Poor Mom was working a sh**ty night job at Micky D's, which doesn't give you much disposal income for quality child care options. So she enlisted Dad EDWARDO FLORENCIO into babysitting duty. Well, Daddy didn't want a 4-year-old girl around when it was chillin' time, are you kidding? So he drove his daughter a ways from home, kicked her get out of the car, then drove back home. Fortunately, a kind woman found the little girl wandering the streets instead of some sicko predator, and called the police. The police found Daddy surrounded by beer bottles and apparently passed out. He's been charged with felony child abandonment. Fortunately, Mom got her daughter back. Now if she could only find a decent job and decent child care, so she could dump Daddy's @$$ somewhere. Hopefully with no custody rights and no visitation.
http://www.lohud.com/article/20100531/NEWS02/5310357/-1/newsfront/Cops--Yonkers-man-left-daughter--4--alone-in-street
Cops: Yonkers man left daughter, 4, alone in street
May 31, 2010
wdavid@lohud.com
YONKERS — A man was arrested after police said he put his 4-year-old daughter out of his car and went home leaving her wandering around the street on Nodine Hill in the middle of the night.
Edwardo Florencio, 26, was found in his 121 Elm St. apartment apparently drunk and asleep in a chair with empty beer bottles all around him, Yonkers Police Lt. Phil Collins said.
The girl was turned over to her mother and child protection services were notified, he said.
At 3:45 a.m. Sunday a 31-year-old Yonkers woman saw the 4-year-old alone in the street near 125 Elm St., police said. She took the child to the sidewalk and contacted the police. The girl told police that her father stopped the car, took her out and drove away, Collins said.
Police determined the child lived nearby and went to the house. The officers found several people in the apartment including Florencio. Collins said the officers asked Florencio if he knew where his daughter was and he said he did not. He was charged with abandoning a child, a felony.
Police found the girl's mother at her job at McDonald's and turned her over to her.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Senator calls for CPS changes after little girl dies at hands of custodial father (Guadalupe County, Texas)
We posted on this case earlier, and it's pretty apparent that UNNAMED DAD must be a custodial father.
INVISIBLE MOTHER ALERT: Still no word on how or why this little girl came to be in her father's "care" and so horribly neglected. So much so that she died of an infected appendix without medical attention.
Senator calling for changes after child dies from alleged child abuse
by Karen Grace / KENS 5
Posted on May 31, 2010 at 8:15 PM
Updated today at 8:16 PM
Schertz police calling for CPS reform after child's death
"It's so filthy and disgusting we can't even say it on t.v.," said Senator Carlos Uresti, District 19. He is outraged about a recent case of child abuse in Guadalupe County. "There's no reason why anyone in their right mind wouldn't have removed these kids," he said. It's the worst case of child abuse Senator Uresti says he's seen in years and he feels that Sarah Brasse would be alive today had a caseworker done her job and used better judgment. Now he's calling for more prevention at Child Protective Services.
In 2009, eight year-old Sarah was found dead from an infected appendix in her father's care. Senator Uresti pointed to reports dating back to 2007 that detail abuse and neglect that were dismissed. "You read this and you wonder how in the world does a caseworker not remove these children?" he asked.
Eyewitness News 5 has also learned that the girl's father who is accused of Criminally Negligent Homicide is turning to the Internet, specifically Facebook to tell his side of the story.
Dad sentenced to probation for killing family dog in front of kids (Detroit, Michigan)
Dad RANDY LEE PITTMAN has pleaded guilty to torturing and killing an animal (the family dog no less--AND in front of this kids). For this he gets 2 years of probation.
http://www.thenewsherald.com/articles/2010/05/31/news/doc4c01399770c99353410437.txt
DETROIT: Father sentenced to probation for killing family dog
Published: Monday, May 31, 2010
By Anne Sullivan
DETROIT — A Huron Township man pleaded guilty Wednesday in Wayne County Circuit Court to torturing and killing an animal
Under a sentence agreement, Randy Lee Pittman, 51, was sentenced to two years probation, 200 hours of community service, alcohol and drug testing, and counseling mandated by the probation department. He also cannot own an animal.
Pittman is convicted of shooting his 12-year-old daughter’s dog with an arrow April 27 in the backyard of his house in the 28500 block of Brandes in Huron Township.
When police arrived at the house they found Pittman in the backyard hunched over the wounded animal. The dog, a small 1 ½-year-old beagle mix was still breathing and had a cloth wrapped around its body and gauze bandages on it. Nearby, there was a broken arrow with blood on it.
The daughter told police the dog had gotten off its leash and her father told her to get it. She said she tried to catch it, but couldn’t.
A short time later she heard the dog whimpering, looked out a window and saw her father standing over the dog and an arrow sticking out of the animal’s side.
She said she went outside and her father was trying to pick up the dog. She ran into the house, got her cell phone and took pictures of the dog. The girl said her father moved the dog, she got scared, ran down the street and called her mother to come get her.
The girl told police her dog has gotten off its leash in the past, and her father had threatened to kill it but she didn’t believe he was serious.
Police confiscated five guns and a bow and arrows from the house.
The girl’s sister took the dog to a veterinary clinic where it was euthanized.
http://www.thenewsherald.com/articles/2010/05/31/news/doc4c01399770c99353410437.txt
DETROIT: Father sentenced to probation for killing family dog
Published: Monday, May 31, 2010
By Anne Sullivan
DETROIT — A Huron Township man pleaded guilty Wednesday in Wayne County Circuit Court to torturing and killing an animal
Under a sentence agreement, Randy Lee Pittman, 51, was sentenced to two years probation, 200 hours of community service, alcohol and drug testing, and counseling mandated by the probation department. He also cannot own an animal.
Pittman is convicted of shooting his 12-year-old daughter’s dog with an arrow April 27 in the backyard of his house in the 28500 block of Brandes in Huron Township.
When police arrived at the house they found Pittman in the backyard hunched over the wounded animal. The dog, a small 1 ½-year-old beagle mix was still breathing and had a cloth wrapped around its body and gauze bandages on it. Nearby, there was a broken arrow with blood on it.
The daughter told police the dog had gotten off its leash and her father told her to get it. She said she tried to catch it, but couldn’t.
A short time later she heard the dog whimpering, looked out a window and saw her father standing over the dog and an arrow sticking out of the animal’s side.
She said she went outside and her father was trying to pick up the dog. She ran into the house, got her cell phone and took pictures of the dog. The girl said her father moved the dog, she got scared, ran down the street and called her mother to come get her.
The girl told police her dog has gotten off its leash in the past, and her father had threatened to kill it but she didn’t believe he was serious.
Police confiscated five guns and a bow and arrows from the house.
The girl’s sister took the dog to a veterinary clinic where it was euthanized.
"Proud Father" charged in stabbing death of 1-year-old son (Taos, New Mexico)
Dad CHRISTOPHER BARNEY is facing an open murder count in the stabbing death of his 1-year-old son--if he survives his own self-inflicted wounds. Right before the stabbing, Daddy Dearest put the baby's mother in the hospital after he assaulted her.
And who are these clueless idiots who refer to this (alleged) killer as a "proud father?" Are we referring to the same @$$wipe who beat up the mother, and then killed the baby while she was in the hospital? Why didn't the cops arrest him before he could go home and do something disgusting like that?
http://www.krqe.com/dpp/home/friends-struggling-with-taos-baby-murder
Friends struggling with baby's murder
Christopher Barney, 27, accused in stabbing death
Updated: Monday, 31 May 2010, 8:52 AM MDT
Published : Sunday, 30 May 2010, 10:13 PM MDT
Reporter: Kaitlin McCarthy
TAOS, N.M. (KRQE) - Shock is spreading around Taos as more and more residents learn about the father accused of stabbing his baby son to death over the weekend.
New Mexico State Police said after stabbing the 1-year-old, Christopher Barney, 27, tried to kill himself. He is recovering at University of New Mexico Hospital and as of Sunday night, his condition was stabilizing. He is under guard by state police and is facing an open count of murder if he survives.
In the meantime, neighbors and friends are struggling to come to grips with what happened.
“Everybody is just confused by it, because we don't know why and what he thought of,” friend Angel Martinez said.
The horrific events started around 2 a.m. Saturday morning with a 911 call from a Taos Allsup’s. Barney and his girlfriend had gotten into a physical fight and she was taken to the hospital with the help of some friends.
During that time, state police said Barney went back to the couple’s home where they believe he stabbed his baby son and turned the knife on himself. Martinez’s boyfriend, Pedro Loya, was nearby when police arrived on the scene.
“They had just found out that Chris was stabbed and the baby was stabbed and they had called the ambulance and they had 8, 9 cops out there,” Loya explained.
Martinez went to the hospital with the baby’s mother and was there when she learned the devastating news.
“When she walked out she was just crying, she was really sad,” she said.
Both Loya and Martinez said Barney seemed to be a proud father. State Police are not confirming how many kids the couple has, but Loya and Martinez said they have three.
“It was just pretty crazy I didn't expect for him to be like that,” Loya said.
The lingering question of how someone could do this to their own child is playing over and over again for the couple.
“It's just really hard because it's shocking because the baby didn't have anything to do with it at all,” Martinez said.
As for Barney, he won’t be able to leave the hospital to be booked into a Taos County jail until doctors say it’s OK. His arrest warrant comes with a $900,000 cash-only bond.
And who are these clueless idiots who refer to this (alleged) killer as a "proud father?" Are we referring to the same @$$wipe who beat up the mother, and then killed the baby while she was in the hospital? Why didn't the cops arrest him before he could go home and do something disgusting like that?
http://www.krqe.com/dpp/home/friends-struggling-with-taos-baby-murder
Friends struggling with baby's murder
Christopher Barney, 27, accused in stabbing death
Updated: Monday, 31 May 2010, 8:52 AM MDT
Published : Sunday, 30 May 2010, 10:13 PM MDT
Reporter: Kaitlin McCarthy
TAOS, N.M. (KRQE) - Shock is spreading around Taos as more and more residents learn about the father accused of stabbing his baby son to death over the weekend.
New Mexico State Police said after stabbing the 1-year-old, Christopher Barney, 27, tried to kill himself. He is recovering at University of New Mexico Hospital and as of Sunday night, his condition was stabilizing. He is under guard by state police and is facing an open count of murder if he survives.
In the meantime, neighbors and friends are struggling to come to grips with what happened.
“Everybody is just confused by it, because we don't know why and what he thought of,” friend Angel Martinez said.
The horrific events started around 2 a.m. Saturday morning with a 911 call from a Taos Allsup’s. Barney and his girlfriend had gotten into a physical fight and she was taken to the hospital with the help of some friends.
During that time, state police said Barney went back to the couple’s home where they believe he stabbed his baby son and turned the knife on himself. Martinez’s boyfriend, Pedro Loya, was nearby when police arrived on the scene.
“They had just found out that Chris was stabbed and the baby was stabbed and they had called the ambulance and they had 8, 9 cops out there,” Loya explained.
Martinez went to the hospital with the baby’s mother and was there when she learned the devastating news.
“When she walked out she was just crying, she was really sad,” she said.
Both Loya and Martinez said Barney seemed to be a proud father. State Police are not confirming how many kids the couple has, but Loya and Martinez said they have three.
“It was just pretty crazy I didn't expect for him to be like that,” Loya said.
The lingering question of how someone could do this to their own child is playing over and over again for the couple.
“It's just really hard because it's shocking because the baby didn't have anything to do with it at all,” Martinez said.
As for Barney, he won’t be able to leave the hospital to be booked into a Taos County jail until doctors say it’s OK. His arrest warrant comes with a $900,000 cash-only bond.
Dad "allegedly" murders mom in front of their 6-year-old child in roadside attack (Reidville, North Carolina)
Dad BERESFORD A. CAMPBELL has been charged with murder in his fatal attack on his girlfriend, the mother of their 6-year-old son. The mother's body was found next to her car along the roadside, with the child still inside the car. So apparently, the @$$wipe killer not only didn't mind robbing this child of his mother, he felt perfectly entitled to perform the bloody deed right in front of the child and abandon him at the scene, too. Such a loving daddy. No doubt he'll blame his "prescription medication."
http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/05/31/article/reidsville_woman_killed_in_front_of_child_in_roadside_attack
Reidsville woman killed in front of child in roadside attack
Monday, May 31, 2010 (Updated 3:59 pm)
Staff Report
A Reidsville woman was killed Sunday in front of her 6-year-old child when authorities said the boy’s father attacked her along a roadway in Midway.
Beverly Wiley, 48, was pronounced dead at Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, according to the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office.
At around 10:42 a.m. Sunday, authorities were called to 11942 Old Highway 52 in Midway to reports of an assault.
Deputies arrived to find Wiley lying beside a car parked along the side of the road, where she was bleeding from multiple wounds and being attended to by other motorists.
Among them was an off-duty Kernersville police officer who detained a man in connection with the attack.
