
Anthony and his lawyer left the courthouse about an hour later without commenting.
Caylee Anthony disappeared in mid-June, but Casey Anthony waited about a month before telling her family the child was gone. Cindy Anthony -- Caylee's grandmother -- called the Orange County sheriff July 15 after her daughter wouldn't tell her where Caylee was.
Casey's brother, Lee Anthony, also pleaded with his sister to tell him where Caylee was. According to police documents, she replied that she hadn't seen Caylee in "31 days."
Investigators say that since that first 911 call, evidence has mounted that leads police to believe that Caylee is dead. They first labeled Casey Anthony a person of interest, and later, a suspect.
The story of Anthony and her missing daughter garnered national headlines, provided nightly fodder for cable TV crime shows and brought a stampede of reporters to stake out the home of Anthony's parents.
Tempers have flared and fists have flown outside the house tucked away in a subdivision in Orlando, Florida. One protester had George Anthony arrested, alleging that he had pushed her.
Police and prosecutors have said little, instead letting hundreds of pages of documents and investigative reports do the talking for them.
Casey Anthony behaved like a carefree party girl, going to nightclubs, entering "hot-body" contests and incessantly sending text messages to her friends while her daughter was missing, according to cell phone and text transcripts and investigative reports released by police.
Copies of her phone and text records obtained by police and released to the public show she hardly ever mentioned her missing daughter during the time just before and after the child was reported missing. The young mother referred to Caylee as "the little snot head" in May, about a month before the child disappeared.
Anthony gave conflicting statements during the investigation and provided police with information that later was disproved. For example, she said she had dropped the child off with a baby sitter. Yet when police checked out her story, they learned that the address that Anthony supplied belonged to an apartment that had been vacant for weeks. The woman Anthony named as the baby sitter said she did not know Anthony.
As Anthony was arrested on child neglect charges, bonded out of jail, was rearrested on bad check and theft charges and bonded out again, investigators disclosed some of the forensic evidence they uncovered.
Cadaver dogs picked up the scent of death in the trunk of a car Anthony drove and in her parents' backyard. A neighbor told police Anthony had asked to borrow a shovel.
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Authorities said that in the car Anthony drove, they found traces of chloroform, which can cause loss of consciousness. And they said that on her computer, they found Internet searches of missing children and chloroform Web sites.
Investigators said air quality tests conducted by the FBI found evidence of human decomposition in the trunk of Anthony's car. Law enforcement sources also suggested that a strand of hair found in the trunk of the car was probably Caylee's.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ No body murder cases opens in Seattle
0 Comments added to this post
No body, no weapon, but trial starts in biker's death
By LEVI PULKKINEN
P-I REPORTER
Don Jessup's killing was a near-perfect crime.
Jessup, a 60-year-old motorcycle gang boss, disappeared Dec. 16, 2004, slipping away without notice or explanation.
No body was found. No murder weapon. No substantive forensic evidence recovered. Still, on Monday, a King County jury was introduced to John Price, the 37-year-old biker charged with first-degree murder.
Sheriff's deputies investigating Jessup's disappearance narrowed in on Price after the chance arrest of Jason Rebman, a White Center drug dealer who traded information on Jessup's killing for leniency after being found with 2 ˝ pounds of methamphetamine, according to court documents.
Rebman connected police with two women who say they were in the Ravensdale home when Price shot Jessup to death over a dispute about a motorcycle.
Addressing the jury Monday, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Scott O'Toole focused on a smattering of letters and phone calls Price made to the would-be witnesses against him. In O'Toole's view, the statements -- "I will get off on this whole thing" and "the more your story changes, the better it is for me" -- make the case against Price.
While he stopped short of admitting to the killing, Price encouraged the women to lie to investigators and refuse to testify against him. Price, an acknowledged member of the Ghost Riders motorcycle gang, also sent fellow gang members to speak with the witnesses in what prosecutors say was an attempt to silence them.
In letters and phone calls, Price subtly asserted that there was no evidence left against him.
"Don Jessup's body was never found," O'Toole told the jury, "just as predicted by the defendant."
In court documents, prosecutors accuse Price of shooting Jessup in the face during an argument at a Ravensdale home where Price was living with his 19-year-old girlfriend.
Jessup, a past president of the Gypsy Jokers motorcycle gang, arrived at the home for dinner with Price. During the meal, witnesses told police, Jessup taunted Price by offering to sell Price a motorcycle that had been stolen from the home weeks before.
Enraged, Price left and returned with a handgun. Prosecutors say he attacked Jessup with an ax handle, then shot him in the mouth as he sat on the floor.
Relaying conversations they'd had with Price, witnesses told King County sheriff's deputies that two other Ghost Riders gang members helped Price clean the house and dispose of Jessup's body. One of the men, William Renner, has since pleaded guilty to two counts of harassment for threatening and offering a $500 bribe to one of the witnesses.
Making her opening statement, defense attorney Julie Gaisford assailed the state's case against Price as weak.
"There is no crime scene. There is no forensic evidence," Gaisford told the jury. "And, as Mr. O'Toole told you, there is no body in this case."
Gaisford also impugned Rebman, the witness who first connected Price with Jessup's disappearance. Rebman, Gaisford said, came forward only when he was facing a severe penalty for drug possession.
Repeatedly referring to him as "the drug dealer Rebman," Gaisford told the jury he'd also had contact with Jessup shortly before his disappearance.
Prosecutors previously objected to defense efforts to include information about Rebman's criminal convictions, as well as crimes to which Jessup was connected. Though he was not charged in either case, Jessup was considered a person of interest in a 2001 Benton County killing, and witnesses in Price's case told the defense that Jessup may have been involved in a second slaying.
Price's trial is expected to last three to four weeks. The trial will resume Tuesday at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.
P-I reporter Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Texas man found guilty in no body murder case
0 Comments added to this post
Boy that was quick:
Man gets life in murder case with no body
© 2008 The Associated Press
Oct. 9, 2008, 3:24PM
FORT WORTH, Texas — A man convicted of murder in the disappearance of a woman whose body was never found has been sentenced to life in prison.
Earlier Thursday, a Tarrant County jury found a 41-year-old Rodney Owens guilty.
Owens was accused of murdering his 51-year-old former neighbor Glenda Gail Furch. The General Motors assembly plant worker hadn't been seen since Sept. 28, 2007.
Prosecutors lacked a body to support their case. Police linked Furch's disappearance to Owens with a thumbprint on duct tape found in a trash bin outside her apartment. Police say they also found in the same trash bag electrical and telephone cords tied in unusual knots, a towel, clothes and other items belonging to Furch.
About a week after she disappeared, Furch's car was found burned at an abandoned car wash.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Defense admits killing in California no body murder case but asks for life not death
0 Comments added to this post
I have to admit, I've never seen this before in a no body case:
Defense Shocker in OC Yacht Murders Case
KTLA News
October 8, 2008
SANTA ANA -- The attorney for a man accused of throwing a couple off their yacht bound to an anchor told a jury Tuesday his client is guilty of those two murders and a third, but
shouldn't be put to death.
"My goal is simply to save Skylar Deleon's life," defense attorney Gary Pohlson said in a 15-minute opening statement on behalf of his client.
"Skylar is guilty of all three murders," he said.
The concession is not the same as a guilty plea, however, and Pohlson said he will dispute some details of the prosecution case.
The attorney indicated his client should not face the death penalty because others involved will have different outcomes of their cases.
He urged life in prison without possibility of parole instead.
Deleon is accused of killing the Arizona couple, Tom and Jackie Hawks, in 2004 in order to steal their yacht, and killing another man from whom he stole thousands in 2003.
He has pleaded not guilty to murder and murder for financial gain.
The defense strategy stunned Ryan Hawks, the 32-year-old son of Tom Hawks, who came to hear testimony.
"I was blown away," Ryan Hawks said. "Thank God I was sitting down."
Earlier, Orange County prosecutor Matt Murphy told jurors the couple took a cruise off Southern California thinking they were showing off their yacht, the Well Deserved, to an interested buyer and ended up pleading to be spared.
"The evidence is going to show that is how Tom and Jackie Hawks died, begging for their lives," Murphy said.
"The evidence is going to show Jackie Hawks was crying and saying ... I have a grandchild. Please don't kill me."
The prosecutor graphically described the killings.
"Skylar threw the anchor overboard, the rope goes taught and it rips Tom and Jackie Hawks off that (boat)," he said.
Deleon, 29, is a former child actor who allegedly boasted that he was a star on the "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" but apparently only had a small part in one episode.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Deleon, who they say drafted a plan to kill the Hawkses after learning they were planning to sell their 55-foot yacht in November 2004 to spend more time with their baby grandson.
They say Deleon feigned interest in buying the nearly half-million-dollar yacht, then enlisted the help of two men to overpower the Hawkses on the cruise before forcing them to sign over paperwork for the yacht and killing them.
Murphy took jurors on a step-by-step outline of how the case unfolded after the Hawkses disappeared and family and friends began to frantically search for them around Newport Harbor, where they docked their boat.
Murphy said Deleon and his former wife, Jennifer Henderson, were a young couple saddled in debt and living in a converted garage, and had a bank account with only $2,619 two days before Deleon took the test cruise.
Henderson was convicted in 2006 of murder and murder for financial gain for her role in the deaths and was sentenced to two terms of life in prison without parole.
Three other men have pleaded not guilty to murder and murder for financial gain and have yet to stand trial. One is expected to testify in Deleon's case.
The jury will also consider the separate murder charge in the death of a man Deleon met in a work furlough program in 2003 while serving jail time for burglary. Murphy said
Deleon got $50,000 from John Jarvi, then drove down to Mexico and slashed his throat and dumped his body before coming back.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ No Body Murder Case in Texas Goes to Jury
0 Comments added to this post
Body-less murder case goes to jury
By MARTHA DELLER
mdeller@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH — Without a body, a weapon or DNA directly linking Rodney Owens to Glenda Gail Furch, prosecutors can’t prove that Owens killed the 51-year-old Fort Worth woman, defense attorney Mark Rosteet told a Tarrant County jury Wednesday.
"It’s a circumstantial case," Rosteet said during closing arguments in Owens’ murder trial.
"There’s no murder weapon. No body. No direct DNA. No proof."
Prosecutors Bob Gill and Rainey Webb disagreed. They argued that the fingerprint and DNA evidence that Rosteet denounced as circumstantial directly linked Owens to the death of Furch, even though her body has not been found since she was reported missing more than a year ago.
"I don’t feel that the defendant should go free because he was clever enough to hide a body," Gill said. "He shouldn’t be rewarded because he was a little bit more proficient that other criminals."
The jury of eight women and four men deliberated about two hours and 20 minutes Wednesday afternoon.
They are to resume deliberations at 8:30 a.m. today in the 371st District Court. Two alternate jurors were put on standby in case a regular juror cannot finish the trial.
Testimony
Owens, 41, is charged with murder in the death of Furch, who was last seen leaving work at the General Motors plant in Arlington shortly after midnight on Sept. 28, 2007.
In closing arguments, the opposing attorneys summarized the testimony of 30 witnesses called by prosecutors over two days. Rosteet did not call witnesses but tried to refute the state’s evidence on cross-examination.
DNA analyst Farah Plopper testified Wednesday that she matched Owens’ DNA to saliva from two soft drink cans and sperm from a maroon towel. Those items were recovered from a trash bin outside Furch’s apartment on Oct. 1, 2007, the day her daughter reported her missing.
Plopper said the chances that the DNA came from an African-American male other than Owens were one in 115 quadrillion. She also matched Owens’ DNA to other items, including a Red Bull can on which his fingerprint was also found, she testified.
Those items linked to Owens were found in trash bags that also contained items belonging to Furch, Webb said. The items included clothing that tests linked to Furch through her daughters’ DNA and a receipt for gas that Furch bought the day she was last seen, according to testimony.
Rosteet downplayed the state’s DNA evidence, pointing out that 160 items were not tested for DNA. Owens’ DNA was not on several other tested items, including the handle of a knife, a towel and some phone connectors, and tests of other items were inconclusive, Plopper acknowledged.
"There was no direct evidence to prove that Mr. Owens was in that apartment," Rosteet argued. "No one saw him bring the body down. No one in that huge complex witnessed him taking out the trash or the body."
Evidence and clues
But Gill said circumstantial evidence can be more reliable than eyewitnesses. For example, Gill said, a woman whose vehicle was carjacked last year could not positively identify Owens as her assailant. But Owens was driving the woman’s vehicle about a month later when police chased him.
Gill and Rainey argued that Owens incriminated himself by the DNA and fingerprints he left behind; his actions — burning Furch’s car and eluding police in a stolen car; and his words — telling a fellow jail inmate about the killing.
"He wiped that apartment down so there were no fingerprints," Gill said. "There were 30-some towels and numerous cleaning products in that trash. There were three soft drink cans. Murder and cleanup is a thirsty business.
"But he didn’t think of one thing: The weekend trash was not picked up until Monday after the police showed up."
Gill conceded that the lack of a body is unusual. But he reminded jurors that the friends and relatives who knew Furch best and the homicide detective who has investigated hundreds of cases are all convinced that Furch is dead.
"If she was alive today, don’t you know she’d be chewing through steel and crawling through glass to get back to them?" he said. "Mrs. Furch is dead at the hands of this man."
MARTHA DELLER, 817-390-7857
Posted by Thomas a. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ No Body murder book review
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I recently finished "Sequestered" by Brian Solomon. My review can be summed up in one word: eh. Not terrible not great, just mediocre. Solomon was a juror in the 2001 trial of Dan Kutz, convicted of murdering his wife Beth Kutz in Madison, Wisconsin. Solomon takes us from the first day of voir dire all the way to the verdict. He gives a decent view of the trial and the major players but focuses far more attention on himself and his fellow jurors, including long narratives on playing hackey sack with his fellow jurors and how long and boring being sequestered can be. Unfortunately these passages become long and boring. My other quibble with the book is that at the end of deliberations, Solomon is the lone hold out as the sole vote against conviction. He holds out for a total of four hours, an hour of which is spent in the bathroom "collecting his thoughts." From the dramatic retelling of these final hours, it's clear Solomon thinks himself Henry Fonda in Twelve Angry Men, a movie he references. Reading it though, I mostly thought, "Just get it over it dude. Convict already." That said, Solomon and his fellow jurors come across as thoughtful and deliberative jurors, and it's a good portrayal of the modern American criminal justice system, both its strengths and weaknesses. While I wold have liked better trial detail, it's a decent read and given the number of books on no body cases, beggars can't be choosey.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Horrific no body murder trial begins in Houston
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From Beloblawg:
Jury Selection Underway in Houston for Murder of Texas A & M Student
Many of my readers in Texas, as well as around the country, will be familiar with the horrific murder of Texas A & M student Tynesha Stewart. The crime made national headline news when it happened in the spring of last year, with the ensuing investigation receiving a great deal of criticism from community and legal activists. Another chapter in this drama is set to unfold here in Houston this week. Ms. Stewart's former boyfriend, Timothy Wayne Shepherd, was charged in her death in 2007 and jury selection for his trial got underway yesterday in a Harris County courtroom. The major hurdle facing prosecutors ... there is no body to present as evidence that a murder occurred.
Shepherd has confessed to strangling Stewart after learning that she had started a new relationship. Then, after first leading police to a commercial trash bin in their search for Stewart's remains, he later admitted to dismembering the body and burning it over two barbeque pits at his apartment. While thirty pieces of charred bone and hair have been found, there was no viable DNA available. And, the confession itself may be thrown out of court as Shepherd may have shared the information during questioning that occurred after he had requested an attorney. Assistant District Attorney Marie Primm may need to prove guilt without the evidence and admission of guilt that certainly would make her case more compelling.
For his part, defense attorney Chip Lewis is looking for jurors who can separate her murder from the subsequent treatment of her body. As he states, "The details are the details, we can't change them, but the details are irrelevant as to whether Tim Shepherd is guilty of murder." In other words, those deciding Shepherd's fate on the murder charge cannot be swayed by the disgusting acts that followed.
With a murder trial, both sides must have the most experienced and aggressive legal team possible. If you have been accused of even this most serious of crimes, Bertolino LLP has attorneys in Austin, Houston, and San Antonio ready to help you. Please contact us today to discuss the details of your case.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ The importance of interrogation techniques in No Body Murder cases
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As I’ve noted before, no body murder cases are generally made through one or more of the following quantums of evidence: 1. forensic evidence inculpating a suspect, 2. a suspect who confesses the murder to a jailhouse informant or his family or friends or 3. a suspect’s confession to the police. While having the suspect admit his offense to a jailhouse snitch or family member of friend is helpful, and what’s known as an admission, having the suspect confess to the police is usually better for several reasons. First, the police tend to be more accurate reporters of what the defendant said. Second, often a defendant’s confession to police is video or audio taped which can make the confession even more damning. Third, since most people believe a suspect is less likely to confess to the police than to someone he trusts, such as a family member or friend, often a police-obtained confession is seen as more credible.
There are many books written on techniques for getting a suspect to confession to the police. I want to focus today on one technique, the technique advocated by Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates, known as non-confrontational interrogation. Wicklander-Zulawski, or W-Z as they are known in law enforcement circles, train and teach law enforcement agencies and private investigators such as loss prevention specialists in interview and investigative techniques. In the field of interrogation they primarily advocate for a non-confrontational technique that leads to an increased number of confessions. (They also teach a confrontational technique as well.)
I first became aware of W-Z based on their work in the Arthur Ream no body murder case. Ream was convicted in June of this year for the murder of 13 year old Cindy Zarzycki in 1986. Just before his trial, Ream offered to lead police and prosecutors to the body if he was allowed to plead guilty and receive a reduced sentence. The deal fell through, however, and Ream went to trial and was convicted of first degree murder. After the trial, but before his sentence, W-Z investigators, along with Macomb County, Michigan police, conducted a non-confrontational interview with Ream who confessed to the murder and lead police to Zarzycki’s body, which had been buried for 21 years. Amazing.
I will be exploring this topic in further blog posts but for now I will post a couple of pieces on interview and interrogation techniques written by W-Z President, Shane G. Struman and recently published at www.lawofficer.com:
There will be observable behavior preceding the suspect's denial. Stop the denial before it is voiced. (Photo Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates)
Shane G. Sturman, CFI®
20080722
2008 Aug 22
Shane G. Sturman, CFI
Tools for Guiding the Confession
Interview and Interrogation Tips
• Shane G. Sturman, CFI®
• 2008 Aug 22
This issue focuses on tips to aid in securing a confession. We'll break it down into four sections: counteracting possible denials, identifying lies when they arise, making it easier to confess, and ten simple things you want to avoid.
• How to Counteract Denial: When entering into an interrogation, you can anticipate denial by watching the suspect's behavior and using following techniques to deflect:
• Anticipate the denial by observing behavior: There will be observable behavior preceding the suspect's denial. Stop the denial before it is voiced.
• Use the suspect's first name : When people hear their names, they stop and pay attention to the speaker. Use this to gain the suspect's attention or momentarily cause him to stop what he is doing.
• Discuss important areas : The suspect's desire to know the amount of information that has been developed can get him to listen.
• Tell the suspect that he will have a chance to talk : This typically pushes a suspect into maintaining silence while the interrogator talks.
• Interrupt the suspect and state the denial for him : This keeps the interrogator in control of the dialogue and establishes rapport but does not cause the suspect to feel like he has to protect a position.
• Create curiosity : By offering a statement designed to create curiosity, the suspect will wait to get all of the information promised by the interrogator.
• Use behavior to control the interrogation : Using gestures and conversational reactions to tell the suspect not to speak can control the suspect's denials.
• Use an enticement question: The enticement question presents either real or fake evidence that causes the suspect to change his story.
However, if the suspect is destined to lie, there are only so many ways he can do it.
• Identifying Lies: In order to handle a lie, the officer needs to understand the types of lies. There are five basic types of lies a suspect may use:
• Direct denial : This simple, "I didn't do it," creates an emotional sense of disquiet called dissonance, which people try to avoid.
• Lie of omission : This allows an individual to tell the truth while omitting details that could create potential trouble.
• Lie of fabrication : This is the most difficult lie to tell because the suspect must be a quick thinker with good memory. The suspect must be able to create information without contradicting himself to make the deception confident with a ring of truth.
• Lie of minimization : This lie downplays significance, which the suspect hopes will satisfy the interviewer and limit further questions. Only two beers, oshifer !
• Lie of exaggeration : Many exaggerated claims can be tested by looking for inconsistencies in the story.
When questioned closely, the suspect begins to search for a way out and will often begin the admission process--leading the way to confession.
• Making it Easier to Come Clean: When it comes to getting a confession, there are several ways to make it easier for the suspect to come clean:
• Create the belief his guilt is known : The suspect confesses because he believes that he is caught and wants to release his feelings of guilt.
• Offering a face-saving option : Minimize the seriousness of the crime, focus on the resolution and the future. Use rationalizations to allow the suspect to save face.
• Avoiding denials : Use third person rationalizations to gain acceptance and allow the suspect to minimize the seriousness of the crime.
• Using assumptive questions : An assumptive question assumes that the suspect committed the crime and asks for an admission regarding some aspect of the crime. Examples of assumptive questions are as follows:
•
o What is the most number of cars you broke into in the last six months?
o Did you use the money for bills or was it for drugs?
o Did you plan this out or did you do it on the spur of the moment without thinking?
o Was this your idea or someone else's?
Once the suspect has acknowledged involvement in the situation, it is essential to develop the admission which includes the elements of the crime, the suspect's mental state, evidence, and the details of the crime. Listed below are some mistakes you want to avoid:
Top 10 Mistakes You Want to Avoid
1. Don't go into an interview cold if at all feasible--thoroughly investigate.
2. Don't forget to Mirandize a suspect in custody.
3. Don't defame with false comments. Speculation and opinions in investigative reports should be avoided.
4. Don't prosecute unless the evidence warrants. A careful of the evaluation of each case's evidence and statements should be conducted prior to contemplating prosecution.
5. Don't touch the subject during the interview process. Even innocent touches or movements during the interview may be twisted into allegations.
6. Don't leave evidence unattended with the suspect.
7. Don't start your interrogation without getting as much relevant information as possible from witnesses.
8. Don't ever use coercive tactics to obtain information. Yelling, screaming, making threats or promises of leniency should not be used. The use of threats or promises to extract a confession removes the voluntary nature of the confession and could cause its suppression.
9. Don't have a closed mind about an individual's involvement in circumstantial cases . Keep in mind, circumstantial evidence is exactly that--circumstantial.
10. Don't begin any interview without going through the proper channels that have been established by your department. Work through your case one last time with your supervisor. This will not only help prepare for the interview, but it may also point out shortcomings in the investigation.
•
The more experienced criminal is able to use his deception without triggering the physiological changes to the magnitude of the occasional liar.
Shane G. Sturman, CFI®
20080625
2008 Jul 25
Shane G. Sturman, CFI
Why Do People Lie?
Interview and Interrogation Tips
• Shane G. Sturman, CFI®
• 2008 Jul 25
One of the most difficult parts of any patrol officer's job is to speak with a variety of individuals with very little preparation. Unlike the detective who may develop significant background information about a suspect prior to the interview, a patrol officer most often meets people he has no experience or history with. To be successful the officer must be part communicator, an observer of human behavior, and part psychologist.
We will be dealing with a variety of different techniques and strategies that can be used in a field interview or classic interrogation as time progresses. However, fundamental to any type of interview or interrogation are several questions that must be understood and answered if an officer is to be successful communicating with subjects.
Why do people lie?
On the surface this seems like a simple question that should be easily understood and answered by most of us. However, like many things this is a difficult and complex question once you begin to explore the underlying strategies and psychological components of people.
Certainly most people begin to lie at a very early age to avoid the consequences of their actions. Small children learn early on they can avoid consequences of something that they have done or gain an advantage if they are able to deceive a playmate or an adult. Once they are successful at deception it becomes a tool they can return to in similar situations. The successful strategy provides an advantage to the child since he now has a means of effectively avoiding consequences which he can return to without thinking.
Learned behavior is only one aspect of why people attempt to lie, but a primitive behavior they can utilize when in a state of panic and unable to think of anything else to do. Consider a traffic stop where there is clearly evidence of the individual's crime in the vehicle, and yet, his first strategy is to lie. Why does he do that? The fundamental reason is his state of panic causes a retrieval at a primitive subconscious level of a strategy that has worked previously, denial. He doesn't have time to think so he selects something that has worked before.
There are really three broad causes for denial each with many underlying reasons why a subject will attempt to deceive another.
Environment
Often it is the environment that triggers denial. For example, you begin to question someone in front of others and he lies to save face or preserve his self-image. Sometimes simply separating the subject from others will allow him to tell the truth. It may also be the environment chosen to do the interview is supportive to the subject. Questioning someone in their place of business where they have absolute control puts them on a different plane than when they are questioned during an unexpected street stop.
Another aspect relating to the environment is whether or not the individual knows he's about to be questioned. The advantage of a traffic stop or field interview is the event is unexpected and the subject has not planned a story or alibi for this moment. He must now make up a story about where he is going, been, or one that accounts for those he is with. His ability to carry out a deception is hampered by his lack of preparation and his physiological response to his fear of detection. This is obviously very different from an interview conducted by appointment.
The field interview resulting from a surprise stop often triggers the individual's fear of detection. This fear of detection triggers the body's autonomic nervous system which alters the body's physiology. For example, the individual may begin to perspire, eyes dilate, breathe more rapidly, and fidget, not to mention changes in their verbal behavior. Their language is confused, contradictory and full of long pauses as they search for answers that seem plausible and don't contradict.
The subject
The subject also will significantly effect whether or not a denial or deception will be attempted. As mentioned previously an individual in a state of panic will often return to something that has been successful in previously denying involvement. However, the more experienced criminal is able to use his deception without triggering the physiological changes to the magnitude of the occasional liar.
