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Post by Charlene on Aug 22, 2010 9:05:27 GMT -6
Diana, thanks so much for sharing this.
Charlene
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Post by Charlene on Aug 19, 2010 7:37:20 GMT -6
[quote author=admin board=cases thread=31206 pos t=565403 time=1282182501]And in response, I would say that I would be willing to guess that I have spoken to more murder victim survivors who have had their perpetrators executed than most and I have never had one person tell me that it didn't help them in some way. No one. Agree, but i guess that it helps because all the troubles all the appeals and everything comes to the end. The nightmare is over, and that's it. But my question is if it's the DP itself that creates that. Isn't better LWOP for Murder Victims Survivors and have some peace without going through everything that comes after a DP sentence?[/quote] There are appeals with LWOP cases as well, but they never end. LWOP killers can and do get their sentences reversed or commuted. With execution, there is truly the relief that can only come from finality.
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Post by Charlene on Aug 18, 2010 19:48:21 GMT -6
And in response, I would say that I would be willing to guess that I have spoken to more murder victim survivors who have had their perpetrators executed than most and I have never had one person tell me that it didn't help them in some way. No one.
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Post by Charlene on Aug 18, 2010 15:25:14 GMT -6
What do you mean this is not as clear as she thinks? This newbye means he hopes an execution will happen to Charlene. That's exactly what he means. Plain and simple. No, I don't think he meant that at all. I don't think English is his first language so things get lost in translation a little. I took it as a generous comment even if we don't agree on the issue.
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Post by Charlene on Aug 17, 2010 21:30:54 GMT -6
Hey Char, was any of our posse there? Not that I know of, no one introduced themselves.
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Post by Charlene on Aug 17, 2010 19:47:39 GMT -6
I wanted to take a minute to remember the other victim of Peter Cantu, Sean O'Brien and Joe Medellin. Her name was Patricia Lourdes Lopez and she was murdered by them six months before Jennifer and Elizabeth were killed. This murder was not solved until it was discovered during Sean O'Brien's trial that his fingerprints matched prints found on a beer can discovered under her eviscerated body in Canino Park in Houston. She had run out of gas and was at a convenience store, waiting for a friend to come and help her when she was approached by these three to buy beer for them as they were underage. She did so and they volunteered to buy her some gas and take her back to her vehicle. Instead, they kidnapped her and took her to Canino Park where they forced her to perform oral sex, and then stabbed and sliced her to death.
Fittingly, the three of the six who raped and killed Jenny and Elizabeth that were executed were the same three who killed Patricia.
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Post by Charlene on Aug 17, 2010 19:34:53 GMT -6
Finally over. I just got home. He had no final words, no expressions of remorse like his two co-horts, but that is not very surprising.
What I saw on the faces of the Ertmans and the Penas was pure relief. You can call it closure if you want or you can reject the notion of closure but the end result is that they feel much better tonight than they did this afternoon. I have seen this many times and no one could ever convince me that there is no benefit to victims from an execution.
Good riddance.
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Post by Charlene on Aug 16, 2010 20:14:04 GMT -6
Those people should hook up with the westborough freaks. Just a bad decision on where to hold a protest. They knew they would not get the slightest bit of attention anywhere else. It was calculated, believe me.
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Post by Charlene on Aug 14, 2010 12:53:24 GMT -6
Hey Char, are you attending? Yes, I will be there in support of the victims' families. Anyone local who wants to attend can come to the prison by following the map below.