The suspect was 54-year-old Beresford A. Campbell who shared a child and home with Wiley at 1325 Linville Dr. in Reidsville.
Deputies said the couple’s 6-year-old was in the woman’s car at the time of the attack, but was not injured.
Because of reports he had ingested a bottle of prescription medication, Campbell was taken to Lexington Memorial Hospital, where he was treated.
He was released from the hospital and taken to the Davidson County jail and charged with murder.
He is being held without bond.
The child was taken into custody by county social services workers and later released to other family members.
This is the fourth homicide in Davidson County so far this year, according to the sheriff’s office.
http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/05/31/article/reidsville_woman_killed_in_front_of_child_in_roadside_attack
Reidsville woman killed in front of child in roadside attack
Monday, May 31, 2010 (Updated 3:59 pm)
Staff Report
A Reidsville woman was killed Sunday in front of her 6-year-old child when authorities said the boy’s father attacked her along a roadway in Midway.
Beverly Wiley, 48, was pronounced dead at Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, according to the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office.
At around 10:42 a.m. Sunday, authorities were called to 11942 Old Highway 52 in Midway to reports of an assault.
Deputies arrived to find Wiley lying beside a car parked along the side of the road, where she was bleeding from multiple wounds and being attended to by other motorists.
Among them was an off-duty Kernersville police officer who detained a man in connection with the attack.
The suspect was 54-year-old Beresford A. Campbell who shared a child and home with Wiley at 1325 Linville Dr. in Reidsville.
Deputies said the couple’s 6-year-old was in the woman’s car at the time of the attack, but was not injured.
Because of reports he had ingested a bottle of prescription medication, Campbell was taken to Lexington Memorial Hospital, where he was treated.
He was released from the hospital and taken to the Davidson County jail and charged with murder.
He is being held without bond.
The child was taken into custody by county social services workers and later released to other family members.
This is the fourth homicide in Davidson County so far this year, according to the sheriff’s office.
Dad serves "brief sentence" for contract on mom; son goes into law enforcement (Dallas, Texas)
Fascinating story about dad DAN MILLER, and his plot to kill his wife for insurance money back in 1969. The plot was foiled when the hired gun squealed, and the dad later served a "brief sentence." One of the couple's sons channeled his anger about his father and his crime into a career in law enforcement. Just recently, the son went public with his past.
Of course, nowadays the son would be accused of having parental alienation syndrome (PAS), even though the mother--as if in staggering shock by her husband's attempt to put a contract out on her life--"reconciled" with her husband by his trial.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-miller_31met.ART.State.Edition2.2977df3.html
Dallas lieutenant's secret has a purpose
02:22 PM CDT on Monday, May 31, 2010
By SCOTT GOLDSTEIN / The Dallas Morning News
sgoldstein@dallasnews.com
At first, the murder-for-hire plot that Dallas police Lt. Craig Miller is discussing does not seem much more alarming than some of the hundreds of investigations he oversees as commander of the homicide unit.
"Dan," a Tennessee clothing plant manager with a wife, four kids and an eye for women, wants his wife dead so he can collect on her life insurance policy. He proposes a brutal murder plot to a television repairman, who reports the plan to authorities, leading to "Dan's" arrest and conviction and the dismantling of a family.
But there's a twist: "Dan" is Miller's dad.
For the first time in his 28-year career, the police commander who oversees Dallas murder-for-hire investigations as part of his job is speaking publicly about the 40-year-old crime that tore apart his family and impacts his work today.
"It's not something I'm proud of. It's not something I had any involvement in," Miller said during a workshop at a crimes against women conference. "It does give me an enhanced perspective of what victims go through."
At 10 years old, Miller was living a comfortable life in 1969. His father, James Daniel Miller, was an executive at a women's clothing company. The family owned horses and participated in horse shows.
That life ended suddenly.
Under financial pressure, Dan Miller thought of his murder plot as he drove home from a Knoxville horse show in October 1969, he admitted during his trial the next year.
An acquaintance he spoke to about the plot went to state police investigators, who sent an undercover agent posing as an "out of town hoodlum" willing to commit the crime. Dan Miller gave the agent $500 up front, along with specific instructions:
Wait until the Miller children leave for school. Shoot Patricia Miller once in the head. Douse her with gasoline and burn the house down.
For his services, the killer would get another $1,000.
Instead, Dan Miller went to jail.
Time of turmoil
Craig Miller remembers the four agents in dark suits and sunglasses who greeted him at home the day the plot was supposed to have gone off. His mother was in tears. "Murder Plot Laid to Hendersonville Man," read the Oct. 14, 1969, headline in The Tennessean newspaper.
By the time the case went to trial the next year, the couple had reconciled. Patricia Miller was described in a newspaper story as "petite with red hair." She stood by her husband's side during court recesses and after he served a brief prison sentence.
Two years later, Dan Miller left his wife. Craig Miller went to live with his grandparents, who became the guiding force in his teenage years.
"They were just incredibly loving, caring, common-sense folks," said the Rev. Paul Frank, a Lutheran minister in Tennessee who mentored Miller and later presided over his wedding. Frank said Miller mentioned his family turmoil but did not let it define him.
"He never dwelled on it or lived in the past or felt like he should be given special privileges because he had a hard early childhood," Frank said.
Still, the anger toward his father was always there. When Miller got word his father was en route to his high school graduation, he called the police and had him arrested for failure to pay child support.
He coped by cutting his dad out of his life. He worked his way through college at Memphis State University, where he was assisted by financial aid and a partial scholarship as a cheerleader.
Miller graduated, moved to Dallas and joined the Police Department in 1982. Two years later he married his wife, with whom he has two daughters and one son. Miller's mother battled depression in her later years and died in 2002 during heart bypass surgery. His father died a few years later of heart-related problems. He told few people about his past until he saw an opening to use it as a teaching tool this year.
Assisting families
Dallas police investigate roughly five or fewer murder-for-hire plots every year and Miller has supervised about a dozen in his three years in the homicide unit.
They are unique in part because investigators generally don't have enough information to immediately arrest the perpetrators. Instead, they have the challenge of quickly building a strong criminal case without risking the safety of the potential victim.
They are also unusual in the destructive impact they can have on a family even if no violence occurs. That aspect always strikes a chord with Miller.
"I think he understands the ramifications of those cases on everybody," said recently retired Assistant Chief Ron Waldrop, Miller's former boss. "He will think more about the police response and other things we can do to assist the family through it."
That seems to be true in regular homicide cases, too. He talks often about cases involving innocent victims and the impact they have on surviving relatives.
Hours after a Dallas Morning News contract delivery driver was fatally shot, the victim's relatives stood behind Miller as he spoke to reporters. Miller was later seen embracing them.
Miller says he long ago came to terms with what happened in his family. But he does not pretend to have found forgiveness. There is emotion in his voice when he tells his audience at the March conference that he is one of "Dan's" children. He is blunt.
"I hated the guy, and when he died I didn't give a rat's ass," Miller said.
Those close to him insist that he uses his emotional scars as a form of motivation.
"Adversity can tear someone down or can make him stronger," said Clarence "Buck" Jones, Miller's father-in-law. "In his case, he used it as a building block."
Lt. Jeff Cotner has been Miller's best friend since they met in the police academy. In the past, he has encouraged Miller to let go of the anger toward his father.
"He has his reasons for still carrying that," Cotner said. "I don't think that's negative when you really spin it. He really does have a soft side to him. He really loves his family and he'll do damn near anything for his children. There's a father side to him that he didn't have."
Of course, nowadays the son would be accused of having parental alienation syndrome (PAS), even though the mother--as if in staggering shock by her husband's attempt to put a contract out on her life--"reconciled" with her husband by his trial.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-miller_31met.ART.State.Edition2.2977df3.html
Dallas lieutenant's secret has a purpose
02:22 PM CDT on Monday, May 31, 2010
By SCOTT GOLDSTEIN / The Dallas Morning News
sgoldstein@dallasnews.com
At first, the murder-for-hire plot that Dallas police Lt. Craig Miller is discussing does not seem much more alarming than some of the hundreds of investigations he oversees as commander of the homicide unit.
"Dan," a Tennessee clothing plant manager with a wife, four kids and an eye for women, wants his wife dead so he can collect on her life insurance policy. He proposes a brutal murder plot to a television repairman, who reports the plan to authorities, leading to "Dan's" arrest and conviction and the dismantling of a family.
But there's a twist: "Dan" is Miller's dad.
For the first time in his 28-year career, the police commander who oversees Dallas murder-for-hire investigations as part of his job is speaking publicly about the 40-year-old crime that tore apart his family and impacts his work today.
"It's not something I'm proud of. It's not something I had any involvement in," Miller said during a workshop at a crimes against women conference. "It does give me an enhanced perspective of what victims go through."
At 10 years old, Miller was living a comfortable life in 1969. His father, James Daniel Miller, was an executive at a women's clothing company. The family owned horses and participated in horse shows.
That life ended suddenly.
Under financial pressure, Dan Miller thought of his murder plot as he drove home from a Knoxville horse show in October 1969, he admitted during his trial the next year.
An acquaintance he spoke to about the plot went to state police investigators, who sent an undercover agent posing as an "out of town hoodlum" willing to commit the crime. Dan Miller gave the agent $500 up front, along with specific instructions:
Wait until the Miller children leave for school. Shoot Patricia Miller once in the head. Douse her with gasoline and burn the house down.
For his services, the killer would get another $1,000.
Instead, Dan Miller went to jail.
Time of turmoil
Craig Miller remembers the four agents in dark suits and sunglasses who greeted him at home the day the plot was supposed to have gone off. His mother was in tears. "Murder Plot Laid to Hendersonville Man," read the Oct. 14, 1969, headline in The Tennessean newspaper.
By the time the case went to trial the next year, the couple had reconciled. Patricia Miller was described in a newspaper story as "petite with red hair." She stood by her husband's side during court recesses and after he served a brief prison sentence.
Two years later, Dan Miller left his wife. Craig Miller went to live with his grandparents, who became the guiding force in his teenage years.
"They were just incredibly loving, caring, common-sense folks," said the Rev. Paul Frank, a Lutheran minister in Tennessee who mentored Miller and later presided over his wedding. Frank said Miller mentioned his family turmoil but did not let it define him.
"He never dwelled on it or lived in the past or felt like he should be given special privileges because he had a hard early childhood," Frank said.
Still, the anger toward his father was always there. When Miller got word his father was en route to his high school graduation, he called the police and had him arrested for failure to pay child support.
He coped by cutting his dad out of his life. He worked his way through college at Memphis State University, where he was assisted by financial aid and a partial scholarship as a cheerleader.
Miller graduated, moved to Dallas and joined the Police Department in 1982. Two years later he married his wife, with whom he has two daughters and one son. Miller's mother battled depression in her later years and died in 2002 during heart bypass surgery. His father died a few years later of heart-related problems. He told few people about his past until he saw an opening to use it as a teaching tool this year.
Assisting families
Dallas police investigate roughly five or fewer murder-for-hire plots every year and Miller has supervised about a dozen in his three years in the homicide unit.
They are unique in part because investigators generally don't have enough information to immediately arrest the perpetrators. Instead, they have the challenge of quickly building a strong criminal case without risking the safety of the potential victim.
They are also unusual in the destructive impact they can have on a family even if no violence occurs. That aspect always strikes a chord with Miller.
"I think he understands the ramifications of those cases on everybody," said recently retired Assistant Chief Ron Waldrop, Miller's former boss. "He will think more about the police response and other things we can do to assist the family through it."
That seems to be true in regular homicide cases, too. He talks often about cases involving innocent victims and the impact they have on surviving relatives.
Hours after a Dallas Morning News contract delivery driver was fatally shot, the victim's relatives stood behind Miller as he spoke to reporters. Miller was later seen embracing them.
Miller says he long ago came to terms with what happened in his family. But he does not pretend to have found forgiveness. There is emotion in his voice when he tells his audience at the March conference that he is one of "Dan's" children. He is blunt.
"I hated the guy, and when he died I didn't give a rat's ass," Miller said.
Those close to him insist that he uses his emotional scars as a form of motivation.
"Adversity can tear someone down or can make him stronger," said Clarence "Buck" Jones, Miller's father-in-law. "In his case, he used it as a building block."
Lt. Jeff Cotner has been Miller's best friend since they met in the police academy. In the past, he has encouraged Miller to let go of the anger toward his father.
"He has his reasons for still carrying that," Cotner said. "I don't think that's negative when you really spin it. He really does have a soft side to him. He really loves his family and he'll do damn near anything for his children. There's a father side to him that he didn't have."