The lack of physiological change is the result of the experienced liar's adeptness at carrying off deception. He knows he is a good liar and as a result his fear of detection diminishes because of his confidence in his ability to lie.
The experienced liar may use denial simply because he wants to see what the officer knows or suspects. He uses the denial simply as a delaying device in an attempt to elicit information from those questioning him. The more information he is able to obtain, the more likely he can make correct judgments about what he must admit or not admit.
The officer
The officer's actions, words and approach will often be the primary cause triggering a subject's denial. On occasion an officer will stop an innocent individual and press him for an admission and receive a denial simply because the person is telling the truth. Failing to recognize the truthfulness of the individual, the officer continues to accuse and the result is continued denial by the innocent subject.
However, more often than not, the officer's questions are directed at somebody who has something to hide. Asking a subject in a field interview, "What are you doing out here?" tells the suspect to make up a lie since the officer likely has no information to contradict whatever he will say. A denial could also be triggered by an officer's direct accusation of wrongdoing, which requires the suspect to defend himself. "You robbed that woman." "No I didn't." This is a simple cause and effect dictated by the officer's state.
When all is said and done, it is very often the interviewer who causes many of his own problems and it is these actions that we will address in upcoming columns offering suggestions and remedies that can be put into play immediately.
About the Author:
Shane G. Sturman, CFI®, is the President of Wicklander-Zulawski and Associates, Inc. He is a nationally recognized speaker on interview and interrogation techniques and has presented hundreds of seminars on the topic to federal agencies, law enforcement and the private sector. As an investigator, Mr. Sturman has personally conducted thousands of interviews and interrogations for both private and public agencies.
Mr. Sturman received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the University of Phoenix. Mr. Sturman is also a member of the American Society for Industrial Security, a member of the ASIS Retail Council, a Certified Protection Professional (CPP) and a Certified Forensic Interviewer (CFI®).
About WZ:
Wicklander-Zulawski and Associates, Inc. (WZ) is widely recognized as the premier consulting and training company in the field of interview and interrogation techniques. The company is dedicated to assisting public and private sector professionals to improve their interviewing ability to obtain the truth through legally acceptable techniques. More information on training courses and seminars can be found at www.w-z.com.
• Wicklander-Zulawski and Associates, Inc.
•
• Shane G. Sturman, CFI
Shane G. Sturman, CFI®, is the President of Wicklander-Zulawski and and Associates, Inc .
▣ No body murder trial to begin in Texas
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Fort Worth trial will go on even though no body has been found
12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, September 28, 2008
By DEBRA DENNIS / The Dallas Morning News
debdennis@dallasnews.com
FORT WORTH – Glenda Furch has been missing for a year and is presumed dead. Her two daughters, having resigned themselves to their mother's fate, want to schedule her final rites.
Sisters Shimon and Latisha Furch (left) seek closure in the case of their mother, Glenda Furch, who disappeared a year ago today.
But there is no body, no cause of death. So the obsequies will have to wait.
Yet Shimon and Latisha Furch may soon get some sort of closure to their ordeal. On Oct. 6, a Tarrant County jury is scheduled to begin hearing evidence against the Fort Worth man accused of kidnapping and killing Glenda Furch.
Rodney Owens, 41, has been charged with murder in connection with the case. He is a former neighbor of Glenda Furch who was arrested last November after leading police on a short car chase. When he was pulled over, officers found items in his car from Ms. Furch's Woodhaven apartment.
The 51-year-old grandmother was last seen a year ago today as she completed her shift at the General Motors assembly plant in Arlington, where she had worked for nearly three decades. Ms. Furch left the factory after midnight, purchased gasoline in East Fort Worth and drove a few blocks more to her apartment, authorities said.
"We think she made it to her apartment," Fort Worth homicide Sgt. J.D. Thornton said. "We have some clues about what happened after she arrived."
Fort Worth police believe Mr. Owens accosted Ms. Furch as she entered or was about to enter her second-story apartment.
"It isn't clear if she was targeted at random," Sgt. Thornton said. "It could have been he was there when she got home from work. To say that he was targeting her and waiting for her, no I don't think so. She just happened to be the one he was able to make contact with."
According to Mr. Owens' indictment, Ms. Furch died the same day she disappeared. A few days after she was reported missing, her car was found burning at an abandoned Dallas carwash.
"There is evidence of an assault and restraint," Sgt. Thornton said. "Combined with the lack of contact between her and any relatives or work is what led to the murder charge.
"So obviously, we think she's dead. She just hasn't been located."
Neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys would comment about the case or the pending trial. But a law professor who specializes in evidence said that a successful prosecution in a murder trial is possible without a body.
"You don't have to have a body, necessarily," said the professor, Guy Wellborn of the University of Texas at Austin. "If they're going to convict him of murder, they're going to have to have evidence that she is, in fact, dead."
Mr. Wellborn acknowledged that some jurors may be bothered momentarily that a body hasn't been found, but he said that won't necessarily be an impossible hurdle for prosecutors.
"They will realize and reason through it and say, 'This guy killed this girl, and we shouldn't let him get away with it just because he was successful at getting rid of the body,' " he said.
"They will have to be convinced that the victim is dead, and other physical evidence, no doubt, leads to this defendant," he said. "The burden is added piece by piece. No single piece would do it alone. If you get enough pieces, you get the picture."
Aside from a conviction, Ms. Furch's daughters are hoping the trial will produce something else – details of their mother's death and the whereabouts of her remains.
"He could have told us," Latisha Furch said of Mr. Owens. "I don't know why he can't say what happened."
Her sister, Shimon Furch, agreed.
"I want to look into his eyes, and I want him to look into mine," she said. "It's time to man-up to what you've done. It's time to accept some responsibility."
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Books on No Body murder cases
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I have included a list of books that I've found so far on no body murder cases. I'll add to the list as I find more (Defendant's name in parenthesis):
Alchemy of Bones, by Robert Loerzel (Adolph Luetgert)
Corpus Delicti, by Diane Wagner (Ewing Scott)
Darker than Night, by Tom Henderson (Duval Brothers)
Dreams of Ada, by Robert Moyer (Fontenot and Ward)
Fatal Embrace: The Inside Story Of The Thomas Capano/Anne Marie Fahey Murder Case, by Cris Barrish and Peter Meyer
Never Seen Again: A Ruthless Lawyer, His Beautiful Wife, and the Murder that Tore a Family Apart, by Jeanne King (Perry March)
A Rip in Heaven: A Memoir of Murder And Its Aftermath, by Jeanine Cummins (Clemmons, Gray and Richardson)
Sequestered, by Brian Solomon (Daniel Kutz)
Trail of Blood, by Wanda Evans and James Dunn (Tate and Hamilton)
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ No Body murder trial set to begin for California man who threw couple's bodies off of yacht
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OK, this one's a little different:
Skylar Deleon trial starts soon
Death penalty sought for alleged killers
of ham radio couple
The trial of Skylar Deleon, accused of masterminding the 2004 murder of an Arizona couple, will begin soon.
The jury selection process for the trial, being held at the Orange County Courthouse, California, will start on Monday, September 22nd and could see up to 1,000 local residents questioned to determine their suitability as jurors for the death penalty case. The trial itself could last as long as 14 weeks.
Skylar Deleon and John Fitzgerald Kennedy, along with three other defendants, are charged with the 2004 special circumstances murder of Thomas and Jackie Hawks, KD7VWJ and KD7VWK in Newport Beach.
Newport Beach detectives believe that Deleon recruited Kennedy and another man to help overpower the Hawks during a November 15, 2004, cruise aboard their yacht the Well Deserved.
Thomas and Jackie Hawks KD7VWJ, and KD7VWK
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas has announced that he will pursue the death penalty in the case against Skylar Deleon, 26, of Long Beach, and
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 40, of Long Beach.
Deleon is also charged with the special circumstances murder for financial gain of John Jarvi.
Superior Court Judge Frank F. Fasel cleared the final hurdle to the trial last week when he agreed to sever Deleon's trial from that of John F. Kennedy, 43, a former Compton gang member and a co-defendant in the alleged murders.
Charles L. Lindner, Kennedy's lawyer, successfully argued that it would be unfair to try Kennedy - who also faces a potential death sentence - with Deleon, in part because of the many statements Deleon gave to police when he was questioned about the Hawks' disappearance. Lindner also said Kennedy's defense team was not ready to go to trial now. So Fasel delayed Kennedy's trial to start in January.
Prosecutors claim that Deleon approached the couple with an offer to buy their 55-foot yacht called Well Deserved.
The state alleges that Deleon and accomplices then killed the couple when they took him and two other men out for a test run. Prosecutors claim that the couple was handcuffed, tied to an anchor and dumped alive into the ocean after being forced to sign paperwork transferring the boat's title to Deleon. Their bodies have never been found.
Jennifer Deleon sentenced to life inprisonment without parole
In the first of the trials, Skylar's wife, Jennifer Deleon was found guilty on two counts of first degree murder on Friday November 17, 2006, after only four hours of jury deliberation.
During the trial of Jennifer Deleon, the People showed that Jennifer and Skylar Deleon cleaned the boat with bleach wipes and destroyed evidence and personal items belonging to the Hawks.
In October, 2007, Jennifer Deleon, now calling herself Jennifer Henderson since her divorce from Skylar Deleon, was sentenced to two life terms without the possibility of parole.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Federal District Court limits cellphone searches
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A recent federal district court in Pennsylvania requires the government to obtain a search warrant in order to obtain cell tower information from a cell phone. Given the importance of knowing a suspect's location at the time of a disappearance, this ruling (which technically only affects federal prosecutors in the Western District of Pennsylvania) could make it more difficult for police or law enforcement to obtain cell tower information inno body murder cases.
Correction to This Article
This article incorrectly said that a federal court decision on the government's ability to obtain stored cellphone location data was the first federal district court ruling on the issue. It was the first federal district court ruling to hold that the government must obtain a warrant based on probable cause before seeking such information; two other district court rulings have found that the government may obtain the data on a standard lower than probable cause.
Judge Limits Searches Using Cellphone Data
By Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 12, 2008; Page A02
The government must obtain a warrant based on probable cause of criminal activity before directing a wireless provider to turn over records that show where customers used their cellphones, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, in the first opinion by a federal district court on the issue.
Judge Terrence F. McVerry of the Western District of Pennsylvania rejected the government's argument that historical cellphone tower location data did not require probable cause.
The ruling could begin to establish the standard for such requests, which industry lawyers say are routine as more people carry cellphones that reveal their locations. Around the country, magistrate judges, who handle matters such as search warrants, have expressed concern about the lack of guidance.
In this case, which involved a government investigation of a drug trafficker, the judge affirmed a February ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Pupo Lenihan that whether the data sought was historical or real-time, it required a warrant.
"This is a great ruling for location privacy and for people who think the government should have probable cause before they track you," said Jennifer Granick, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case.
But Orin Kerr, a constitutional law expert at George Washington University, said the decision was "very likely wrong" and faces "an uphill battle on appeal."
The government is "considering options" on an appeal, Justice spokesman Dean Boyd said.
At issue was a government request for an order directing Sprint Spectrum to disclose historical cellphone data that included cell tower location information as well as call times and durations.
Lenihan said the information sought, which she said could identify a subject's location to within about 200 feet, was "extraordinarily personal and potentially sensitive . . . (and) particularly vulnerable to abuse."
The government argued that cell site historical records are no different from routine transactional records and as such are not "tracking devices" that require a warrant.
"For instance, records of past credit card transactions will often serve to place a person at a given location at a specific time, yet under established Fourth Amendment law they enjoy no Fourth Amendment protection," U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan said in a brief asking the district court to review Lenihan's ruling.
She argued that historical cell-site records reveal location only to within a few hundred yards, not feet, and are "much too imprecise" to tell whether calls have been made from a "constitutionally protected space, let alone to reveal facts about the interiors of private homes or other protected areas."
To obtain such orders, the government said, the correct standard is a showing of "specific and articulable facts" that the information is "relevant" to a criminal investigation. A "majority of federal districts" grant orders based on that standard, Boyd said.
But Catherine Crump, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, said the government's position on historical data was flawed. "People place a certain privacy value on their movements," she said. "Whether it's their movements yesterday or their movements today, it's the same."
Said Granick: "Most people don't think that somebody could go back in time and find out where I was or who I was talking to or who was nearby at that same time. This is sensitive information, and there should be good reason before the government gets it."
For more precise cellphone location, such as by Global Positioning System technology in phones, Justice Department attorneys say access requires a warrant.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Article by Michigan Prosecutor on No Body Murder cases
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A great article on prosecuting no body murder cases was posted by Michigan prosecutor Donna Pendergast on the Women In Crime Ink blog, womenincrimeink.blogspot.com. Ms. Pendergast has tried over 200 jury trials including 97 murder trials and two no body murder cases. We're adding her to the No Body Hall of Fame!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
The "No Body" Murder Case - A Prosecutor's Perspective
by Donna Pendergast
The Corpus Delicti rule mandates that a prosecutor prove that a crime has been committed before a person can be convicted of committing a crime.
A dead body is a critical component and establishes the corpus delicti of a murder case. However, successful prosecutions have occurred where there is no body and sometimes no physical evidence linking a suspect to the crime.
I have successfully prosecuted two "no body" murder cases and sent away five defendants on murder charges where there was no body to substantiate the crime. Having tried over 200 cases to a jury with 97 of those cases being murder trials, I can vouch from experience that the "no body" murder trial is the most difficult and complex prosecution of all. It is a difficult feat to convince jurors of a murder without the body as a key piece of evidence. With careful and tenacious planning it is an obstacle that can be overcome.
The ABC's of a "No Body" Prosecution
Prosecuting a murder case without a body is an uphill climb for a prosecutor. Without a body, circumstantial evidence becomes the key to the prosecution. The prosecutor must use every shred of available evidence to prove to the jury circumstantially that murder is the only logical explanation of what happened. The prosecutor must also disprove all innocent explanations for the disappearance.
The first thing that a prosecutor must do in a "no body" murder case is make a critical assessment of all available evidence to determine if there is sufficient circumstantial evidence to convince a jury that a murder occurred. Before charging a "no body" murder case, the prosecutor must be ready to rule out reasonable explanations for the disappearance through the process of elimination.
The prosecutor must prove not only that death is the reason for a disappearance, but that the means of death was at the hands of another. The prosecutor needs to use circumstantial evidence prove that the death was a murder as opposed to an accident or by natural causes. The defense will capitalize on any uncertainty in the case arguing that there may be another explanation.
The Missing Hunters
A case that I prosecuted in 2003 is a classic example of a "no body" murder case. On Friday November 22, 1985, Brian Ognjan (pictured below) and David Tyll (at right) left their suburban Detroit homes for a weekend hunting trip and disappeared off the face of the earth. When they failed to return home as planned on Sunday night, the families and later police authorities began a massive search. Their bodies and vehicle were never recovered.
In October 2003, J.R. Duvall (pictured below) and his brother Coco Duvall went to trial for the murder of the missing hunters. I had oone witness who came forward after 18 years to admit that she had observed the Duvall brothers savagely beat the hunters to death with a baseball bat outside a local bar. It was widely rumored, but never proven, that the bodies of the hunters were then cut up in a wood chipper and fed to pigs. A more detailed account of the nuances of the case can be found in Tom Henderson's book Darker Than Night which gives an eerily accurate description of the case and trial.
The lack of bodies in the case was complicated by other difficult problems. My key witness in the case, Barb Boudro, had issues that I also needed to overcome with circumstantial evidence to prove a murder. Barb admitted to having at least nine drinks the night of the murder, she didn't know what had happened to the bodies after the beating and she had delayed telling the police what she knew for 18 years. I also had a concern, which did in fact materialize at trial, that Barb would be portrayed as a media attention seeker because of the high-profile nature of the trial.
To corroborate Barb's story, I needed to elicit every favorable shred of circumstantial evidence available to bolster her version of events. To prove the death of the two hunters was fairly easy. Both David Tyll's and Brian Ongjan's bank accounts and credit cards had never been accessed after their disappearance. This evidence was presented at trial to refute claims made by the defense that perhaps the two hunters had ran away to start new lives.
I also presented testimony from David Tyll's wife that he had asked her to come along on the trip. This circumstantial evidence seemingly ruled out the likelihood that the two hunters willingly set the stage to disappear and start new lives. I also put in evidence to show that there had been no medical insurance claims presented nor processed over the past 18 years for either of the two. This circumstantial evidence supported my witness's claim that the hunters were in fact dead.
Proving that the deaths were due to murder was more problematic. Barb's testimony still for the most part needed to stand on its own to prove death by murder as opposed to accident or natural causes. The defense argued that even if the hunters were dead, the prosecution couldn't prove murder but for the testimony of one shaky and drunk witness. The defense further argued that the hunters who were last seen in an extremely intoxicated state may have driven off the road and ended up in a lake or quarry. As the defense repeatedly argued, the prosecution had the burden of proving that something like that hadn't happened.
Luckily I had snippets of statements made by the Duvall brothers over the ensuing 18 years that corroborated Barb's version of events to a certain extent. It was only a few small snippets but it was enough. After a two week trial the jury came back guilty of First Degree Murder in less than two hours.
My other "no body" case was considerably easier than the first. In Detroit Michigan, in early 2001, three men working on a house renovation ambushed, tortured, and robbed the owner of the house when he stopped in to check on their progress. They then stuffed his body in a trash can and took it out to the curb where it was picked up in the normal trash collection the next morning. By the time the police learned of the murder and got to the city dump the body was presumably completely buried under massive mounds of trash. Multiple search attempts were made to sift through the trash piles with a bulldozer to no avail. That set the stage for a "no body" prosecution utilizing circumstantial evidence.
The victim had been stabbed multiple times at the house so there was DNA evidence at the crime scene to compare to the victim's DNA taken from his toothbrush. This proved that at the very least the victim had been bleeding in the house. I also put into evidence pictures of the city dump so that the jury could understand the futility of the search and see for themselves why the body was never found.
The three defendants later all individually made statements exculpating themselves but implicating the others in the murder. This further proved a murder even if the respective defendants were blaming it on each other. Since these types of statements are only admissible in trial against a defendant himself and not against other defendants I was required to do a triple jury trial when prosecuting the case.
The trial was a circus to say the least. We had three separate juries in court at the same time. I was required to do three separate opening and three closing arguments back to back to back. That made for one exhausted prosecutor.
For much of the testimony all three juries could be in court simultaneously. However, certain witnesses only pertained to one jury and when the defendant's respective statements were introduced into evidence only the jury for that defendant was allowed to be in the court to hear the statement. All three juries ultimately convicted the defendants of murder after a three-week trial.
My personal experience has proven that the conventional wisdom of "no body, no murder" is a thing of the past. The "no body" murder case makes for a difficult prosecution but more and more frequently these case are being prosecuted and won despite the lack of a body. What used to be the perfect crime for those cunning enough to dispose of their victims has become a little less perfect. For that we can all be grateful.
Posts by Donna Pendergast are my own and do not represent The Michigan Attorney General or the Michigan Department of Attorney General's Office.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Updates in two San Diego No Body Murder cases
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Man Accused In Death Of Wife Pleads Not Guilty
Rosa Lisowski Remains Missing
SAN DIEGO -- A 67-year-old Ocean Beach man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to murdering his estranged wife, who disappeared about a week before he was supposed to start making child support payments.
Henry Lisowski, who was arrested last week, was ordered held without bail pending another hearing on Tuesday. He faces 25 years to life behind bars in convicted.
Deputy District Attorney Nicole Cooper told Judge David Szumowski that 50-year-old Rosa Lisowski, who lived in Loma Portal, vanished March 24 after taking her young son to school. No remains have been found.
The victim's 19-year-old son reported his mother missing and a thorough investigation was launched. Authorities "began looking at him that evening," Cooper said outside court. "He's been a point of interest from the very beginning."
Cooper said the Lisowskis were embroiled in a heated divorce battle, and she had just been awarded custody of their their two children together and her two from a previous relationship.
Henry Lisowski was supposed to start paying his estranged wife $1,100 a month in child support beginning April 1, and a court hearing had been scheduled so that he could prove he wasn't underreporting his income, the prosecutor said.
Cooper alleged that Lisowski had threatened his wife as far back as last year.
"He told her that he could make her disappear," the prosecutor told the judge.
Several witnesses saw the defendant with fresh scratch marks on his face and arms the day his wife went missing, Cooper said.
She said the victim's blood was found on a kitchen counter in his home and in the cargo area of his vehicle. The defendant's blood was found on the inside of the passenger door of his Lexus, the prosecutor said.
"It is our belief that he transported her body and he disposed of her body," Cooper said outside court.
Last Friday, police received a tip alleging that the defendant had dumped his wife's body in a Dumpster in an alley in the Mount Hope area, the prosecutor said.
She said officers were unable to locate the Dumpster, but arrested Lisowski.
"At this point we don't exactly which Dumpster she was placed in; we only have a general area," Cooper said outside court. "Without that information, we don't even know which landfill she would be at, so we cannot start searching until we get a more definitive location."
Cooper said the defendant has access to large amounts of cash and has ties outside the United States, and told the judge that he traveled to Costa Rica in the midst of the investigation into his wife's disappearance.
Lisowski told people he would like to "grab his kids and leave the country," the prosecutor told the judge.
Copyright 2008 by City Wire. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
And another case where the body was just found:
Body Found Encased In Concrete
POSTED: 5:27 am PDT September 10, 2008
UPDATED: 6:47 pm PDT September 10, 2008
[NEWSVINE: Body Found Encased In Concrete] [DELICIOUS: Body Found Encased In Concrete] [DIGG: Body Found Encased In Concrete] [FACEBOOK: Body Found Encased In Concrete] [REDDIT: Body Found Encased In Concrete] [RSS] [PRINT: Body Found Encased In Concrete] [EMAIL: Body Found Encased In Concrete]
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Authorities say a body found encased in concrete next to a home in San Diego's North Park area is believed to be that of an 80-year-old Hemet man who disappeared in May.
Police said three roommates found the body Friday while demolishing a large egg-shaped concrete form left in the yard.
Thomas Brooks of San Diego was arrested last month in La Jolla on suspicion of killing Edward Clayton Andrews of Hemet.
Riverside homicide unit Sgt. Dean Spivacke said investigators had collected evidence over the summer and made the arrest, but had no body until Friday.
Spivacke said investigators believe it is Andrews' body, but will need a DNA test to confirm that.
An autopsy conducted Sunday determined the cause of death was asphyxiation.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Michial Foster No Body Murder Trial
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Officer says Foster admitted to death threat
Only five witnesses testified at the Michial Foster trial Friday but those witnesses recounted conversations and remarks by the man suspected of killing Alicia Wasilewski that the prosecution hopes will prove to the jury that Foster was a man capable of murder.
Among the witnesses was police officer Steven Kreun who was the lead investigator on the case when Ms. Wasilewski disappeared in May 1996.
Kreun said Foster admitted to threatening to kill Wasilewski prior to her disappearance. It happened during a confrontation near Binghamton and Wasilewski had Foster arrested for it.
Kreun also provided the jury with some of the first evidence they’ve heard concerning the planting of a confidential informant in Foster’s cell in state prison. Foster was doing time after being convicted on a weapon possession charge.
Police had found a sawed-off shotgun during their investigation when Alicia went missing.
Kreun was asked why police wanted to keep Foster in prison as long as possible.
“All of our information told us Alicia was dead and Foster was responsible,” Officer Kreun said.
Another witness, Nicholas Perruccio, who was incarcerated at Jefferson County Jail at the time Foster was arrested for having the shotgun, told of remarks Foster made in a jail recreation room.
Perruccio told of Foster saying “If there’s no body, there’s no crime” and “Without a body there’s no case.”
Foster’s ex-wife, Marsha Penree, was called to the stand. She told of being asked by Foster to purchase a gun for him.
When Penree asked why, Foster told her it was none of her business. She refused to make the purchase.
Throughout the day’s proceedings defense attorney Gary Miles continued his objections to much of the evidence being presented and questioned the methods used by police in their investigation.
The trial continues Monday morning in Jefferson County Court.
Copyright 2008 Newport Television LLC All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
And go to this website for a live blog of the trial! http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php?option=com_altcaster&task=viewaltcast&altcast_code=1ff2482d7b&height=335&width=320
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ July conviction in Florida
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Someow I missed this one:
Roy Ballard's Lawyer Wants Murder Verdict Tossed
By Jason Geary
THE LEDGER
Published: Thursday, July 17, 2008 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, July 17, 2008 at 9:11 a.m.
BARTOW | A lawyer for convicted murderer Roy Phillip Ballard says prosecutors are continuing to seek the death penalty against him to justify a high-profile spat with a circuit judge.
Roy Ballard
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* Judge Rules Zephyrhills Man Can Face Death Penalty
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* Wife Questioned in Murder Trial
* Jurors Get Conflicting Views of Murder Suspect
Ballard, 67, was found guilty earlier this month of first-degree murder.
Prosecutors argued the Zephyrhills man killed his stepdaughter, Autumn Marie Traub. Her body has never been found.
Jurors are scheduled to return to court next week to recommend whether Ballard should face the death penalty. Under Florida law, Circuit Judge Donald Jacobsen must give the jury's recommendation great weight.
But Ballard's lawyer, Byron Hileman, argues in a 10-page motion filed Monday that Jacobsen should acquit his client or prohibit prosecutors from seeking the death penalty.
Jacobsen might consider the motion at a Friday afternoon hearing.
Prosecutors theorized Ballard killed Traub, 33, because she opposed Ballard regaining custody of a 14-year-old female relative so he could continue a sexual relationship with the girl.
Hileman wrote that Traub's body has never been found, and the murder case against Ballard "has been a process of stacking inference and speculation upon inference and speculation."
He wrote prosecutors joined a weak sexual battery case with the murder charge "only because the state can fit those facts by careful argument into a plausible but almost totally unproven story of what happened."
