Stories posted are written by National news Journalists, not by this blog
Our Blog Tips

Girl, 16, faces 25 years for strangling molester

8-22-2014 Arizona:

Mentally ill teen 'said they got in a fight and he was hitting her'

A 16-year-old mentally ill girl – who is accused of killing her 43-year-old statutory rapist – now faces up to 25 years in prison for second-degree murder.

Jessica Burlew of Glendale, Az., reportedly suffers from schizophrenia and autism. She has been charged as an adult for the murder of Jason Ash, 43, a man described by almost every media outlet that has reported on the case as her “boyfriend,” even though the age of sexual consent in Arizona is 18.

Burlew, who is accused of strangling Ash with an electrical cord on Jan. 28, said the two had been engaged in a sexual game of autoerotic asphyxiation, a method of increasing sexual excitement by cutting off oxygen to the brain.

According to court documents, Burlew claimed Ash didn’t say the “safety word,” and she told police she began cutting him with razor blades in an attempt to wake him up since she believed he had passed out.

Once Burlew realized Ash wasn’t waking up, she said, she continued “cutting” him to “alleviate her stress from the situation.”

Peoria man found dead in canal released from jail days earlier

8-22-2014 Arizona:

The 35-year-old man found dead in a Peoria canalon Wednesday morning had been released from Maricopa County jail on Sunday after serving nearly six months following his conviction in a domestic-violence incident, according to court records.

Rolland Lee Tockey, who was a registered sex offender, was involved in an incident in February in which a woman told police that he assaulted her and her teenage son, according to court documents.

The incident began when Tockey and the woman got into a verbal argument, according to court records. The confrontation escalated when Tockey reportedly threw her on a bed, grabbed her hair and twisted her neck, according to court documents.

The woman also said Tockey waved a knife in a threatening manner to her and her son.

Tockey denied waving the knife at the victim and her son, but pleaded guilty to one count of disorderly conduct as part of a plea agreement. He was in custody from late February until his release Sunday, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

Federal inmate dies after attack at prison

8-15-2014 Kentucky:

PINE KNOT, Ky. (AP) — A federal inmate serving a 40-year sentence for child-related sex offenses has died after being attacked at a southern Kentucky prison.

Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn says 69-year-old Donald John Post Sr. of League City, Texas, died Wednesday as a result of injuries sustained during an attack inside his cell a day earlier at United States Penitentiary McCreary in Pine Knot.

Post pleaded guilty and was sentenced earlier this year in federal court in Texas to charges of sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography.

Ginn says after the attack, Post was taken to a Tennessee hospital before being transferred to the University of Kentucky Medical Center for specialized care.

An autopsy has been completed.

Ginn did not give the specifics of Post's injuries on Friday. ..Source.. by ABC36.com

Double murder suspect/child rapist claims his roommates were thinking of grooming boys

Posted in Related Deaths
8-18-2014 Washington:

TACOMA — A child rapist from California allegedly admitted killing his two roommates in their Spanaway-area home Sunday, telling police he suspected they were interested in grooming young boys for sex, according to court documents released Monday.

Richard Atkisson, 40, appeared in Pierce County Superior Court Monday. He was ordered held in the county jail without bail while deputies continue investigating the murders. He is wanted in California on $50,000 arrest warrant for a sex charge, the documents state.

Court documents say Atkisson used a pipe Sunday to beat both Joseph Moisa, 60, a registered sex offender, and Michael Henderson, 20, inside the Spanaway-area home he had shared with them for the past year.

Henderson died after Atkisson allegedly forced him to his knees and continued beating him. Moisa didn’t die from the beating, according to the documents, so Atkisson used a plastic bag over his head to suffocate him.

Inmate to stand trial for murder

7-22-2014 Pennsylvania:

Lawrence Peterson, 44, who is accused of beating his cellmate to death at SCI Houtzdale, had all charges bound over for court following a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge James Hawkins yesterday at the Clearfield County Courthouse.

Peterson is accused of killing William Keitel, 59, in the cell they shared in the F-Block of SCI Houtzdale on Aug. 2, 2013.

Peterson is charged with criminal homicide, murder in the first degree, murder in the third degree, aggravated assault, involuntary manslaughter, and recklessly endangering another person.

Under direct questioning by Clearfield County District Attorney William Shaw Jr., Corrections Officer Duane Hughes testified that on Aug. 2 at approximately 1 p.m. he let Keitel back into his cell after Keitel had finished his shift working in the prison laundry room.