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Post by Charlene on Aug 14, 2010 10:07:35 GMT -6
This is the last execution that will happen in the case that got me involved in the issue of capital punishment. Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena were murdered when they were 14 and 16 years old, respectively. Peter Cantu has been on death row for more years than they were alive. Sean O'Brien and Joe Medellin have already been executed for this crime. Efrain Perez and Raul Villareal were sentenced to death but had their sentences commuted to life because they were not quite 18 when they committed this brutal murder. The juvenile, Vinnie Medellin was sentenced to 40 years for aggravated sexual assault. Because they are all parole-eligible, I disagree with the reporter's comment that this execution will close the book. There is a lifetime of parole protests ahead of Jenny and Elizabeth's family and friends, and the next generation will probably have to pick up that battle. www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/texas/upcoming-execution-in-ertman-pena-case
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Post by Charlene on Jun 15, 2010 18:30:30 GMT -6
Closer look: Powell's last day Guards stood watch at the corners of the Huntsville Correctional Facility on Tuesday, where David Lee Powell spent his final hours. Only a year before he took the life of his victim, Austin Police Officer Ralph Ablanedo, lethal injection was adopted as Texas’ method of execution. It was not until 1982 when it was first used. Since that time, 459 death row inmates have been executed by lethal injection. Most of them were men, and most of them were white. About 40 people are witnessing Powell’s execution. They include state officials, reporters, friends of Powell’s--but no relatives--as well as the family members of his victim. There are also chaplains and workers from victim’s services. For his final meal, Powell requested eggs, chicken drumsticks, pork chops, and a vanilla shake. Earlier in the day, more than a hundred people left from Austin on a bus and motorcycles to be in Huntsville for the execution. They included officers who served on the police force in the 1970s. “It was a smaller department then,” said Officer Rodney Bryant who retired in 1996. “We were all close friends and we had social gatherings together and we knew everybody’s families and kids--it was just closer.” Sergeant Mike Hugman was still new in 1978, and remembers thinking about his own family at the time. “What if it had been me, what would my family be going through?” Sgt. Hugman asked. Dying in the line of duty takes on a different meaning for an officer than dying anywhere else. “We have been waiting a long time for this day to get here,” Bryant said. www.kvue.com/news/Powell-to-become-Texas-13th-lethal-injection-this-year-96419524.html
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Post by Charlene on Jun 15, 2010 17:48:42 GMT -6
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Post by Charlene on Jun 15, 2010 8:48:26 GMT -6
I can't find a news story saying this guy was whacked. Anybody else? It's usually up in a few hours, and so far on Google news, zip. It's tonight, usually 6:30 pm.
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Post by Charlene on Jun 15, 2010 7:56:39 GMT -6
That letter is pretty heartbreaking. I have to say, it doesn't seem to me like it serves any purpose at all to execute him after all these years. It seems like he had a panic attack while strung out and went into autopilot mode and committed a travesty, but this doesn't compare to a crime like rape and murder and I don't think it's a "worst of the worst" because their obviously was no premeditation. I agree, this case due to all appears he should not have ben giveen the DP in the first place. Not sure how courts ruled back 32 yrs ago but, hope this would not be the sentencing if happened todays time. No premeditated, horrible to murder an innocent yet not a heinous crime either. "Not the time spent incarcerated", but due to the above he should not be executed in my opinion. Real LWOP in this case of murder should have been the sentencing. What is your definition of heinous? Using a machine gun that you know will destroy a life, even one protected with a bullet-proof vest, having plenty of time to get the aim just right while an innocent man walks naively towards his death, leaving two young boys without a father and a wife without her life partner, just so you can continue being a criminal - this all sounds pretty heinous to me. Murder does not need to be premeditated in order to result in a death sentence. Especially murder of a police officer. In most states with capital punishment, the murder of a police officer is a capital qualifier of its own, simply because they are the first line of defense for the rest of us against these horrible people who would kill without thought. Had Ralph Ablanedo not been a police officer doing his job to protect and serve, he would not have been in the sights of Powell's gun that night. This most definitely is deserving of the death penalty, in every sense.
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Post by Charlene on Jun 9, 2010 20:33:33 GMT -6
www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5igXfqGonSLFvkDzm_G47hMEs-qdQD9G82NC80Georgia man convicted of killing 2 people executed JACKSON, Ga. — Authorities say a Georgia man convicted of the 1986 shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend and her 11-year-old niece has been executed. Melbert Ray Ford, 49, died by lethal injection at the state prison in Jackson, the Georgia Department of Corrections said Wednesday. Department spokeswoman Kristen Stancil says the time of death was 7:27 p.m. The U.S. Supreme Court had early Wednesday denied a last motion by Ford's lawyer to delay the execution. The Georgia Supreme Court had previously voted unanimously to deny a similar appeal. Prosecutors say Ford was seeking revenge when he killed Martha Chapman Matich and her niece Lisa Chapman. They say Ford began harassing her with phone calls after the couple broke up and also told friends he wanted to kill her.
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Post by Charlene on Jun 9, 2010 8:32:34 GMT -6
Found my own answer:
While at court on murder charges, Gardner tried to escape, killing Michael Burdell
Ronnie Lee Gardner tried to escape on April 2, 1985, from the now-demolished courthouse at 250 E. 400 South, Salt Lake City. He had been brought there for a hearing on charges in the 1984 robbery and slaying of Melvyn John Otterstrom, who he shot once in the face at Cheers Tavern in Salt Lake City.
