Former Scout Leader had child porn on computer when stabbed to death by former scout, court filing says

10-23-2014 New Jersey:

A former Boy Scout troop master, allegedly killed by a former scout who claims the man molested him decades earlier, had child pornography on his computer at the time of his death, according to court testimony.

Dennis Pegg, a 68-year-old Stillwater man who was stabbed to death on June 12, 2012, had numerous photos of child pornography on his computer, prosecutors said in court this morning, according to John Vazquez.

Vazquez is an attorney for Robert Reynolds, one of the two suspects charged with first-degree murder in connection with the killing.

Vazquez said that that Gregory Mueller, first assistant Sussex County Prosecutor, listed the photographs of child pornography as part of the evidence in the case.

Mueller did not comment.

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.

Recently identified (via Home Address Checks) Fresno sex offender murdered

4-3-2014 California:

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Days after a Fresno man was identified as a sex offender, he turned up dead. Now, two people will stand trial for his murder.

Lawrence Ballesteros was stabbed to death in Sept. 2012, just days after a sex offender sweep. An autopsy showed Ballesteros was stabbed 58 times before his body was dumped near Chandler Airport.

Investigators believe the attack stems from the kind of anger you'd expect from a parent who just found out a pedophile had become a family friend.

When U.S. Marshals and local police went door-to-door tracking sex offenders, Lawrence Ballesteros was right where they expected him. The sting apparently blew his cover, though, and made him a target.

"There was a big uproar in this neighborhood," said defense attorney Gerald Schwab. "There were a lot of angry people confronting him about this report of him being a sex offender."

Less than a week later, a group of early morning walkers found him dead on a frontage road a mile from the detached garage where he was living.

Police arrested David Barrera and Patricia Perez for murder. Perez lived in the front house with her partner and their children. Investigators say she and Ballesteros were drinking buddies, and Barrera often joined them. They believe the shock of the revelation drove Barrera and Perez to kill their friend.

"That's exactly what they're saying is this is a case of vigilante justice -- my client killing somebody because he was a sex offender - however, there's no evidence to prove that," said Schwab, who represents Barrera. "There's no murder weapon. There are no eyewitnesses."

There is a Barrera fingerprint in Ballesteros' apartment, though. There's also video of his truck in the area where Ballesteros' body was dumped. Investigators found the victim's blood in that truck. But with no confession, prosecutors may have to dig deeper.

ABC30 legal analyst Tony Capozzi says a history of abuse could connect the suspects to this murder because of the brutality of the attack.

Plea deal nearly reached with man charged with murdering man, burying remains

11-9-2013 California:

Prosecutors are close to reaching a plea deal with a defendant accused of killing his friend and burying the body in order to collect the man's Indian tribal reservation checks.

Prosecutor Ken Green said in court Wednesday that he and defendant Frank Jude Valles have come to terms on how many years Valles will serve, but are still working out the exact charges he'll plead to. Green said he believes they'll have an agreement by the next court hearing on Nov. 15.

Valles was open to the deal, Green said afterward, because he wanted a determinate sentence, not the potential 25 years to life he faced if convicted of murder. The prosecutor said he could not reveal the number of years agreed to until the plea deal is complete.

Valles, 46, was arrested in August 2012 after investigators dug up human remains in two Bakersfield locations. The remains were determined to be those of Alphonso John Hyde, who had lived with Valles and his wife, Consuelo.

Family members of Hyde said they hadn't heard from him in four years. They filed a missing persons report in early August 2012.

Middletown man admits shooting neighbor

8-7-2013 Indiana:

GOSHEN — A Middletown man pleaded guilty Tuesday in Orange County Court to first-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of his neighbor, a registered sex offender.

Richard Brown, 69, took the plea in Orange County Court, admitting that he shot and killed 54-year-old Arthur Twyman on Wickham Avenue the night of Feb. 6, 2012. Richard Brown was arrested three weeks later and charged with murder.

In exchange for the manslaughter plea negotiated by Brown's lawyer, Joseph Brown (no relation), and Senior Assistant District Attorney Maryellen Albanese, Brown will get 15 years in prison and four years of post-release supervision by parole.

Richard Brown's wife watched from the courtroom gallery, accompanied by a relative. They have attended each court date.

Twyman's history as a convicted rapist and a registered sex offender didn't factor into his death. There had been tensions between the neighbors before the shooting, officials said at the time.

As he took his guilty plea, Richard Brown initially said he was trying to stop Twyman's dog from killing him. Then, after Judge Nicholas De Rosa moved to cancel the plea and set a trial date, Richard Brown acknowledged that he intended to seriously harm Twyman.

The defendant fired eight rounds from his .22-caliber Marlin rifle, hitting Twyman four times, Albanese told De Rosa.

"And when you did this, your intent was to cause serious physical injury?" De Rosa inquired.

"Yes," Richard Brown answered.

"And your conduct caused his death?"

"Yes."

Mrs. Brown declined to comment on the case.

Richard Brown remains in Orange County Jail, held in lieu of $250,000 bail or $500,000 bond. He'll be sentenced on Oct. 2. ..Source.. by Heather Yakin

Two dead after convicted sex offender goes on rampage in Mingo County

10-11-2012 West Virginia:

Police in Mingo County shot and killed a man Wednesday night after he threatened them with a claw hammer, which he had previously used to attack his roommate before running over him with a stolen pickup.

The roommate also was dead at the scene.

State Trooper D.M. Williamson said roommates Phillip Gilman, 43, and Alfred Curry, 73, got into a fight around 9 p.m. at their Elk Creek house, near Delbarton.

Williamson said he had no idea why Curry and Gilman were fighting. Neighbors told police Gilman, a registered sex offender convicted of rape in 2005, "had been acting crazy all day." They said he walked up and down the road all day, swinging a hammer and looking at the sky.

Gilman attacked Curry with that hammer Wednesday night. The older man got out of their home but collapsed outside. A passing motorist found him lying in the middle of the road.

Williamson said the woman saw Curry lying in the road, found out who he was and called his half-brother, Mingo County Commissioner Dave Baisden.

Baisden arrived a short time later in his county-owned Ford F250 pickup. When he jumped out of the truck to tend to his brother, Gilman got in the driver's seat and took off, running over Curry as he speeded down the road.

Intruder killed in Henderson home invasion

12-16-2012 North Carolina:

Henderson, N.C. — Police are investigating a fatal shooting Sunday at a Henderson home that appeared to result from a home invasion.

Deyon Durham, 24, of 279 Faulkner St., was found shot to death at 1221 Montgomery St. shortly after 7 a.m., police said.

The initial investigation suggests that Durham was breaking and entering at the home when the homeowner, whose name was not released, shot him.

No charges have been filed. Investigators planned to consult with the district attorney's office.

Durham had convictions, starting in 2005, for indecent liberties with a minor, sexual battery, breaking and entering vehicles, larceny and failure to register as a sex offender, according to state Division of Adult Correction records. ..Source.. by Bridget Whelan, Anne Johnson