"It is a good fictional bedtime story, but not a real tale supported by proof beyond any reasonable doubt," the motion states.
Hileman accuses prosecutors of misconduct by continuing to seek the death penalty against Ballard for political reasons.
The Ballard murder case was a source of contention between the State Attorney's Office and Circuit Judge Susan Roberts.
In the Ballard case, the State Attorney's Office accused Roberts of making comments that showed she was prejudging that the death penalty wasn't appropriate because of Ballard's age.
Prosecutors requested that Roberts get off the case. The judge refused the request. The 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled Roberts should not preside over the case, which was reassigned to Jacobsen.
After unsuccessful efforts to remove Roberts from other pending murder cases, Roberts was eventually reassigned to another division and has since retired.
The motion concludes the State Attorney's Office has a "political imperative" to "zealously seek the death penalty for Roy Ballard in order to justify their political machinations involving getting rid of Judge Susan Roberts."
Chip Thullbery, a spokesman for the State Attorney's Office in Bartow, said prosecutors' position at Friday's hearing will be that "the defense's allegations are without merit."
[ Jason Geary can be reached at jason.geary@theledger.com or 863-802-7536. ]
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Arrest in Dallas "no body" case
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Blood, No Body: The Murder of Richard Hernandez
Posted at 9:57 AM Sep 10, 2008
Sometime last week friends and co-workers grew concerned about Richard Hernandez, age 38. The Dallas man was last seen leaving the Wal-Mart where he worked, and then no one heard from him again. He'd been at the Wal-Mart for 8 years. It wasn't like Richard to just not show up.
Cops went to Hernandez's apartment in northwest Dallas for a welfare check, and they found blood. Lots of blood. Richard Hernandez's one-bedroom home was an abattoir.
The floor in Hernandez's apartment was covered in blood. The walls, streaked with blood. The couch, covered in blood. A warrant issued later in Denton County, TX stated that it looked as though the bathtub had been used to dismember the body of Richard Hernandez. The Dallas County medical examiner ruled that tissue samples found in the tub were from internal organs.
sethwinder.jpgSeth Lawton Winder, age 29, once lived at the same apartment complex. The apartment manager remembered him, and she told police that she'd seen Winder near Hernandez's place on Wednesday and Thursday, after Hernandez went incommunicado.
Authorities picked Winder up and charged him with using Hernandez's debit card. On Sunday, they took a blood-soaked backpack into evidence. Inside they found items belong to both Winder and Richard Hernandez.
The worst evidence was yet to come. Investigators got in touch with Winder's dad and searched the elder Winder's garage. There they found, in the words of the Dallas News, "a digital camera with pornographic images of Mr. Winder in Mr. Hernandez's apartment." The Dallas NBC affiliate was less circumspect about the "pornographic images." In an article published online, NBC 5 reported that "police have pornographic cell phone pictures of Winder and Hernandez." Other items owned by Richard Hernandez were also found inside the same garage.
Seth Winder had been living rough in a tent in The Colony, TX. A search of the tent yielded a sword and more items owned by Richard Hernandez. Those, too, were covered in blood.
Seth Winder's father has asked that his name be kept out of articles about the murder of Richard Hernandez, but he did make a statement: "I just want to make sure everybody understands that he is insane [...] He is mentally ill, and he's been that way since probably early 2000. ... He's been arrested numerous times, and I told the police every single time that he's crazy and they wouldn't listen."
Winder's father has also said that his son is fascinated with knives. Seth Winder has been a danger to his family in the past, as well -- his father said Winder tried to strangle his mother 3 years ago.
Homeless drifter or no, Seth Winder did indeed have a MySpace page. He created the profile on July 20, 2008, and apparently didn't log in again after making the page. His headline was made-up word: "golfretrology." Under "About me," Winder wrote, "sexy fucker, deep thinker." Below that, under "Who I'd like to meet," Winder stated, "you."
Kind of chilling, in hindsight. Otherwise there wasn't much to see. Via the profile, Winder stated his "General" interests were "sex drugs & r&r." His hero was "spiderman."
There were no photos of Winder himself, but there were two works of art -- one a digitally-altered photo of a woman dancing between two speakers, the other a painting, possibly by William Blake.
Winder's arrest marks only the 3rd time in 3 decades that Dallas authorities have gone ahead and filed charges of capital murder, even though they don't have a body. Dallas Police Lt. Craig Miller told NBC 5 that with the evidence collected, police feel like they "have a strong case to go ahead -- even without a body -- to file a capital murder charge."
[Dallas Morning News and NBC5i.com.]
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Search for New Jersey man missing since 1990 goes high tech
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Search for body from possible 1990 killing goes high-tech in Middle Township
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, 609-463-6716
Published: Wednesday, August 20, 2008
MIDDLE TOWNSHIP - About 1 acres of land off a quiet street in the township's Whitesboro section was turned into a series of carefully mapped grids Tuesday as the search began for the remains of Craig White.
The area, just off Reeves Street, was blocked off by police cars as a crew from Geophysical Survey Systems began surveying the area using ground-penetrating radar and electromagnetic-induction instruments, tools used to explore beneath the ground.
The search was launched after the county Prosecutor's Office received a tip from someone described as a "credible witness" that White's body could be found here.
White, who would now be 36 years old, was 18 when he disappeared from this community Feb. 23, 1990, less than two weeks after marking his son's first birthday. White's second cousin, Jesse Watkins, has since been charged with White's murder and is in the Cape May County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail, awaiting trial - but no body has ever been recovered.
Cape May County Prosecutor Robert Taylor spent time at the search area Tuesday morning, where work began at about 6:30 a.m.
Click here to find out more!
"Hopefully, we'll find his remains so we can bring some closure to the family of the victim," Taylor said as a survey worker walked up and down carrying a device that measures the conductivity of the earth.
The device collects the data, which is then interpreted to determine the presence of anything out of the ordinary. Those locations can then be excavated.
The area being searched includes both township land and privately owned property. The owners consented to the search, and a search warrant also was obtained where needed, Chief of Detectives Jim Rybicki said.
The Middle Township Police Department, Cape May County Prosecutor's Office and State Police were all on the scene Tuesday.
Witnesses have testified in preliminary court hearings that White was last seen with Watkins. The case is scheduled to go to trial Jan. 19. The Prosecutor's Office has said jealousy may have been a motive in the case. Several months before White disappeared, Jesse Watkins learned that White and Watkins' girlfriend at the time had been involved in an affair, witnesses have said.
Watkins' attorney, Christopher Robertson, has said that Watkins maintains his innocence in the case.
E-mail Trudi Gilfillian:
TGilfillian@pressofac.com
Posted by Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Five investigative techniques for No Body Murder Cases
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I’m often asked by both the families of missing persons and law enforcement what the police should be doing once a person is missing but presumed dead. Here are five things the police should focus on early in an investigation. In any murder investigation, time is of the essence and the faster the police can gather clues, the greater their chance of finding the victim’s body and making an arrest. Note that all of these techniques are useful even if the victim is merely missing and not actually dead.
1. Cell phones
Cell phones have a wealth of information and their widespread use in today’s society make them a valuable source of information. The police, often with the help of a subpoena issued by the prosecutor’s office, can get the records from the victim’s phone and see who the victim was calling, when the calls stopped and who called after the outgoing calls stopped. Checking the frequency of calls also help police determine who was close to the victim. Cell phones utilize cell towers to make calls and obtaining cell tower records tell police where a call was coming from. Indeed, the cell towers to which a phone sends a signal can change during the duration of a call, so police can track the path of the victim. However, phone companies keep cell tower records for very limited periods, often as few as 20 to 30 days so police must move quickly to get these records. Of course, all of these techniques apply to potential suspects as well.
2. Interviews
Police should immediately interview as many who know the victim as possible. Close family members and friends must be interviewed in detail to gather information. Videotaping these interviews is best because if the story changes down the road, the police have an accurate record of what was said initially. Any suspects should also be interviewed and their story thoroughly checked out.
3 Search warrants
I have seen over the years the difficulties police have in getting search warrants for suspect’s houses or other possible scenes in missing person’s cases. First, police should aggressively pursue consent searches if possible. If that fails, they must at least try to get a search warrant. There’s nothing wrong with putting in a search warrant that the police suspect foul play and that the victim’s characteristics are inconsistent with having simply left town, e.g., left behind children, is a child, have not accessed bank accounts, show up to work, etc. Citing other cases of missing persons who were later found dead or were never found, increase the chances a judge will agree the victim may be dead. Getting inside a suspect’s house often leads to very valuable scientific evidence. Any search should include a cadaver dog. You’d be amazed at how often suspects bury a body nearby, sometimes temporarily until they can move it to another, safer location.
4 Pressure suspect
If there is an obvious suspect, pressure must be applied. Through effective interrogation techniques, a suspect will often confess early on since the guilt is fresh and the suspect’s story not quite thought out yet. A suspect should be placed under surveillance to see if he or she returns to the crime scene or where the body was disposed of. Advances in GPS technology have led police to placing GPS tracking devices on a suspect’s car and using the information to see where the suspect goes. For an interesting recent article from the Washington Post about this see, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/12/AR2008081203275.html
5 Think creatively
Don’t treat the case like a missing person case, treat it like a homicide where the best evidence of the crime is missing: the body. Police must think outside the box. In one case, the family had not heard from the victim for sometime but was receiving letters allegedly written by the victim. The family, suspicious that the victim was actually dead, wrote back and reminded the victim to send the money he owed to another family member and to not forget that same family member’s birthday. A few days letter a birthday card arrived along with a check for $25. Of course, the victim did not owe that family member any money and it was not his birthday so the family knew that it was not the victim writing the letters. This is just one example of police and a family thinking creatively to ensnare a killer. Someone with the ability to conceal a body is not a criminal who is likely to make stupid mistakes like the bank robber who writes a stickup note on his own deposit slip. These cases are huge law enforcement challenges and require creative solutions and investigative techniques.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Excellent article by Garen Horst on How to Prosecute a No Body Murder Case
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Many thanks to Garen Horst for permission to republish this article.
REPRODUCED FROM PROSECUTOR’S BRIEF, VOL. XXX, NO. 1 (© CDAA 2007), WITH PERMISSION FROM THE CALIFORNIA DISTRICT ATTORNEYS ASSOCIATION.
▣ Murder charge in no body murder case for Alabama man previously convicted of murder
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Bond denied for man suspected of second murder in four decades
Posted: Aug 21, 2008 08:37 PM
Updated: Aug 22, 2008 11:43 AM
Man who had murder sentence commuted charged again
By Connie Leonard - bio | email
MONTGOMERY, AL (WAVE) - More than 38 years after a Louisville woman was brutally murdered, the man who confessed to the crime and then had his sentenced commuted is now back in the spotlight in Alabama. WAVE 3's Connie Leonard has the latest.
Seventy-nine-year-old Albert Wilding is now charged with murdering his wife, who disappeared in 2000. In an older case dating back to 1970, Wilding admitted to killing his mother-in-law and was sentenced to serve 21 years, but he was released from prison early. Now there are questions about how that could have happened.
While Albert Wilding seemed perplexed about his arrest this week for the murder of his missing wife, there's not a lot of surprise among former law enforcement officials who worked on Wilding's case in the 70s.
Bob Fleming, a former Assistant Commonwealth Attorney in Jefferson County, helped prosecute Wilding in 1970. That's when Wilding admitted killing his mother-in-law, Marie Wayne, in her home near Eastern Parkway.
In his confession, Wilding says he attacked Wayne in the kitchen, breaking a bottle over her head, choking her, repeatedly stabbing her corpse with an ice pick, and leaving her in a pool of blood.
He then fled to Lexington. "That was a terrible, brutal crime," Fleming said. ""He got lucky when he only got 21."
Fleming is referring to the 21-year sentence Wilding received for voluntary manslaughter. The trouble is, Wilding never served his sentence. He was released after spending just one year in jail after then-Governor Louie Nunn commuted his sentence.
Wilding's latest murder arrest stems from a cold case from 2000 in Alabama, when his most recent wife, Judy, vanished from the parking lot of the pet store she owned. Now Wilding is the prime suspect, but with no DNA and no body, Alabama prosecutors may have a tough time proving their case.
"In the meantime, Fleming says Wilding's karma may be catching up with him. He says serving less than a year for Wayne's murder "is a crime - he got away with murder. He should have done every day."
Former police investigator Larry Byrd told us that Wilding was having money issues when he killed Wayne, and hoped to get some cash out of his mother-in-law's death.
In the Alabama case, prosecutors say Wilding's motive for killing his wife might have been her $800,000 life insurance policy.
At a bond hearing on Wednesday, Wilding asked to remain free until his trial, but a judge ordered him held without bond.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Developments in Kiplyn Davis case in Utah
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Thursday, 21 August 2008
Defense urges venue change in Kiplyn case
Jeremy Duda - DAILY HERALD
Attorneys put forth competing claims on Wednesday for why a judge should or should not move Timmy Brent Olsen's murder trial in the Kiplyn Davis case to Salt Lake City or elsewhere outside of Utah County.
Jeremy Delicino, Olsen's attorney, argued that Olsen meets all the criteria necessary for a venue change, as set by the Utah Supreme Court. He said there are other factors for Judge Lynn Davis to consider as well.
Delicino also urged Judge Davis to consider the fact that both Olsen and co-defendant Christopher Neal Jeppson were convicted of perjury in federal court, and the judges in both cases ruled that their perjury was committed in relation to Kiplyn's murder. Both defendants, as well as a third man, David Rucker Leifson, who pleaded guilty to one count of perjury in the case, received enhanced sentences because of the related homicide.
"What we're dealing with here is a case where there were two separate federal convictions, largely on the same facts," Delicino said. "That received a lot of publicity. Each case."
Deputy Utah County attorney Sherry Ragan argued that many of the factors raised by the defense would not impact Olsen's right to an impartial jury and a fair trial. Many cases in Utah County receive large amounts of publicity in the media without tainting the jury pools, she said. Olsen's federal perjury trial, which was held in Salt Lake City with a statewide jury pool, included one juror from Spanish Fork, where Olsen and Kiplyn grew up and where the alleged murder took place.
"The place where Mr. Olsen can get the fairest trial is in Utah County," Ragan said. "He has had support also from people in this community."
After the hearing, Richard Davis, Kiplyn's father, said it was important to his family that the trial be held in Utah County, and worried that a change of venue would further delay the case, especially if a new judge were appointed.
Judge Davis said he would wait to make his decision until after Jeppson's attorneys had their chance to make their case for a change of venue. That hearing is scheduled for Sept. 17.
Kiplyn disappeared from Spanish Fork High School on May 2, 1995. No body has been found, but she has long been presumed dead. Three suspects -- Olsen, Jeppson and Leifson -- have been sentenced for lying to a federal grand jury that convened to investigate Kiplyn's probable murder, and two other men, Scott Brunson and Garry Von Blackmore, have pleaded guilty to perjury. Both testified against Olsen at his perjury trial, and are expected to testify at his murder trial as well.
• Jeremy Duda can be reached at 344-2561 or jduda@heraldextra.com.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Search for man missing on Cape Cod since 1990
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Hunt on for body in murder case from '90 in Cape
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, 609-463-6716
Published: Wednesday, August 20, 2008
MIDDLE TOWNSHIP - About 1 acres of land off a quiet street in the township's Whitesboro section was turned into a series of carefully mapped grids Tuesday as the search began for the remains of Craig White.
The area, just off Reeves Street, was blocked off by police cars as a crew from Geophysical Survey Systems began surveying the area using ground-penetrating radar and electromagnetic-induction instruments, tools used to explore beneath the ground.
The search was launched after the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office received a tip from someone described as a "credible witness" that White's body could be found here.
White, who would now be 36 years old, was 18 when he disappeared from this community Feb. 23, 1990, less than two weeks after marking his son's first birthday. White's second cousin, Jesse Watkins, has since been charged with White's murder and is in the Cape May County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail, awaiting trial - but no body has ever been recovered.
Cape May County Prosecutor Robert Taylor spent time at the search area Tuesday morning, where work began at about 6:30 a.m.
Click here to find out more!
"Hopefully, we'll find his remains so we can bring some closure to the family of the victim," Taylor said as a survey worker walked up and down carrying a device that measures the conductivity of the earth.
The device collects the data, which is then interpreted to determine the presence of anything out of the ordinary. Those locations can then be excavated.
The area being searched includes both township land and privately owned property. The owners consented to the search, and a search warrant also was obtained where needed, Chief of Detectives Jim Rybicki said.
The Middle Township Police Department, Cape May County Prosecutor's Office and State Police were all on the scene Tuesday.
Witnesses have testified in preliminary court hearings that White was last seen with Watkins. The case is scheduled to go to trial Jan. 19. The Prosecutor's Office has said jealousy may have been a motive in the case. Several months before White disappeared, Jesse Watkins learned that White and Watkins' girlfriend at the time had been involved in an affair, witnesses have said.
Watkins' attorney, Christopher Robertson, has said that Watkins maintains his innocence in the case.
E-mail Trudi Gilfillian:
TGilfillian@pressofac.com
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Arrest made in California no body murder case
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Authorities Find Missing Hemet Man's Car
RIVERSIDE A Saturn Ion belonging to a missing 80-year-old Hemet man, was found near Los Angeles International Airport and may hold some clues as to what happened to the victim.
Edward Clayton Andrews, 80, was last seen May 31 at his mobile home in unincorporated Valle Vista in Riverside County.
Thomas Jeffrey Brooks, 39, was arrested in La Jolla on Aug. 6 and charged Wednesday with murder, though no body has been found.
Brooks is believed to have befriended Andrews via a pen-pal program when he was imprisoned in Adelanto stemming from a federal pornography conviction in Missouri.
Once paroled, Brooks made himself Andrews' caretaker for a roughly two-month period, authorities have said.
After Andrews was reported missing June 4, investigators found a letter purportedly from Andrews, saying everything was fine and that he had left he country with "Jeff."
But police said it included misspellings and grammatical errors that Andrews would not have made.
Andrews' gray Saturn Ion had been missing until Saturday.
"Part of our investigation led us to believe (LAX) is where the suspect took the vehicle and possibly the victim," said Riverside County Sheriff's Sgt. David Kurylowicz.
"We don't have a body yet," he said. "There was nothing outwardly
suspicious about the vehicle, but we will have it processed forensically."
Two men were caught on video using Andrews' credit card to buy items at
a Target store in Lake Forest and, on June 17, they bought a big-screen TV at a Wal-Mart, also in Lake Forest, Franchville said.
One of the men is believed to be Brooks, who is also believed to be the man caught on video withdrawing cash from Andrews' bank account at ATM machines in Orange, Los Angeles, and Riverside counties, deputies said.
Brooks is set to be arraigned on first-degree murder and identity theft charges in Murrieta Aug. 27.
A special circumstance allegation of killing for financial gain makes Brooks, if convicted, eligible for the death penalty or life in prison without
the possibility of parole.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Latest no body murder news
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Arizona no body murder case
Today's Washington Post notes that the U.S. Department of Justice has approved letting Jose Rios Rico plead guilty to a non-death penalty offense. Rios's case was handled by U.S. Attorney Paul K. Charlton, who was later fired allegedly for wanting to back off the death penalty for Rios. Rios is accused of murdering Angela Pinkerton whose body has never been found but is believed to be in Mobile, AZ landfill. Apparently DOJ now believes that offering life to Rios is fair.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
▣ Books on no body murder cases
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I recently read two books on no body murder cases: Corpus Delicti by Diane Wagner on the Ewing Scott case and Rip in Heaven by Jeanine Cummins on the Clemmons, Gray and Richardson case. Both are good books. Corpus Delicit, written in 1986, benefits from the cooperation of J. Miller Leavy, the lead prosecutor on the case and a legend in the Los Angeles DA's Office. He prosecuted Scott for the 1955 murder of his wife, Evelyn Scott, a wealthy woman on her fourth marriage. The book has a lot of detail about the investigation but not as much about the actual trial. The best part, however, is the end when Scott, having been released from prison in 1978, confesses for the first time to the murder of his wife. The case was a landmark in no body trials because it was one of the first without a confession, eyewitnesses or significant forensic evidence. Rip in Heaven, written in 2004, is also well written and compelling because it is written by a cousin of the two victims and the brother of the original, but falsely accused, suspect in the murders. The murders were horrific: the defendants raped and then killed two sisters, who were complete strangers to them, by forcing them to jump off a bridge where they both drown. Extremely well written and moving, the author, who was 16 at the time of the murders, provides a wealth of detail about both the victims and the effect the false accusation had on her brother. It demonstrates that a police investigation can suffer when it focuses solely on one suspect to the exclusion of others, something it is important for law enforcement to remember since, in no body cases, it may appear that there is only one reasonable suspect. Police must also fight tunnel vision in any case. There are few books on no body murder cases but these two of them. As I read others I will blog about them.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
▣ No Body Blog entries from July 28, 2008 to August 17, 2008
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My appearance on War on Crime Radio
Sunday August 17, 2008
War on Crime Internet Radio
I was on the War on Crime Blog Radio show again on Wednesday night. The hosts were Levi Page and Susan Milano-Murphy. Click here to hear the show.
War On Crime Radio
One of the cases we discussed was the case of Lilly Aramburo, a young mother of a now 2 year-old son who has been missing in Florida since June of 2007. One of the callers into the show was a close friend of Lilly's and she spoke about how frustrating it has been to get the Miami Police to focus on the case and treat it like a possible homicide case and not a missing person case. Unfortunately this is all too common with police departments nationwide, when a young mother goes missing, it doesn't matter what her backgrond, social class or race is, the police have to treat it like a homicide case not just a missing person case. Given the absurd story Lilly's boyfriend told the police,she left in the middle of the night in her pajames, wearing no shoes and carrying two bungee cords, supposedly to go pick flowers, the police should have immediately treated this as a possible homicide. It's sad to say that too many cases go uninvestigated because of preconceived notions about the victim by the police or even outright racism.
Please log onto a website set up for Lilly to find out more information and to help pressure the police and prosecutors to properly investigate the case.
Lilly Aramburo website
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 5:08 PM - 1 Comment Add a Comment
Thursday August 7, 2008
"No Body" Guy speaks out!
I had the pleasure last night of being on Blog Radio's War on Crime show with host Levi Page and former detective and author Stacy Dittrich discussing the Caylee Anthony missing person case. Click here for the link and to listen to the show. I'm on about 40 minutes in.
War on Crime
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 6:28 AM - No Comments Add a Comment
Washington state man charge in "no body" murder case
With no body, prosecutors try to prove murder
By GENE JOHNSON
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Without a body, traces of blood or other physical evidence, the Whatcom County Prosecutor's Office will try to prove that a former Bellingham man killed his wife 18 years ago.
Prosecutor Dave McEachran filed a charge of first-degree murder this week against Bruce Allen Hummel, whose wife, Alice, disappeared from their Bellingham home in 1990. For years, Hummel lied about the circumstances of her disappearance, telling their teenage children at the time that their mom had left them. Detectives say he even sent them presents purporting to be from her.
It was only in the last few years, when questioned by police, that Hummel admitted she was dead. He then fled, living in campgrounds around the Northwest and eventually settling in the coastal Washington town of Westport, where authorities tracked him down in late 2006. He's currently serving a federal prison term for cashing nearly $300,000 in his wife's disability benefits after she died.
Prosecutors believe he killed his wife because she confronted him about molesting their daughter.
Thomas A. DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 6:17 AM - No Comments Add a Comment
"No Body" murder trial set in California
After the conclusion of the Hans Reiser case, another Oakland "no body" trial:
Trial OK'd for Thanksgiving murder with no body
The Associated Press
Article Launched: 07/30/2008 05:17:28 PM PDT
OAKLAND, Calif.—For the second time this year Alameda County prosecutors are trying a murder case with one critical piece of evidence missing: a body.
A judge on Wednesday ruled that while a body has never been found in the Thanksgiving 2004 murder of 48-year-old Cynthia Alonzo, there is still enough evidence to try 52-year-old Eric Mora.
Prosecutors say that Alonzo's blood was detected in Mora's home and he had a cut on his hand.
The case comes about three months after computer programmer Hans Reiser was convicted of murdering his estranged wife, Nina Reiser. The location of Nina Reiser's body wasn't known until after Reiser was convicted and he led authorities to it.
Mora's attorney William Du Bois says his client is innocent and charges are being filed because of Reiser's case. Du Bois also represented Reiser.
Prosecutors say they have a good case against Mora.
Thomas A. DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 6:15 AM - No Comments Add a Comment
Monday July 28, 2008
Latest "no body" murder news
Chicagoland man arrested for "no body" murder
BY MATT HANLEY Staff Writer
The most unusual part of the murder charges brought against Aurelio Montano last week was not that they came 18 years after his wife disappeared. The strangest part isn't even that the Aurora man filed for divorce after he allegedly killed her.
The part that stuck out to me: They haven't found Maria Montano's body. And a dead body is always a good thing to have if you're going prove murder.
Surely, the families of Lisa Stebic, Stacy Peterson and Tyesha Bell -- women who are missing and suspected dead -- will be keeping an eye on this one.
In Kane County, no one can remember a case that went to trial without a body of evidence, so to speak. Northern Illinois law professor Marc Falkoff said while it's unusual, it's not unprecedented.
"You don't need to have the body to bring a homicide prosecution," said Falkoff, who is not involved with this case. "That said, you have an uphill battle.
"It's simply a matter of proving to the jury beyond a reasonable that this woman died," he said. "The best way to do that is with a body in a chalk outline, but that's not always possible."
Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti has shown his office isn't afraid to take a calculated risk, especially when the evidence isn't getting any better. Prosecutors aren't talking about what police found, but it must have been compelling. And a grand jury also found enough to bring the case to court.
The jury will have its own battle. Falkoff told me a lawyer story -- it supposedly happened in Chicago, but Falkoff thinks it's made up -- about a similar murder trial.