Dad charged with beating 3-month-old son still free on bond 3 YEARS LATER--all with the tacit consent of DSS (St. Louis, Missouri)
Mom was at her first day of work, with Dad STEVEN ROLOFF as the designated "babysitter." Well, it seems we couldn't even get through the first day without the not-yet 3-month-old baby coming down with a fractured skull, severe brain damage, and bruising--all while under Daddy's loving care, of course. The baby's condition was so bad that at first, doctors didn't think the baby would live. Daddy flunked a lie detector test when officials tried to get to the bottom of the matter. Yet 3 YEARS LATER, even after Daddy has been charged with felonies, he is STILL FREE ON BOND and no trial has been scheduled. Sure appears that there is some funny business with the Missouri Department of Social Service's Children's Division, which doesn't want their earlier screw ups in this case to come to light. Whadda surprise. CPS bureaucrats who didn't do their jobs who are now more interested in covering their @$$es than allowing justice to be done. I'm just SHOCKED.
Beaten boy has waited all his life for justice, still delayed
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
05/30/2010
BONNE TERRE, MO. — Conner Zwierski was not yet 3 months old when doctors at two hospitals diagnosed him with a swollen and bleeding brain, a fractured skull and random bruises — including an indentation on his leg resembling a cord.
They did not believe the infant would live. His eyes failed to track light. He was put on a feeding tube and endured seizures. Brain tissue was dying. If he did survive, doctors doubted he would walk or see.
In only minutes, the same doctors at both Mineral Area Regional Medical Center in Farmington — and later, doctors at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, where he was airlifted — concluded his devastating injuries on March 27, 2007, were no accident, state Children Division records show.
Just hours later, hospital social workers and investigators with the Children's Division and the St. Francois County Sheriff's Department narrowed their sights on one suspect.
Conner's father, Steven Roloff, then 19, had been alone with the infant at his home in Bonne Terre that afternoon, while Conner's mother, Megan Zwierski, then 18, was at her first day of work. Roloff did not give anyone a feasible reason why a relatively healthy baby suddenly had head injuries so grave he had stopped breathing.
Roloff so definitively flunked a voluntary lie detector test days later, the administrator told a Children's Division investigator it was unnecessary to send anyone else to take the polygraph, records show.
But almost three years to the day after prosecutors charged Roloff, 22, with felonies that could put him in prison for more than 30 years, he remains free on bond. Those who are rearing Conner wonder not only why Roloff's prosecution has been mired in bureaucratic delays, but why the state system charged with protecting children such as Conner failed to heed a critical warning.
"It just doesn't seem fair," said Chris Pyles, a companion of Conner's maternal grandmother, Ginger Brown. "He is out walking around free while Conner's been having all of these therapies and surgery."
Brown has formally adopted Conner. She believes her grandson's abuse could have been prevented if the state Children's Division had done its job properly. Six weeks prior to Conner's alleged assault, records show both she and his doctor raised red flags about Conner's safety that were not fully investigated by a caseworker. Instead of owning up to that mistake, Brown said, the state agency charged with protecting Conner sought to hide details of its substandard investigation.
It took Brown, 51, nearly a year — and a lawyer — to obtain Conner's records from the Children's Division, despite being legally entitled to them. But in those records, shared by Brown with the Post-Dispatch, passages were blacked out, including a sentence that indicated the investigator had failed to speak with the pediatrician who reported a prior abuse allegation pertaining to Roloff. Had she done so, Brown thinks, Conner might have been spared.
A spokesman for the Missouri Division of Social Services, which oversees the Children's Division, would not comment directly on the handling of Conner's case. Department Spokesman Scott Rowson said caseworkers made difficult decisions every day and must see an imminent threat before removing a child.
"If that doesn't happen, that simply means that the evidence did not meet that strict threshold," he said.
Brown is a former foster child from Virginia who said she spent most of her youth miserably bouncing around the system. The longer this situation drags on, the more she realizes her life has come full circle.
"It happened to me and nobody listened," she said. "And then it happened to my grandson, and I cried for him, and nobody listened."
WARNING SIGNS
Conner, now 3, has a wide, toothy smile that shows no hint that he has suffered.
He walks with just a slight limp. Yet his speech is delayed, and doctors worry that he may never fully catch up from the brain damage he sustained. This spring, a surgeon detached muscles from Conner's left eyeball to prevent it from wandering in its socket. The eye functions, but the part of the brain that decodes those images does not, so he is blind in one eye.
"After the surgery, I asked the doctor, 'Did you see any life in there? Any signs that he could see?' And the doctor said, 'Ginger, I told you that part of his brain is dead.'"
Brown had opened her home to her daughter, Zwierski, then 18, and Roloff in the months before Conner was born. But she soon had concerns about Roloff, and worried for the baby. On Feb. 12, 2007, Brown said, Roloff took Conner into the bathroom during a dispute. When he came out, Brown said, the baby had a bite mark on his cheek.
She immediately took Conner to the pediatrician, knowing the doctor was mandated by law to report suspicions of abuse.
Just after 3 p.m. that day, Farmington pediatrician Karl Killian did just that: He called the state child abuse hot line to report a human bite mark on Conner's cheek, records show.
Less than two hours later, documents show, St. Francois County children's division worker Christine Black arrived at Brown's house near Bonne Terre to investigate. When she got there, documents indicate she found the home in turmoil. Pyles, Brown's companion, was kicking Roloff out of the house. A sheriff's officer had been called.
In her 13-page investigation, Black categorized the incident as a "family feud" pitting Brown against Zwierski, Roloff and his parents, who lived next door.
Black wrote in her report that the group claimed, "Ms. Brown is always making wild accusations against them" and "is very controlling and wants to raise the baby herself."
Black took no definitive action.
"This may be a problem of lack of effective communication and encouraged all parties to get along with each other," she wrote in her report.
But Brown said Black was blunt to her.
"She told me to mind my own business and leave them alone," Brown recalls. "Then she left."
Black declined to comment. She no longer works at the Children's Division, an official said.
In her report, Black also quickly dismissed the bite mark. She wrote that she observed "a very small very light purple bruise on the baby's cheek. This bruise did not appear at all to be the bruise from a human bite on the face."
Her report made no mention of consulting with the pediatrician to get his opinion.
Killian, the pediatrician, said in an interview Thursday that he would have explained why he believed the bruise on Conner's face was an adult bite mark. He has seen plenty of child bites in his practice. This was far larger, and something that should cause alarm, he said.
"That's the reason I called them in the first place," he said. "It looked like a bite mark."
Black's failure to follow up with the pediatrician would later prompt St. Francois County Judge Sandy Martinez to openly chastise the Children's Division during one of Conner's early custody hearings, said people in the courtroom that day. Attorney James Willis said the judge was upset when she heard the pediatrician testify that he never got a follow-up call from the caseworker.
"And when he said 'no,' I was shocked, Conner's guardian ad litem was shocked and Judge Martinez started questioning the children's services on why wasn't anything done," Willis said.
DEMANDING RECORDS
Brown knows the full history of her grandson's investigation because she pushed the Children's Division for nearly a year for documents.
She secured a legal right to request Conner's files when a judge granted her full custody of Conner a year ago. Although state caseworkers had hoped to reunite Conner with his mother, Zwierski, records show she felt she was unable to raise her child properly and opted to terminate her parental rights. She has since married and moved to Arizona. Roloff's rights were terminated by the court.
Even after Brown had legal rights to Conner's case files, it took an appeal to the Missouri attorney general by Brown's lawyer before she would secure them.
Until then, officials with Children's Division in both St. Francois County and the state had refused, at one point telling her they were sealed because of the adoption. That position is contrary to state policy, which gives adoptive parents the right to such files.
There are reams of pages in Conner's files, including Black's 13-page report that concluded that the allegations in the pediatrician's hot line complaint were unsubstantiated.
In it, a state lawyer chose to redact several passages. They included parts of the pediatrician's account to the hot line worker of what he saw in his office that day.
Most troubling to Brown and her lawyer was another small passage blotted out with a marker — yet still legible.
It was Black's account of her failed effort to contact Killian, in which she referred to the pediatrician not by name but as "reporter" of the abuse. It read: "Reporter is not available due to reporters' job duties. This worker will contact reporter via letter with outcome of report."
Rowson would not comment specifically on the redaction.
He said the state was required by law to protect the identity of child abuse reporters. Yet nowhere in that redacted passage is Killian — the reporter — named.
Brown's lawyer, Koreen Gummere, said the state inked out the passage without legal justification to cover up the shoddy work of a caseworker.
WAITING FOR JUSTICE
St. Francois County Prosecuting Attorney Wendy Wexler Horn said justice would be served, but she made no apologies for the slow pace of Roloff's prosecution.
Wexler Horn, whose office covers four counties, said the region was overwhelmed with cases.
"In our circuit, we have two circuit judges, two courtrooms that are appropriate for jury trials and lots and lots of cases, and we need to have room for everything to be set."
Wexler Horn said she also had no control over a year-long legal battle over who should defend Roloff. Documents indicate Roloff's original attorney dropped him after Roloff refused to accept a 14-year sentence in exchange for a guilty plea. Roloff then requested a public defender. But the Farmington district public defender's office, burdened with a backlog of cases, refused to take him. Officials cited a Missouri State Public Defender Commission policy that enabled them to deny representation to clients who previously employed a private attorney.
The issue went all the way to the Missouri Supreme Court. In December, the court threw out that rule, and a public defender was forced to take Roloff's case.
Several messages left for Roloff's current attorney, Benjamin Campbell, were not returned. Attempts to reach Roloff, now residing in Nixa, Mo., were also unsuccessful.
For Brown, the agonizing wait continues. A summer trial was canceled this month. A new date was set for late March — nearly four years after Roloff was charged.
Stormy Bennett, then the St. Francois County Sheriff's Department detective who built the case against Roloff, said it was a common strategy for attorneys to delay and ask for continuances.
"They hope everything will go by the wayside and people will forget," he said.
But Brown will never forget. Too many people and too many systems that should have helped her grandson failed him, she said.
She wants Conner to come first.
"Can you imagine that this child has no voice and nobody is hearing?" she said. "Can you imagine being the grandmother begging for help and nobody cares? Can you imagine this little boy laying up in the hospital at the hands of a man who could have been prevented from hurting him?"
The Ephiphany - by Gail Lakritz
Powerful post by Gail Lakritz at OpEdNews. A must read. Make sure you go to the source and leave comments.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/The-Epiphany-by-Gail-Lakritz-100528-225.html
The Epiphany
By Gail Lakritz (about the author)
For OpEdNews: Gail Lakritz - Writer
Way back, oh, it must have been 1988 or so, I remember seeing an article in the New York Times. It was a beautiful summers day, and as was our custom, my husband, mother-in-law and I were sitting around, drinking coffee and passing a lazy morning by mindlessly flipping and reading, our actions halting on an article here and there to acquire or expand bits of knowledge. One of the articles caught my eye.
The lead picture was that of a well dressed woman standing in front of a non-descript older model car. I remember her wearing a scarf draped over her shoulders and held neatly in place by a small broach on her left side. She looked like anyone I could have seen at any of the chic stores that dotted Route 1 in Westport, Connecticut, where the article was datelined. Through the windows of the car, the photograph revealed piles of cloths.
As I read the article, I learned a lot about the woman, though to this day, I do not remember her name. She had been married to a wealthy man. They had split, though the article did not say why. In the ensuing divorce, she had lost everything. She lived in her car in Westport where her friends were and where she had resided with her husband before the divorce. Though she remained in contact with her friends, none knew, until the article appeared, that she was homeless and penniless. The Times article, though not actually siding with her, was pointedly informing the public of a growing and disturbing trend. The author wanted the public to know that the courts were, at an alarming rate, making women homeless in cases of divorce.
I did not realize, way back then, that the courts would do this to me. I did not realize, though I should have, it was right there in black and white, that our government would sanction abuse of its own citizens. They knew, even back then, what was going on, and turned their back to it.
Last night, as I laid in my bed, dreaming, that day and the article came back to me. It was as though a divine being was bringing me full circle, using that memory. I was seeing something clearly and with such a concise thought process, that the clouds that had enshrouded me for the last several years of living this hell, suddenly parted. I now understand why our government has abandoned its women and children.
Along with the memory, came the realization that our government knows, and has known for many years, what is happening to the women and children in this nation, and why it condones and supports the continued abuse. For, it is the strong that prevail and the weak who lose. They are simply weeding out the weak. Culling the crops if you will. The government is doing its job, protecting and defending, but not those who seek protection and defense, but those who can pay for it.
Humans have the ability of flight or fight. Ultimate power depends on lower powers to exist. If one of the weaker ones suddenly finds strength and decides to fight, they must be swiftly and deftly dealt with. They must be removed from society so that they do not infect society. All citizens must acquiesce to the ultimate power of government and the levels of power that it spawns below that ultimate level.
The basis of our court system is not right or wrong. It is not protection from those who would take advantage of an unsuspecting, innocent victim. It exists to maintain power where it currently lies. It is for blood sport. The perceived weaker litigant, the victim, who has the courage and determination to challenge the power structure, the one with no money to pay for a stand-in Gladiator, must withstand, until death finally releases them, having flesh ripped from bone, with the hyenas both devouring the flesh and drinking the blood of the victim. The courtroom is nothing more than a government sanctioned Roman Coliseum where spectators, in this case, the perpetrator of the original crime and their cadre of paid allies, including the judge, can witness the mutilation and death of another human being.