After a woman slipped Gardner a gun, a prison guard who was escorting the inmate shot him in the shoulder. Gardner fatally shot attorney Michael Burdell and wounded bailiff Nick Kirk before being captured on the courthouse lawn. He was convicted of aggravated capital murder for killing Burdell and sentenced to death.
Gardner also was charged with capital murder for killing Otterstrom, a husband and father who was a controller for the Utah Paper Box Co. by day and a part-time bartender in the evening. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder as part of a plea bargain and received a sentence of five years to life in prison.
Darcy Perry McCoy -- who testified under a grant of immunity in the Otterstrom case that she helped Gardner plan a robbery and waited for him in a car outside Cheers the night of the killing -- originally was accused of handing off the gun at the courthouse. But her sister, Carma Jolley Hainsworth, who was married to Gardner's cousin, ultimately was charged with the crime.
Hainsworth has stood by her story that McCoy gave the gun to Gardner but eventually pleaded guilty to aiding in an escape and was sentenced to one to 15 years in prison. She did admit collecting clothes that were found in a women's restroom at the courthouse inside a tote bag, along with duct tape and a knife -- items that Gardner said were part of his plan to bind the guards and escape.
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Post by Charlene on Jun 9, 2010 8:20:20 GMT -6
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Post by Charlene on May 13, 2010 8:13:33 GMT -6
On May 14, 1983, Gregory Wahoff offered a ride to Michael Beuke who was walking along the side of the road. Once inside Wahoff’s car, Beuke produced a .38 caliber revolver and demanded that Wahoff drive to a rural area in Hamilton County, Ohio. When they reached a sufficiently secluded area, Beuke led Wahoff into the woods; Wahoff eventually charged towards Beuke, attempting to wrestle the gun away from him. After this effort was unsuccessful, Wahoff began to run away, but Beuke shot him in the back, lodging a bullet in his spine and paralyzing him. Beuke then placed the gun against Wahoff’s face and fired a second shot, which passed through Wahoff’s cheek and lodged in the ground. Wahoff was fully conscious at this point, but he pretended to be dead and apparently succeeded in fooling Beuke, who returned to the car and drove off. Later that day, the police found Wahoff and took him to the hospital for emergency treatment; Wahoff survived Beuke’s brutal attack but he was permanently paralyzed, confined to a wheelchair and eventually died. A few weeks after the attempted murder of Gregory Wahoff, on June 1, 1983, the police discovered Robert Craig’s body in a ditch on the side of a rural road in Clermont County, Ohio. Craig worked as a deliveryman supplying fresh fish to local restaurants, and during these travels, he would often offer rides to hitchhikers in the area. Beuke allegedly told Michael J. Cahill, a man with whom Beuke worked, that he killed Craig after Craig picked him up along the side of the highway. An autopsy on Craig’s body revealed that he was shot twice in the head and once in the chest, and the police found his abandoned car in the parking lot of a local shopping mall. Two days later, on June 3, 1983, Bruce Graham saw Beuke walking down the highway with a red gas can in hand. In an effort to help the apparently stranded traveler, Graham offered Beuke a ride to the nearest gas station. As he had done with Wahoff, Beuke brandished a short-barreled revolver and instructed Graham to drive to a rural area. When they arrived at the secluded destination, Beuke immediately fired at Graham. The bullet grazed Graham’s forehead, inflicting a minor but bloody wound. After an unsuccessful effort to wrestle the gun from Beuke, Graham sought refuge in a nearby farmhouse. As Graham fled, Beuke fired several shots, one of which struck Graham in the shoulder. After Beuke realized that Graham had escaped to safety, he got into the car and left the scene of the shooting. Sometime thereafter, Beuke’s co-worker, Cahill, told the police what he knew of Beuke’s involvement in the “mad hitchhiker” shootings. The police obtained a warrant and searched the car that Beuke had been driving, which he had borrowed from Cahill. The police discovered a cup that had been removed from Wahoff’s car, a red gas can, and a blood-stained football jersey. The officers arrested Beuke who, at the time of his arrest, was in possession of a .38 caliber revolver — the same type of weapon he used to shoot Wahoff in the back. In July 1983, an Ohio grand jury returned a ten-count indictment against Beuke, charging him with one count of aggravated