The defense attorney stood in front of the jury and announced: You think we're all here for this woman's murder, but what if I told you she was about to walk through this door!
The attorney flung his hand toward the door and the jury waited for her to appear. Nothing.
"If you were willing to believe she might walk through the door, how can you convict my client beyond a reasonable doubt?" the defense attorney finished.
Ah, but the jury found him guilty anyhow. Afterward, one of the jurors said he voted against the murderer because when the entire jury turned to look at the door, the suspect never looked mhanley@scn1.com
Tad here: The story at the end has never been confirmed to have actually happened in any "no body" murder trial that I'm aware of. Check out Snopes.com
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
▣ No Body Blog entries from July 6, 2008 to July 23, 2008
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Wednesday July 23, 2008
Alabama man arrested in "no body" murder case
Murder suspect held without bond
July 22, 2008
A Millbrook man accused of murder, though no body has been found, made his first appearance in court Monday.
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Michael Andrew Wright, 42, was charged with murder and held without bond.
Wright was arrested without incident Saturday after a manhunt that lasted less than 24 hours.
The manhunt began after police responded to neighbors' complaints of a domestic dispute.
Police found neither Wright nor the alleged victim, Gloria Silas Russell, 41, at the scene, but it was bloody enough to think a serious assault or homicide had taken place, according to authorities.
District attorney Randall Houston said his department is working with the Millbrook Police Department on the possibility of bringing other charges against Wright.
He said he expects Wright to go before a grand jury Sept. 28.
"There's a lot of evidence that needs to be analyzed by forensics and that's always a slow process," Houston said.
At the arraignment Monday, Houston said the only thing Wright did was ask to speak to an attorney.
Houston said that he's satisfied there is enough evidence to proceed with the case whether or not Russell's body is discovered.
-- Darryn Simmons
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 6:13 AM - No Comments Add a Comment
Saturday July 12, 2008
We're live!
Check out my new website at www.nobodymurdercases.com or clink on the link below. Once I get the blog on there we'll be set. Enjoy.
New "No Body" Murder Cases site
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 10:44 AM - No Comments Add a Comment
Wednesday July 9, 2008
Hans Reiser leads police to wife's body
In a stunning development given how hard fought the trial was, convicted murderer Hans Reiser led police in Oakland to his wife's body. (Note how the body was located near his house!):
OAKLAND: UPDATE: PROSECUTOR SAYS NINA REISER'S FAMILY IS VINDICATED
OAKLAND
Prosecutor Paul Hora said today that computer programmer Hans Reiser's last-minute decision to admit that he murdered his estranged wife Nina and lead authorities to her body vindicates what her family has said about the case all along.
Joining Oakland police officials at a news conference at which they said that a body found near Hans Reiser's home on Exeter Drive in Oakland Monday afternoon has been positively identified as that of Nina, Hora noted that defense attorney William DuBois attacked the character of Nina and her family throughout Hans' six-month-long trial.
Hora said he thinks it's significant that Nina's body was in a bag when it was dug up in a secluded area about 40 yards from a path off the 8200 block of Skyline Boulevard.
Hora said that backs up drawings by the couple's son, 8-year-old Rory Reiser, in which he depicted Hans carrying Nina's body down the stairs of the home on Exeter Drive, where Nina was last seen alive on Sept. 3, 2006, when she dropped off Rory and his 7-year-old sister, Nio.
Rory's drawings were presented at his father's trial, but DuBois alleged that Nina's mother, Irina Sharanova, coached him to do the drawings because of the hard feelings she had against Hans Reiser after Nina disappeared. Rory and Nio moved to Russia to live with Sharanova several months after Nina disappeared.
In addition, clinical psychologist Michael Fraga, who testified as an expert witness for the defense even though he served several years in federal prison for two felony convictions for possessing cocaine for sale and also has convictions for forging checks, drunken driving and hit and run, testified that Rory's drawings could have been "a product of what he was told instead of what he observed."
Testifying in Hans Reiser's trial on Feb. 28, Fraga criticized one of Rory's drawings as being "confused" and having "no direction" and "no readily-apparent theme."
Hora said now that Nina Reiser's body has been found, "A lot of things vindicate her family."
At the conclusion of Hans Reiser's trial on April 28, jurors convicted him of first-degree murder even though the prosecution had no body, no murder weapon, no definite timeframe and no cause of death.
Reiser, 44, was scheduled to be sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison at a hearing before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Larry Goodman Wednesday morning.
But Hora said he agreed to let Reiser agree to plead guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder and get a reduced sentence of 15 years to life in return for leading authorities to Nina's body and not appealing his conviction.
Hora said Reiser and the attorneys in the case will still appear in court Wednesday but Reiser's sentencing will be postponed at the request of both the prosecution and the defense in the wake of the discovery of Nina's body.
Hora said the plea agreement with Reiser hasn't yet been finalized but he said he's "confident" that Goodman will approve it as long as Reiser fulfills all his promises to the prosecution and the court.
Hora said the defense approached him about a possible deal and he wouldn't have agreed to it "without the support and desire of Nina's family."
He said the recovery of Nina's body ends "the speculation (by DuBois) that she ran away" and allows the healing process for her family members to begin.
Hora said he spoke to Sharanova today and she's "very satisfied" now that the case is coming to an end but also is "mourning again" because she knows for sure that Nina is dead.
Nina met Hans in Russia, where she was born and was trained as a physician and where he often spent time doing business for his computer file system company.
They married in 1999, but she filed for divorce and separated from him in 2004. Although Nina was awarded legal custody of their children, Hans had visitation rights.
Oakland police Lt. Ersie Joyner said Nina was identified through her dental records, clothing and jewelry.
Alameda County Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. J.D. Nelson said an autopsy of Nina hasn't yet been conducted.
He added that because Nina has been dead for nearly two years it could be difficult to determine her cause of death.
Joyner said Reiser has made statements to Oakland police about how he killed Nina but he said he doesn't want to make that information public at this time because the process is still ongoing.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. In the interest of timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain occasional typographical errors. )
Note from Tad: It is curious why the prosecution would let him plead to a lesser charge of second degree murder after convicting him of first degree murder simply by showing them where the body was.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 9:56 PM - 1 Comment Add a Comment
Sunday July 6, 2008
Important Supreme Court case could effect "no body" murder prosecutions
In the hype surrounding the Supreme Court's ruling in the DC gun ban case, an important ruling by the court involving a homicide case was overlooked. This case, involving a domestic murder, could have serious implications for "no body" murder cases. In California v. Giles, the Supreme Court ruled that the admission of an incriminating statement made by the murder victim, the defendant's ex-girlfriend, could not be used against the defendant because its use violated the Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses. As reported in the Washington Post on June 26th, Dwayne Giles was accused of shooting Brenda Avie six times in September of 2002. At trial, Giles claimed self-defense, a claim contradicted by the forensic evidence. Three weeks before her murder, Avie told a police officer responding to a domestic violence call that the defendant had choked her and threatened to stab her. Under a California law allowing such statements, the trial court allowed these statements into evidence at Giles' murder trial. The California Supreme Court upheld the admission of these statements on the grounds that the defendant had forfeited his Sixth Amendment right of confrontation by murdering his victim. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed, by a vote of 6-3, and sent the case back to the trial court. Justice Scalia noted that even for the serious problem of domestic violence, a defendant's constitutional rights may not be violated. He left the door open, however, for the government to prove that the defendant may have shot the victim in order to prevent her from testifying to the police about the domestic abuse, a factor that may change the Sixth Amendment analysis.
California's law was a bit of an oddity since generally this type of hearsay evidence is not permitted unless it was to show the decedent's state of mind, which may also have been the case here since a self-defense claim is not consistent with the victim expressing an earlier fear of the defendant. In any event, any jurisdictions considering passing similar statutes probably will not based upon the court's ruling. Unfortunately, most "no body" cases involve domestic partners and some of the best evidence against a defendant is from the victim's own mouth. Getting that testimony in just got tougher.
Washington Post
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 2:48 PM - No Comments Add a Comment
Body found after defendant pleads guilty in North Carolina
Homicide victim Sherri Jackson was found on June 27, 2008 buried in the backyard of a Greensboro, North Carolina home where Jackson's ex-boyfriend, DeCarlo Bennett, had previously lived. Bennett plead guilty the day before to killing Jackson in November of 2006. Bennett was allowed to plead guilty to second degree murder in exchange for telling police where Jackson's body was located. Bennett faces a maximum of 13 to 16 years in prison. Thanks to the Greensboro News and Record for the article on the case.
Two things about this case: 13 to 16 years seems very low to me for this type of murder. Second, the body was in the backyard of a house where the defendant used to live and the police couldn't find it? Sigh.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
▣ No Body Blog entries from June 15, 2008 to July 3, 2008
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My article in the Washington Post Outlook Section
Thursday July 3, 2008
Latest "no body" murder news
1. CourtTV, now known as Tru, is covering the Mark Richardson trial. The case ended last month but I won't spoil the outcome for those who don't know. It's interesting to watch the commentators and legal analysts discuss whether the government can make a case without a body. Gee, ya' think?
2. Check out this excellent article on "no body" cases in this past Sunday's Washington Post (OK I wrote it but it is excellent):
he Case of the Missing Corpses
By Tad DiBiase
Sunday, June 29, 2008; B03
Last January, Michael Dickerson, who was already doing time in a North Carolina prison, was charged with the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Shaquita Bell. This was no ordinary bust: Police suspect Bell was killed in Washington more than a decade earlier, and her corpse has never been found. So prosecutors are facing one of the U.S. legal system's greatest challenges: a "no-body" murder case. Only two other such cases have ever been tried in the District of Columbia.
Until the 1960s, cases such as Dickerson's were considered impossible to win. But today, no-body murder arrests, indictments, guilty pleas and convictions are practically weekly occurrences. Since the end of April, corpseless murder trials have taken place in California, Maryland, Michigan and South Carolina.
Still, some police departments won't launch murder investigations until a body is discovered. Prosecutors sometimes opt not to seek indictments in these cases because they worry that they won't stand a chance at trial. But forensic advances have significantly increased the odds of catching and convicting those who kill and then dispose of the corpse, so law enforcement officers shouldn't be afraid to take on these cases -- especially because the number of people (mostly men) who commit these heinous crimes has shot up over the past 20 years.
No-body murders are hardly a recent phenomenon. After prosecuting one such case in the winter of 2006 -- cops sometimes call them "bodiless homicides" -- I got interested in the topic and began reading up. I found no-body murders in the United States dating back as far as 1843, when four men on the ship Sarah Lavinia were convicted of throwing the ship's mate overboard.
Later, murders of a different sort started popping up: cases of men killing their wives or lovers, then making the corpses disappear. Take the 1897 case of Adolph Luetgert, a well-known sausage-maker in Chicago. After family members reported Luetgert's wife missing, the police searched his sausage factory and found human bone fragments in the smokestack and her wedding ring in a potash vat. Luetgert was ultimately convicted, even though, as Robert Loerzel noted in a book on the case, the bones in Luetgert's smokestack were never conclusively proven to be his wife's.
The Luetgert case was a harbinger of the use of circumstantial evidence in bodiless homicide cases, but such prosecutions remained rare throughout the early 1900s. Forensic science was in its infancy, and it was almost impossible to determine whether a disappeared woman had simply left town or whether some harm had befallen her.
In the second half of the 20th century, the number of corpseless killings began to rise. One watershed was the Los Angeles murder trial of L. Ewing Scott in 1957, a national sensation much like the O.J. Simpson circus 50 years later. Scott, a ne'er-do-well, had married a rich divorcee named Evelyn Throsby, but he soon tired of her. One day in May 1955, Throsby disappeared and never was seen again. Scott gave various explanations for her absence and was arrested nearly two years later when he tried to enter Canada. After an 11-week trial, Scott was convicted of first-degree murder.
The number of bodiless homicide trials has increased significantly since then. I've counted more than 250 such trials in the United States since the mid-1800s, and 67 percent of them have been tried since 1990, with 38 percent taking place in the past eight years. Fewer than 10 percent of these cases have resulted in acquittals or reversals on appeal. The number of guilty pleas seems to have increased as well, which makes sense in light of the vast advances in forensic technology: Defendants who never could have been convicted 10 years ago are now pleading guilty in order to win lighter sentences or escape the death penalty. And no-body cases are coming to trial more quickly. Today, most investigators recognize that people don't simply disappear, never to use a credit card, access a bank account or call a friend again.
Consider the case I tried in 2006. In the summer of 2003, Marion Fye, a 36-year-old mother of five, started dating a newly released felon named Harold Austin. Within a month, he had moved into her home and assumed the role of father to her children. A day or two after Thanksgiving that year, Austin and Fye got into an argument, and Austin allegedly shot and killed her. Although three of her children were in the house at the time, none of them witnessed the murder. Her body has never been found.
As in so many similar cases, forensic evidence tripped up the killer. Shortly after Fye's disappearance, the police discovered a blood-soaked mattress in the room she had shared with Austin. Without a sample of Fye's DNA, they thought they couldn't prove that the blood was hers. But the relatively new science of examining mitochondrial DNA, which is passed from mother to child, came to the rescue. By collecting DNA from Fye's mother, the FBI was able to conclude that the blood on the mattress belonged to a female descendant of hers. Fye had three living sisters, all of whom testified that the blood couldn't have been theirs. That was good enough for the jury, even though an exact DNA match was not possible.
The scientific advances that helped convict Austin of second-degree murder have encouraged many other prosecutors to take their no-body cases to trial. The amount of DNA needed to create a person's profile is astonishingly small; forensic scientists can even derive DNA matches from the sweat left behind in fingerprints -- an advance that revolutionizes both the new science of DNA and the old one of fingerprinting.
As encouraging as these developments are, one fundamental aspect of the Fye case still disturbs me: Austin murdered Fye after knowing her for only a few months. How could their relationship have deteriorated so quickly and spectacularly? In the new book "Erased: Missing Women, Murdered Wives," Marilee Strong argues that the perpetrators of no-body murders are attempting to literally erase their victims. Unlike classic domestic murders, these are not hot-blooded, spur-of-the-moment offenses; they are carefully planned efforts to expunge a woman who is in the defendant's way.
In many of the bodiless homicide cases I've studied, the killer takes up with another woman soon after the murder. Just three days after he shot Marion Fye, Harold Austin began dating a woman who rear-ended him as he was driving his dead lover's car. L. Ewing Scott also sought out other women within months of his wife's disappearance. For these men, women are objects to be discarded and replaced, as if they had never existed at all. One no-body defendant once said that "if there is no body, there is no crime." Not anymore.
tad.dibiase@gmail.com
Tad DiBiase, an attorney with Shapiro, Lifschitz and Schram, was a deputy chief of the Homicide Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.
3. Finally: coming soon: my new website!
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 10:42 PM - No Comments Add a Comment
Friday June 27, 2008
Table of "No Body" Murder Trials
Clink here for the latest table:
Table of No Body Murder Trials in the United States
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 11:24 PM - No Comments Add a Comment
Friday June 20, 2008
Conviction in Michigan "no body" murder case
Man convicted in '86 slaying
Ream guilty of murdering missing 13-year-old girl
By Gordon Wilczynski
Macomb Daily Staff Writer
A Macomb County jury deliberated for a little over two hours Wednesday afternoon before finding Arthur Nelson Ream of Harrison Township guilty of first-degree murder in the death 22 years ago of 13-year-old Cindy Zarzycki.
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The conviction carries a mandatory term of life in prison with no chance of parole.
Ream was accused of luring Zarzycki to a Dairy Queen on Nine Mile Road in East Detroit (now Eastpointe) on April 20, 1986, for sexual purposes. Police said Ream kidnapped the girl and then murdered her.
Eastpointe police still have not found her body.
"I hope this will end now, but I doubt it," said Cindy's father, Ed Zarzycki, who never gave up hope of finding his daughter's killer. "We have a conviction, but we don't have closure." He said he hopes Ream is man enough now and tells authorities where he buried the body.
Cindy's mother, Alice Zarzycki, said she cannot be happy for another person's misfortune, but she said Ream won't be able to harm anyone else while he spends the rest of his life in prison.
Ed Zarzycki's wife, Linda Zarzycki, said prison is the only place for Ream. She said Ream destroyed a lot of lives.
"We want to put Cindy to rest where we want her and not where he put her," she said.
Macomb County assistant prosecutor Steven Kaplan, a primary force in Prosecutor Eric Smith's Cold Case Unit, said the convictions wouldn't have been possible without the hard work of Eastpointe Juvenile Detectives Derek McLaughlin and Kelly Shock, and former detective Danielle Davis. Kaplan said they worked the missing person's case relentlessly when they were assigned to it in 1994. They again began working it seriously last year.
Kaplan said they interviewed two women who provided information independently of each other which revealed Zarzycki's plans on the Sunday morning Zarzycki vanished.
"Mac (McLaughlin) and Kelly Shock devoted literally thousands of hours over a 13-year period to reach the conviction," Kaplan said. "They were outstanding and I'm glad we were a part of it."
Jennifer Leibow of Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates in Downer's Grove, Ill., interviewed Ream for several hours after his arrest earlier this year. She said she will work with Eastpointe police until Zarzycki's body is recovered.
Leibow said her firm teaches forensic interviewing tactics to police agencies and the private sector.
In his closing arguments to the jury, Kaplan said the greatest tragedy a family could experience is the loss of a child. He said the Zarzycki family experienced that heartbreak in April 1986, when Ream murdered Zarzycki. She was described by friends and teachers as a popular student at East Detroit's Kelly Junior High School.
During the trial, Kaplan had painted a bright picture of Zarzycki being a responsible teenager. He said Ream was a conniver who had a fetish for teenage girls.
Kaplan said Ream told Zarzycki he was planning a surprise birthday party for his son, Scott. Zarzycki, who had been seeing Scott for two months prior to her disappearance, told two close friends she was going to meet Ream at the Dairy Queen on Nine Mile that Sunday morning and they would drive together to the party in Pontiac. Kaplan said there was no birthday party for Scott and that Ream wanted to get Zarzycki into his van so he could sexually molest her.
Kaplan said Ream killed the girl and then took her to a field, probably somewhere in north Macomb County, where he buried her. Police searched property Ream owns near Grayling but have not yet found her body.
"Her family didn't have a chance to say goodbye," Kaplan said while trying to get his point across to the jury. "Twenty-two years have passed by and this family can't even bury her.
"This man (Ream) not only killed her, but he deprived her family of a burial. The person who killed her knew her."
William Hielscher, a well-known area basketball coach and one of her counselors at Kelly Junior High School, testified last week that he knew Cindy and liked her. He said she was not on drugs and was a very responsible young lady.
Kaplan said that contrary to defense attorney Timothy Kohler's assumptions that no body has been found and that Zarzycki may be living in some other area of the country, the girl had no reason to leave the area. He told the jury that Zarzycki was looking forward to her father coaching her softball team.
Kaplan also said she told two girlfriends the night before she disappeared that she was meeting Scott's father, who was 37 years old in 1986, who was to take her to a surprise birthday party.
"She didn't know he (Ream) had a fetish for 13-year-old girls," said Kaplan. "She told her mom that Arthur Ream is a cool guy, someone she can talk to. They had a relationship. He got her to trust him."
The day after Zarzycki disappeared, her father talked to police and officials at East Detroit Public Schools. Her mother called Ream that day and two days later.
"The first time he was very abrupt with her," said Kaplan. "If he had an explanation, he would have told her."
Kaplan reminded the jurors that a roommate of Ream's at the Muskegon Correctional Facility testified last week that on three occasions he said he was going to court in Macomb County because he killed someone. He also asked his cell mate if a person can cover up human blood with animal blood.
Eastpointe Cpl. Matt Mancina testified that he interviewed Ream in 1994 and everything was fine until he mentioned Zarzycki's name. He then started shaking.
Kaplan said an employee of Ream's carpet installing business said he took Ream's 14-year-old son, Scott, to Texas for two weeks. Prior to the April 20 disappearance of Zarzycki, Ream wouldn't let the man go on vacation because the business was too busy.
"He wanted him (Scott) out of Dodge," said Kaplan. "Why would he let his son go out of state with a stranger?"
In his cross-examination, Kohler said there were Cindy Zarzycki sightings in Florida, the South and Southwest. He said she was only pronounced dead eight years after her disappearance as a formality in Macomb Probate Court.
Kohler said a friend of Zarzycki testified that she saw a white van resembling Ream's van next to the Dairy Queen where the victim planned to meet Ream. But, he said, the witness didn't see any people there while she was in her parents' car on the way to church.
"You can't put them there because the police can't put them there," Kohler said.
He further said police have no proof of DNA, hair samples, fingerprints in the carpet warehouse or in the van. Kohler said none of the 17 prosecution witnesses or the two defense witnesses testified that they saw Ream kill Zarzycki.
Kaplan said Ream didn't tell her about the bogus birthday party until the day before she disappeared. If he had told her about the party earlier in the week, then she would have discussed it with all of her friends.
Kaplan said Ream didn't want anyone to know about the party, and that his son Scott was born on Jan. 18 and not April 20.
On the day Zarzycki disappeared, Ream told police he had gone to his carpet shop at 8 a.m., did some work and fed the dog. He said he went home and went shopping with his wife, Jill.
Jill Rutledge testified that she never went shopping with him. She said they were separated before April 20 and they divorced in 1987, seven years after they got married. She testified that Ream was living in the carpet shop located in Warren.
Kaplan said his wife testified that she couldn't stand him.
Kaplan said the last person to see Zarzycki is the defendant, the person who killed her.
"Of course he killed her," Kaplan said. "It wasn't some alien."
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 8:24 PM - 1 Comment Add a Comment
Sunday June 15, 2008
Arrest in South Carolina "no body" murder case
Murder charges filed in ’06 disappearances
Woman’s boyfriend held; her body and child’s never found
By LEE HIGGINS - lhiggins@thestate.com
Kenneth Lynch 1
Kenneth Lynch (from left), Portia Washington and Angelica Livingston
Kenneth Lynch
Recent ‘No-body’ cases In S.C.
The case against Kenneth Lynch marks the first time in West Columbia that someone has been charged with murder without a body being found. But it’s not the first such case in the state.
• In 2004, Branden Basham and Chadrick Fulks became the first defendants in U.S. history to receive the death penalty in a federal no-body case. They were convicted of murdering a Galivants Ferry woman who was abducted from a Wal-Mart parking lot in Conway. Her body was never recovered.
• In 2003, Jeffrey Weston was the first person in Richland County convicted of murder without the victim’s body being found. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison for killing his 78-year-old mother, Frances Franchey. Weston confessed in January and led Richland County deputies to her remains.
• In April, a judge declared a mistrial in the murder case against Mark Richardson, 33, of Columbia. Richardson was charged with killing USC student Shelton Sanders, 25, who has been missing since 2001. His body was not found, and the jury could not reach a verdict. Prosecutors have said they intend to retry Richardson.
Every day for about two years, Vernell Bellamy has questioned what happened to her niece and niece’s granddaughter, who are missing and presumed dead.
After learning Friday that West Columbia Police charged her niece’s boyfriend, Kenneth Lynch, with two counts of murder in the case, she hopes it will bring her closer to the truth.
The bodies of Portia Washington and her granddaughter, Angelica Livingston, have not been found.
It’s the first “no-body” murder case in West Columbia.
“The last two years have been like you’ve been hit with a car over and over again without any pain medicine,” said Bellamy, 59, of Columbia.
Detectives served Lynch with warrants Friday afternoon at Lexington County jail, where he has been held on a car-theft charge for nearly two years, West Columbia Police Maj. Jackie Brothers said.
Lynch has not confessed, but investigators are prepared to move forward, Brothers said, even without bodies.
“There has been nothing to lead us to believe they’re alive in this period of two years,” Brothers said.
Lynch, 48, awaits a bail hearing. Efforts on Friday to reach his attorney, Arie Bax, were unsuccessful.
The decision to charge Lynch was made in consultation with the 11th Circuit solicitor’s office, Brothers said.
Efforts to reach Solicitor Donnie Myers and Deputy Solicitor Rick Hubbard were unsuccessful.
Washington’s niece, Tonya Oree, 39, of Columbia, who learned of the charges Friday, said it’s about time Lynch was charged.
“He took two precious gifts from our family,” Oree said.
She called Washington a “good-hearted” woman and Angelica “a sweet little angel.”
If convicted, Lynch deserves life in prison, she said.
“I just hope he confesses where the bodies are, so they can have a decent burial,” Oree said.
So far, Lynch isn’t talking, Maj. Brothers said.
“He’s still retaining his right to counsel and his right not to speak to us,” Brothers said.
Washington was 54 and Angelica was 7 when they disappeared around June 10, 2006. They had been living with Lynch at Park Place Apartments.
Lynch has been jailed in South Carolina since August 2006, charged with stealing Washington’s car after being extradited from Washington state.
He had been detained by U.S. Customs officials after attempting to cross the border into Canada from Washington on June 18, 2006, aboard a Greyhound bus.
Washington’s tan Ford Focus was found abandoned near the Seattle bus station.
Police don’t think Washington and Angelica ever made it to Washington.
It’s unclear whether prosecutors will pursue the death penalty. Such punishment is an option when someone kills two or more people in one crime or kills a child age 11 or younger.
But murder charges are rare in cases in which the victims’ bodies are not found, and this is the first such case in West Columbia.
There have been at least two high-profile cases in South Carolina in the past five years in which people were convicted although no body had been found.
But in April, a judge declared a mistrial in a Richland County murder case in which no body was found, after the jury couldn’t reach a verdict.
Brothers hopes this case will yield answers.
“We have been working with this family very closely for quite a time, and we want to bring them some resolution.”