Shortly afterward he heard some inmates yell, "Cell 42, he's killing him." Hughes said he and Sgt. Adam Miles responded to cell 42.

He said it took them about a minute to arrive and through the windows on the cell door, Hughes said he could see Peterson sitting on the lower bunk with Keitel lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

Fugitive pedophile who died in West Village gun battle was turned in by his boss who recognised him from crime show

8-4-2014 New York:

A fugitive pedophile who was gunned down in New York City in daylight was turned in by his boss who recognised him from a television crime show.

Charles Mozdir, 32, had been on the run since 2012, but thanks to the tip, authorities tracked him to a Greenwich Village smoke shop, sources told the New York Daily News.

Steve Zhik, who owns Smoking Culture on W. Fourth St., alerted cops that Mozdir was working as a salesman at his store after seeing an episode on CNN’s new series The Hunt about the wanted man last week, sources said.

But when NYPD Det. Mario Muniz and two U.S. Marshals arrived on Monday afternoon, Mozdir opened fired, wounding the three lawmen.

The sex offender who had been on the run for two years after skipping bail for molesting two boys under the age of seven in California was shot and killed in the dramatic shoot-out with federal marshals and police.

Zhik, 33, could not be reached for comment.

A woman Mozdir was seeing also saw the show and was so disgusted she decided to give him up.

Dade Correctional back in spotlight after inmate strangling

8-4-2014 Florida:

Prison protocol dictates that inmates be isolated when they express fear for their lives, at least until their complaints can be evaluated

MIAMI — An inmate at Dade Correctional Institution who pleaded to be transferred because he feared he would be killed by his cellmate was found strangled in his cell Monday, allegedly by that same cellmate.

It was the latest in a series of problems at the prison compound south of Homestead, which saw its warden fired last month amid reports of persistent management problems. Those problems ranged from filthy conditions in the food preparation area to unexplained deaths that are now under investigation to allegations that mentally ill inmates were deprived of food, taunted and sexually abused by staff and forced to fight each other for the entertainment of guards....

Prison protocol dictates that inmates be isolated when they express fear for their lives, at least until their complaints can be evaluated. According to multiple sources, that was not done in the case of Lavar Valentin, 35, a slightly built convict who remained in a cell with his alleged tormentor, Eduardo Carmenates-Zayas, now suspected of strangling him.

Teen Arrested In Uncle’s Death In East Boston Fire

8-2-2011 Massachusetts:

EAST BOSTON (CBS) – Boston police have made an arrest in a fire and murder in East Boston.

Jaime Flores, a Salvadoran national, was living in a basement apartment of a home on Saratoga Street. He died in a fire there Monday morning. His hands had been tied.

Police arrested his nephew, 17-year-old Marco Tulio Flores of East Boston, Tuesday morning and charged him with homicide.

Commissioner Ed Davis told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 that Flores turned himself in to police and confessed.

“We’re still in the process of putting the evidence together. This is very early in the investigation. In a case like this when there’s a homicide within a family, there’s usually a lot going on,” Davis said.

First degree murder charged in Essex County

8-3-2011 Virginia:


An alleged domestic dispute has led to the shooting death of a convicted sexual predator and the imprisonment of the suspected gunman.

According to Essex County Sheriff Stanley S. Clarke, On July 25 at approximately 9:40 p.m. his department responded to a call advising of a shooting at 3749 Richmond Highway in the Paul's Crossroads area of the county.

After arriving at the scene, Essex authorities discovered Richard Earl Breedon, 46, dead of a gunshot wound. At that time, the suspect, identified as Justin Hodges, 29, the next door neighbor, had already fled the scene.

According to numerous reports by neighbors and sources close to the investigation, Hodges's ex-wife, whose identity was not disclosed, had recently left her husband and moved into Breedon's home. The Hodges' children reportedly shared time at both domiciles, which were only separated by a single wall.

Hodges allegedly became irate after discovering Breedon, a registered sexual offender who was convicted of forcible sodomy and rape in Jan., 2001, had become verbally abusive.

Report: Officers were arresting suspect in sexual assault when one fired shot that killed suspect

6-21-2014 South Carolina:

Police had gone to a Little River home on Thursday to arrest a man wanted on a sexual assault charge when an Horry County police officer fatally shot the suspect, according to reports released Friday.