murder, two counts of attempted aggravated murder, three counts of aggravated robbery, three counts of kidnapping, and one count of carrying a concealed weapon. The aggravated murder charge included two specifications, either of which, if proven beyond a reasonable doubt, would make Beuke eligible for the death penalty under Ohio law: (1) committing aggravated murder as part of a course of conduct involving the purposeful attempt to kill two or more persons, and (2) committing aggravated murder in the course of an aggravated robbery. Beuke’s jury trial began on September 19, 1983. The prosecution introduced extensive evidence implicating Beuke in the “mad hitchhiker” shootings, including Wahoff’s and Graham’s testimony of their nearly fatal encounters with Beuke, evidence linking the bullets extracted from Wahoff and Craig to Beuke’s gun, Beuke’s fingerprints on Wahoff’s and Craig’s automobiles, and Cahill’s testimony about Beuke’s confession. On October 5, 1983, the jury returned a guilty verdict on all ten counts and the two specifications, making Beuke eligible for capital punishment. Defense counsel moved for a continuance of the penalty hearing, but the trial court granted only a short, one-day continuance and set the hearing for October 7, 1983. At the penalty hearing, Beuke introduced a presentence report and mitigation testimony from his parents. Unpersuaded by the defense’s evidence, the jury found beyond a reasonable doubt that the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating evidence and recommended that Beuke be sentenced to death. The trial court adopted the jury’s recommendation and imposed the death penalty. In April 2010, 27 years after imposing a sentence of death in this case, the trial court judge wrote a letter to the parole board opposing clemency for Beuke.
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Post by Charlene on May 4, 2010 8:14:42 GMT -6
Wonder how this jerk is going to like the noisy neighbors in prison....
Angry neighbor held in deadly shooting One man killed, HFD captain gravely wounded over party noise May 3, 2010, 10:57AM New Caney ISD Kelly Danaer was hosting his wife's birthday when he was shot to death.Raul Rodriguez said he opened fire in self-defense, according to police.A man angry about a noisy party opened fire on his Huffman-area neighbors early Sunday, killing a teacher, critically injuring a Houston fire captain and wounding a third man, police officers said. Raul Rodriguez, 44, called authorities late Saturday about the noise at a gathering on his neighbor's 2-acre property in the 300 block of Oak Knoll. He arrived around 12:30 a.m. Sunday at the party with a handgun, flashlight and video camera. “He got it in his head that they were making too much noise, and he decided to take it into his own hands,” Harris County homicide Sgt. Ben Beall said. “The people at the party were minding their own business.” Rodriguez, who acknowledged shooting the men, was charged with murder. He told police the shooting was in self-defense because the men at the party rushed him. Rodriguez sustained a fracture to his ankle after being tackled by partygoers, authorities said. “He had more than ample opportunity to retreat,” Beall added. Kelly Danaher, 36, who was hosting a birthday party for his wife, was killed. He was a physical education teacher at Sorters Mill Elementary School in New Caney. "New Caney ISD is shocked and deeply saddened over the tragic death of Kelly Danaher. He was a P.E. teacher at Sorters Mill Elementary, but to the faculty, staff and students at the school, he was a family member. His students loved him. Coworkers gravitated toward Danaher’s positive energy and encouragement," the district said today in a written statement. " Senior HFD Capt. Ricky Johnson, 43, remains in critical condition today at Ben Taub General Hospital. “He sustained a gunshot to his lower abdomen,” assistant fire chief Karen DuPont said. “They're just waiting for him to stabilize so they can go back in and do surgery, and that might take a couple days,” DuPont said. Johnson, recently promoted to captain at Station 74, comes from a family of firefighters, including his father and uncle. He is married with two daughters. Fellow HFD firefighter David Boudreaux describes his friend as smart and playful. He's an avid fisher and hunter. Close friend and firefighter Eric Kellum, 31, said Johnson is gifted at saving lives and with putting firefighters at ease during stressful times. “When it comes to our job, we see a lot of crazy stuff. Ricky uses his humor to help us handle bad situations,” Kellum said. Kellum added: “He's a fighter and hard-headed. He'll pull through this.” The third man, shot in the leg, was treated and released from an area hospital.