Staff writer Rick Brundrett contributed. Reach Higgins at (803) 771-8570.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 4:36 PM - No Comments Add a Comment
Trial begins in Michigan "no body" murder case
Trial in 22-year-old slaying begins
Body of 13-year-old victim was never found; no physical evidence
By Jameson Cook
Macomb Daily Staff Writer
A cold-case murder trial starts today in Macomb County in which prosecutors have no body of the victim and only a circumstantial case against the defendant.
Arthur N. Ream, 59, formerly of Harrison Township, is accused of killing his son's friend, Cindy Zarzycki, more than 22 years ago after arranging to meet her at an Eastpointe Dairy Queen.
He goes on trial today for first-degree murder in Macomb County Circuit Court.
Assistant Macomb prosecutor Steven Kaplan said prosecutors and police don't have any physical or witness evidence to tie Ream to the alleged crime but have statements by Cindy she was meeting Ream the day she went missing. The prosecution also has incriminating statements by Ream to police.
"We don't have a complete jigsaw puzzle but we have enough," Kaplan said after proceedings.
Defense attorney Timothy Kohler counters there are not enough pieces to the puzzle.
"We don't have a smoking gun," Kohler said outside the courtroom. "Nobody saw him there."
Jury selection and opening arguments are expected to take place today in Judge Mary Chrzanowski's courtroom.
In pretrial legal maneuvering Tuesday, Kohler won two motions and a small part of a third, although Kaplan said he believes the case is still strong.
"Now we just have fewer pieces," Kaplan said.
The judge ruled inadmissible Ream's two prior rape convictions and other rape allegations against him, Ream's incriminating comment to a brother-in-law in 1974 and dismissal of most of one of four recorded interviews Ream had with police.
Ream was convicted of criminal sexual conduct in 1974 for sexually assaulting an underage girl and convicted in 1987 for third-degree criminal sexual conduct, for which he was serving a prison term and was scheduled to be released last December.
Ream's former brother-in-law, John Barabash, was 14 and with Ream when Ream picked up a young female hitchhiker and raped her. He told Barabash after he was convicted that the next time he would kill his victim, Barabash testified at a preliminary examination in February.
Ream also had sexual intercourse with three young girls in 1981, 1983 and 1984, and two of his accusers were prepared to testify in the trial, Kaplan said. Two of the victims were a niece and one was the daughter of friends.
Although testimony about those incidents will not be heard by jurors, Kaplan said the judge's ruling on Ream's statements helped the prosecution since most of them were left intact.
Ream "makes admissions" in interviews with hired interviewing specialists in January 2007 and May 2007 at a Muskegon prison, and in two interviews last Jan. 8, one in a police car while being transported from Muskegon and a second in the Eastpointe police station, Kaplan said.
"He indicates he is responsible for her (Cindy's) death," Kaplan said. "He also said he did not want to talk about it further because it would hurt his defense in a trial. He admits he has a fetish for 13-, 14- and 15-year-old girls."
Most of the 8-hour police station interview was tossed out by Chrzanowski because Ream asked for an attorney about two hours into the interview, and an Eastpointe police detective and private interviewer failed to stop the interview and allow him to obtain legal representation.
The portion of the interview that was thrown out includes Ream and police drawing a map of where Cindy's body may be located. But prosecutors are skeptical about the reliability of Ream's location identification.
But police descriptions of the other interviews will be heard by jurors, as the judge ruled Ream was properly read his Miranda rights and did not ask for legal representation.
Kohler had argued for the judge to also remove the vehicle-ride interview and the May 2007 interview.
Ream took the stand Tuesday to say that during an off-camera portion of the May 2007 interview he asked for an attorney but was denied.
"I didn't waive my rights, I just signed (the Miranda form) and said I understand my rights," he said. "Just a couple of times I told them I wanted to talk to an attorney."
In cross-examination, Kaplan noted that Ream is a twice-convicted offender and familiar with talking to police.
"You've been sent to prison twice and questioned many times by police officers," Kaplan said. "So this was not a novel experience for you when you were questioned in prison?"
"Yes," Ream replied.
Two of Cindy's aunts attended Tuesday proceedings. Her sister, father and aunt may testify today to help bolster the prosecution's contention that Cindy, who would be 35, is dead, even though her body has not been found.
Expected to testify later in the trial are two of Cindy's friends who say she told them she was meeting Ream between 9 and 11 a.m. Sunday, April 19, to plan a surprise birthday party for Ream's 15-year-old son, Scott. However, police and prosecutors say there was no party planned. Ream used it to lure her to the closed ice cream store and into his van, and to rape and kill her, they say.
Scott Ream died in a car crash in adulthood.
One of the two female friends of Cindy who talked to her the night before said she was in a car driving by the Dairy Queen that morning and saw a white van matching the description of Ream's van, Kaplan said.
Cindy's mother said her daughter told her the night before that she considered Ream a "confidant," Kaplan said.
Ream's only alibi for that day was he said he was at a Roseville carpet store he owned about 10 a.m., Kaplan said.
▣ No Body Blog entries from May 22, 2008 to June 15, 2008
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Sunday June 15, 2008
Arrest in California "no body" murder case
Dave Hawk arrested in ex-wife's murder
He was prime suspect after disappearance of Debbie Hawk in 2006.
By Tim Bragg, Jim Guy and Tim Sheehan / The Fresno Bee
05/29/08 23:40:00
HANFORD -- Nearly 18 months after Dave Hawk was named the prime suspect in the disappearance of Debbie Hawk, police pulled over his vehicle Thursday and booked him in the murder of his ex-wife.
The arrest, while sudden, was long anticipated by those who have watched the case since Debbie Hawk, 46, went missing on June 13, 2006. Early on, Hanford Police Chief Carlos Mestas said he was determined to arrest Dave Hawk as soon as he built an "airtight" case against him.
Exactly what will go into that case and why Mestas chose Thursday to move in on 49-year-old Dave Hawk was not disclosed, but officials from the Police Department and the Kings County District Attorney's Office scheduled a news conference for this morning.
Hanford police, supported by a large mobile command truck, spent several hours at Dave Hawk's home, on 16th Avenue near Lacey Boulevard, Thursday afternoon hauling evidence out of the house.
Dave Hawk's attorney, Mark Coleman, said that neither he nor Hawk had any knowledge that Hawk's arrest on suspicion of murder was imminent.
"He was going to pick up his kids at school," Coleman said of Hawk's activities Thursday.
Coleman said he had no idea whether authorities had new evidence against Hawk. Coleman said Dave Hawk maintains he is innocent of his wife's murder.
The case began after Debbie Hawk's children returned from a custodial visit with their father to find their mother missing and their home bloody and in disarray. Debbie Hawk's van was later found in southwest Fresno with stolen license plates. Tests showed that blood in the home and the van was Debbie Hawk's, and the case was declared a homicide in July 2006.
Debbie Hawk's body has not been found, despite large-scale searches on waterways in northern Kings County.
Gov. Schwarzenegger has offered a reward of $80,000 for information.
While obtaining a murder conviction without a body can be more difficult, Mestas has said the case can be made.
Family members of the missing woman were relieved but apprehensive on Thursday.
"I feel for the kids," said Diane Triantis of Orange County, Debbie Hawk's sister, referring to the couple's three children, ages 12, 16 and 17. "Their dad probably killed their mom, and that's going to make it that much harder on them."
Authorities notified Debbie Hawk's family just before the arrest was announced, Triantis said. Hawk's two daughters were taken out of school by law enforcement officials before the arrest, she said.
Triantis said she spoke to Dave Hawk's 17-year-old son, Conrad, Thursday about the arrest of the boy's father. She said that he's "happy that justice is being served, but no one is jumping through any hoops."
Hawk's son is scheduled to graduate from high school in Hanford next month and has received scholarships to attend California State University, Fullerton, during the coming school year.
"Debbie would be so proud of him," Triantis said. She said Hawk's son went to live with a family friend after his mother's disappearance and the couple's two girls were living with Dave Hawk's parents.
Triantis said that the family hopes the case against Dave Hawk is strong enough that it will make it through the court system and result in his being found guilty by a jury.
"I'm glad that it happened now, because my parents are getting up in years," Triantis said. "I'm glad they got to see it. I'm glad this happened before they passed on."
A friend of Debbie Hawk's, Fresno resident Michael Ray, said he was relieved to hear that Dave Hawk was arrested, but he said Debbie's other friends were concerned about how her children would take the news.
He said that friends were hoping that police would make an arrest in the case, even if it took years.
"In retrospect, I'm glad it didn't take 25 years," Ray said, referring to a Fresno County cold case that was recently solved.
In Hanford, the arrest was big news.
Sharon Briano, who works at a Hanford school, said her daughter had called her at work with the news. "They must have something on him," she said. "It's about time."
"I think he's been guilty all along," added her husband, Manuel Briano.
Sharon Briano said word of the arrest seemed to be spreading quickly around the community that was rocked by Hawk's disappearance nearly two years ago. "Oh, yes, people are certainly talking about it out here," she said.
The Hawk children were high on the mind of Carlina Dupont of Hanford.
"I just hope the police find the information that helps them find her, for the peace of mind of the family," she said. "It's just a shame. It's appalling that someone can be missing for so long; my heart just bleeds for her children."
The latest development adds to the twists and turns of the case that might make it fodder for an episode of "Law and Order." It features a combative defendant who has sparred verbally with police and physically with a photographer.
While Dave Hawk stopped talking to police early in the case, he held question-and-answer sessions with reporters at his rural Lemoore home, where he denied involvement in the disappearance of his ex-wife. He said police targeted him as part of a "witch hunt."
In October 2007, he was involved in a scuffle with a photographer after he alleged a camera was stuck in his face.
In the background of the case, there is the unsolved shooting of Fresno attorney Kim Aguirre, who was representing Debbie Hawk in the custody case with her ex-husband.
Hawk also faces charges of embezzling more than $300,000 from his children's trust funds. A trial on those charges is scheduled for July 14.
The reporters can be reached at tbragg@fresnobee.com, jguy@fresnobee.com, tsheehan@fresnobee.com or (559)441-6330.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 3:57 PM - No Comments Add a Comment
Another hung jury in "no body" murder case
Although most of these trials end up as convictions we've had two hung juries in the last few months:
Murder trial ends with hung jury
State plans to retry case in which friend's body tossed in trunk
By SCOTT DAUGHERTY, Staff Writer
Published May 31, 2008
A jury yesterday could not reach a unanimous verdict in the case of a Brooklyn Park man charged with murdering a friend last year and tossing his body into the trunk of a car.
Only one of the 12 jurors did not believe that Antonio Moore, 21, shot and killed Michael Francis, 21, of Brooklyn Park, several jurors said. That juror, they said, did not believe the state's eyewitnesses.
"His words were, 'I just need more evidence,'" said one juror, a 44-year-old man from Crofton who declined to give his name.
The jury of seven men and five women did convict Moore of first-degree assault and two lesser charges in the beating of a second man the night of the alleged murder. Moore faces up to 25 years in prison for the assault of Teiko Johnson. He will be sentenced Aug. 22.
Kristin Fleckenstein, a spokesman for the State's Attorney's Office, said the state will retry Moore on the first-degree murder charge, and other charges. "It is absolutely our intent to retry this case," she said.
It will be Moore's third trial for the murder of Mr. Francis, with the first ending in mistrial in March.
Ms. Fleckenstein did not know how much the prosecution of Moore had already cost the county.
"Obviously there are a lot of manpower hours involved," she said, acknowledging the expense. "However it is our responsibility to bring justice in this matter."
Police and prosecutors still do not know the location of Mr. Francis' body, but jurors said that did not play a significant role in their deliberations.
"It would have been nice (to have the body), but it wasn't a stumbling block," said another juror, a 56-year-old man from Crownsville.
Several jurors said the hold-out juror didn't believe the state's eyewitnesses since many of them lived in a known party house.
"He did not give them credibility," said the Crofton juror.
The Crownsville juror said, "Basically because of the environment they lived (in)."
That is what District Public Defender William Davis, Moore's attorney, had argued at the two-week trial this month.
Mr. Davis said in his opening statements there were "major inconsistencies" in the eyewitness' stories. He noted that DNA taken from the rifle was not from Moore.
"Something happened in that house, but not what they say," said Mr. Davis at the beginning of the trial.
Mr. Davis declined to comment yesterday about the hung jury, citing the pending sentencing and expected trial.
Moore is charged with first-degree murder in the April 14 shooting of Mr. Francis behind 5102 Brookwood Road in Brooklyn Park.
Witnesses testified over the past two weeks they saw Moore shoot Mr. Francis at about 3 a.m. with an assault-style rifle. They said he stuffed Mr. Francis into the trunk of a Toyota Solara and drove off with his girlfriend in the front seat.
Witnesses also testified Moore beat Mr. Johnson earlier that morning with the butt of the rifle and tried to put him in the trunk.
Prosecutors said Terrance Jones, Mr. Francis' stepfather, found the getaway car after the shooting and moved it around the corner. He also found and stole the murder weapon.
Prosecutors said that, while Mr. Jones initially wanted the gun so he could seek revenge, he ultimately decided to throw it into some nearby woods.
Circuit Court Judge Michele D. Jaklitsch declared a mistrial in March after a state witness testified the Toyota Solara Moore was driving the day of the killing was stolen from Russell Toyota in Baltimore.
The judge said in March the jury could conclude that Moore stole the car, even though he never was charged with the crime, and an employee of Russell Toyota is under investigation for insurance fraud in connection with the theft.
Judge Jaklitsch also sanctioned the State's Attorney's Office in February for withholding from defense attorneys the addresses of several key witnesses to the murder. Over the objections of the defense, she still allowed the four witnesses to testify.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 3:26 PM - No Comments Add a Comment
Pre-trial hearings in Illinois "no body" murder case
Families of missing woman, accused hope for justice
By Kevin Haas
RRSTAR.COM
Posted Apr 23, 2008 @ 10:03 PM
Last update Apr 24, 2008 @ 01:05 AM
BELVIDERE —
Though Wednesday’s hearing was a minor episode on the road to a first-degree murder trial, it was emotionally grueling for the families of Aaron and Brynn Null. Both sides want justice, although each has a different definition of it.
Aaron Null, 37, of Rockford has been accused of killing his wife, Brynn, in November 2002. His request to reduce his $600,000 bond was denied Wednesday, but the question weighing heavily on each family is, “Where is Brynn Null?”
The Capron woman was 25 when she disappeared in November 2002. Her body has not been found, even after exhaustive searches.
Aaron Null’s family staunchly believes in his innocence.
“My brother still loves her and would love to see her come back,” said Kari Moye, Aaron Null’s sister. “There is no body. I just don’t know how they can say she’s dead.”
Brynn Null would often storm off after arguments, both families agree. But her mother, Linda Olson, said she never stayed away long.
“I always knew where my children were at,” Olson said. “She has too many people that love her that she would never do this to us, never.”
Moye said she was close to Brynn Null. She says she believes Brynn skipped town.
“People start new lives every day,” Moye said.
The couple fought in the course of their two-year marriage, including domestic battery charges to which Aaron Null pleaded guilty, but there was more to their relationship, Moye said.
“He would always open the car door for her,” she said. “When she would smoke, my brother would light every cigarette for her.”
“Yes, he’s gotten in trouble, but that doesn’t make him a murderer.”
Writer Kevin Haas can be reached at 815-544-3452 or khaas@rrstar.com.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 3:11 PM - No Comments Add a Comment
Hung jury in South Carolina "no body" murder case
Mistrial declared in Columbia murder case with no body
Posted: April 21, 2008 10:00 PM
Updated: April 26, 2008 07:48 PM
COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - An unusual murder trial had a disappointing ending for one Midlands family Monday evening.
Mark Anthony Richardson was on trial for the murder of Shelton Sanders, who has been missing since 2001.
But the fact that prosecutors have no crime scene, no eyewitnesses to a killing, no weapon, and no body led to a judge declaring a mistrial at 7:00pm Monday after a jury couldn't reach a verdict.
Sanders and Richardson were roommates until June 2001, when the two went to scout hotel rooms for a bachelor party.
Witnesses heard gunshots in an Olympia neighborhood, and Sanders hasn't been seen since.
"The verdict is a disappointment for everyone involved. Both families wanted closure. Any time a person accused of a crime comes out of court without a guilty verdict, the defendant feels a great sense of relief," says Richardson's attorney, I.S. Leevy Johnson.
Johnson maintained during the trial that, far from being the murder trial prosecutors said it was, the case was still that of a missing person.
But conviction in the face of a lack of a body is not without precedent. In 2003 Jeffrey Weston was found guilty of killing his mother in 1998, but authorities did not locate her remains until January.
There's no word yet on a possible retrial.
Posted by Logan Smith
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, No Body Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 3:03 PM - No Comments Add a Comment
Thursday May 22, 2008
Testimony in Maryland "no body" case
Teen eyewitness testifies in murder case with no body
May 16, 2008 3:00 AM (6 days ago) by Carolyn Peirce, The Examiner
» 6 days ago: Teen eyewitness testifies in murder case with no body «
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Anne Arundel County (Map, News) - A 16-year-old Annapolis boy testified Thursday that he watched Antonio “Pumpkin” Moore shoot a Brooklyn Park man and stuff him into the trunk of a car.
Prosecutors are largely relying on the testimony to prove Michael “Mikey” Francis, 21, was murdered behind a Brooklyn Park row house in April 2007, because authorities never found the body.
“Pumpkin shot him right in the chest,” said the boy, whose name The Examiner is withholding.
“I saw the gun go off ... and Mikey fall in the trunk.”
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Moore is charged with first-degree murder, assault and kidnapping. He was granted a new trial before Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Michele Jaklitsch after another judge dismissed the case in March.
The boy, who was 15 at the time, testified that Moore was carrying a 9 mm rifle when he arrived April 13 at the 5100 block of Brookwood Road.
Moore and his girlfriend, Sierra Anderson, were arguing with another man at the house, Teiko Johnson, 31, and used the gun to beat Johnson in the face, the boy said.
When Francis intervened, the boy said he became scared and went to his room.
“I heard commotion in the backyard and looked out my window,” the boy said.
“Pumpkin had the gun pointed toward [Francis] ... he was saying ‘get the f--- in the trunk.’ ”
The boy said Francis pleaded with Moore and tried to stand up, but Moore shot him at close range.
Police later found Francis’ bloody clothes in the back of the car.
The trial is expected to continue through next week.
cpeirce@baltimoreexaminer.com
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
▣ No Body Blog entries from April 20, 2008 to May 22, 2008
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Thursday May 22, 2008
Arrest in North Carolina "No body" murder case
Missing State Worker: Murder Charge, No Body
Man Investigated by N.C. Insurance Auditor Held for Murder as Cops Search for Remains
By DAVID SCHOETZ
May 19, 2008
North Carolina authorities have charged a man with the murder of a state insurance auditor — but still have not recovered the woman's body.
The Charlotte-Mecklenberg Police Department announced today the arrest of Michael Arthur Howell, 40, on a charge of first-degree murder in the case of Sallie Rohrbach, 44, according to a police department media release.
"Detectives are continuing the investigation and seeking any information that will lead to the location of Mrs. Rohrbach's remains," the release said.
Rohrbach, an agency examiner with the North Carolina Department of Insurance, disappeared Wednesday while conducting an audit of the Dilworth Insurance Agency, which is owned and operated by Howell, police said. Rohrbach was last seen Wednesday afternoon and was reported missing on Friday.
On Sunday, Rohrbach's state-issued Chevrolet Malibu was recovered in the parking lot of Bojangle's restaurant in Charlotte, about a mile from the insurance agency office.
Detectives searched the area by foot and from the air, but did not find the woman's body. Authorities also searched Howell's car and business. Enough information was recovered for investigators to obtain a warrant for Howell's arrest.
It is unclear what type of evidence — or perhaps confession — authorities had in order to obtain an arrest warrant on a murder charge.
"We can't at this time," Robert Fey, a spokesman for the Charlotte-Mecklenberg Police Department said when asked about disclosing evidence in the case. "We have not recovered a body."
Howell was arrested late Sunday night and booked early this morning into the Mecklenburg County Jail, where he is being held on the murder charge, police said.
"It's an ongoing investigation," Fey said. "We're still trying to piece together his whereabouts from last Wednesday to the time of his arrest."
No one answered the phone at the Dilworth Insurance Agency. It is unclear whether Howell has retained an attorney.
Rohrbach was an agency examiner whose duties generally included following up on complaints about insurance agencies, according to Chrissy Pearson, spokeswoman for the North Carolina Department of Insurance.
She was one of four state employees who would be dispatched throughout the state to comb through financial records and meet with insurance agents in question, Pearson said.
In this case, Rohrbach was covering for another investigator when she went to Charlotte to interview Howell, Pearson said.
Pearson would not reveal the exact nature of the complaint against Howell, but she said it was "not unusually grievous in nature." Howell has maintained an insurance license in North Carolina for roughly 20 years, according to Pearson.
Agency examiners work closely with the department's criminal investigators and frequently tap them when a complaint rises to a criminal level. Nothing about Howell's case had triggered any particular alarm.
"Sallie gave us no indication that she needed any additional assistance or that she was uncomfortable," Pearson said.
It is the first time that an agency examiner ever died while working for the state insurance department, she said.
"It's such a mystery on so many levels for us," Pearson added. "It's truly shocking. We never thought that in the course of your duties as an agency examiner that your life would be in danger."
UPDATE: Sallie Rohrbach's body found
FORT MILL -- Police searching in York County this afternoon found the body of state insurance investigator Sallie Rohrbach, who has been missing for nearly a week.
Authorities say Rohrbach was murdered, and they charged a Union County man with first-degree murder earlier this week.
The body was discovered about 2:30 p.m. on Vista Road, in a rural area of northern York County, off Pleasant Road. That is near S.C. 160, not far from Fort Mill.
An Indian Trail man, Michael Arthur Howell, was charged early Monday by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police with first-degree murder in Rohrbach's disappearance. Authorities have been looking for her body since then.
Rohrbach, 44, of Harnett County southeast of Raleigh, was sent to Charlotte more than a week ago to investigate the Dilworth Insurance Agency in South End. She had not been seen since last Wednesday and was reported missing Friday.
Howell, 40, was an owner of the Dilworth agency.
The state Department of Insurance issued this statement after the body was found:
"The news this evening that Sallie's body was found brings conflicting emotions to those of us at the Department of Insurance. We are devastated that all hope is lost, but we also find a sense of closure in knowing that we can lay to rest our dear friend and colleague with the dignity and respect she deserves. Not knowing where to find her was torturous, so at least in that regard there is some relief. We pray for peace for Sallie's family and want them to know that we grieve with them."
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say they received information late Monday that pointed toward northern York County. They say a search began in the area Monday night but was halted by darkness. They say the search resumed today and ended with the discovery of Rohrbach's body this afternoon.
Police have not said what led them to look for the woman's body in York County.
The Fort Mill Times reported that the York County Sheriff's Office forensics unit arrived at the scene about 2:50 p.m., or 20 minutes after deputies closed off the area with crime tape. Only residents living near the crime scene have been allowed past a police perimeter.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police investigators were called to the scene a short time later, and North Carolina state insurance officials also were at the scene late this afternoon.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 8:18 PM - No Comments Add a Comment
Sunday May 4, 2008
Table of "No body" murder trials
Click here to see the table of "no body" trials in the United States:
"No body" Trials Table
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 3:26 PM - No Comments Add a Comment
Since it's worked out so well for Hans Reiser...
Hans Reiser's attorney defends another missing body murder case
By Paul T. Rosynsky
Article Launched: 05/02/2008 04:18:18 PM PDT
OAKLAND — Another Hans Reiser-like trial could be on the horizon at the Alameda County Courthouse as another man accused of killing a woman — though no body has been found — could soon be ordered to stand trial.
Unless a plea deal is reached, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Larry Goodman will decide next month if Eric Mora, 51, murdered Cynthia Alonzo, his girlfriend who went missing around Thanksgiving 2004.
Mora appeared in court Friday for the continuation of his six-month-long preliminary hearing, which was expected to end. But, the hearing was delayed another month as Mora's attorney investigates what impact Reiser's conviction has on his client.
The same attorney who defended Reiser, William DuBois, also defends Mora.
Deputy District Attorney Casey Bates, however, believes the jury conviction of Reiser proves a jury does not need to have a body to prove someone is guilty of murder.
Bates said the hearing Friday was delayed to give DuBois more time to devote to the Mora case since he has been focused on the Reiser trial for the past six months.
"Mr. DuBois has been focused on other things for a long time so he wants to focus himself back on this case," Bates said. "We expect we are done with the presentation of evidence (in the preliminary hearing), so we will complete the preliminary hearing on (June) 6th or resolve the case."
The preliminary hearing began last
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year and was delayed for months as Goodman and DuBois handled the Reiser case. Goodman was the judge assigned to the Reiser case.
Mora is suspected of killing Alonzo sometime before Thanksgiving, the day he was supposed to take her to her family's house in San Francisco for dinner.
While her body has not been found, police have discovered traces of Alonzo's blood in Mora's apartment. They also point to his strange behavior after Alonzo's disappearance and have witnesses who said the last time Alonzo was seen was when she was getting into Mora's car.
The two had been together for more than two years and some said they occasionally lived together in Mora's childhood home on Brookside Avenue, which Mora inherited.
They seemed to be getting along fine until about four months before the disappearance, family members told police and prosecutors.
The two had been having extensive arguments, family members said. At one point, Mora called one of Alonzo's daughters seeking help on how to handle the 48-year-old, the daughter said in court testimony.
Mora claims the fights revolved around Alonzo's past and her relapse into drug addiction and prostitution. Mora said the two met when he paid her for sex. After a while, Mora admitted, the relationship intensified, but he and DuBois claim the two were never a couple.
Police and prosecutors don't know the exact catalyst for the arguments, but said they have ample evidence to prove the relationship between the two was more than just a john and a prostitute.
But they are positive Mora killed Alonzo.
Mora began to act strangely once the police investigation began, officials said.