Themis is dead. She died from the carnage of the courts long before any of today's victims saw the inside of a courtroom. Her coffin lays empty, because there is nothing left of her body. Even her skeleton is scattered and so contaminated that DNA testing would reveal nothing of her identity. Her body is so ravaged, that she has attained the status of myth. All hail Themis, the Mythical Goddess of Justice, for myth is all that remains of you.
How did we get to this point? Why has our own government done this to its women and children? When will it end? When will our government intervene in the courts to bring justice to victims of any crime? The answer can only be, dream on, citizens of Amerika, for the oligarchy that controls the courts and justice, the ones who killed Themis and feasted on her body, require more blood and flesh to thrive. And it is your blood and flesh they desire.
For whatever reason, money or power, our government turned its back on the oppressed populations within its own boarders long ago. It must have realized that for those in power, there must be a base of power. This is, by no means, a bolstering of any conspiracy theory, but rather a statement of greed. In order for power to exist, there must be a base for that power. Rocks from which to build a foundation. If a rock is weakened, it must be discarded, or the entire building will fall. We, for lack of money or influence, are the weakened rocks. We cannot support the greed and lust for power, therefore, we are not good for foundation building. The pile has been picked over, and we have already been discarded.
And there are so many more who have become valueless and must be removed from the pile. The work of picking over the pile is never ending. We all, at least those unlucky enough to, get old. Once old, we have served our purpose. They, too, must be stripped of their dignity and removed from the pile. The weak must be eliminated, for all great societies are built on the strong.
This is why our government knows what is happening in the court system and why it doesn't care. We are the weak, the ones who were beaten or raped. We must be the weaker ones to have allowed this to happen to us. Our courts have tacitly been assigned the task of ridding the United States of those of us who are weak. Not in a conspiratorial way, for I doubt that anyone has outright stated or made a list of the condemned, but the courts know whose body must be preyed upon. Whose life must be disposed of.
Our nation glorifies the strong. It always has. In the formation of our country, it was those we revere now, as our founding fathers. Today, that strength lies in money and power. Our system of government rewards those who are the superior criminals. The individuals who can, through abuse, control others. Not unlike an army, the stronger ones work their way up through the ranks, doing the bidding of those who are in a position of power they wish to attain, licking their boots and backsides, so as to attain a modicum of power themselves. Perhaps they were tacit to illegal dealings, even taking their small cut of the booty, and that has earned them their rank in the system. I do know for a fact, that for most of the winners in the system, it is not their first and only brush with trouble. The losers, on the other hand, have most likely never been in trouble. That is as it is in my case. He is a convicted felon, and an identified deadbeat dad. I had never even had a parking ticket. I had no experience with the system, therefore, no forewarning of how the system honored power and greed. No experience with the unlawful attorneys, the corrupt police and judges who inhabit the system. I, admittedly, was stupid and believed that justice, the now dead Themis, would prevail.
To be forewarned is to be forearmed as they say. If you are the weaker, the beaten and abused. If there is a crack anywhere. If you do stand up for yourself immediately and without hesitation, no one is going to respect you. If a lawyer says "let me handle it" you are being led to slaughter. If you are not prepped by your lawyer, interrogated and ripped to pieces by them before ever stepping foot in a courtroom, you are being thrown to the hyenas. If your lawyer suddenly has to relieve themselves or visit the court clerk's office leaving you alone in a hall to be intimidated by opposing counsel or the "other guy", you have been marked. If a judge does not allow you to complete testimony or refuses witnesses or evidence on your behalf, if court records are changed and testimony altered in transcripts, you are working with dirty lawyers on both sides, for games are not played alone. You have no hope of winning. He can kill you or your children, and the judge will only laugh. Laugh all the way to the bank in which he keeps his deposits of money or power Being a judge is not a position based on competency, but one of ability to amass and retain power.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/The-Epiphany-by-Gail-Lakritz-100528-225.html
The Epiphany
By Gail Lakritz (about the author)
For OpEdNews: Gail Lakritz - Writer
Way back, oh, it must have been 1988 or so, I remember seeing an article in the New York Times. It was a beautiful summers day, and as was our custom, my husband, mother-in-law and I were sitting around, drinking coffee and passing a lazy morning by mindlessly flipping and reading, our actions halting on an article here and there to acquire or expand bits of knowledge. One of the articles caught my eye.
The lead picture was that of a well dressed woman standing in front of a non-descript older model car. I remember her wearing a scarf draped over her shoulders and held neatly in place by a small broach on her left side. She looked like anyone I could have seen at any of the chic stores that dotted Route 1 in Westport, Connecticut, where the article was datelined. Through the windows of the car, the photograph revealed piles of cloths.
As I read the article, I learned a lot about the woman, though to this day, I do not remember her name. She had been married to a wealthy man. They had split, though the article did not say why. In the ensuing divorce, she had lost everything. She lived in her car in Westport where her friends were and where she had resided with her husband before the divorce. Though she remained in contact with her friends, none knew, until the article appeared, that she was homeless and penniless. The Times article, though not actually siding with her, was pointedly informing the public of a growing and disturbing trend. The author wanted the public to know that the courts were, at an alarming rate, making women homeless in cases of divorce.
I did not realize, way back then, that the courts would do this to me. I did not realize, though I should have, it was right there in black and white, that our government would sanction abuse of its own citizens. They knew, even back then, what was going on, and turned their back to it.
Last night, as I laid in my bed, dreaming, that day and the article came back to me. It was as though a divine being was bringing me full circle, using that memory. I was seeing something clearly and with such a concise thought process, that the clouds that had enshrouded me for the last several years of living this hell, suddenly parted. I now understand why our government has abandoned its women and children.
Along with the memory, came the realization that our government knows, and has known for many years, what is happening to the women and children in this nation, and why it condones and supports the continued abuse. For, it is the strong that prevail and the weak who lose. They are simply weeding out the weak. Culling the crops if you will. The government is doing its job, protecting and defending, but not those who seek protection and defense, but those who can pay for it.
Humans have the ability of flight or fight. Ultimate power depends on lower powers to exist. If one of the weaker ones suddenly finds strength and decides to fight, they must be swiftly and deftly dealt with. They must be removed from society so that they do not infect society. All citizens must acquiesce to the ultimate power of government and the levels of power that it spawns below that ultimate level.
The basis of our court system is not right or wrong. It is not protection from those who would take advantage of an unsuspecting, innocent victim. It exists to maintain power where it currently lies. It is for blood sport. The perceived weaker litigant, the victim, who has the courage and determination to challenge the power structure, the one with no money to pay for a stand-in Gladiator, must withstand, until death finally releases them, having flesh ripped from bone, with the hyenas both devouring the flesh and drinking the blood of the victim. The courtroom is nothing more than a government sanctioned Roman Coliseum where spectators, in this case, the perpetrator of the original crime and their cadre of paid allies, including the judge, can witness the mutilation and death of another human being.
Themis is dead. She died from the carnage of the courts long before any of today's victims saw the inside of a courtroom. Her coffin lays empty, because there is nothing left of her body. Even her skeleton is scattered and so contaminated that DNA testing would reveal nothing of her identity. Her body is so ravaged, that she has attained the status of myth. All hail Themis, the Mythical Goddess of Justice, for myth is all that remains of you.
How did we get to this point? Why has our own government done this to its women and children? When will it end? When will our government intervene in the courts to bring justice to victims of any crime? The answer can only be, dream on, citizens of Amerika, for the oligarchy that controls the courts and justice, the ones who killed Themis and feasted on her body, require more blood and flesh to thrive. And it is your blood and flesh they desire.
For whatever reason, money or power, our government turned its back on the oppressed populations within its own boarders long ago. It must have realized that for those in power, there must be a base of power. This is, by no means, a bolstering of any conspiracy theory, but rather a statement of greed. In order for power to exist, there must be a base for that power. Rocks from which to build a foundation. If a rock is weakened, it must be discarded, or the entire building will fall. We, for lack of money or influence, are the weakened rocks. We cannot support the greed and lust for power, therefore, we are not good for foundation building. The pile has been picked over, and we have already been discarded.
And there are so many more who have become valueless and must be removed from the pile. The work of picking over the pile is never ending. We all, at least those unlucky enough to, get old. Once old, we have served our purpose. They, too, must be stripped of their dignity and removed from the pile. The weak must be eliminated, for all great societies are built on the strong.
This is why our government knows what is happening in the court system and why it doesn't care. We are the weak, the ones who were beaten or raped. We must be the weaker ones to have allowed this to happen to us. Our courts have tacitly been assigned the task of ridding the United States of those of us who are weak. Not in a conspiratorial way, for I doubt that anyone has outright stated or made a list of the condemned, but the courts know whose body must be preyed upon. Whose life must be disposed of.
Our nation glorifies the strong. It always has. In the formation of our country, it was those we revere now, as our founding fathers. Today, that strength lies in money and power. Our system of government rewards those who are the superior criminals. The individuals who can, through abuse, control others. Not unlike an army, the stronger ones work their way up through the ranks, doing the bidding of those who are in a position of power they wish to attain, licking their boots and backsides, so as to attain a modicum of power themselves. Perhaps they were tacit to illegal dealings, even taking their small cut of the booty, and that has earned them their rank in the system. I do know for a fact, that for most of the winners in the system, it is not their first and only brush with trouble. The losers, on the other hand, have most likely never been in trouble. That is as it is in my case. He is a convicted felon, and an identified deadbeat dad. I had never even had a parking ticket. I had no experience with the system, therefore, no forewarning of how the system honored power and greed. No experience with the unlawful attorneys, the corrupt police and judges who inhabit the system. I, admittedly, was stupid and believed that justice, the now dead Themis, would prevail.
To be forewarned is to be forearmed as they say. If you are the weaker, the beaten and abused. If there is a crack anywhere. If you do stand up for yourself immediately and without hesitation, no one is going to respect you. If a lawyer says "let me handle it" you are being led to slaughter. If you are not prepped by your lawyer, interrogated and ripped to pieces by them before ever stepping foot in a courtroom, you are being thrown to the hyenas. If your lawyer suddenly has to relieve themselves or visit the court clerk's office leaving you alone in a hall to be intimidated by opposing counsel or the "other guy", you have been marked. If a judge does not allow you to complete testimony or refuses witnesses or evidence on your behalf, if court records are changed and testimony altered in transcripts, you are working with dirty lawyers on both sides, for games are not played alone. You have no hope of winning. He can kill you or your children, and the judge will only laugh. Laugh all the way to the bank in which he keeps his deposits of money or power Being a judge is not a position based on competency, but one of ability to amass and retain power.
Rambo dad fires gun while driving--while infant son is in car (Phoenix, Arizona)
Hadn't seen any abusive father crap out of Maricopa County for a while, so I guess we were overdue. So anybody want to explain how or why UNNAMED DAD had his infant son in his car, while he's driving through an urban neighborhood, opening fire? We're told he was firing at his girlfriend's father, who was in the car behind him. OOOHH. Like that explains everything. The girlfriend's father, meaning, like, the father of the baby's mother? Or some other girlfriend's father?
INVISIBLE MOTHER ALERT: So there is really no mention of the mother at all here, and why this baby wasn't with Mama instead of crusing around with Rambo Daddy. A little custody/visitation thing maybe? Of course, the press isn't going to tell us how this 9-month-old infant came to be in this car. Even though a ricocheted bullet came within 2 feet of hitting the baby.
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/local/phoenix/shooting_edgemont_05312010
Bullet Misses Infant's Head by 2 Feet
Updated: Monday, 31 May 2010, 8:03 AM MDT
Published : Monday, 31 May 2010, 8:03 AM MDT
PHOENIX - A man opens fire while driving through a Phoenix neighborhood and police say he did it while his infant son was inside the car.
Police pursued the man to his home near 51st Avenue and Camelback.
They say he was firing at his girlfriend's father who was in another car behind him.
Police say the man was really putting his on in harm's way.
"What happened was the bullet..because the aim was so far off, the bullet actually struck the side of his own van, reentered the van and narrowly missed his 9-month old son's head by two feet." said Phoenix Police Lt. John White.
Luckily, the boy wasn't hurt. His father is facing several charges, including child abuse.
INVISIBLE MOTHER ALERT: So there is really no mention of the mother at all here, and why this baby wasn't with Mama instead of crusing around with Rambo Daddy. A little custody/visitation thing maybe? Of course, the press isn't going to tell us how this 9-month-old infant came to be in this car. Even though a ricocheted bullet came within 2 feet of hitting the baby.
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/local/phoenix/shooting_edgemont_05312010
Bullet Misses Infant's Head by 2 Feet
Updated: Monday, 31 May 2010, 8:03 AM MDT
Published : Monday, 31 May 2010, 8:03 AM MDT
PHOENIX - A man opens fire while driving through a Phoenix neighborhood and police say he did it while his infant son was inside the car.