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Post by Charlene on May 2, 2010 9:11:59 GMT -6
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Post by Charlene on Apr 28, 2010 17:23:26 GMT -6
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Post by Charlene on Apr 25, 2010 22:26:09 GMT -6
...McBride asked Burns and Phillip Hale if they wanted to help him count $30,000. They agreed and while they were counting the money, the two decided to rob McBride.... Maybe it's just me, but this sounds like a Darwin award nomination for the murder victim. Too true. Some people just trust everyone.
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Post by Charlene on Apr 24, 2010 19:39:30 GMT -6
During the day of November 9, 1994, Joseph Daniel Burns and Phillip Hale went to the Town House Motel on Gloster Street in Tupelo, Mississippi where Mike McBride was the hotel manager. Phillip Hale testified that he and McBride were friends, and that he introduced Burns to McBride on November 9, 1994. Phillip Hale testified that he went in and asked McBride if they could stay there three or four days. McBride said sure, and Phillip went out to the truck, got his bag and asked Burns to come inside. Phillip Hale testified that they then "hung out for awhile" with McBride. Burns and Phillip Hale then went to get something to eat and watched a movie before returning to the motel office. McBride asked Burns and Phillip Hale if they wanted to help him count $30,000. They agreed and while they were counting the money, the two decided to rob McBride. Burns and Phillip Hale agreed that Hale would hit McBride and Burns would take the money. Phillip Hale further testified that he hit McBride and knocked him down and left the room to make sure nobody was coming. When he returned to the room, Burns was stabbing McBride in the back of the neck with a knife, a fork, and a Phillip's head screwdriver. When Hale asked Burns what he was doing, Burns stabbed Hale in the foot. Hale testified that McBride was repeating "why me" while he was being stabbed to death. After the stabbing, Burns and Hale wiped fingerprints, got the money and left. The record reflects that $3,000 was taken from a tin safe in McBride's office. Burns broke the lock off of the safe with a pair of pliers. After the stabbing, Burns and Phillip Hale returned to the trailer in Verona where they were living with Janie Taylor and Brandi Sides. Burns went into Janie Taylor's room, whom he was dating at the time, woke her up, told her what they had done, counted the money, and divided the money between himself and Hale ($1,500 each). Phillip Hale then went to his brother, Jeff's, shop. His brother was out of town. Burns showed up later and informed Phillip Hale that he had thrown the "stuff" behind the trailer park where they lived. The testimony of State's witness, Carrie Cryder, revealed that on December 24, 1994 he and Burns were riding around, and Burns retrieved the weapons from behind the trailer and threw them off of the bridge on Brewer Road. Later that day, on November 10, 1994, Phillip Hale parked the truck the two had driven to the Town House Motel behind Jeff's house because he was fearful that someone had seen the truck and could identify Burns and Hale by the truck. Jeff Hale had loaned his brother the truck several weeks before McBride was killed. When Jeff Hale returned to town, he was suspicious about why Phillip had parked the truck behind the house. Also, Phillip paid his brother, Jeff, $600 he owed him, and this too made Jeff suspicious about where Phillip got the money. When Jeff first asked Phillip where the money came from, Phillip lied to him. Phillip testified that he ultimately told his brother that he and Burns killed McBride, although there is some question about when he told him. Burns also told Jeff Hale what happened. The following weekend, on November 12, 1994, Burns, Phillip Hale and his brother, Jeff went to Tunica to the casinos and spent the money they had stolen from the Town House Motel returning to Tupelo with $100 or $200. A guest of the Town House Motel the night of November 9, 1994 testified for the State. He testified that he remembered seeing two men arrive at the motel in a tan truck that fit the description of the truck belonging to Jeff Hale that Phillip Hale was driving on the day of the murder. The guest testified that they arrived about 8:00 p.m. and left around 10:00 or 10:30 p.m. McBride's body was found by another employee of the motel around 7:00 a.m. the next morning. Phillip Hale and Burns were not arrested until August of 1995 concerning this crime. The Tupelo Police Department arrested them pursuant to an investigation that ensued after two anonymous phone calls were received by the Crime Stoppers. McBride's body was found in his living quarters at the Town House Motel. McBride died from a combination of blunt force injuries to the head and neck caused by numerous blows to the head and back of the neck and exsanguination from the injuries to his face and neck. While Burns was in jail in Lee County, he began corresponding with a female prisoner, Contina Kohlheim. In the letters Burns sent Kohlheim, he talks about killing a man. "Look about the guy I killed, me and Phillip were dealing with a lot of dope and Phillip was giving our dope to this guy. He owed us $58,000. I told Phillip to ask him one more time to pay us but he never did. So that night we went to the town house and I killed his ass." In the other letter Burns sent Kohlheim, he wrote, "I took a man's life now I'm looking at the Death Penalty." Testimony at trial revealed that Burns was not charged with any other murder, and there had been no other murders at the Town House Motel. The letters were signed from "JoJo," or "Love JoJo." Burns gave the letters to a male trustee who in turn gave them to the jailer who then gave them to a female trustee to deliver since the male prisoners were not allowed to go to the female side of the jail. Kohlheim turned the letters over to the police after being asked to do so. Following a request by the district attorney's office, Officer Buddy Bell obtained a handwriting sample from Burns under the pretense of having him write down who would be allowed to visit him in jail. A comparison was then made between the letters written to Kohlheim and the known writing sample of Burns. The state's expert determined that there was a strong probability that the signatures on both letters were Burns'. He further determined that the content of both letters was probably written by Burns. There was also a fingerprint analysis done on the letters. Burns' fingerprints were found on both letters obtained from Tina Kohlheim.