But as William Lee Workman Jr.’s family made his funeral plans Friday, they still had plenty of questions about what led to the 32-year-old’s death.

A police report filed earlier this month accused Workman of sexual assault with a 19-year-old woman.

Authorities have released few other details about the shooting, which happened about 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Workman’s home, 4365 Bayberry Drive in the Little River area. They have not identified or released information about the officer, who was involved in the shooting.

Horry County police Lt. Robert Kegler said the officer involved is on paid administrative leave, which is protocol in such incidents. He referred other inquires to the State Law Enforcement Division, which investigates all incidents when a police officer fires a weapon during their duties.

“I don’t know if he had a gun on him or not,” said William Workman Sr., Workman Jr.’s father, who arrived Friday morning from the family’s home near Augusta Ga. “We can’t get anything from SLED. All I want is to know what happened. If she’s in the wrong they’ve got to deal with her.”

SLED spokesman Thom Berry said information of their investigation likely would not be released until agents complete their investigation.

Two accused of burning a Troy tow truck to collect insurance money

7-2-2014 New Hampshire:

Folks may remember the case of David Wheelock, a RSO, who was murdered in his home.

Well today the following is reported about a person (Root) who also lived in the home with David Wheelock at the time of his murder (The home was a multi-family unit) :
Laurence S. Root, 27, of Keene is charged with burglary in Keene on April 15. Root is accused of breaking into the home at 170 Pearl St. where he once lived. Police say Root was arrested after trying to sell a stolen television on a social media website.

Root is a former roommate and friend of David E. Wheelock, 48, of Keene, who was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds he suffered inside the Pearl Street home in December. The homicide remains under investigation by the N.H. Attorney General's Office and the Keene Police Department. ..Source.. by Alyssa Dandrea

...


Family of man shot, killed by El Paso police in 2012 files lawsuit

Why? Senseless murder!

7-11-2014 Texas:

Lawsuit names Officer Albert Gomez, City of El Paso and 20 city employees as defendants

EL PASO, Texas - The family of Bernie Morales filed a lawsuit against El Paso Police Officer Albert Gomez for the shooting death of Bernie Morales (56) in 2012.

The lawsuit also names the City of El Paso and 20 of its employees as defendants for conspiring to cover up Morales' death. Morales' family said the shooting death was not justified because he was never armed.

Bernie Morales was shot and killed by Officer Gomez the morning of June 15, 2012 in the city's lower valley.

The lawsuit said Morales was picking up pecans along a canal that runs parallel to Alameda in the Lower Valley. Morales allegedly asked permission from property owner Larry Davis to take the pecans from the area, Davis consented.

Davis did call police because a few earlier officer were in the area asking about a man wanted by authorities.

In 2011, Morales was a wanted man by the El Paso Sheriff's Office for leaving a halfway home.

Morales was featured in EPSO's Manhunt Monday that made air on ABC-7 in late 2011. Investigators said Morales served 10 years for aggravated assault as was released to a halfway home in Horizon City. He reportedly left the facility and never registered as a sex offender.

It is still unclear if it was Morales police were looking for when they went to the area of the shooting days prior.

Vassalboro man sentenced for November murder

7-14-2014 Maine:

Courtney Shea pleaded guilty and apologized in court Monday for killing Thomas Namer of Waterville.

AUGUSTA — Murderer Courtney Shea and victim Thomas Namer had known each other for 20 years, “a relationship which was complicated and troubling,” according to Shea’s defense attorney.

Shea, 31, of Vassalboro, pleaded guilty Monday in Kennebec County Superior Court to murdering Namer, 69, and was sentenced to 32 years in prison.

The length of the sentence was recommended jointly by the state and defense attorney Brad Grant. It was imposed by Justice Michaela Murphy, who said that part of the reason she agreed with the recommendation is that the victim’s family approved of it.

Namer’s body was found Nov. 22 near Shea’s Riverside Drive home in Vassalboro. Namer was stabbed three times through the neck and upper torso, said the prosecutor, Deputy Attorney General William Stokes.

Stokes showed Murphy photos of a large blood pool outside an abandoned yellow and white trailer on property next to Shea’s mother’s. He said investigators responding to Shea’s Nov. 22 report of a dead man, found Namer’s body behind the trailer, his foot sticking out from under a large pile of logs, as well as indications his body was dragged to the back of the trailer.