Police pursued the man to his home near 51st Avenue and Camelback.
They say he was firing at his girlfriend's father who was in another car behind him.
Police say the man was really putting his on in harm's way.
"What happened was the bullet..because the aim was so far off, the bullet actually struck the side of his own van, reentered the van and narrowly missed his 9-month old son's head by two feet." said Phoenix Police Lt. John White.
Luckily, the boy wasn't hurt. His father is facing several charges, including child abuse.
Babysitting dad sentenced to 7 years for felonious assault of 5-month-old daughter (Ross County, Ohio)
Dad CHRISTOPHER MCGUIN was babysitting while Mom was in class. But like all these @$$holes, something got him "angry," so he threw the baby. Being the ultra-concerned Daddy he is, when the baby shows breathing problems, does he call 911? No, HE SLAMS HER DOWN TWO MORE TIMES. Then this poor sweetie doesn't tell the mother, because "he was afraid of being kept from seeing his daughter." Oh, but it was okay to inflict serious brain damage on your own infant, and not seek medical treatment? Gotcha. And then there's the real heart of the matter: Daddy was afraid he would be "charged criminally." Maybe you should have thought of that before you threw the baby, moron. Now you got 7 years to think about it while your butt is parked in prison. And I hope your parenting right are permanently severed.
http://www.chillicothegazette.com/article/20100529/NEWS01/5290303/Father-sentenced-to-7-years-for-hurting-daughter
Father sentenced to 7 years for hurting daughter
BY ASHLEY PHILLIPS • Gazette Staff Writer • May 29, 2010
A Ross County man who lost his temper while babysitting his infant daughter will spend the next seven years in prison.
Christopher McGuin, 21, of 236 Toad Hollow Road, was charged with felonious assault and endangering children.
Before imposing the sentence Thursday, Common Pleas Judge Scott Nusbaum told McGuin he couldn't understand what was going through his mind to make him cause physical harm to his daughter.
"You've taken responsibility for your actions. I can't understand how a person can cause such serious physical harm to a young girl. It's beyond me," Nusbaum said.
According to the initial report, the incident came to light in October 2009 when the mother took her then 5-month-old daughter to the doctor for a checkup. Doctors said the child's head was extremely swollen and recommended she go to Nation-wide Children's Hospital in Columbus.
Children's Services was notified of a potential abuse case and contacted law enforcement. The child was diagnosed later with shaken baby syndrome.
While being interviewed by a polygraph specialist, McGuin said he was babysitting his daughter for his girlfriend why she was at school. The two were playing around, when something made him angry and he tossed the infant into a baby bouncer. The child bounced back and hit his leg and the leg of the bed.
McGuin said knew something wasn't right with her because she was breathing funny and making a wheezing sound. After failed attempts of trying to get the child to stop crying, he became upset and grabbed her by the armpits and slammed her down on the bed twice.
The child's eyes began to cross immediately after the impact.
McGuin told the polygraph specialist he didn't tell his girlfriend about what happened because he was afraid of being kept from seeing his daughter and was afraid of being charged criminally.
http://www.chillicothegazette.com/article/20100529/NEWS01/5290303/Father-sentenced-to-7-years-for-hurting-daughter
Father sentenced to 7 years for hurting daughter
BY ASHLEY PHILLIPS • Gazette Staff Writer • May 29, 2010
A Ross County man who lost his temper while babysitting his infant daughter will spend the next seven years in prison.
Christopher McGuin, 21, of 236 Toad Hollow Road, was charged with felonious assault and endangering children.
Before imposing the sentence Thursday, Common Pleas Judge Scott Nusbaum told McGuin he couldn't understand what was going through his mind to make him cause physical harm to his daughter.
"You've taken responsibility for your actions. I can't understand how a person can cause such serious physical harm to a young girl. It's beyond me," Nusbaum said.
According to the initial report, the incident came to light in October 2009 when the mother took her then 5-month-old daughter to the doctor for a checkup. Doctors said the child's head was extremely swollen and recommended she go to Nation-wide Children's Hospital in Columbus.
Children's Services was notified of a potential abuse case and contacted law enforcement. The child was diagnosed later with shaken baby syndrome.
While being interviewed by a polygraph specialist, McGuin said he was babysitting his daughter for his girlfriend why she was at school. The two were playing around, when something made him angry and he tossed the infant into a baby bouncer. The child bounced back and hit his leg and the leg of the bed.
McGuin said knew something wasn't right with her because she was breathing funny and making a wheezing sound. After failed attempts of trying to get the child to stop crying, he became upset and grabbed her by the armpits and slammed her down on the bed twice.
The child's eyes began to cross immediately after the impact.
McGuin told the polygraph specialist he didn't tell his girlfriend about what happened because he was afraid of being kept from seeing his daughter and was afraid of being charged criminally.
Sexually abusive American father seeks sole custody from Canadian mother
Excelllent post from mamaliberty. Sadly, what happened to Cara and her children is not unique. And it's even worse in the U.S. if the mother is not an American citizen.
http://mamaliberty.wordpress.com/2010/05/30/how-far-abusers-will-go/
HOW FAR ABUSERS WILL GO
May 30, 2010 mamaliberty-->
The following horror story is like so many in the world where a sexually abusive father fights tooth and nail to get his victims back. The children are trying to heal and yet their father continues to try gain access to his victims unsupervised. A mother made a promise to her children that they would be safe forever…mothers always keep their promises.
I am a devoted, loving and protective Canadian mom of 4 stunning children. My name is Cara and I am being held captive in a country that claims liberty and justice for all and yet this is not the case here in America and globally. Our captor is our abuser, the ransom, their childhood and our freedom to live a life without abuse. I am being forced to file paperwork that our abuser refused to file for me as it was part of his abuse arsenal over me during our marriage to keep me in my place. I have no legal rights unless I can afford to pay for them and more importantly, as survivors of domestic violence and our boys, child abuse, we are being re victimized by the very systems that took an oath to serve and protect, give due process and serve the best interest of the child.
I came to America engaged to a man who gave me his word he’d take care of me. We have 2 boys together. I left a marriage I thought would last the rest of my life, well, that was until I realized we were in danger. In Nov 2004 after careful planning I saw the window of opportunity to get myself and our 2 boys out safely. In the middle of the night, a friend came to pick us up and drive us to our safe place. A woman’s shelter in PA. I tucked my then 10mos and 22mos old boys into our bed and for the first time since coming to America, we slept in peace. No more did I fear waking up to a gun pointing at my head, no longer did I hear his words of how he was going to kill me and bury me all over the States, no more did I hear him spew his venom at our toddlers. Finally, we were safe…or so I thought. Little did I know what would be in store for us over the course of the upcoming yrs. We were at the gates of Hell and didn’t even know it…until now.
I tried to be the friendly parent, I tried to co-parent, I just wanted to know our safety would be priority to family courts. Sadly, this was not the case and still, abuse lurks in corners. Our abuser used the family courts and his attorney as extensions of his abuse. We had Protection from Abuse (PFA’s) orders issued against him, we had witnesses and documentation to substantiate our claims. Mandated reporters called CPS (Child Protective Services) a total of 10-12 times only one report was treated with the respect and safety the children deserved which resulted in 2 supported investigations of sexual abuse against their father; our abuser. After 6 years of torment, taunting and judicial abuse the childrens cries were heard. It no longer mattered to me that the Courts belittled and outright dismissed the domestic violence, all that mattered now was our 2 boys were BELIEVED. After 5&6 yrs of being their primary caretaker, Dec 2008 they were raped from my custody and placed with our abuser who at this time was now a 4 State drive away. Why the term rape, because I have been raped and the tearing away of your children to our abuser runs parallel to being raped by your attacker. The children testified to the abuse and the Judge dismissed their testimony, the Judge dismissed the treating psychologist would could substantiate the child’s fears and reactive behaviour. The only thing the Judicial system saw was an immigrant mother who was obviously making allegations to gain custody. Furthest from the truth. 70% of Batters gain custody when they file for it, 1.3% of abuse allegations are false, I’m not that 1.3% I was sadly awarded visitation and our abuser controlled even that. Then in March of 2009 without notice not more than 24 hrs of having the boys home, they both disclosed sexual abuse against their father. A forensic interview was completed in MA (our home State) and sent to PA the State of jurisdiction. The children were taken into protective custody and I was only afforded 3 phone calls in a 48 day period while our abuser was allowed continued supervised visitation once a week.
The children were so brave as they continued to disclose and sadly act out. The CPS investigator completed her findings and presented it to the Judge with the recommendation that the children be returned to my custody and that the children not remain in foster care. Our abuser testified that he’d rather see them in foster care than with me their mother. 3 days later the Honorable Judge Stein order the children back to me this time awarding me sole custody of our boys and giving our abuser supervised visits though a accredited centre that would ensure the children’s safety.
No sooner did this happen that our abuser filed for an appeal against the indicated reports of sexual abuse against our 2 sons. In Dec 2009 with less than 24hrs notice to appear in court 4 States away, the children were confronted by their abuser prior to testifying. The very man who had told the boys that if they told about “daddy’s secret” they could all go to jail, or even be killed. (nothing different from threats he had made to me during our marriage.) The boys asked me if they were going back to foster care and I had told them no, they asked why they were there and I told them because the Judge wants to hear what they told us and the investigator about the things they said about their dad. They also wanted confirmation that we’d then go home and I said yes, then we’d go straight home. Upon exiting, our youngest did state that he told a lie about me, when asked why, he sadly said he “was afraid that daddy’s lawyer would get mad” I told him not to worry, it would be okay.
May 15, 2010 I get notice in the mail via the attorney for CPS informing me that our abuser’s appeal before the Administrative Law Judge was granted and ordered CPS to expunge his record as ”they did not convince me that they were telling the truth” He went further to state that “their mother influenced their testimony” and the “Appellant denied that he sexually abused the subject children. Appellant’s testimony was credible”
With this feather in his hat, our abuser has now served me with more litigation papers, this time seeking sole custody and to have my parental rights suspended pending a custody hearing. I have brought this to the attention of the boys treating specialists and they were not a bit surprised as they see this happen all to often to young children who have suffered child abuse and placed on an adult platform like testifying in court especially in the known presence of their abuser. So here we go back down the Rabbit Hole of a broken and failing family court system that is not protecting our children but rather trafficking them to the money whores of the CRT. Sadly, this is not just in America as I have found out and worse yet, I am not alone. This is a global crisis that is even taking place in my own home country of Canada.
Is no child safe anymore? Aren’t they WORTH SAVING?
http://mamaliberty.wordpress.com/2010/05/30/how-far-abusers-will-go/
HOW FAR ABUSERS WILL GO
May 30, 2010 mamaliberty-->
The following horror story is like so many in the world where a sexually abusive father fights tooth and nail to get his victims back. The children are trying to heal and yet their father continues to try gain access to his victims unsupervised. A mother made a promise to her children that they would be safe forever…mothers always keep their promises.
I am a devoted, loving and protective Canadian mom of 4 stunning children. My name is Cara and I am being held captive in a country that claims liberty and justice for all and yet this is not the case here in America and globally. Our captor is our abuser, the ransom, their childhood and our freedom to live a life without abuse. I am being forced to file paperwork that our abuser refused to file for me as it was part of his abuse arsenal over me during our marriage to keep me in my place. I have no legal rights unless I can afford to pay for them and more importantly, as survivors of domestic violence and our boys, child abuse, we are being re victimized by the very systems that took an oath to serve and protect, give due process and serve the best interest of the child.
I came to America engaged to a man who gave me his word he’d take care of me. We have 2 boys together. I left a marriage I thought would last the rest of my life, well, that was until I realized we were in danger. In Nov 2004 after careful planning I saw the window of opportunity to get myself and our 2 boys out safely. In the middle of the night, a friend came to pick us up and drive us to our safe place. A woman’s shelter in PA. I tucked my then 10mos and 22mos old boys into our bed and for the first time since coming to America, we slept in peace. No more did I fear waking up to a gun pointing at my head, no longer did I hear his words of how he was going to kill me and bury me all over the States, no more did I hear him spew his venom at our toddlers. Finally, we were safe…or so I thought. Little did I know what would be in store for us over the course of the upcoming yrs. We were at the gates of Hell and didn’t even know it…until now.