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Post by Charlene on Apr 24, 2010 18:49:09 GMT -6
Mississippi Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel said, in documents filed this week with the Mississippi court, that Burns' attorneys have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overlook the late filing and hear Burns' appeal. I don't understand what they think a deadline means.....why have deadlines if they don't count? And if their clients' lives are on the line, as ALL OF THEIR CLIENTS ARE, why would they ever miss a deadline?
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Post by Charlene on Apr 24, 2010 17:22:39 GMT -6
Owens asked a lot of people to kill her husband. If she had that much freedom to try to find a killer, she had enough freedom to go to a shelter.
On top of that, she admitted that her husband did NOT physically abuse her. The story has changed now, I guess, because it suits her cause. Total narcissistic sociopath, then and now.
One of the men she tried to hire wore a wire and talked to her after the murder.
James was wearing a hidden body microphone, which was being monitored by police in a nearby automobile. Gaile Owens paid James sixty dollars to keep quiet, telling him that it was all the money she had. She also stated that she had had her husband killed because of "bad marital problems." Gaile Owens was placed under arrest at the conclusion of her meeting with Mr. James. At first, Gaile Owens claimed that she only had hired people to follow her husband and "to rough him up." She did admit paying out some $4,000 to $5,000 to various men for expenses. Later she confessed to offering three men $5,000 to $10,000 to kill her husband and to talking with a man known as "little Johnny" at 2:30 p.m. on the day of the murder about killing her husband. She had promised to pay him three or four days after the murder. When asked why, Gaile Owens stated, "We've just had a bad marriage over the years, and I just felt like he had, mentally I just felt like he had been cruel to me. There was very little physical violence."
This is not a battered woman, no matter whether you think it is a good excuse for murder or not.
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Post by Charlene on Apr 24, 2010 6:02:04 GMT -6
I finally found one; not a great one but I am so glad to at least have one. I need a picture of Angel, if anyone sees one. I am sick of hearing about this guy - everywhere I look it is all about him. I tried to find one weeks ago and then again this week. I did see that a friend of hers started a facebook page for her but I can't remember the name or web address. I believe it may be the young woman mentioned in the article at the vigil. Bet she would have one. Here it is: www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=41236779921&topic=13642The friend's name is Stefanie Clover.
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Post by Charlene on Apr 22, 2010 7:58:58 GMT -6
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Post by Charlene on Apr 22, 2010 7:58:17 GMT -6
On the evening of Friday, March 10, 2000, 18-year-old Sophia Martinez left her house in her red 2000 Grand Am GTS around 10:15 p.m. on her way to a nightclub in El Paso. The next morning, her sister Mary Ann went to wake her for work but Sophia was not in her room. Mary Ann thought that Sophia had gotten up early and already left the house. When she received a call around 10:30 or 11 a.m. advising her that Sophia had not shown up for work, Mary Ann began making calls and trying to locate her sister. The New Mexico State Police then called to report that her sister’s car had been found but Sophia was missing. Her body was found the next day.