He changed his story about the last time he saw Alonzo, initially saying it was a couple of days before she disappeared and then saying it was weeks earlier, police and prosecutors said.
In his home, Mora had sanded a wooden floor in his living room and admitted he had done so after police first interviewed him about the missing Alonzo, testimony in the case revealed.
Mora also skipped town in the midst of the police investigation and failed to show up for an interview with detectives.
At the time, Mora was only a "person of interest," but in January 2005, police received approval for a search warrant for Mora's home.
After the search, police gathered enough evidence to issue an arrest warrant.
By that time, Mora had come back to Oakland.
DuBois, however, has said that his client is innocent and that Mora left town because he feared Alonzo's family, one member of which came to his house with a gun.
And more on Reiser case:
Anatomy Of A Murder; DA Presents Reiser Evidence
POSTED: 9:52 pm PDT May 1, 2008
UPDATED: 11:56 pm PDT May 1, 2008
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Few people outside of an Oakland courtroom have seen the evidence that led a jury to convict Hans Reiser of murdering his wife Nina despite the fact that her body has never been found. KTVU takes an exclusive first look at the pieces of the puzzle that cracked the Reiser case.
The Alameda County District Attorney's office shared with the KTVU Channel 2 News pieces of evidence that have only been seen publicly inside the courtroom during Hans Reiser's murder trial.
Prosecutor Paul Hora gave KTVU access to two large binders containing hundreds of pictures that help illustrate the anatomy of a murder.
For the first time, we see photos of the car Reiser was driving and the mysteriously missing front seat. In addition, Hora showed blood belonging to Nina found on an item in the trunk of the car.
"The sleeping bag stuff sack had blood on it," explained Hora.
It was September 3rd, 2006, when 31-year-old Nina Reiser vanished after bringing her two young children to her husband's home. Oakland police began an extensive search for the missing woman, combing thru Hans' home where investigators say Nina was last seen alive.
They say her blood was on this post near the front door. 9 days after she vanished, Hans was driving his mother's Honda CRX when a police officer pulled him over in Redwood City for a traffic violation.
The officer said the front passenger seat was in the car at that time. Less than a week later, Oakland police closed in on Hans Reiser.
"They had an airplane and twelve police officers in several different cars following him and that day, the defendant led police to this CRX," said Hora.
That was when officers found the front passenger seat missing. And that wasn’t all that had disappeared from the vehicle.
"[In] the trunk where the spare tire was, the cover that went over the spare tire and the entire carpeting over the trunk area was missing. All gone. He also discarded that. Basically three-fourths of the car was gone," recalled Hora.
Investigators also found Nina's van three miles from Han's home. In it were her purse and groceries from the Berkeley Bowl supermarket bought the same day she disappeared.
Hora says Nina was not planning on going away.
"It was September 3rd. She had just made out her rent check and was getting ready to drop it off at her landlord's house," said Hora.
And Nina's use of her cell phone ceased that same day.
"In the end, the evidence just keeps building and building. It gets to the point that the only reasonable conclusion is she's dead, and that replaces having a dead body," explained Hora.
Hora used a jigsaw puzzle to demonstrate to jurors how authorities pieced together the case and solved the crime.
Still, mysteries in the case remain. Reiser’s conviction doesn't answer the question of how he killed his estranged wife Nina or where he hid the body.
But nonetheless, the prosecutor says there was enough evidence to for the jury to conclude Reiser’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 3:22 PM - No Comments Add a Comment
Wednesday April 30, 2008
Hans Reiser convicted of murdering his wife in "no body" case
Reiser juror explains what led to conviction
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
(04-29) 12:24 PDT Oakland - -- Hans Reiser's arrogance and his lack of compassion for his estranged wife helped persuade jurors to convict the computer programmer of first-degree murder, a member of the Oakland jury said Tuesday.
In an interview with The Chronicle, Vince Dunn, 61, said that while Reiser had been going through a bitter divorce with his wife, Nina Reiser, "He never showed any kind of sympathy for the fact that she was the mother of his kids."
Dunn's comments came on a day when Judge Larry Goodman of Alameda County Superior Court set a July 9 sentencing date for the 44-year-old Reiser, who faces a penalty of 25 years to life in prison.
During a brief hearing Tuesday, Reiser laughed with his attorney, William Du Bois, who said outside court that his client was simply trying to relieve stress. "He accepts the reality" of the jury's verdict on Monday, the attorney said.
But juror Dunn said Reiser's coldness on the witness stand during the six-month-long trial, coupled with a phone call to his mother in which he justified why he hated his wife, helped convince the seven-man, five-woman jury that he deliberately murdered his 31-year-old wife even though her body has not been found.
"He was always making her the bad person," Dunn said. "He just focused on his belief that she was unfit, a thief, not a good mother, on and on and on, but everybody else was talking about what a nice person she was."
Jurors believed Reiser was "very arrogant" and wasn't telling the truth while on the stand, Dunn said.
Dunn acknowledged that the case had no body, no murder weapon and no eyewitnesses, making deliberations difficult at times. But Dunn said he and his fellow jurors "all came to the conclusion that there was so much circumstantial evidence" and that "all the evidence pointed to him as the culprit."
Nobody has heard from Nina Reiser since Sept. 3, 2006, when she dropped off the couple's children at his Oakland hills home. "We were convinced that she was dead because she would never have left her children," Dunn said.
Dunn said one of the most compelling pieces of evidence for him was Reiser's wiretapped phone call to his mother, Beverly Palmer, 17 days after Nina Reiser's disappearance, in which he railed against his wife, saying, "She looked for every possible way to screw me and did it."
Palmer told her son: "No matter all these things that she did, she didn't deserve whatever it is that's happened to her." Reiser replied: "I think my children shouldn't be endangered by her."
The panel took at least four votes during three days of deliberations and never considered acquitting Reiser, said Dunn, who teaches fifth grade at Lafayette Elementary School in Oakland and was juror No. 7.
Jurors had their share of disagreements, including deciding between first- and second-degree murder, Dunn said. "We fought like a family," he said. "We had our share of infighting, but in the end we came out in agreement."
Dunn declined to discuss the opinions of other jurors, but he said the group was convinced that Nina Reiser's murder was the result of deliberation because Reiser stopped using his Visa card in August 2006 and used cash instead, and repeatedly called county Supervisor Gail Steele in the days before he killed his wife.
Reiser believed Steele could help change the family court system that had awarded Nina Reiser custody of their young son and daughter, the supervisor testified during the trial.
The fact that Nina Reiser's blood was found in her husband's car and home "didn't in the end play as big a part as I thought it would," Dunn said.
Instead, the jury found it suspicious that Reiser had removed the front passenger seat and rear assembly area of his mother's Honda CRX, which prosecutors believe he hosed out after using it to transport his wife's body somewhere.
-- Trial blog: Read Henry K. Lee's blog from the Reiser trial at sfgate.com/ZBLS.
E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee@sfchronicle.com.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 10:09 PM - No Comments Add a Comment
Sunday April 20, 2008
"No body" murder news updates
Re-trial of "no body" murder case in Kansas
KSN.Com
Remains of victim in "no body" case found
Remains of missing man found near his Davis home
By Hudson Sangree - hsangree@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B2
John Finley Scott, a retired UC Davis professor, is shown in 1981 with his mountain bike. He disappeared almost two years ago; a man was convicted of murder in the case despite the lack of a body then.
The skeletal remains of murdered University of California, Davis, professor John Finley Scott, who disappeared nearly two years ago, were discovered last week in a shallow grave near his house, the Yolo County Sheriff's Department announced Monday.
The department said in a statement that investigators had received new information that led them to Scott's body.
Working with county coroners and forensic anthropologists from California State University, Chico, they unearthed the remains. They examined them in the laboratory, and a deputy coroner confirmed Monday that they were Scott's, the statement said.
Scott, 72, a retired sociology professor often credited with inventing the mountain bike, disappeared in June 2006. The blood-splattered scene at his house west of Davis convinced investigators he had been killed.
An extensive search failed to turn up a body.
Nevertheless, prosecutors went forward with a case against Charles Kevin Cunningham, a previously convicted felon whom Scott had hired to trim trees on his rural property.
Prosecutors said Cunningham, 48, had stolen Scott's checks and forged his signature.
When Scott confronted Cunningham, the man killed him to avoid being sent back to prison, Deputy District Attorney David Akulian told jurors in Woodland.
Cunningham continued to forge Scott's checks, he said.
The lack of a body did not deter jurors from finding Cunningham guilty of first-degree murder. On Oct. 23, they convicted Cunningham on all charges.
At the time, District Attorney Jeff Reisig called it a "tremendous verdict" and said the case was the first no-body homicide prosecution in the county in 30 years that anyone in his office could remember.
On Monday, Reisig said the discovery of Scott's body confirms the prosecution's theory.
"It vindicates it beyond any shadow of a doubt," he said. "Now that we have the body, it closes the door on the question of where is Professor Scott.
"We are confident that he was brutally executed by Charles Cunningham," Reisig said, "and the jury's verdict was righteous."
An autopsy still was pending to determine the cause of death, he said.
Scott was an iconoclastic scholar and avid biker.
In 1953 he outfitted a Schwinn bicycle with balloon tires, multiple gears and more powerful brakes, calling it his "woodsie bike."
He was among the first in the United States to make a sport out of hurtling down mountains on a bicycle, according to cycling historians.
In the 1970s, he lobbied the Legislature to establish modern traffic laws that treat bikes much like cars.
The professor's former home on the outskirts of Davis, where he lived alone, is boarded up.
Reisig said the discovery of Scott's body would bring closure to his family, including his sister and niece, who attended the trial.
"Professor Scott's family were devastated not only by his murder but not being able to have a proper funeral," the district attorney said.
About the writer:
* Call The Bee's Hudson Sangree, (916) 321-1191.
U.S. man convicted over Japanese woman's death
Tatsuhito Iida / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent
LOS ANGELES--A 23-year-old man has been convicted of second-degree murder over the death of a Japanese woman who disappeared in Hawaii a year ago.
Following Monday's verdict, the court likely will hand down a sentence to Kirk Lankford in June.
With no body or murder weapon yet discovered, police established the case against the defendant purely on circumstantial evidence. Lankford's trial by jury lasted more than a month.
Local media have given prominent coverage to the case.
According to the Japanese Consulate in Honolulu, a district court delivered a guilty verdict at 11:40 a.m. over the death of Masumi Watanabe, 21, who was staying with a Hawaiian family in Oahu at the time of her disappearance.
Prosecutors demanded the court take no longer than three weeks to rule on the case, but Lankford's defense lawyer said it should take three to six months to reach a decision.
Presiding Judge Karl Sakamoto, who will decide Lankford's punishment, said the court would resume in late May. Tuesday's hearing closed after about an hour.
Under Hawaiian state law, murder suspects are charged with second-degree murder except for special cases, such as the murder of a police officer. The maximum sentence is life imprisonment.
During the trial, which started March 3, the prosecutors did not posit a motive or method for the killing. However, they said Watanabe's DNA was detected in a bloodstain discovered in Lankford's truck and that her glasses also were found in the vehicle. Further, eyewitness testimony claimed to have seen Lankford digging a hole at a beach.
Prosecutors also produced more than 100 pieces of evidence.
After all the evidence had been presented, the prosecutors told the jury the defendant was trying to cover up a hideous murder and there was no doubt of his guilt.
During the investigation, Lankford--who worked for a pest control company--said he had never met Watanabe and completely denied the allegation.
However, at a court hearing, his lawyer said Lankford's truck had accidentally struck Watanabe while she was walking on a street. He then allegedly put her in the passenger seat with the intention of driving her to the house of her Hawaiian host family. But she allegedly leapt from the vehicle, hit her head on the road and died.
The lawyer also claimed Lankford tried to bury Watanabe's body at a beach, but because he was spotted by a homeless person, Lankford traveled to a different beach to dispose of her body in the sea.
As part of his testimony, Lankford denied murdering Watanabe and said he tried to conceal the incident as he was afraid of losing his job.
The jury twice visited sites related to the case to examine claims made by the prosecutors and Lankford's lawyer.
Saturday marked the first anniversary of her disappearance and a memorial service was held at a church in Honolulu, which was attended by Mayor Mufi Hannemann.
(Apr. 16, 2008)
Oregon "no body" murder case
Without body, state must prove death
By BENNETT HALL
Gazette-Times reporter
Murder conviction not uncommon even when victim is never found
How can you convict someone of murder without a body?
That’s the challenge faced by Benton County prosecutors in the trial of Joel Patrick Courtney, who stands accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering Brooke Wilberger, a 19-year-old college student who disappeared from a Corvallis apartment complex on May 24, 2004.
Though Wilberger is presumed dead, her body has never been found.
But that doesn’t mean a murder conviction is out of the question — far from it, legal experts say.
“It’s certainly harder if you don’t have a body, but not as hard as you might think,” said Susan Rozelle, who teaches classes in evidence and criminal law at the University of Oregon School of Law.
Affidavits unsealed this week in the Wilberger investigation offered a glimpse into the kinds of evidence Benton County District Attorney John Haroldson might present at trial.
According to the documents, investigators searched the New Mexico home of Courtney’s estranged wife and seized physical evidence that included hair fibers possibly belonging to Wilberger. The documents also cite witness accounts placing Courtney in the area of the Corvallis apartment complex about the time Wilberger disappeared.
Prior to his extradition to Oregon, Courtney was convicted of abducting a young woman near the University of New Mexico campus and raping her at knifepoint.
Haroldson would not comment directly on the Wilberger case, but he noted that Oregon law specifically allows jurors to base their verdict on either direct or circumstantial evidence. In cases where direct evidence is questionable or lacking, he said, circumstantial evidence may prove compelling.
“You could have a body and have a very weak case, or you could have no body and have a strong case,” Haroldson said.
Prosecutor Josh Marquis had no physical evidence to work with in a 1993 Deschutes County case, but that didn’t prevent him from winning a murder conviction in the disappearance of Carolann Payne. As in the Wilberger case, Marquis had no body to point to, but he did have a suspect: Joel Abbott.
“We had suspected him for some time,” recalled Marquis, now the district attorney for Clatsop County. “We wired up ... a friend of his with a body wire, and Mr. Abbott made some fairly incriminating statements.”
By themselves, those statements might not have been enough to convict Abbott of killing Payne, especially because her body had never been recovered. The situation was further complicated by the fact that Payne was a drifter with no fixed address.
But Marquis was able to persuade the jury that the missing woman must be dead because of the absence of any sign that she was still alive. In court, he showed that Payne had not contacted any of her relatives, there was no record of any run-ins with law enforcement, her Social Security number had not been used and there were no financial transactions involving her.
“I did it by proving the negative,” Marquis said.
Steven L. Krasik, the lead attorney for Courtney, did not return a phone call seeking comment on Friday.
Other lawyers, however, said prosecutors face an uphill battle.
“The state has the burden of proving a person died,” noted Sam Kauffman, a defense attorney with Garvey Schubert Barer in Portland.
That’s true, agreed Rozelle, the UO law professor. One likely strategy in a “no body” homicide case is to cast doubt on the prosecution’s theory of the crime by offering alternative explanations for the evidence presented at trial, she said. Courtney’s attorneys might also be expected to remind jurors of the absence of direct proof that a murder has occurred.
“That is going to be for the defense the best argument,” she said.
But she also noted that convictions have been obtained before, despite such arguments. Jurors simply have to be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty as charged.
“All you need are enough facts that look suspicious enough that the jury is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt,” Rozelle said.
“There are lots of definitions of reasonable doubt, but one thing they all agree on is that it doesn’t mean the foreclosure of any doubt at all.”
Veteran prosecutor Norm Frink said he can’t understand what all the fuss is about.
“There’s no big deal about prosecuting a homicide when no body is present. It happens all the time,” said Frink, chief deputy district attorney for Multnomah County.
In fact, Frink said, his office has successfully handled several such cases, including the slaying of Tim Moreau, an employee of the Starry Night concert hall in Portland who vanished in 1990.
Ten years later, nightclub owner Larry Hurwitz pleaded no contest in the killing after another employee, George Castagnola, testified that he helped strangle Moreau to cover up a ticket-counterfeiting scam.
“The notion that there’s some big problem with prosecuting a case just because the remains of the decedent haven’t been found is a false notion,” Frink said.
“It’s just not that big an impediment to a successful prosecution.”
Bennett Hall can be reached at
758-9529 or bennett.hall@lee.net.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
▣ No Body Blog entries from April 6, 2008 to April 15, 2008
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Tuesday April 15, 2008
Arrest in cold case "no body" murder
From 1010 WINS radio station in New York:
Local News
Posted: Tuesday, 01 April 2008 5:50PM
State Police Make Arrest in 1996 Cold Case
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- For 12 years, Hazel Pennington has agonized over what happened the night her 15-year-old daughter tucked stuffed animals under her sheets, climbed out the window of her Montville home and vanished.
Was she killed? Sold into prostitution?
Tuesday, Pennington got the call she'd been dreading. A sex offender long suspected in the case, now in prison, had been arrested and charged with killing April Dawn Pennington in 1996. But with arrest records sealed, Hazel Pennington is still in the dark.
``I still believe she's alive and I believe they're wrong,'' Pennington said Tuesday in a telephone interview from her home in Pleasant Garden, N.C. ``I'm shocked. I don't know why this couldn't have been done sooner.''
Still, Pennington said she hopes the arrest will enable her to find out what happened to April, whose body was never recovered.
On Tuesday, state police charged George Leniart, 42, a prisoner at Corrigan Correction Center in Uncasville, with murder and three counts of capitol felony. Bond was set at $2 million.
Police said in a 2004 search warrant that they believe he and a local teenager picked up April after she sneaked out.
Authorities will not pursue the death penalty because no body was recovered, said John Gravalec-Pannone, senior assistant state's attorney. The three capital felony counts are for kidnapping and sexual assault during a murder and April's age, he said.
An arrest affidavit has been sealed for two weeks to protect witnesses and potential witnesses, Gravalec-Pannone said.
Leniart was already in prison because he is accused of a sexual assault involving a teenage boy, police said. He was convicted in 1997 of sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor in another case and sentenced to five years in prison, authorities said.
Police would not say what information led them to charge Leniart with April Pennington's death now.
Telephone messages were left for his attorney, Raul Davila.
A search warrant released Tuesday with names blacked out indicates that a man's son told him Leniart had raped and killed a girl because she was screaming. She was bound and gagged with duct tape and Leniart was supposed to get rid of the body, according to the warrant.
The warrant says Leniart allegedly told someone else he taped the girl to a tree and later returned and drowned her by holding her head under water.
``Remember your friend, she's no longer around,'' the warrant quotes Leniart as saying.
Authorities said a 1997 search of a wooded area near Leniart's house in Montville turned up grey duct tape with hair fibers, a woven rope, a blue Dallas Cowboys sweat shirt and a jacket. Family members said the clothing was similar to what April wore, but the warrant indicates forensic exams have not determined who the items belonged to. The search warrant sought samples of Leniart's DNA to compare to the evidence.
In 2004, police said they talked to a man who said he and Leniart had sex with the girl and then Leniart drove him home, telling him later that the girl was ``gone'' and ``I did her.''
Pennington's mother said she has suffered a massive heart attack as well as anxiety and depression since her daughter disappeared. She compared her ordeal to climbing a rope, getting higher sometimes, only to be disappointed.
``I'd be back down at the bottom of that rope,'' Pennington said. ``I don't get to go out and enjoy life. I have a lot of anger built up that I can't get rid of.''
She still remembers going to wake her daughter up for school and finding stuffed animals arranged to make it look as if April was still in bed.
``I froze when I opened those covers,'' Pennington said. ``We had no problems with her until she snuck out the window that night.''
Her husband, a retired Navy mechanic, avoids talking about their daughter.
``He holds it in,'' Pennington said.
She described her daughter as a small, shy girl who liked to draw. She keeps a self-portrait her daughter did on the wall.
Pennington said she had the heart attack in 1998, a few weeks after learning that Leniart was out on bail at the time her daughter disappeared. She says police told her they think Leniart, a fisherman, dumped her body in the ocean.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 10:04 PM - 2 Comments Add a Comment
South Carolina "no body" murder trial begins
Columbia man faces trial in no-body case
By RICK BRUNDRETT - rbrundrett@thestate.com
A Columbia man charged with killing a former Sumter County judge’s son whose body has never been found goes on trial this week in Richland County.
Mark Richardson is charged with murder in the death of Shelton Sanders, 25, who was last seen June 19, 2001, at the Embassy Suites in Columbia, where he was helping friends plan a bachelor party, authorities said.
Sanders, the son of former Sumter County Magistrate William Sanders, called his family in Rembert about an hour before he disappeared, saying he would be heading home soon, authorities said.
Richardson is accused of shooting Sanders in Richardson’s former home on Olympia Avenue in Columbia’s Olympia neighborhood, according to an arrest warrant.
After the shooting, authorities said, Richardson drove Sanders’ car to an apartment complex near Columbia Place Mall and parked it, though the vehicle wasn’t recovered until April 2003.
Sanders was a USC student and worked at the school’s Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science.
Opening statements in the jury trial before Circuit Judge William Keesley are expected Tuesday. A jury was expected to be seated today.
The case will pit 5th Circuit Solicitor Barney Giese and two other veteran prosecutors — Deputy Solicitor John Meadors and Senior Assistant Solicitor Luck Campbell — against longtime Columbia defense attorney I.S. Leevy Johnson and Johnson’s law partner, William Toal — the husband of S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal.
The cable television program known as In Session — formerly Court TV — will be taping the trial for broadcast nationally at a later date.
Authorities have said little about their evidence against Richardson, 33, who is free on bail. Richardson told investigators he was the only person in his home with Sanders when gunshots were heard by several neighbors, the warrant said.
The last time prosecutors tired a murder case without a body in Richland County was in May 2003, when Jeffrey Weston was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the 1998 killing of his 78-year-old mother, Frances Franchey. It was the first such conviction in county history.
Although during the trial he denied murdering his mother, Weston confessed in January during a Richland County appeals hearing to killing and dismembering her. He led investigators to woods along Metze Road in Richland County, where the woman’s bones were found.
Reach Brundrett at (803) 771-8484.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 9:58 PM - No Comments Add a Comment
Search for girl missing 13 years ago
New tips prompt renewed search for Kiplyn's body
By Donald W. Meyers
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 04/14/2008 04:01:50 PM MDT
Posted: 3:52 PM- PROVO - The Utah County attorney said this afternoon two searches - one in Spanish Fork Canyon, the other within Spanish Fork city limits - are under way for the body of Kiplyn Davis, who disappeared nearly 13 years ago.
Authorities said they are acting on two tips received over the weekend.
The attorney's office, in a statement, said nothing has been found "as of today."
This is the second time since the fall of 2006 that searchers have looked in the canyon, and authorities said they also have looked within the city over the past several years.
The first time, the canyon search was based on tips received from a suspect in the disappearance. However, no body was found.
Authorities did not disclose the source of this weekend's tips.
Davis disappeared on May 2, 1995, when the 15-year-old school girl went missing from Spanish Fork High School during the day. Accused in her disappearance are Tommy Brent Olsen and Christopher Neal Jeppson. They pair has been charged with murder in the case.
Garry Von Blackmore, Scott Brunson and Davis Rucker Liefson have pleaded guilty to federal charges that they lied to authorities during the investigation.
dmeyers@sltrib.com
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 9:57 PM - No Comments Add a Comment
Evidence closes in Resier "no body" murder case
Testimony ends in murder trial of software programmer Hans Reiser, whose wife is still missing
The Associated Press
Published: April 15, 2008
OAKLAND, California: A software programmer accused of killing his Russian-born wife complained about his lawyers' performance and asked for a new attorney as testimony in his trial ended Monday. He got a scolding from the judge instead.
"Mr. Reiser, I have about had it with you," Judge Larry Goodman told Hans Reiser outside the presence of jurors. "You are rude. You are arrogant. There's not enough words in the English language to describe the way you are."
Reiser, 44, is accused of killing his estranged wife, Nina, amid a custody fight. She has not been seen since dropping off their two children on Sept. 3, 2006.
With no body ever found, the defense has suggested Nina Reiser may be living in her native Russia.
Prosecutors say circumstantial evidence points to Hans Reiser as her killer: The front passenger seat was missing from Reiser's car and his wife's DNA was found in the car and at Hans Reiser's house.
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Reiser, known in programming circles for his ReiserFS computer file system, concluded testimony in the case when he was recalled to the stand to talk about his computer hard drives.
A computer expert who studied the drives last week testified Monday he did not find anything linking Reiser to Nina Reiser's disappearance. However, the expert, Kyle Ritter, said he could not use automated programs to analyze some of the files, and he didn't have time to do so manually.
Reiser testified there was nothing on either hard drive implicating him in Nina Reiser's disappearance, and said, "This whole thing is silly."
His attorney, William Du Bois, then asked if Reiser had something to say.
Reiser said he wanted his children — living in Russia with Nina Reiser's mother — called to the stand and added "I have problems with their having been kidnapped."
He also said he wanted to be questioned by one of his former divorce attorneys and indicated he wanted to change attorneys. Later, Du Bois indicated he was ready to rest, but Reiser said the defense wasn't ready.
The judge told the jury testimony had ended and excused them until Tuesday, when closing arguments are set to begin.
With the jury out of the room, Reiser began making a statement about things he thought the defense should have brought up and repeated his request for a different attorney.
Goodman said it was unlikely that another attorney would be ready to step in and begin closing Tuesday, and there would be no delay in the trial.
The judge told Reiser he has "made a mockery of everything about this proceeding." He also warned him that, "If you continue to disrupt the courtroom, I will have you removed from this courtroom."