I tried to be the friendly parent, I tried to co-parent, I just wanted to know our safety would be priority to family courts. Sadly, this was not the case and still, abuse lurks in corners. Our abuser used the family courts and his attorney as extensions of his abuse. We had Protection from Abuse (PFA’s) orders issued against him, we had witnesses and documentation to substantiate our claims. Mandated reporters called CPS (Child Protective Services) a total of 10-12 times only one report was treated with the respect and safety the children deserved which resulted in 2 supported investigations of sexual abuse against their father; our abuser. After 6 years of torment, taunting and judicial abuse the childrens cries were heard. It no longer mattered to me that the Courts belittled and outright dismissed the domestic violence, all that mattered now was our 2 boys were BELIEVED. After 5&6 yrs of being their primary caretaker, Dec 2008 they were raped from my custody and placed with our abuser who at this time was now a 4 State drive away. Why the term rape, because I have been raped and the tearing away of your children to our abuser runs parallel to being raped by your attacker. The children testified to the abuse and the Judge dismissed their testimony, the Judge dismissed the treating psychologist would could substantiate the child’s fears and reactive behaviour. The only thing the Judicial system saw was an immigrant mother who was obviously making allegations to gain custody. Furthest from the truth. 70% of Batters gain custody when they file for it, 1.3% of abuse allegations are false, I’m not that 1.3% I was sadly awarded visitation and our abuser controlled even that. Then in March of 2009 without notice not more than 24 hrs of having the boys home, they both disclosed sexual abuse against their father. A forensic interview was completed in MA (our home State) and sent to PA the State of jurisdiction. The children were taken into protective custody and I was only afforded 3 phone calls in a 48 day period while our abuser was allowed continued supervised visitation once a week.
The children were so brave as they continued to disclose and sadly act out. The CPS investigator completed her findings and presented it to the Judge with the recommendation that the children be returned to my custody and that the children not remain in foster care. Our abuser testified that he’d rather see them in foster care than with me their mother. 3 days later the Honorable Judge Stein order the children back to me this time awarding me sole custody of our boys and giving our abuser supervised visits though a accredited centre that would ensure the children’s safety.
No sooner did this happen that our abuser filed for an appeal against the indicated reports of sexual abuse against our 2 sons. In Dec 2009 with less than 24hrs notice to appear in court 4 States away, the children were confronted by their abuser prior to testifying. The very man who had told the boys that if they told about “daddy’s secret” they could all go to jail, or even be killed. (nothing different from threats he had made to me during our marriage.) The boys asked me if they were going back to foster care and I had told them no, they asked why they were there and I told them because the Judge wants to hear what they told us and the investigator about the things they said about their dad. They also wanted confirmation that we’d then go home and I said yes, then we’d go straight home. Upon exiting, our youngest did state that he told a lie about me, when asked why, he sadly said he “was afraid that daddy’s lawyer would get mad” I told him not to worry, it would be okay.
May 15, 2010 I get notice in the mail via the attorney for CPS informing me that our abuser’s appeal before the Administrative Law Judge was granted and ordered CPS to expunge his record as ”they did not convince me that they were telling the truth” He went further to state that “their mother influenced their testimony” and the “Appellant denied that he sexually abused the subject children. Appellant’s testimony was credible”
With this feather in his hat, our abuser has now served me with more litigation papers, this time seeking sole custody and to have my parental rights suspended pending a custody hearing. I have brought this to the attention of the boys treating specialists and they were not a bit surprised as they see this happen all to often to young children who have suffered child abuse and placed on an adult platform like testifying in court especially in the known presence of their abuser. So here we go back down the Rabbit Hole of a broken and failing family court system that is not protecting our children but rather trafficking them to the money whores of the CRT. Sadly, this is not just in America as I have found out and worse yet, I am not alone. This is a global crisis that is even taking place in my own home country of Canada.
Is no child safe anymore? Aren’t they WORTH SAVING?
Dad attempts to murder mom, then demands visitation, lower support payments from prison (Racine, Wisconsin)
Somehow I missed this article when it first came out about a month ago. But this case is so outrageous that I'm posting it now. Only with the triumph of fathers rights would anybody for one gawd dang second even CONSIDER giving sicko creep dad DAVID LARSEN visitation rights with the children he abducted, the children whose mother he nearly succeeded in killing. Such a move should be beyond the pale, unthinkable. Instead, it's just another agenda item on the table while a convicted would-be killer tries to call the shots from prison. And we have all the trappings of family court--the Guardian ad Litem representing the children, the lawyers. Just like two ordinary people quibbling about visitation during spring break or who gets the country club memberships. Ridiculous and offensive. This harrassment move by the father should have never been indulged by the court.
Thank you, Judge Gerald Ptasek, for having some old-fashioned decency and common sense and basically telling Daddy--in scrupulously clean legalese to be sure--to stick it where the sun don't shine.
His victims, his family: Man requests visitation, lower support payments for children whose mother he tried to kill
JANINE ANDERSON janine.anderson@journaltimes.com Posted: Tuesday, May 4, 2010 6:03 pm
Teri Jendusa Nicolai shows a variety of emotions, as she tensely listens to oral argment at a hearing in Racine County Circuit Court Tuesday May 4, 2010 on motions by David Larsen regarding David Larsen's request for modification of custody arrangements and his request for visitation rights with his daughters. Judge Gerald Ptacek denied his motions. Larsen is in prison, convicted of beating Teri Jendusa Nicolai, his former wife, abducting her and their daughters, and then leaving Jendusa Nicolai to die in a storage locker January 31, 2004. She was rescued, an estimated hour before she might have died. / Mark Hertzberg mhertzberg@journaltimes.com .
"Most often it's not people who made their family the victim of the crime. This family has suffered a crime, domestic violence, at the hands of Mr. Larsen."
- Judge Gerald Ptacek, who denied David Larsen's requests to see his children and have his child support payments reduced
RACINE - Teri Jendusa Nicolai sat at a long table looking up at the judge and the speakerphone projecting her ex-husband's voice into the cavernous courtroom.
She had two attorneys on each side - the guardian ad litem who looks out for her children's best interests, her family court attorney, her civil court attorney, and the attorney in charge of the trust funds set up for her children from their father's seized assets.
David Larsen was asking the court for two things: to let him see his children and to reduce his child support payments. It's been six years since Larsen saw the girls, now 12 and 9. The last time they visited him was the day he tried to kill their mother.
He beat Jendusa Nicolai with a baseball bat, stuffed her in a garbage can and left her to die in a freezing storage unit.
This is the first time since 2004 that Larsen has requested to see his children. Larsen's proposal was to have the girls spend time with his parents, who could then drive the girls to Waupun, to visit him in prison. But Judge Gerald Ptacek said Larsen can't petition for his parents to get visits with the girls. The grandparents would have to request that on their own.
"I'm still a parent here and I'm being denied access to my children," Larsen said in court Tuesday. "I'm trying to do what's necessary to change that. I don't know what else to add, short of that, at this point."
But Larsen is in prison - where he doesn't have visits with his children - because of what he did, attorneys pointed out. He tried to kill the girls' mother, which sets this case apart from most cases with an incarcerated parent, said the judge.
Larsen's responsibility for his incarceration came up again when he asked to have his child support payments reduced.
Because he is in prison, he said, he has no income. With no income, the amount he pays should be changed. But again, it is his own actions that put him there.
Larsen has fought paying child support. Before he was convicted, he was accused of using his parents to dispose of assets and move money around so Jendusa Nicolai and the children couldn't have it.
Money for the children and to pay child support is now set aside in several accounts, after a civil suit in which Jendusa Nicolai and her family won $3.7 million from Larsen. Because of those accounts, Larsen is current on his child support payments.
Leaving the child support payments in place, Ptacek said, protects the children "so that if there is a windfall of some sort, an inheritance, then they would be in line to have benefit from that."
Toward the end of the hearing, a fifth attorney stepped in on Jendusa Nicolai's behalf.
Racine County District Attorney Mike Nieskes, who had watched the hearing from a seat in the front row, walked up to talk with Attorney Donald Conner, Jendusa Nicolai's attorney on the family case. Conner then addressed the court.
"The state of Wisconsin has informed me they will be filing a harassment motion based on the custody and placement motion filed by Mr. Larsen," Conner said.
Wisconsin's truth-in-sentencing laws prohibit defendants from filing lawsuits solely to harass their victims, and that's what Jendusa Nicolai and the District Attorney believe these motions are designed to do.
"There is no legal basis," Nieskes said after the hearing. "It's not for any legitimate legal argument. It's for the purpose of harassing the victim on the matter."
When Larsen realized what he was being accused of, he spoke over the judge.
"I'm harassing because I'm attempting to see my children," he said.
Ptacek tried to cut him off - "That's not something to deal with today," the judge said. But Larsen continued speaking.
"How does that make sense?"
Thank you, Judge Gerald Ptasek, for having some old-fashioned decency and common sense and basically telling Daddy--in scrupulously clean legalese to be sure--to stick it where the sun don't shine.
Hat tip to Randi.
http://www.journaltimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_ebfcefa8-57d2-11df-bef1-001cc4c03286.htmlHis victims, his family: Man requests visitation, lower support payments for children whose mother he tried to kill
JANINE ANDERSON janine.anderson@journaltimes.com Posted: Tuesday, May 4, 2010 6:03 pm
Teri Jendusa Nicolai shows a variety of emotions, as she tensely listens to oral argment at a hearing in Racine County Circuit Court Tuesday May 4, 2010 on motions by David Larsen regarding David Larsen's request for modification of custody arrangements and his request for visitation rights with his daughters. Judge Gerald Ptacek denied his motions. Larsen is in prison, convicted of beating Teri Jendusa Nicolai, his former wife, abducting her and their daughters, and then leaving Jendusa Nicolai to die in a storage locker January 31, 2004. She was rescued, an estimated hour before she might have died. / Mark Hertzberg mhertzberg@journaltimes.com .
"Most often it's not people who made their family the victim of the crime. This family has suffered a crime, domestic violence, at the hands of Mr. Larsen."
- Judge Gerald Ptacek, who denied David Larsen's requests to see his children and have his child support payments reduced
RACINE - Teri Jendusa Nicolai sat at a long table looking up at the judge and the speakerphone projecting her ex-husband's voice into the cavernous courtroom.
She had two attorneys on each side - the guardian ad litem who looks out for her children's best interests, her family court attorney, her civil court attorney, and the attorney in charge of the trust funds set up for her children from their father's seized assets.
David Larsen was asking the court for two things: to let him see his children and to reduce his child support payments. It's been six years since Larsen saw the girls, now 12 and 9. The last time they visited him was the day he tried to kill their mother.
He beat Jendusa Nicolai with a baseball bat, stuffed her in a garbage can and left her to die in a freezing storage unit.
This is the first time since 2004 that Larsen has requested to see his children. Larsen's proposal was to have the girls spend time with his parents, who could then drive the girls to Waupun, to visit him in prison. But Judge Gerald Ptacek said Larsen can't petition for his parents to get visits with the girls. The grandparents would have to request that on their own.
"I'm still a parent here and I'm being denied access to my children," Larsen said in court Tuesday. "I'm trying to do what's necessary to change that. I don't know what else to add, short of that, at this point."
But Larsen is in prison - where he doesn't have visits with his children - because of what he did, attorneys pointed out. He tried to kill the girls' mother, which sets this case apart from most cases with an incarcerated parent, said the judge.
Larsen's responsibility for his incarceration came up again when he asked to have his child support payments reduced.
Because he is in prison, he said, he has no income. With no income, the amount he pays should be changed. But again, it is his own actions that put him there.
Larsen has fought paying child support. Before he was convicted, he was accused of using his parents to dispose of assets and move money around so Jendusa Nicolai and the children couldn't have it.
Money for the children and to pay child support is now set aside in several accounts, after a civil suit in which Jendusa Nicolai and her family won $3.7 million from Larsen. Because of those accounts, Larsen is current on his child support payments.
Leaving the child support payments in place, Ptacek said, protects the children "so that if there is a windfall of some sort, an inheritance, then they would be in line to have benefit from that."
Toward the end of the hearing, a fifth attorney stepped in on Jendusa Nicolai's behalf.
Racine County District Attorney Mike Nieskes, who had watched the hearing from a seat in the front row, walked up to talk with Attorney Donald Conner, Jendusa Nicolai's attorney on the family case. Conner then addressed the court.
"The state of Wisconsin has informed me they will be filing a harassment motion based on the custody and placement motion filed by Mr. Larsen," Conner said.
Wisconsin's truth-in-sentencing laws prohibit defendants from filing lawsuits solely to harass their victims, and that's what Jendusa Nicolai and the District Attorney believe these motions are designed to do.
"There is no legal basis," Nieskes said after the hearing. "It's not for any legitimate legal argument. It's for the purpose of harassing the victim on the matter."
When Larsen realized what he was being accused of, he spoke over the judge.
"I'm harassing because I'm attempting to see my children," he said.
Ptacek tried to cut him off - "That's not something to deal with today," the judge said. But Larsen continued speaking.
"How does that make sense?"
Friday, May 28, 2010
DASTARDLY DADS FROM THE ARCHIVES (Cambridge, Maryland - 1884)
It's frightening how contemporary this story really sounds. Dad CHARLES SHENTON was killed by his son as he was assaulting the boy's mother. The only thing that distinguishes this from a modern newspaper case is the archaic language.
From the New York Times, April 17, 1884
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=940DE4DE1338E033A25754C1A9629C94659FD7CF
KILLED BY HIS SON.
A LAD IN PROTECTING HIS MOTHER KILLS HIS FATHER.