Officer Leticia Olivas of the El Paso Police Department was one of the crime scene technicians assigned to the murder case. On March 12, she went to the desert area off Junction 404 and O’Hara Road in New Mexico to recover Sophia’s car. By the time she arrived, the car had been towed but she documented and photographed the area. She observed tire impressions leading into and out of the area and tennis shoe impressions leading toward the highway. Authorities were unable to link the footprints to Michael Jaques. Olivas then went to the New Mexico State Troopers’ garage in Las Cruces where the vehicle was stored. She took interior and exterior pictures of the car. There were blood stains on the seats, the interior door panels, the steering wheel, the driver’s seat belt, and the rearview mirror. The passenger side window was shattered and broken out. From there, Olivas headed to northeast El Paso where Sophia’s body had been located. She had been shot five times in the head and face. One wound was on the right side of the back of her head, one through the center of her right eye, one through her right cheek next to her nose, and one to her left cheek. Sophia also received a grazing wound through her left eyebrow area. The medical examiner recovered four bullets and concluded that Sophia died as a result of brain injury from multiple gunshots. A fifth bullet was found in the vicinity where the body was discovered.
Sophia’s body also tested positive for sperm which was later matched to William Berkley, Jaques’s co-defendant. A toxicology report was negative for drugs and alcohol.
During their investigation, police found an ATM receipt in Sophia’s car and obtained the video surveillance tapes from the Government Employees Credit Union (GECU) on Viscount, where Sophia banked. The video showed that at 10:22:35 p.m. on March 10, Sophia approached the ATM and withdrew $20. At 10:24:05 p.m., an individual later identified as Berkley approached the passenger side of Sophia’s car with his arms extended. He pointed a pistol at Sophia at 10:24:09 p.m. and the passenger side window shattered. Berkley then moved around to the driver’s side and got into the backseat. A bleeding Sophia withdrew $200 from her account at 10:25:15 p.m. The video showed only one perpetrator; no other cars followed Sophia’s car as it left the bank.
Sophia’s murder generated a great deal of public interest and was featured on Crime Stoppers and America’s Most Wanted. A reward was offered for information in the case. On September 30, 2000, Heather Jacques, Jaques’s wife, contacted the FBI with information about Sophia’s death. By the time of trial, Heather and Jaques had divorced and she had begun using the name Heather Napiwocki. Heather received $51,000 in reward monies for coming forward with information. Police then contacted Jaques, who was in the El Paso County jail on an unrelated charge, and questioned him concerning Sophia’s murder. Jaques ultimately gave two written statements. According to these statements, Jaques was visiting Heather at the hospital on March 10 when his friend William Berkley arrived. Heather had been hospitalized for a kidney infection, although the record is unclear as to the actual date of her admission. Jaques thought Heather had been admitted on March 7 or 8; Heather testified that she entered the hospitalon March 10. Heather needed some personal items and Jaques and Berkley went to the couple’s apartment, which at that time was number 34 at the Amberwood Apartments. The men returned to the hospital and Berkley left, but he came back around 7 p.m. Jaques told Berkley that he needed money to pay his court costs and Berkley said he would take care of it. He asked whether Jaques wanted to break into a house. They began discussing different ways of getting the money and Berkley finally suggested a hold-up at an ATM.
Before leaving the hospital, Berkley stole some surgical gloves and KY jelly. The men then drove back to the Amberwood Apartments to visit Berkley’s friend, Amanda Cepolski, who lived in apartment no. 134. Berkley talked to Amanda for ten to fifteen minutes before returning to the car. He showed Jaques a black .22 caliber revolver, a black pullover sweater, and a black beanie cap. They began driving around looking for possible hold-up locations. They considered the GECU in northeast El Paso, but Berkley thought the area was too well lit with too much traffic. They went to a grocery store on Fairbanks Street but didn’t like that scenario either. Finally, they targeted the GECU on Viscount. Here, the lighting was poor and they parked by a rock wall fence close to the street running behind the bank. From this vantage point, Jaques could clearly see the ATMs. Berkley got out to hide in the bushes and wait for a car, and Jaques moved over to the driver’s seat. Berkley donned the black sweater, beanie cap, and surgical gloves, and took the gun with him. Jaques also put on a pair of gloves. Cars were coming and going at the ATM booths. When Jaques saw a new model car pull up, he flashed the headlights. Berkley emerged from the bushes and approached the car. Jaques couldn’t see what Berkley did until he walked around to the driver’s side. The car took off, and when Berkley didn’t return, Jaques realized he had left in the red car. Jaques drove back to the hospital around 10:45 or 11 p.m. and told his wife that Berkley had just robbed someone at an ATM. Around 2 or 2:30 a.m., a nurse came into the hospital room and told Jaques that a friend was waiting downstairs. Jaques went downstairs and met Berkley.