The session ended and Reiser, still talking, was led away by bailiffs.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 9:50 PM - No Comments Add a Comment
Sunday April 6, 2008
Retrial beginning in Kansas "No Body" murder case
From The Garden City Telegram:
Floyd trial No. 2 set to start Monday
Published 4/4/2008
By RACHEL DAVIS
rdavis@gctelegram.com
The retrial of husband and wife Chad and Shannon Floyd of Stanton County, who are accused of murdering a Stanton County man, begins Monday.
Jury selection was scheduled to end today but lasted only Monday and Tuesday, said Bonnie Parks, clerk of the Stanton County District Court.
Defense attorneys Dan Monnat and Kurt Kerns, and state attorneys Richard Guinn and Barry Disney could not be reached for comment.
The Floyds are accused of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the alleged killing of 27-year-old Michael Golub, Shannon Floyd's ex-boyfriend, in May 2005. Golub disappeared May 20, 2005, on his way to pick up his son, Mikey, whom he had shared custody of with Shannon.
The initial trial ended July 27, 2007, with a hung jury, as jurors could not reach an agreement on a verdict.
The prosecution's case in the initial trial centered on the custody of Mikey and the extremes the Floyds would go to keep residential custody of the boy.
Guinn, lead prosecutor assigned to the case by the state Attorney General's office, stated in the first trial that the Floyds had devised a plan to get rid of Golub, starting with a $50,000 bank stock purchase. According to Guinn, the Floyds told family members the $50,000 would be used to pay Golub off in exchange for relinquishing his parental rights.
According to testimony, the money was sent to Western State Bank in Ulysses and an account opened under the name Michael R.L. Golub, aka "Mikey." Guinn said Shannon Floyd then wrote a check from her First National Bank account in Johnson City on May 6, 2005, payable to Michael Golub for $49,000, but the check was never endorsed, though it had cleared the bank.
Defense attorneys said the prosecution's case was circumstantial and the Floyds were unfairly targeted.
In the first trial, the defense argued that the prosecution could not prove Golub was dead -- they had no body and no murder weapon. The defense also made mention of Golub's admission to a friend of disappearing the weekend of May 20, 2005, and his prior drug use.
The Floyds have been out of jail on bond since July 14, 2006, and living in Colorado. Golub still has not been found.
Depending on a person's criminal history, if convicted, first-degree murder can carry a term of life imprisonment. Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder can carry a prison term of nine to 41 years.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
▣ No Body Blog entries from March 19, 2008 to March 22, 2008
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"Erased" book
Saturday March 22, 2008
New Book with "No body" murder cases
A new book called, "Erased: Missing Women, Murdered Wives" by authors Marilee Strong and Mark Powelson was published this month. It's the story of domestic homicides and includes several "no body" cases. OK, OK, I'm also plugging it because yours truly is quoted several times. I haven't read it yet but spoke to the authors last summer and it looks like an excellent true crime read. You can see more about the book by clicking on here: Amazon
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 6:09 PM - No Comments Add a Comment
Good article on New Jersey "no body" murder case
From Delaware On Line (note mention of distinguished "no body" prosecutor and current U.S. Attorney for Delaware Colm Connolly):
Without a body, can jury convict?
Case against N.J. man evokes memories of Thomas Capano trial
By CRIS BARRISH • The News Journal • March 22, 2008
A New Jersey prosecutor insists investigators have amassed "a lot of evidence" to convict Rosario DiGirolamo of murdering his mistress.
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Yet more than nine months after she vanished, Amy Giordano has never been found, leaving authorities with a daunting challenge for any murder trial: proving their case without a body.
It's the same barrier, however, that Delaware prosecutors overcame to prove millionaire attorney Thomas Capano killed his mistress and gubernatorial aide Anne Marie Fahey in 1996.
"When there's no body, you first have to establish there was actually a killing and a death -- and then who did it," said Colm F. Connolly, the U.S. attorney for Delaware and lead prosecutor against Capano. "It's a pretty significant hurdle."
On Friday, prosecutors announced that an alleged accomplice of DiGirolamo's has been charged with fourth-degree evidence tampering. John A. Russo Jr., 43, of Staten Island, has not yet been arrested, but authorities said he will be picked up in the next few days.
Authorities would not release any details on Russo's alleged involvement or connection to DiGirolamo. Russo faces up to 18 months in prison if convicted.
DiGirolamo was arrested Thursday at his parents' home in Brooklyn, N.Y., for allegedly killing Giordano. DiGirolamo, who was married and lived in Millstone Township, N.J., had carried on a three-year clandestine affair with Giordano. Under New Jersey law, which has no death penalty, he faces 30 years to life in prison.
In November, DiGirolamo pleaded guilty in Delaware Superior Court to misdemeanor abandonment and endangerment and received probation. Those charges stemmed from his dumping his and Giordano's 11-month-old son Michael in a Christiana Hospital parking lot on June 9. Michael is living in a Delaware foster home.
Authorities contend DiGirolamo killed Giordano on June 7, sometime after the two were captured by a supermarket surveillance video shopping for groceries with Michael.
Investigators have said blood was found in Giordano's apartment, but have not said whether it was hers.
Casey DeBlasio, spokeswoman for Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph L. Bocchini Jr., said Friday that some evidence against DiGirolamo would likely be made public after he is extradited from New York. The suspect's bail has been set at $1 million.
DeBlasio would not comment further on the case except to say that police had not found Giordano's body.
DiGirolamo's attorney, Jerome Ballarotto, pointed out the difficulty of prosecuting a homicide without a body. "To convict someone of a homicide is a long journey from the arrest," Ballarotto said after the arrest.
DiGirolamo has insisted for months through his lawyer that Giordano would turn up unharmed.
Reliable witness key
DiGirolamo's prosecutors definitely would have a better chance, experts said, if a reliable witness such as Russo ends up providing damning testimony. In the Fahey case, the account of Capano's younger brother, Gerard, was pivotal in winning a conviction.
While tracking Capano's actions around the time Fahey vanished after dining with him on June 27, 1996, at a Philadelphia restaurant, Connolly oversaw a team that built a circumstantial case that Capano killed her that evening.
Like Giordano last year, Fahey had vanished with her wallet, credit cards and identification left behind in her apartment. All activity on her credit cards ceased. Fahey didn't contact any of her friends, who told investigators she was afraid of her married boyfriend. That April, Fahey had described Capano in her diary as a "controlling, manipulative, insecure, jealous maniac."
But it was nearly 17 months before the FBI and Delaware police agencies gathered enough evidence to charge Capano, a former state prosecutor and legal counsel to former Gov. Mike Castle.
In a case without a body, weapon or eyewitness, perhaps the biggest break came in November 1997 when Gerard, in a taped statement, said he helped Thomas dispose of a body in a cooler off the New Jersey coast on June 28, 1996. A few days after Gerard turned on his brother, a grand jury indicted Thomas for murder.
"If you have a witness that says, 'I threw the body overboard,' then we're done with one of the problems. We have a death," said Jules Epstein, a professor at Widener University School of Law. "But they still need to answer, how did she die?"
Another fortuitous break for the prosecution also occurred the day after Capano's indictment. A fisherman who read a News Journal account of the arrest surmised that a cooler he found floating in the Atlantic Ocean in the summer of 1996 might be the one used to dispose of Fahey's body. The cooler was given to the FBI, and the bar code matched the one Thomas bought and Gerard had described.
Connolly's team also traced the purchase of a pistol used to kill Fahey to another Capano mistress, Deborah MacIntyre, who told authorities she bought the gun for Thomas because he told her he needed it for protection.
Connolly stressed Friday the interlocking evidence led the jury to the conclusion that Fahey not only was dead, but that Thomas Capano had killed her. Connolly called Gerard a "critical witness" against his brother, who is serving a life sentence.
Defense will raise doubt
Wilmington criminal attorney Joseph A. Hurley, who briefly represented Thomas Capano, said the testimony of an accomplice would aid the prosecution of DiGirolamo. Hurley said prosecutors "must have substantial evidence" to support the murder charge against the 33-year-old former computer programmer.
Some circumstantial evidence was made public in August, in a Delaware affidavit charging DiGirolamo with abandoning his son.
A detective wrote that authorities received a report that the couple argued about her desire to end the affair in the days preceding Giordano's disappearance. "She wanted him out of her life," Detective Mary Bartkowski wrote.
Bartkowski also said DiGirolamo told his wife he would be away on business from June 5 to 9 -- the period Giordano was last seen. DiGirolamo last reported to his $56,000-a-year job at Conair Corp. on June 11 -- the day after police released his then-unidentified son's photograph to the media -- but left "in a rush," the affidavit said.
On June 12, he called his wife to say he had been in an accident in New York, and she never heard from him again, the affidavit said. That same day, he called his father and said "he was very confused and needed to take some time." On June 14, he flew to Italy.
That was the day DiGirolamo asked the landlord to end Giordano's lease, Bartkowski wrote. A real estate agent told authorities DiGirolamo had inquired about a larger apartment nearby but later said he could not afford the higher rent and "was tired of supporting [Giordano] while she sat home and did nothing," the affidavit said. DiGirolamo allegedly told the agent not to tell Giordano.
The landlord, Mike Vanderbeck, told The News Journal in August that shortly before Giordano vanished, DiGirolamo asked him not to show the unit to prospective tenants because she was ill.
Prosecutors have not revealed the results of laboratory testing on blood spots found in Giordano's apartment.
Hurley said that evidence is a solid base. "They have to prove without a reasonable doubt that the person hasn't run off to Mexico," he said. "They have to hammer on the motive and try to make an emotional impact on the jury that this is a bad person. It's great if there were prior threats or prior domestic abuse, some pattern to show a violent disposition."
Hurley also expects prosecutors to focus on DiGirolamo's bizarre moves -- abandoning the baby and fleeing to Italy for seven weeks.
The defense, Hurley said, will try to raise doubt that Giordano has come to harm.
David Ruhnke, a New Jersey criminal attorney who worked on Capano's unsuccessful appeal in the Delaware courts, said prosecutors realize they must clear a high bar. "It's a very tough hurdle," Ruhnke said, "But it should be."
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 10:11 AM - No Comments Add a Comment
Friday March 21, 2008
Updated "No Body" Trial cases
Clink here and scroll down a bit for the latest "no body" murder trials list. You'll see I have 246 cases (and more to add) covering every state in the union except New Hampshire, Vermont and Idaho. Many of you have been kind enough to send me cases and information. Please continue to do so.
Table of "No Body" Murder Trials in the United States
All the best,
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 9:49 PM - No Comments Add a Comment
Arrest made in New Jersey "No Body" murder case
N.J. man accused of murdering tot's mom
DiGirolamo abandoned infant outside Christiana Hospital
By CRIS BARRISH • The News Journal • March 21, 2008
New Jersey authorities Thursday charged the man who abandoned his 11-month-old son at Christiana Hospital last summer with murdering the child's mother.
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Rosario "Roy" DiGirolamo, 33, a former computer programmer, was arrested at his parent's home in Brooklyn, N.Y., at about 4:45 p.m. for allegedly killing Amy Giordano, with whom he had a three-year affair while married to another woman.
Giordano's body has not been found, authorities acknowledged after DiGirolamo's arrest. They did not reveal any other details about what led them to charge DiGirolamo with murder and tampering with evidence, but Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph L. Bocchini Jr. said, "We've accumulated a lot of evidence."
Authorities have said blood spots which they have not identified were found at Giordano's apartment days after she vanished.
DiGirolamo is being held in New York on $1 million bail, and no extradition hearing was immediately scheduled. Courts are closed today for Good Friday.
Giordano's cousin, Stephen Fishbaum, who has been saying for months that Giordano was dead, said he was gratified authorities believe they had enough evidence to convict DiGirolamo, but hopes her body can be recovered.
"I don't feel surprised or shocked. I've said all the way through that she wasn't here, because she would have contacted me," said Fishbaum, who had offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to her discovery. "Even though I think it's doubtful, I would like to find the body so we could give her a proper burial."
After DiGirolamo's arrest, defense attorney Jerome Ballarotto said they were ready to defend the case, but added that authorities have not yet provided him with any details.
"I've been told that no body has been found," Ballarotto said. "To convict someone of a homicide is a long journey from the arrest. Not only do they have to convict him, but prove that she's dead. Generally in most homicides you start with a dead body and then someone who you try to prove did it. This is going to be a very interesting prosecution."
For months, Ballarotto has said Giordano was fine the last time his client saw her, and has predicted she eventually would turn up safe and healthy. Ballarotto also said DiGirolamo had provided authorities with information on her possible whereabouts.
Giordano, 27, was last seen shopping for groceries with DiGirolamo on June 7 in Mercer County, N.J.
On June 8, she talked by phone to her 6-year-old son, JoJo, who lives with her ex-husband in Brooklyn.
And on June 9, a nurse found their son, Michael, barefoot and crying, on a parking lot curb at the hospital near Stanton.
The child was found with a handwritten note pinned to his diaper calling him "John Vincent" and saying his caregiver had no job or health insurance. The note ended with the words, "God have mercy on me."
Authorities have said they received a report that the couple argued about her desire to end the affair in the days preceding Giordano's disappearance. "She wanted him out of her life," a Delaware state police detective wrote in an arrest affidavit released in August when DiGirolamo was charged with dumping his son.
In addition, the detective wrote, DiGirolamo told his wife he would be away on business from June 5 to 9 -- the period when Giordano was last seen.
DiGirolamo last reported to his $56,000-a-year job at Conair Corp. on June 11 -- the day after police released his then-unidentified son's photograph to the media -- but left "in a rush," the affidavit said.
The next day, June 12, he called his wife to say he had been in an accident in New York, and she never heard from him again, the affidavit said. That same day he called his father and said "he was very confused and needed to take some time."
Takes trip to Italy
Two days later, on June 14, DiGirolamo flew to Milan, Italy, from Newark, N.J. He returned to Delaware seven weeks later, on Aug. 3, and in November pleaded guilty in Delaware Superior Court to misdemeanor abandonment and endangerment. A judge gave him 18 months' probation and ordered him to pay $2,452 in boarding expenses for his son, who is living in a Delaware foster home, plus unspecified medical expenses. He also was barred from having further contact with Michael.
But for nine months, New Jersey authorities have investigated Giordano's disappearance and said they suspected she had come to harm.
Days after she vanished, her purse was discovered in a bedroom closet of her third-floor apartment, still containing her wallet and identification cards.
'Additional blood evidence'
She and DiGirolamo met in Brooklyn in 2004, when he worked at his father's pizza shop. Giordano, the adopted daughter of strict Jewish parents, moved away from home at 19 and lived down the street from the pizza shop with her then-husband and their young son, JoJo. She and the dark-haired DiGirolamo reportedly began a torrid affair and she ran off with him in 2005.
He rented her an $850-a-month apartment in Hightstown, N.J., just a few miles from the sprawling brick home where he and his wife lived on two acres. Michael was born in July 2006, about the same time DiGirolamo's wife gave birth to a son. The attorney for DiGirolamo's wife, who has since divorced him, said she knew nothing about his secret life.
But the clandestine affair had become rocky. Days before Giordano disappeared, DiGirolamo asked her landlord to end her lease on June 14, the Delaware arrest affidavit said. In addition, an unidentified real estate agent told authorities DiGirolamo had inquired about a larger apartment nearby but changed his mind, saying he could not afford the higher rent and "he was tired of supporting [Giordano] while she sat home and did nothing," the affidavit said. DiGirolamo allegedly told the agent not to tell Giordano.
The landlord, Mike Vanderbeck, told The News Journal in an August interview that shortly before Giordano vanished, DiGirolamo asked him not to show her apartment to prospective tenants because she was ill.
Days after Giordano disappeared, blood spots were found in Giordano's apartment, prosecutors have said. The prosecutors have not revealed the results of laboratory testing on the spots, but investigators returned to the apartment on Jan. 15, saying they were looking for "additional blood evidence."
Bocchini said Thursday that police in New Jersey, New York and Delaware, along with the FBI and state prosecutors, have "worked tirelessly on this case," which he said "has taken several turns."
The defendant is being held by New York authorities pending extradition to New Jersey. Angelo Onofri, spokesman for Bocchini, said DiGirolamo would be arraigned once he returns. Ballarotto said he did not expect DiGirolamo to fight extradition. If convicted of murder, DiGirolamo faces 30 years to life in prison, as New Jersey does not have the death penalty.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 9:25 PM - No Comments Add a Comment
Wednesday March 19, 2008
Arguments in Thomas Capano "No Body" murder appellate case
From www.delmarvanow.com:
A federal judge heard arguments Tuesday over whether convicted killer Thomas Capano received a fair trial on charges that he murdered his mistress in 1996.
Capano’s lawyer, Joseph Bernstein, told U.S. District Court Judge Harvey Bartle III that the Delaware Supreme Court erred in upholding a trial judge’s decision not to give Capano’s jury the option of convicting him on a charge other than first-degree murder.
Capano, once a wealthy and politically connected attorney, was convicted of shooting Ann Marie Fahey, 30, scheduling secretary to then-Gov. Tom Carper in 1996, and dumping her body in the Atlantic Ocean, allegedly because she was breaking off an affair with him.
With no gun, no body and no eyewitness, prosecutors based their case against Capano on circumstantial evidence. Capano, meanwhile, testified that Fahey was shot accidentally while he tried to wrest a handgun away from another mistress who was threatening to kill herself.
Bernstein argued that under the due process clause of the Constitution and a 1980 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, a defendant in a capital murder trial is entitled to have lesser included offenses — such as second-degree murder, manslaughter, or criminally negligent homicide — presented to the jury if the evidence warrants.
Bernstein argued that rather than being given the stark choice of convicting Capano of capital murder or of letting him walk out of court, jurors should have been allowed to consider whether Fahey’s death may have been something other than a “pure accident.”
They could have decided, Bernstein suggested, that Capano was guilty of recklessly or negligently causing Fahey’s death in trying to grab a gun from a distraught, suicidal Deborah MacIntyre.
But after hearing “chilling” testimony about how Capano and a younger brother disposed of Fahey’s body, something Capano did not deny, any jurors who might have been wavering on whether he was guilty of intentional murder were not likely to let him go free, Bernstein said.
“Is there anybody who’s going to let Capano walk after hearing that story?” he asked.
Deputy attorney general Elizabeth McFarlan said the state courts rejection of lesser included offenses do not rise to the “objectively unreasonable” standard required to overturn his conviction.
If Capano did grab MacIntyre’s arm, as he claimed, that does not constitute a criminal act, added McFarlan, who also said Capano’s argument should be rejected on procedural grounds because his death sentence was vacated and he is now serving a life sentence.
In addition to sparring over lesser included offenses, attorneys also argued two other elements of Capano’s federal appeal. Bernstein claims that the state courts erred in allowing prosecutors to admit certain hearsay evidence and to question Capano about his silence at a bail hearing before trial.
Bernstein argued that hearsay testimony by Fahey’s friends and psychotherapists that painted Capano in a bad light should have been excluded from Capano’s trial because it violated his constitutional right to confront his accuser.
McFarlan argued that statements reflecting Fahey’s state of mind were properly admitted under exceptions to the hearsay rule, noting that Capano stipulated to the admission of unfavorable hearsay evidence, included e-mail exchanges and Fahey’s diary.
In upholding Capano’s conviction and death sentence in 2001, the state Supreme Court ruled that certain inadmissible hearsay testimony did not amount to reversible error.
Capano’s third argument is that prosecutors should not have been allowed to cross-examine him about his statement that he maintained his silence in the case until trial in an effort to protect MacIntyre.
Bernstein argued that prosecutors tried to portray Capano’s silence as an implication of guilt, in violation of his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. McFarlan argued both that his claim is procedurally barred, and that prosecutors simply were trying to impeach his direct testimony, with no objections made at trial by the defense.
Bartle gave no indication about when he would issue his ruling.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
▣ No Body Blog entries from March 6, 2008 to March 12, 2008
0 Comments added to this post
Wednesday March 12, 2008
"No Body" Guy profile
Click here for a profile of yours truly from the newspaper covering the Sam Parker case:
Walker County Messenger
or read it here:
“No body” murder cases: Former D.C. prosecutor talks about Parker case
03/11/08
Josh O'Bryant
How difficult is it to convict a suspect of murder if there is no body and no weapon, such as in the Sam Parker case?
Tad DiBiase says it’s easier than one might think.
DiBiase, a former homicide prosecutor from Washington, D.C., shed light on “no body” cases.
DiBiase has collected more than 200 “no body” homicide cases, including several other Georgia cases beyond the Sam Parker case, which can be researched on his blog at nobodycases.blogstream.com.
According to DiBiase, the biggest obstacle that a “no body” prosecution faces is proving that the person was actually murdered. This allows for two components.
The first would be to prove that the actual person is deceased, while second would be proving that that person was actually murdered.
“What I have found in looking at a lot of these cases is that, while that is a burden, it is actually less difficult than I think lay people and maybe most jurors might think. That is because, in most cases, it becomes pretty obvious that at least up to the first point that the person is actually dead. Then the battleground really is on the second point, which is ‘were they murdered’, and then the third point of course being did this guy … actually do it,” DiBiase said.
According to DiBiase, what you find in a lot of these cases is that the person who is murdered, is otherwise not usually a victim of a crime.
“In those cases, it is usually very easy to prove that the person is not alive. They have missed their sons 10th birthday, his 11th birthday, his 12th birthday. They have missed all of these important events,” DiBiase said.
Who is Tad DiBiase?
Tad DiBiase was born and raised in New York, about 40 minutes north of New York City.
He attended Wake Forest University in North Carolina and graduated with a degree in politics.
He worked in Washington, D.C., for IBM for one year. He attended Brooklyn Law School and graduated in 1991and participated in the Prosecutor’s Clinic at Brooklyn district attorney’s office. He worked for 3˝ years for a New York law firm, Shearman & Sterling, in their D.C. office.
He joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. in 1995. He worked there for 12 years, nine of which he prosecuted homicides, specializing in domestic homicides and forensic cases.
DiBiase also served as deputy chief of misdemeanor section, chief of Third District homicide/major crimes section and ended his career as the deputy chief of homicide section and special counsel for Professional Development and Training.
He tried more than 50 jury trials, including 20 homicide cases, including D.C.’s second “no body” homicide cases. He has consulted with police departments and prosecutors on “no body” cases, lectured to law enforcement and written his blog (online at nobodycases.blogstream.com) since May 2006. He left the U.S. Attorney’s Office in May 2007 and joined Shapiro, Lifschitz and Schram law firm, where he practices construction litigation, government contracts and white-collar law.
New DNA technology has changed the odds
“The part to prove the second point, that the person was murdered, that is kind of where the forensics evidence comes in and what I have noticed is that is the biggest change from years ago. The advances in forensics evidence has made it significantly easier to prove that a person was murdered, because we are able to find their blood, able to find their DNA, able to take very small samples of DNA and work up a profile of the person,” he said.
According to DiBiase, maternal DNA can now be taken from a mother and compared to the DNA of a victim to determine if the victims DNA can be linked as a descendant of the mother.
“That type of scientific advance, that didn’t exist five years ago, let alone ten years ago, and that is what I have found that has made a really big difference and I think why we are seeing more of these (no body) cases than we have seen in the past,” DiBiase said.
According to DiBiase, the conviction rate on “no body” cases is very high. He feels that it is because the prosecution brings stronger cases, but it is not as big of a burden to overcome with not having the body.
According to DiBiase, it is not an easy task to dispose of a body.
“Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but it certainly fits the very common profile of what you see in a “no body” case, which is a husband, a wife, a relationship between the two and that’s because it is enormously difficult to get rid of a body…. You’ve got to be someone who can have ready access to the person. Access that is not necessarily going to be suspicious. You’ve got to have time with the body (to dispose of),” DiBiase said.
According to DiBiase, in any domestic violence case, the issue is very much often about control. Typically it is the man doing something to the woman.
“It’s almost always about control — the man feeling like he is loosing control and that is what can be a triggering event,” he said. “You almost always see some triggering event. A fight between the two people, a court date coming up.”
According to DiBiase, a divorce is a classic triggering event, because it sends a signal to the man that he is loosing control and the woman is getting away.
“And that is often what triggers someone that would ordinarily not be disposed of committing a murder to actually do something like that,” he said.
According to DiBiase, there are basically three ways to close a “no body” case.
The first is that the defendant confesses; second, someone “snitches” on the defendant; and third, from very strong forensic evidence.
DiBiase said that through his research, he has found that “no body” cases are not as difficult as most believe.
“I have found the worst defense is actually to say that the victim is not dead. I have found that is distinctively a stupid defense and a terrible defense,” DiBiase said.
According to DiBiase, most bodies in “no body” cases are never found.
DiBiase said that most of the times the bodies are weighed down in bodies of water or buried.
DiBiase was a prosecutor and assistant U.S. attorney with the U.S. Attorney Office in Washington, D.C., and left that position in May 2007.
He specialized in domestic murder cases and DNA scientific forensic cases.
He spent 12 years as a prosecuting attorney and nine years as a homicide prosecutor.
talks about Parker case
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
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Saturday March 8, 2008
"No Body" murder news from earlier this year
Some news from cases I missed earlier this year:
New Jersey "No Body" murder case:
Cape May County Herald
Arrest in Missoula Murder case:
Missoulian
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
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Hans Reiser testifies in his own defense
From the Mercury News.Com
Mercury News.Com
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
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Friday March 7, 2008
Mistrial declared in Maryland "no body" murder trial
WTOP
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
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Thursday March 6, 2008
Trial starts in Hawaii on "no body" murder case and other news
From the Star Bulletin:
Star Bulletin
Also: Florida man convicted of murdering wife
Sun-Sentinel
And finally, an article about Deanie Peters, 14 years old at the time of her disappearance on Feb. 5, 1981, and the investigation into her disappearance/murder. Just goes to show how difficult the investigation of these cases can be, especially the old cases.