CAMBRIDGE, MD., April 16.--Intelligence reached here to-day of the killing of Charles Shenton by his son, Frank Shenton, both living in the lower part of Dorchester County, one and a half miles from Gilden Hill. The father was 55 years of age and the son 19. The former is said to have been dissipated and had been on a spree for several days, and while under the influence of drink commenced a fracas with his wife, the mother of Frank, and beat her severely. The son remonstrated with him for his cruel treatment, and immediately the father, seizing a gun nearby, rushed at the son, who ran out of the house and fell behind a pile of lumber just as the load from the gun passed over him. The father then returned to carry out his intention of a brutal assault on his wife. The son returned to the house, and found that the father had the mother upon the floor, with one hand clutched in her hair and in the other he held a large knife. The son, supposing his father was about to take the life of his mother, seized a club and dealt him a blow, killing him instantly. A neighbor who went to the house a short time after the deed was committed , saw the knife upon the floor, also a large roll of hair pulled from the head of Mrs. Shenton. It is generally thought that the son had no intention of killing his father, but under the excitement of saving the life of his mother struck a more severe blow than was intended. An inquest was held to-day. Sheriff Melvin and State Attorney Henry left here this afternoon to investigate the case.
From the New York Times, April 17, 1884
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=940DE4DE1338E033A25754C1A9629C94659FD7CF
KILLED BY HIS SON.
A LAD IN PROTECTING HIS MOTHER KILLS HIS FATHER.
CAMBRIDGE, MD., April 16.--Intelligence reached here to-day of the killing of Charles Shenton by his son, Frank Shenton, both living in the lower part of Dorchester County, one and a half miles from Gilden Hill. The father was 55 years of age and the son 19. The former is said to have been dissipated and had been on a spree for several days, and while under the influence of drink commenced a fracas with his wife, the mother of Frank, and beat her severely. The son remonstrated with him for his cruel treatment, and immediately the father, seizing a gun nearby, rushed at the son, who ran out of the house and fell behind a pile of lumber just as the load from the gun passed over him. The father then returned to carry out his intention of a brutal assault on his wife. The son returned to the house, and found that the father had the mother upon the floor, with one hand clutched in her hair and in the other he held a large knife. The son, supposing his father was about to take the life of his mother, seized a club and dealt him a blow, killing him instantly. A neighbor who went to the house a short time after the deed was committed , saw the knife upon the floor, also a large roll of hair pulled from the head of Mrs. Shenton. It is generally thought that the son had no intention of killing his father, but under the excitement of saving the life of his mother struck a more severe blow than was intended. An inquest was held to-day. Sheriff Melvin and State Attorney Henry left here this afternoon to investigate the case.
Baby "dropped" by dad dies (Seattle, Washington)
UNNAMED DAD presumably "dropped" his 4-month-old daughter after he threw her up in the air and failed to catch her. The baby has now died, and the Sheriff's Office considers the death "suspicious." Daddy was the only adult home during this alleged game of baby catch, so there are no witnesses to verify that this was just an "accident" committed by an utterly idiotic fool of a father.
INVISIBLE MOTHER ALERT: And while Daddy was practicing for his tryout with the Seattle Mariners, where is Mom? Working?
http://www.theolympian.com/2010/05/28/1253773/baby-dropped-by-father-dies.html
Baby dropped by father dies
BY JEREMY PAWLOSKI Staff writer • Published May 28, 2010
The 4-month-old infant flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle Sunday after her father said he dropped her while throwing her up in the air and trying to catch her has died, according to the Thurston County Sheriff's Office.
Chief Criminal Deputy James Chamberlain said Friday that he thinks the infant girl died Thursday night. The King County Medical Examiner will determine cause and manner of the baby's death he said. The Thurston County Sheriff's Office is actively investigating, and considers the baby's death suspicious, Chamberlain said.
No one besides the child's father was in the home in the 3200 block of 26th Avenue southeast at the time when he said he dropped her, according to the sheriff's office.
Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2010/05/28/1253773/baby-dropped-by-father-dies.html#ixzz0pFyf94GL
INVISIBLE MOTHER ALERT: And while Daddy was practicing for his tryout with the Seattle Mariners, where is Mom? Working?
http://www.theolympian.com/2010/05/28/1253773/baby-dropped-by-father-dies.html
Baby dropped by father dies
BY JEREMY PAWLOSKI Staff writer • Published May 28, 2010
The 4-month-old infant flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle Sunday after her father said he dropped her while throwing her up in the air and trying to catch her has died, according to the Thurston County Sheriff's Office.
Chief Criminal Deputy James Chamberlain said Friday that he thinks the infant girl died Thursday night. The King County Medical Examiner will determine cause and manner of the baby's death he said. The Thurston County Sheriff's Office is actively investigating, and considers the baby's death suspicious, Chamberlain said.
No one besides the child's father was in the home in the 3200 block of 26th Avenue southeast at the time when he said he dropped her, according to the sheriff's office.
Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2010/05/28/1253773/baby-dropped-by-father-dies.html#ixzz0pFyf94GL
Dad charged in murder of girlfriend and their missing 2-year-old son (St. Louis, Missouri)
Dad GEBAR BYRD SR. is charged with murder in the death of his girlfriend, and in the presumed death of his 2-year-old son, whose body has not been found. Police say that Daddy pushed the mother into the Mississippi River while she was holding the boy. The mother's body was found and identified a few weeks later.
http://www.kmox.com/Father-of-missing-toddler-charged-with-murder/7340839
Posted: Thursday, 27 May 2010 5:36PM
Father of missing toddler charged with murder
Maria Keena Reporting
maria.keena@cbsradio.com
ST. LOUIS (KMOX) -- The father of a missing University City toddler is now charged with his murder.
26-year old Gebar Byrd Senior (right) is also charged with murdering his girlfriend, the two-year old's mother, 24-year-old Yasmin Rodriguez.
St. Louis police say on March 23rd, Byrd Sr., his son and Rodriguez were standing by the river at Spring Garden and Riverview. He pushed his girlfriend into the water, while she was holding the child.
Police say Byrd Senior pushed both the victims through mud, branches and logs until they did not re-surface. The boy's body has never been recovered. The body of his mother was found April 9th and identified a week later.
Byrd is also charged with Endangering the Welfare of a Child and Domestic Assault. The 26-year old is being held without bond.
http://www.kmox.com/Father-of-missing-toddler-charged-with-murder/7340839
Posted: Thursday, 27 May 2010 5:36PM
Father of missing toddler charged with murder
Maria Keena Reporting
maria.keena@cbsradio.com
ST. LOUIS (KMOX) -- The father of a missing University City toddler is now charged with his murder.
26-year old Gebar Byrd Senior (right) is also charged with murdering his girlfriend, the two-year old's mother, 24-year-old Yasmin Rodriguez.
St. Louis police say on March 23rd, Byrd Sr., his son and Rodriguez were standing by the river at Spring Garden and Riverview. He pushed his girlfriend into the water, while she was holding the child.
Police say Byrd Senior pushed both the victims through mud, branches and logs until they did not re-surface. The boy's body has never been recovered. The body of his mother was found April 9th and identified a week later.
Byrd is also charged with Endangering the Welfare of a Child and Domestic Assault. The 26-year old is being held without bond.
Dad to be tried for murder in beating death of 3-month-old daughter (Memphis, Tennessee)
Dad JULIUS FULLER will be going to trial on murder charges next month for the beating death of his 3-month-old daughter.
http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-mother-baby-murdered-talks,0,2287160.story
Mom Prepares For Trial of Man Charged With Killing Infant
Julius Fuller charged with August 2008 murder of his daughter Jalissa
Mike "The Watchdog" Matthews
5:49 PM CDT, May 27, 2010
FAST FACTS:
* Tamika Abrum says her 3-month-old child was beaten to death because she cried a lot
* She got upset and angry over the beating death of a 2-year-old girl a few weeks ago
* Says women should look for "warning signs" to see if men are violent
(Memphis 5/27/2010) Tamika Abrum sat and watched the story.
The story of how a little 2-year-old girl went to the bathroom on the floor.
Her mother's boyfriend decided she needed to be taught a lesson.
So he beat her with a basketball shoe.
The mother came home, noticed the child was acting funny, but didn't do anything.
The little girl was pronounced dead the next morning.
"When I see stories like this," Tamika Abrum said, "...it hits home. Sad. Very sad."
Tamika Abrum was frustrated, and angry when she saw the story, "A person who would do something like this," she said, "...something has to be wrong mentally. Especially if you beat a child because she soiled herself. She's 2 years old, what do you expect?"
Tamika knows about children.
She is the mother of five.
And then there was Jalissa. Jalissa Fuller. Jalissa was 3 months old when she was beaten to death. The man charged was her father, Julius Fuller. "I asked him why," Tamika said. "He keeps saying it was a mistake."
A mistake is one thing. Murder is another. It's an emotional scar that never leaves Tamika Abrum. "It's still hard. It's like it happened yesterday. It's still hard. She had a birthday on the 14th."
Now, Tamika says she tells women to look out for warning signs. "Keep an eye on them. If they're aggressive toward their children, or they're aggressive toward you, watch out."
Julius Fuller will go on trial on June 7th.
There won't be any justice, Tamika says, because the worst sentence Julius can receive, if convicted, if life behind bars. "I hope he spends everyday thinking about what he did to Jalissa," she says.
http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-mother-baby-murdered-talks,0,2287160.story
Mom Prepares For Trial of Man Charged With Killing Infant
Julius Fuller charged with August 2008 murder of his daughter Jalissa
Mike "The Watchdog" Matthews
5:49 PM CDT, May 27, 2010
FAST FACTS:
* Tamika Abrum says her 3-month-old child was beaten to death because she cried a lot
* She got upset and angry over the beating death of a 2-year-old girl a few weeks ago
* Says women should look for "warning signs" to see if men are violent
(Memphis 5/27/2010) Tamika Abrum sat and watched the story.
The story of how a little 2-year-old girl went to the bathroom on the floor.
Her mother's boyfriend decided she needed to be taught a lesson.
So he beat her with a basketball shoe.
The mother came home, noticed the child was acting funny, but didn't do anything.
The little girl was pronounced dead the next morning.
"When I see stories like this," Tamika Abrum said, "...it hits home. Sad. Very sad."
Tamika Abrum was frustrated, and angry when she saw the story, "A person who would do something like this," she said, "...something has to be wrong mentally. Especially if you beat a child because she soiled herself. She's 2 years old, what do you expect?"
Tamika knows about children.
She is the mother of five.
And then there was Jalissa. Jalissa Fuller. Jalissa was 3 months old when she was beaten to death. The man charged was her father, Julius Fuller. "I asked him why," Tamika said. "He keeps saying it was a mistake."
A mistake is one thing. Murder is another. It's an emotional scar that never leaves Tamika Abrum. "It's still hard. It's like it happened yesterday. It's still hard. She had a birthday on the 14th."
Now, Tamika says she tells women to look out for warning signs. "Keep an eye on them. If they're aggressive toward their children, or they're aggressive toward you, watch out."
Julius Fuller will go on trial on June 7th.
There won't be any justice, Tamika says, because the worst sentence Julius can receive, if convicted, if life behind bars. "I hope he spends everyday thinking about what he did to Jalissa," she says.
Dad tries to poison two children with brake fluid; blames "break up" of his marriage (Wyoming, Michigan)
We just reported on dad JOSE OLIVA ROSA. Now we find out Dad blames his attempted murder of his two young children on his "trouble coping with the break up of his marriage." Of course, these types always blame an abstraction; they are never personally responsible for their individual actions that caused the mother to seek a divorce--namely domestic violence and abuse. And of course, they don't take any responsibility for crimes against innocent children. It's always somebody else's fault. Mom had just filed an Order of Protection, but note that Daddy still had visitation with the children. When are the courts going to figure it out? If Daddy's not safe around Mom, he's not safe around the kids either.
http://www.wtvbam.com/news/articles/2010/may/28/dad-tries-kill-kids/
Dad Tries To Kill Kids
Posted Friday May 28, 2010 7 hours, 39 minutes ago
WYOMING (WKZO) -- A quick police response to a 9-1-1 call may have saved the lives of two kids who were allegedly being forced to drink a toxic mixture of brake fluid, and over the counter drugs from sippy cups by their father at a home on Milan St. in Wyoming. Police say he intended to poison the 2 year old boy and 6 year old girl and then stab himself to death.
Capt. Brad Schutter says they forced their way in and rushed the kids to the hospital yesterday. Neighbors say that Jose Oliva Rosa let everyone know he was having trouble coping with the break-up of his marriage.