Sophia’s car was in the parking lot and the right front passenger side window was shattered. Berkley told Jaques that he had tried to open the passenger door but it was locked. He tried to break the window with the butt of the gun but it wouldn’t break. He fired a shot, but the window only shattered. When he went around to the driver’s side, he saw that the driver had been shot in the face. Berkley told her to open the automatic locks, and he got in the backseat. As Sophia tried to drive off, Berkley put the gun to her head and told her to withdraw $200. He then instructed her to drive to a secluded desert area that Jaques and Berkley called “the spot.” When they arrived, Berkley told her to get out of the car. He shot her in the face twice, and she fell to the ground. Berkley then emptied the gun into her while she was lying on the ground. Berkley had come back to the hospital because he needed Jaques’s help in getting rid of the car. Jaques told his wife he had to leave again.
Berkley drove Sophia’s car while Jaques followed in Berkley’s car. They drove out to the junction of Chaparral and O’Hara Road and turned westbound on O’Hara. Berkley passed through a cattle fence and ended up on a dirt mound. It was very dark and difficult to see, so much so that Jaques passed by Berkley without seeing him. He turned around and kept driving, finally coming upon Berkley walking along the road. Jaques picked him up. A few days later, Jaques and his wife were having a barbecue at their apartment. Berkley stopped by and had Sophia’s driver’s license and car keys with him. Berkley put the license on the grill to burn, and Jaques took the keys and threw them on the roof of the apartment complex.
Jaques also provided information about the gun. The last time he had seen it was in May 2000. It was located at Berkley’s father’s house in the night stand by the bed. And as it turned out, Jaques’s court costs of approximately $200--the underlying reason for the robbery--were paid in $20 denominations after the murder. Based on this information, the police executed a search warrant at Berkley’s father’s home and recovered a .22 caliber eight-shot revolver in the nightstand of the master bedroom. They also recovered Sophia’s keys from the roof of one of the buildings at the Amberwood complex and located metal fragments in apartment no. 34, Jaques’s former apartment. At trial, Sally Grew, a FBI firearms and tool marks examiner, testified that she was not able to determine for sure whether the recovered bullets were fired from the revolver, but it was possible. As for the metal fragments, Grew was not able to determine much of anything. Visually the bullets appeared similar because they had a brassy-colored coating, and some of the bullet fragments also had brassy colored coating on them. Diana Grant, FBI forensic examiner specializing in bullet lead analysis, testified that she found four of the bullets and the metal fragments to be analytically indistinguishable and chemically similar. They were likely to have originated from the same source of molten lead, although that didn’t necessarily mean that the bullets came from the same box of ammunition. The fifth bullet was analytically distinguishable, but possessed only a subtle difference.
Douglas Richard Bosanko, who owned a wrecker and locksmith business, testified at trial that on March 10, he was called out on a business call at Graham’s Nightclub on the westside of El Paso. He left from Chaparral, New Mexico and traveled up Lisa over War Road onto O’Hara Road, then to Interstate 10 and Artcraft. As he was crossing over O’Hara Road, he saw a car twenty-five to thirty feet off the road, and the dome light came on as he was passing. Bosanko saw someone get out of the vehicle. On his way home from the call, he saw the car was still there, but he did not see anyone. At the end of the Gap and Highway 54, Bosanko saw a Hispanic male pacing back and forth over the right-hand side of the road, so he pulled over and asked if he needed help. The male answered “No, bro, everything’s cool.” The male said that he was waiting on a friend to pick him up. Bosanko saw him continue to walk along the shoulder toward El Paso. Later, Bosanko identified an individual who was not Berkley. He was also later shown two photo line-ups but he was not able to identify anyone. He did, however, positively state that Jaques was not the man he had seen.
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Post by Charlene on Apr 20, 2010 14:59:46 GMT -6
I need a picture of Angel, if anyone sees one. I am sick of hearing about this guy - everywhere I look it is all about him.
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Post by Charlene on Apr 19, 2010 11:52:42 GMT -6
Great news. Since there are 12 pages of names listed and I don't know the name of every slob on death row, I can't give the definitive list. Names I do recognize are: Charles Hood Peter CantuDelma Banks ...and I'm sure there are many more.
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