Grand Rapids Press
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
▣ No Body Blog entries from February 19, 2008 to February 29, 2008
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Friday February 29, 2008
"No Body" murder' trial in Baltimore
Baltimore Sun
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
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Wednesday February 27, 2008
"No Body" Guy consulting
Over the past two weeks I've consulted with two police departments regarding "no body" investigations. Mostly I discuss how other "no body" cases have been solved, what other investigative leads police might pursue, what works at trial and what doesn't work. Over the past two years, I've done a fair amount of this type of consulting for both police and prosecutors nationwide. I've decided to mention this in case any other police department or DA's office are interested in talking to me about "no body" cases. You can get in touch with me through this blog, and I'd be happy to discuss your investigation or upcoming trial. (For free of course!) Given my extensive study of these cases and my own experiences as a homicide prosecutor for nearly ten years (including the prosecution and trial of the "no body" murder case of US v. Harold Austin), I'd be happy to assist law enforcement in any way.
And finally, click here for link to the Table of "No Body" Trials:
"No Body" Murder Trials Table
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
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Monday February 25, 2008
Guilty verdict in Arizona "no body" murder case
Srout faces sentencing for role in murder of Christopher Marcus
Aaron Royster
Miner Staff Writer
David Wayne Srout was found guilty on Friday for his part in the murder of Christopher Robert Marcus, the subsequent desert burial and robbery.
After more than six hours of deliberation, a 12-person jury unanimously found Srout, 31, of Golden Valley guilty of first-degree murder, armed robbery and hindering prosecution of first-degree murder.
Following the verdict, the jury reconvened and found aggravating factors in each charge - increasing the range of sentence for the crimes.
Srout faces natural life in prison or life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years on the murder charge at the judgment and sentencing hearing set for 1:30 p.m. on April 3.
In the meantime, Srout will undergo a diagnostic evaluation and mental health examination at the request of his defense attorney.
Clutching rosary beads wrapped around her left hand and caressing a photo of her son Marcus, Nancy Roy said the verdict has been a long time coming.
"I'll have a happy birthday finally," Roy said of her birthday on Saturday.
Roy testified during the trial about her interactions with her son prior to his disappearance and how it has affected her and her family.
Marcus's younger brother Shawn was present through the trial and verdict.
"I'm very glad all three came guilty," he said, "and we miss him (Marcus) very much."
The three he was referring to were Srout and the two other co-defendants sentenced in the case, Larry Gene Tate and Shannon Laranda Blair.
Tate, 42, was sentenced to 18 years in prison in November for the second-degree murder of Marcus after pleading guilty as part of a guilty plea agreement with the Mohave County Attorney's Office.
Blair, 34, was sentenced to six years in prison for the aggravated assault of Marcus after pleading guilty as part of an agreement with the Mohave County Attorney's Office. The agreement required her to testify in connection with the co-defendants' cases.
While Blair was a key witness in the Srout trial, she may not have to testify in the trial of the last co-defendant, Michael Van Alan Withers, on March 25.
E.C. Sears, the defense attorney for Withers, submitted a request on Wednesday for the trial to be vacated because her client was going to plead guilty after reaching a plea agreement with the Mohave County Attorney's Office. Details of the agreement will not be available until Withers actually pleads guilty.
Mohave County Superior Court Judge Robert R. Moon had not made a ruling on the request by the time of publication.
According to Blair's testimony, the foursome planned the murder of Marcus to gain the more than $5,000 he obtained from an insurance settlement.
On Aug. 4, 2005, Marcus came to Tate's residence in the 3200 block of Jewel Street to sign and pay for a vehicle from Withers. From there, he was directed to the back room of a shed in Tate's backyard, Blair said.
Struck with a crowbar by Blair when he entered the room, Tate shoved Marcus to the ground while he begged for his life, Blair said.
Using a knife owned by Srout, Tate sliced the throat of Marcus, Blair said. Left to bleed on the floor, death did not come quickly for the victim who was still gasping for breath several minutes later, she testified.
Once Marcus did pass away, his body was placed in the trunk of Withers' vehicle. Blair and Srout drove to a wash north of the Kingman Airport where the body was buried in a shallow makeshift grave, Blair said.
They were able to give the car to a friend, who was not connected with the murder, on the drive back, she said.
According to police reports, the red 1993 Pontiac Grand Prix was found abandoned at Safeway, 3125 Stockton Hill Road, with blood in the trunk on Aug. 11, 2005. The body of the 5-foot-1, 98-pound Marcus has yet to be found.
A year later, investigators learned about the co-defendants involvement in the murder when Withers allegedly sent a letter to his mother from prison with information about it. During police interviews, each defendant admitted - in varying stories - to having taken part in the murder and subsequent cover-up.
Kingman detectives brought both Blair and Srout to the wash where they said they buried the body, police reports stated. K-9 units also were used in the extensive search.
Still, no body has been found. The family of Marcus lacks that closure.
They are still hoping to find his body, Roy said. Now that Srout and Blair have been found guilty, Roy said she believes the pair can disclose its location.
When, not if, that happens, they will hold a burial ceremony, Roy said.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
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Sunday February 24, 2008
Arrest in Montana "no body" murder case
Montana CBS Radio
Also: Article from today's Washington Post on the Hans Resiser case and his "Geek defense."
Washington Post
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Clink here for link to the Table of "No Body" Murder Trials:Table of "No Body" Murder Trials
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Tuesday February 19, 2008
Guilty plea in Wisconsin "no body" murder case that resulted in hung jury last year.
Eugene Zapata plead guilty to reckless homicide after a hung jury last fall. He faces a maximum of five years in prison. Seems a little light to me since the jury hung 10 for conviction, 1 for acquittal and one undecided.
The Capital Times
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
▣ No Body Blog entries from January 20, 2008 to February 16, 2008
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Saturday February 16, 2008
Prosecution rests in Reiser case and guilty verdict for James Doherty in "no body" murder trial
San Francisco Chronicle
Pensacola News Journal
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
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Thursday February 14, 2008
Jury deliberates in Florida "no body" case
Pensacola News Journal
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase "No Body" Guy
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Friday February 8, 2008
Arrest in Georgia "no body" murder case
From the Walker County Messenger:
Walker County Messenger
And in Texas: A man plead guilty to murdering his 12 year-old stepdaughter and throwing her body into the Brazos River. He received a 57 year sentence. (Shout out to Steve Banic for spotting this.)
Fort Bend Now
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
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Wednesday January 30, 2008
Man convicted of "no body" murder admits to killing
The State
And from Steve Banic, a loyal "No Body" Blog reader in Australia:
Pasadena Star News
Jury selection begins in landfill murder case By Airan Scruby, Staff Writer Article Launched: 01/28/2008 10:01:57 PM PST
NORWALK - Jury selection began Monday in the case of a man accused of killing his boss and dumping his dismembered body in the Puente Hills Landfill 25 years ago.
John Alcantara, 52, of Downey was charged in November 2005 with the murder of Robert Bennett, 51, of Azusa, who disappeared Feb. 16, 1983. The men worked together for the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts. Alcantara was a gardener on a maintenance crew and Bennett was his supervisor.
Bennett's four children and widow watched Monday's proceedings. Daughter Barbara Blatt came from Houston to attend the trial, which is expected to take six weeks.
"I told my boss I'm taking all my vacation," Blatt said. "It was our father. We waited 25 years for this. It's very important."
Blatt said her mother and sister, who now live in Oregon, also returned to the area for the trial.
They said Bennett's extended family, friends and work colleagues also will attend the trial whenever they can.
Alcantara is accused of shooting Bennett over a dispute at work, then dismembering his body with an ax in Whittier Narrows and leaving the pieces in the landfill.
Although Bennett's body was never found, large amounts of blood were discovered in Whittier Narrows and in a dump truck used to bring trash to the landfill.
Alcantara was charged after witnesses reinterviewed in 2004 told detectives he had bragged about killing his boss.
Before the jury trial begins, however, Judge Thomas I. McKnew Jr. will hear testimony from a key defense witness to decide whether he is credible. The witness, Jim Modica, will be brought from Idaho for questioning.
Modica said shortly after Bennett's disappearance that his relative, Joe Modica, told him over dinner that he had killed Bennett, his boss at the time. More recently, however, Jim Modica has denied any recollection of a confession or of telling police about it.
If his testimony as recorded in the 1980s is allowed in court, it could allow the defense to place the blame on someone besides Alcantara, who also allegedly confessed to two acquaintances, in the years since the murder.
"It appears to me that this is an issue of credibility," said McKnew, adding that he would like to talk directly with the witness before making a decision.
Defense attorney Todd Melnik also asked to have some of Alcantara's alleged behavior while working for the sanitation district excluded from trial.
The judge refused to exclude that material because Deputy District Attorney John Lewin had previously argued to keep some behavior on the record, to show that witnesses may have been too intimidated to come forward in earlier years.
Disputed behavior included exposing himself at work and masturbating in front of co-workers, Melnik said, as well as pulling his pants down and belly-flopping onto a lunchroom table.
"There are a number of things that Mr. Alcantara has done that will make him look not very nice for the jury," Melnik said.
McKnew said he would rule during the trial whether he thought information was being presented appropriately.
Alcantara also has a criminal record, including convictions for grand theft, possession of cocaine for sale and vandalism.
Jury selection for Alcantara's trial will continue today.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
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Sunday January 20, 2008
More on Stepha Henry case
Stepha Henry was a graduate of the John Jay College in New York and was planning on attending law school. She disappeared in South Florida in May of 2007. Her family and others have raised the possibility that her case attracted little attention in the mainstream media because, unlike Natalie Holloway and others, Ms. Henry was black, not white. Having prosecuted many murder cases in DC I am certain that the media tends to cover the murders of white folk very differently those of black folk. (On the other hand, I don't think those in law enforcement, such as police and prosecutors, tend to treat the cases any differently. For them, it comes down to "which case can I solve?") In any event, Kendrick Lincoln Williams, 32 of Brooklyn, has been arrested and charged with Ms. Henry's murder.
Sun-Sentinel
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body
▣ No Body Blog entries from January 12, 2008 to January 18, 2008
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Friday January 18, 2008
Article on "no body" trials
Washington Post article on Stacy Peterson disappearance in which her husband, former police Sgt. Drew Peterson, is a suspect. Professor Denno wrote a law review article years ago on "no body" murders.
AP News
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
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Wednesday January 16, 2008
In other "no body" news...
NY arrested in case of missing woman:
AP News
Last day of testimony in preliminary hearing for Olsen and Jeppson:
Daily Herald
Testimony continues in Kiplyn Davis trial:
Deseret Morning News
and in the Hans Reiser trial, after 26-day break:
KTVU.com
Click here for link to Table of "No Body" trials:
Table of "No-Body" cases
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 10:04 PM - No Comments Add a Comment
More on Shaquita Bell, DC "no body" case
Okay, I admit it, I'm a little obsessed with this case: it's in my own backyard, I knew a little about the case from my time at the US Attorney's Office, I know the lead detective and the AUSA on the case, so indulge me in my obsession! What's interesting in this case, as demonstrated by the arrest warrant linked to below, is the case involves the classic "three-legged stool" of a "no body" case: 1. Forensic evidence (.45 caliber shell casings at defendant's house), 2. a cooperating witness (who helped bury the body(!), snitched defendant out and was murdered the day before he was to wear a body wire to record the defendant talking about it, if the government can prove that the defendant arranged for the cooperator's murder, they can use the cooperator's statements against the defendant without violating his confrontation rights, good stuff) and 3. the defendant's own words (to his cohort regarding keeping him posted on action near the scene of the burial and his comments about Ms. Bell). A fascinating case.
More links:
The arrest warrant:
City Paper
From the DC Examiner:
DC Examiner
Link and scroll down for Table of "No Body" Trials
Table of "No Body" Trials
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
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Tuesday January 15, 2008
DC Police arrest man in 11 year old "no body" murder of Shaquita Bell
This would be the third trial in DC in a "no body" murder case. I know because I tried the second one, US v. Harold Austin in January of 2006.
Clink here for report from Pat Collins from NBC4 (Who doesn't love that guy??)
NBC4
More here from Pat Collins:
NBC4
More Shaquita Bell stories:
WUSA9
Full news conference by Police Chief Cathy Lanier and Mayor Adrian Fenty
Fox5
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
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Saturday January 12, 2008
Man Convicted of Killing Wife Directs Police to Human Remains
This is from the Washington Post this past October. Just getting around to posting it:
Washington Post
Also: In Utah a preliminary hearing was held for Timothy Brent Olsen and Christopher Jeppson accused of murdering 15-year old Kiplyn Davis in May of 1995. Her body has never been found.
Daily Herald
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
▣ No Body Blog entries from December 27, 2007 to January 9, 2008
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Wednesday January 9, 2008
Wisconsin murder case evidentiary ruling
The Washington Post reported on a murder trial in Wisconsin (not a "no-body" case)yesterday where the prosecution was permitted to put into evidence a letter and statements from the victim that alleged the defendant, her husband, was trying to kill her. It's extraordinarily rare for this type of evidence to be admitted because 1. it's hearsay and 2. the defendant has no opportunity to cross-examine the victim, but the Wisconsin Supreme Court has apparently permitted this. This is potentially huge for "no body" case prosecutions because these cases typically involve victims and defendants who know one another, such as husband and wife and boyfriend/girlfriend, and there are often both letters, diaries and statements made to others regarding the defendant's intentions towards the victims. If expanded beyond Wisconsin it could open up a new evidentiary avenue not previously available.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" guy
Wis. Jury Hears Dead Wife's Letter
Woman Wrote That She Feared Her Husband Would Kill Her
Mark Jensen is accused of poisoning his wife, Julie Jensen, in 1998 with antifreeze. His defense claims she used a letter to frame him for her suicide.
Mark Jensen is accused of poisoning his wife, Julie Jensen, in 1998 with antifreeze. His defense claims she used a letter to frame him for her suicide. (Associated Press)
By Carrie Antlfinger
Associated Press
Tuesday, January 8, 2008; Page A04
ELKHORN, Wis., Jan. 7 -- A dead woman's letter pointing the finger at her husband helps prove he poisoned her, a prosecutor said Monday as the man's murder trial began. His defense called it a touch of over-the-top theatrics she used to frame him for her suicide as punishment for his cheating.
"I pray that I am wrong and nothing happens, but I am suspicious of Mark's suspicious behaviors and fear for my early demise," Julie Jensen wrote in the letter read in court by Special Prosecutor Robert Jambois.
She gave the letter to a neighbor and told him to give it to police if anything happened to her.
Mark Jensen, 48, was charged in 2002 with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, whose body was found in 1998 at her home in Pleasant Prairie, a Kenosha suburb on Lake Michigan just north of the Illinois line. Legal wrangling has delayed the trial until now.
The defendant's lawyers claim the 40-year-old woman was depressed and disturbed. Defense attorney Craig Albee noted in his opening statement that Julie Jensen warned others in the days before her death to look at her husband if she were to die but asked no one to stop him from killing her.
"What protection does a letter provide?" Albee questioned. " 'Open it after my death.' That's out of the movies."
Jambois said that if Julie Jensen wanted to commit suicide she would have swallowed a lot of poison, leaving large amounts of it in her blood. Instead, only trace amounts were found, proving that someone slowly poisoned her, he said.
The prosecution alleges Jensen poisoned his wife with at least two doses of ethylene glycol, commonly used as antifreeze, so he could be with a girlfriend he has since married.
Jambois said Mark Jensen planned the killing, searching the Internet for information on poisoning about two months before his wife's death. The defense has said she did the searches herself in preparation for her suicide.
The prosecutor said Mark Jensen told a co-worker that he looked into poisoning his wife. In jail, he told an inmate he killed his wife, Jambois said, noting that the inmate knew details only Mark Jensen would know.
Julie Jensen was sick for three days before she died. When she seemed to be improving at one point, Mark Jensen rolled her on her side and sat on her, pushing her face into a pillow and suffocating her, Jambois said, a detail he claimed came from the inmate.
Albee said that neither the co-worker nor the inmate was credible, and that one had tried to extort money from Jensen.
The first witness, medical examiner Michael Chambliss, said that in the initial autopsy he found evidence of asphyxia in addition to ingestion of ethylene glycol. She may have suffocated, but he could not determine her cause of death, he said.
Julie Jensen told police, a neighbor and the teacher of one of her two sons that she suspected her husband was trying to kill her, according to court documents.
Until recent years, using such evidence in court was virtually unheard of because of constitutional guarantees giving criminal defendants the right to confront their accusers.
However, the Wisconsin Supreme Court created new evidence rules, guided by a U.S. Supreme Court decision that laid the groundwork for the use of Julie Jensen's letter and statements to police.
Jensen could be sentenced to life in prison without parole if convicted.
Here's an article about the Wisconsin Supreme Court case:
Murder victim’s Letter Admissible
Confrontation Clause does not apply to letter alleging homicide
By David Ziemer
david.ziemer@wislawjournal.com
March 5, 2007
What the court held
Case: State of Wisconsin v. Mark D. Jensen, No. 2004AP2481-CR.
Issue: In a homicide trial, can statements of the victim before death accusing the defendant of trying to murder her be admitted into evidence?
Holding: Yes. If the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant murdered the victim, then he caused her unavailability, and forfeits his right to invoke the Confrontation Clause.
Attorneys: For Appellant: Moeller, Marguerite M., Madison; Graveley, Michael D., Kenosha; For Respondent: Glynn, Stephen M., Milwaukee; Albee, Craig, Milwaukee.
The facts seem ripped from a Hollywood movie: a murdered woman left an envelope to be opened in the event of her death, and inside, it says that her husband is trying to kill her.
The question is whether the letter is admissible at her husband’s trial for murder.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court says that it depends, but the practical answer is yes.
The court remanded the case for the circuit court to determine whether, by a preponderance of the evidence, the defendant murdered his wife. If so, then he caused her unavailability, and forfeited his right to confrontation.
A dissent by Justice Louis B. Butler disparaged the procedure as “plac[ing] the cart before the horse.”
Ultimately, however, the evidence seems certain to be admissible. If the trial judge can’t find by a preponderance of the evidence that the husband murdered his wife, then the case never should have been bound over for trial in the first place; it should have been dismissed at the preliminary hearing stage.
To get past that stage, the court had to find that a felony probably was committed, and the defendant probably committed it. How then could the court find that the preponderance of the evidence standard is not met on the same factual question?
As such, the procedure approved by the court seems to be a mere formality, and the letter will have to be admitted at trial.
The first issue in the case was whether the letter is testimonial, and thus subject to the Confrontation Clause under Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004).
The court concluded that it was, noting that Julie, the victim, addressed it to the police with the intent that it be used to further investigation in the event of her death. The court found it irrelevant that no crime had yet been committed.
The court contrasted the letter with informal statements Julie made to neighbors to the same effect, which the court concluded were nontestimonial, and thus not subject to Confrontation Clause analysis in the first place.
Because the letter was testimonial, its admission would violate the Confrontation Clause, unless an exception is present —such as the forfeiture by wrongdoing doctrine. Under the doctrine, a defendant forfeits his right to cross-examine a witness, if the defendant caused the witness to be unavailable for trial.
Even though the question on the forfeiture issue — whether the defendant murdered the victim — is the same as the ultimate question of guilt for the jury, the court held the doctrine applicable, because a defendant should not profit from his own misconduct.
Agreeing with the State, the court held that Julie’s letter should be admitted, if the circuit court finds, by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant, Mark Jensen, murdered his wife, rejecting Jensen’s argument that a higher standard should apply.
Butler concurred with much of the majority opinion, but concluded that the forfeiture by wrongdoing doctrine applies only if the defendant made the witness unavailable, “for the purpose of preventing the witness from testifying.”
Even if Jensen did murder his wife, Butler concluded, it could not have been for the purpose of preventing her from testifying at a trial concerning her own murder. Accordingly, Butler concluded that the exception does not apply, and admission of the letter, or any other “testimonial” statements would violate the Confrontation Clause.
The effect of the majority analysis is to create a “homicide exception” to the Confrontation Clause not present in the common law, Butler opined.
David Ziemer can be reached by email.
Posted by No Body Guy at 6:48 PM - No Comments Add a Comment
Thursday January 3, 2008
Hans Reiser "No Body" trial
I have not covered the Hans Reiser trial, the Linux programmer, on trial in California for the murder of his wife. These two links have excellent coverage of the trial which is on a break after five weeks. The trial is expected to resume on January 14, 2008.
Wired
Blog of Henry K. Lee about the trial in the SF Chronicle:
San Francisco Chronicle
Both fascinating reading but check out the Wired link for some unintentionally hilarious courtroom sketches.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
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Tuesday January 1, 2008
"No Body" Blog goes national!
The Chicago Tribune and the Lufkin (Texas) Daily News have picked up the "No Body" Blog:
Chicago Tribune
Lufkin Daily News
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
Posted by No Body Guy at 10:32 AM - No Comments Add a Comment
Thursday December 27, 2007
Texas man convicted in "no body" murder trial
Victim's mother wants convicted killer to tell where her son's body is
By JESSICA SAVAGE
Cox East Texas
Friday, December 14, 2007
The mother of a Nacogdoches man murdered in 1999 said she won't have closure until the Lufkin man convicted Thursday of killing him tells authorities where her son is buried.
"Who knows? Only him," said Darlene Mahavier, mother of Michael Wayne Grimes, 30. "... I'm putting it in God's hands."
Tears welling in her eyes, Mahavier appeared overcome with emotion after the jury's decision to find Rodney Wayne Cearley, 42, guilty of murdering Grimes on Jan. 18, 1999.
"I'm happy that he got what he deserved," she said.
The jury of 10 women and two men deliberated for six hours before finding Cearley guilty. Cearley's attorney, Ryan Deaton, claimed throughout the trial this week that Cearley had stabbed Grimes to death in self-defense before burying his body in the woods. Neither Grimes' body nor a murder weapon has been found. Texas Rangers arrested Cearley for murder in 2006, seven years after Grimes' disappearance.
Grimes was last seen alive in January 1999 at Ken's Wrecking Yard on U.S. Highway 59 north, a business then owned by Cearley's parents. Initially reported as a missing person, Grimes' disappearance later turned into a murder investigation. In 2004, the case was turned over to the Texas Rangers' Unsolved Crimes Investigation Team after Angelina County and local Texas Ranger investigators had exhausted their leads.
During the trial, two of the state's witnesses testified that Cearley had confessed to killing Grimes. After beginning deliberations late Thursday morning, the jury sent out a note requesting a copy of statements the two witnesses gave investigators. Since the statements were not entered into evidence, the court provided the jury with a transcript of the testimony, said state prosecuting attorney Katrina Carswell.
At 4 p.m., the jury sent out another note. Jurors said they wanted more information and had reached a standstill, Carswell said. Presiding state district Judge Paul E. White asked jurors to be more specific with their questions, Carswell said. The jury continued deliberating and at 5 p.m. sent out a final note, saying it had reached a verdict.
As White read the verdict out loud, Cearley's wife, seated with several family members, put her hand over her mouth to hush her sobs. After White dismissed the jury, Cearley's stepdaughter rushed from the courtroom in tears, sobbing uncontrollably in high-pitched squeals.
Investigator Sgt. A.J. Miller, of the Texas Rangers, said the jury's verdict is tough for both families.
"I think justice was served, but there are still two families with a lot of hurt," he said.
Carswell said she was "extremely pleased" with Miller's investigative work.
"It was a tough case, but the evidence was there," she said.
Deaton did not return a phone call seeking comment about the verdict.
Even though Cearley has been convicted, Carswell said, there is still no legal action the state can take against him to find out where he buried Grimes' body.
"We have no more information today than we had then (on Grimes' remains)," she said.
The statute of limitations on charges such as tampering with physical evidence has run out. There is no statute of limitations for murder.
Mahavier said she wants to find her son's remains so he can have a proper burial.
"... At least (Grimes' son) could go to his daddy's grave," she said.
The punishment phase of Cearley's trial begins Friday morning. Cearley is eligible for probation and also faces up to life in prison.
Jessica Savage's e-mail address is jsavage@coxnews.com.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy
▣ No Body Blog entries from December 25, 2007 to December 26, 2007
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▣ No Body Blog entries from October 14, 2007 to December 25, 2007
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▣ No Body Blog entries from September 29, 2007
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▣ No Body Blog entries from July 17, 2007 to August 30, 2007
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▣ No Body Blog entries from June 28, 2007 to August 26, 2007
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▣ No Body Blog entries from May 6, 2007 to June 27, 2007
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▣ No Body Blog entries from April 6, 2007 to April 30, 2007
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▣ No Body Blog entries from March 20, 2007 to April 30, 2007
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▣ No Body Blog entries from March 4, 2007 to March 9, 2007
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▣ No Body Blog entries from November 18, 2006 to March 4, 2007
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▣ No Body Blog entries from September 30, 2006 to October 29, 2006
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▣ No Body Blog entries from July 31, 2006 to September 6, 2006
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▣ First No Body Blog Entries
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Wednesday July 19, 2006
I'm back!
I have completed the first draft of the list of cases where the victim's body has never been found. I'll post it tomorrow. So far I've found over 100 trials in the United States where the victim's body was never found.
Posted by No Body Guy at 9:46 PM -
Friday May 26, 2006
My First Blog Post
I'm a total newbie to the blogosphere but I thought I'd give it a shot. My chosen hobby is quite odd. I collect information about trials, cases and investigations into murders where the victim's body has never been recovered. Quaint, eh? Not exactly quilting but hey, everyone's gotta' have a hobby right? My interest in the topic began about 18 months ago when I began investigating a "no body" case myself. I am a prosecutor in DC and was always fascinated by these cases. (Famous "no body" murderers include Thomas Capano and Charles Manson.) As I did the research for my own case (which went to trial this past January) I was astonished to find how many "no body" cases exist. I'm currently compiling a table of cases from throughout the U.S. (I'll post that soon.) I hope to track current cases, comment on pending cases and investigations and look at the history and the legal implications of "no body" cases. If you know of cases, let me know by leaving a comment. Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase, "No Body" Guy.