The kids were treated and released. Rosa was immediately arrested and is being held without bond for attempted murder, child abuse and poisoning. The courts had just issued his wife a personal protection order, requiring Rosa to keep his distance.
http://www.wtvbam.com/news/articles/2010/may/28/dad-tries-kill-kids/
Dad Tries To Kill Kids
Posted Friday May 28, 2010 7 hours, 39 minutes ago
WYOMING (WKZO) -- A quick police response to a 9-1-1 call may have saved the lives of two kids who were allegedly being forced to drink a toxic mixture of brake fluid, and over the counter drugs from sippy cups by their father at a home on Milan St. in Wyoming. Police say he intended to poison the 2 year old boy and 6 year old girl and then stab himself to death.
Capt. Brad Schutter says they forced their way in and rushed the kids to the hospital yesterday. Neighbors say that Jose Oliva Rosa let everyone know he was having trouble coping with the break-up of his marriage.
The kids were treated and released. Rosa was immediately arrested and is being held without bond for attempted murder, child abuse and poisoning. The courts had just issued his wife a personal protection order, requiring Rosa to keep his distance.
Mom believes body found is her daughter; hasn't seen since dad obtained custody (Monument, Colorado)
The increasingly disturbing evidence just keep piling up in this case. Interesting points we have learned from all the articles to come out thus far from a custody standpoint:
1) October 2007: The mother loses custody in classic scam, where she isn't even informed of the court dates. This is typically seen in family courts with well-earned reputations for corruption. See:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/05/more-on-crawl-space-girl-dad-scammed.html
2) As noted in the article below, after Mom loses custody, she never sees her daughter again. This is very often seen with abusive fathers with a lot of coercive control issues, especially when there is a corrupt court backing them up.
3) Dad receives and maintains custody in New Jersey despite a weapons warrant and an ongoing abuse investigation. In fact, New Jersey child protection authorities file a neglect and dependency case against the girl's custodial father, investigating whether he was physically and emotionally abusing her. In fact, they "claim" that they were in the process of taking the girl away from her father when he moved. See:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/05/more-on-crawl-space-girl-dad-scammed.html
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/05/custodial-dad-girlfriend-not-suspects.html
4) But if child protection was in the process of taking child custody away from Dad, why was he able to move to Colorado with no apparent moveway objections from the courts? And the evidence shows that Dad did NOT make a run for it. Why? Because the New Jersey New Jersey officials notified El Paso County, Colorado about their abuse investigation. So they obviously knew where he had gone. El Paso County Department of Human Services does not act on these allegations. See: http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/05/custodial-dad-girlfriend-not-suspects.html
1) October 2007: The mother loses custody in classic scam, where she isn't even informed of the court dates. This is typically seen in family courts with well-earned reputations for corruption. See:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/05/more-on-crawl-space-girl-dad-scammed.html
2) As noted in the article below, after Mom loses custody, she never sees her daughter again. This is very often seen with abusive fathers with a lot of coercive control issues, especially when there is a corrupt court backing them up.
3) Dad receives and maintains custody in New Jersey despite a weapons warrant and an ongoing abuse investigation. In fact, New Jersey child protection authorities file a neglect and dependency case against the girl's custodial father, investigating whether he was physically and emotionally abusing her. In fact, they "claim" that they were in the process of taking the girl away from her father when he moved. See:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/05/more-on-crawl-space-girl-dad-scammed.html
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/05/custodial-dad-girlfriend-not-suspects.html
4) But if child protection was in the process of taking child custody away from Dad, why was he able to move to Colorado with no apparent moveway objections from the courts? And the evidence shows that Dad did NOT make a run for it. Why? Because the New Jersey New Jersey officials notified El Paso County, Colorado about their abuse investigation. So they obviously knew where he had gone. El Paso County Department of Human Services does not act on these allegations. See: http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/05/custodial-dad-girlfriend-not-suspects.html
5) October 2008: After neighbors make complaints, an El Paso County Department of Human Services child protection worker goes to the house and interviews two children there. The girl told the worker she isn't supposed to talk about them and an older boy (the gal pal's kid) also says nothing.The complaint is deemed “inconclusive” and El Paso County officials do not open a case. In other words, the girl's apparent fear and evasiveness are either overlooked or deliberately ignored. The El Paso authorities never follow up. See: http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/05/custodial-dad-girlfriend-not-suspects.html
6) Neighbors say that when girl seemingly disappeared, they ask her custodial dad/gal pal what happened and were told that she had gone back to New Jersey to live with an aunt. See: http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/05/more-on-crawl-space-girl-dad-scammed.html
7) March 2009: The custodial dad and his gal pal leave Colorado for California.
8) March 14, 2009 - Dec. 9, 2010: Custodial dad, gal pal, gal pal's son, stay at Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles. Infant boy born while they are there. No sign of the girl and family never mentions a girl. Gal pal makes odd comment to staff: “I don’t think I’ve been able to appreciate that I have a new baby because of a situation that I’m in.” Mission helps subsidize an affordable housing apartment for the family. But custodial dad and gal pal leave town, leaving the children with "a friend" and "disappear." Unidentified "family members" later pick up the kids.” See: http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/05/more-on-crawl-space-girl-dad-scammed.html
8) May 14, 2010: Remains of young girl found in crawl space of Colorado home formerly occupied by custodial father, gal pal, children. El Paso County Sheriff's Department says that custodial dad, gal pal are not "suspects." However, New Jersey authorities say they have sent detectives to California, but can't find Dad or the gal pal.
http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/94943239.html
Updated: 8:12 PM May 26, 2010
Mom Believes Body Found In Monument Belongs To Her Daughter
The mother of a little girl says she is sure it's her daughter's body that was found at a Monument home about two weeks ago. DNA results are still pending.
Posted: 12:21 PM May 26, 2010
Reporter: Lauri Martin
Email Address: lmartin@kktv.com
The mother of a little girl says she is sure it's her daughter's body that was found at a Monument home about two weeks ago. DNA results are still pending.
Right now, investigators are searching for the girl's biological father, Hanif Sims and his girlfriend, Monique Lynch. They once lived in the Monument home where workmen recently discovered the body.
Jopetia Garretson says El Paso County detectives visited her New Jersey home to take DNA last week. She says, ever since, she's been thinking about her daughter, who she hasn't seen since October of 2007. That was the same time she lost custody.
“She was sweet and she cared for people before herself. She would play with friends to make them happy and worry about herself after," says Garretson.
The search for the couple has taken investigators to California, where the Lynch and Sims are believed to be living. We're told they've abandoned their apartment, dropped off their two boys at a relative’s house and are on the run.
Dad forces son to eat bad school report, choking the boy (France)
Notice that UNNAMED DAD didn't force this kid to just eat a one-page school report. No, he forced him to eat a 3-page report, which the child then choked on. Then Daddy--no doubt a true blue academic scholar himself--pushed the report further down the child's throat, before slapping him. In other words, this isn't just bad parenting, this "morceau de merde" could have killed this child. Social services was called after teachers noticed the boy's swollen eye and cut lip. Daddy got a suspended 2-month sentence.
INVISIBLE MOTHER ALERT: Was there a mother in this home? No mention of one.
Hat tip to Sam.
http://www.news.com.au/weird-true-freaky/french-father-forced-son-to-eat-bad-school-report/story-e6frflri-1225872402089
French father forced son to eat bad school report
From: NewsCore May 28, 2010 9:39AM
The man rammed the three-page summary into his child's mouth, causing the boy to choke.
Dad forced son to eat bad school report
Also slapped boy around the face
Given suspended prison sentence
A FATHER who forced his 12-year-old son to eat a bad school report has escaped a prison sentence.
The unnamed man rammed the three-page summary into his child's mouth, causing the boy to choke.
When the boy failed to swallow the report, the man tried to push it further down his throat before slapping him around the face, a court in Poitiers was told.
The boy's swollen eye and cut lip were spotted by a teacher in class the next day.
Social services were alerted and the father was charged with assault.
He received a two-month suspended prison sentence.
"I have apologised to my son for what I did and things have been much better since," he told the court.
"I do not hit him anymore."
INVISIBLE MOTHER ALERT: Was there a mother in this home? No mention of one.
Hat tip to Sam.
http://www.news.com.au/weird-true-freaky/french-father-forced-son-to-eat-bad-school-report/story-e6frflri-1225872402089
French father forced son to eat bad school report
From: NewsCore May 28, 2010 9:39AM
The man rammed the three-page summary into his child's mouth, causing the boy to choke.
Dad forced son to eat bad school report
Also slapped boy around the face
Given suspended prison sentence
A FATHER who forced his 12-year-old son to eat a bad school report has escaped a prison sentence.
The unnamed man rammed the three-page summary into his child's mouth, causing the boy to choke.
When the boy failed to swallow the report, the man tried to push it further down his throat before slapping him around the face, a court in Poitiers was told.
The boy's swollen eye and cut lip were spotted by a teacher in class the next day.
Social services were alerted and the father was charged with assault.
He received a two-month suspended prison sentence.
"I have apologised to my son for what I did and things have been much better since," he told the court.
"I do not hit him anymore."
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Charge: Convicted murderer used son as shield in police standoff (Seattle, Washington)
Dad PANHNHA K. TANG, a CONVICTED MURDERER, is charged with using his 1-year-old son as a shield during a police standoff. This standoff took place at the apartment of his mother and father, the baby's grandparents.
INVISIBLE MOTHER ALERT: Where is Mom? Apparently we have another case of the Invisible Mother. And why is a guy with his documented history of violence allowed anywhere around an infant? What the hell???
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/420731_kid27.html?source=mypi
Charge: Convicted murderer used son as shield in standoff
By LEVI PULKKINEN
SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
A convicted murderer is behind bars on allegations that he used his 1-year-old son as a shield during a tense standoff with police.
In charging documents, King County sheriff's deputies describe a near shootout with Panhnha K. Tang, 31, at his Highline-area apartment.
Deputies were called to the complex in the 11400 block of First Avenue South just before 3 p.m. on May 18 after a resident there reported a verbal altercation with Tang, according to charging documents.
Upset that Tang had dumped her mother's clothing on the floor of a communal laundry room, the woman confronted Tang in the communal area. She told deputies she was extremely concerned when Tang threatened to fight her because he was known to carry a pistol in the diaper bag he usually had with him.
Spotting Tang on the second-story balcony, deputies demanded he come down to talk about the incident. According to charging paper, Tang refused and asked deputies to speak with him inside the apartment.
Confronted about the incident, Tang allegedly became hostile and announced that he would not go back to jail. Deputies reported that Tang, his infant son in his arms, rushed into a rear bedroom of the apartment where his 68-year-old father was recovering from heart surgery.
Deputies were able to rush the elderly man out of the room and seize a kitchen knife from Tang's pocket, but the man was able to wedge himself in the corner of the room and maintain control of his son, a King County sheriff's detective investigating the case told the court.
"By then several deputies had noticed that Panhnha was using (his son) as a 'human shield' while at the same time reaching under his coat with his right hand," the detective told the court. "The deputies documented that Panhnha's words and conduct convinced them that he was armed and posed an immediate threat to their lives as well as (the boy's)."
Tang held the boy in front of his head and chest as deputies prepared to shoot the exposed parts of his body if Tang moved to shoot them, the detective said. Deputies ordered Tang to show his hands and release the child.
"I will kill you right now if you do not put your hand in the air!" one deputy told Tang, according to court documents.
That order apparently prompted Tang to drop a heavy, metal object, later determined to be a loaded 9 mm pistol, the detective reported. But he did not release the child, and pointed "something cylindrical" at one of the five deputies.
"Shoot me, mother (expletive)," Tang yelled, according to charging documents.
Instead, a deputy shocked Tang with a Taser stun gun, disorienting Tang enough for another deputy to grab the child, the detective reported. Deputies then took custody of Tang after shocking him a second time.
Searching the diaper bag, investigators found a diaper and baby clothes, as well as two rounds of 9 mm ammunition and a red bandana -- apparently a "flag" for the Bloods gang to which Tang belongs.
"Upon booking it was discovered that the defendant had numerous tattoos showing his gang affiliation to the Loko Asian Boyz, which is a local affiliate of the infamous Bloods," Deputy Prosecutor Samantha Kanner told the court.
Tang remained jailed Thursday, in part because his criminal history includes a 1993 second-degree murder conviction and two 2003 first-degree assault convictions. He has been charged with first-degree unlawful gun possession, harassment and reckless endangerment.
INVISIBLE MOTHER ALERT: Where is Mom? Apparently we have another case of the Invisible Mother. And why is a guy with his documented history of violence allowed anywhere around an infant? What the hell???
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/420731_kid27.html?source=mypi
Charge: Convicted murderer used son as shield in standoff
By LEVI PULKKINEN
SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
A convicted murderer is behind bars on allegations that he used his 1-year-old son as a shield during a tense standoff with police.
In charging documents, King County sheriff's deputies describe a near shootout with Panhnha K. Tang, 31, at his Highline-area apartment.
Deputies were called to the complex in the 11400 block of First Avenue South just before 3 p.m. on May 18 after a resident there reported a verbal altercation with Tang, according to charging documents.
Upset that Tang had dumped her mother's clothing on the floor of a communal laundry room, the woman confronted Tang in the communal area. She told deputies she was extremely concerned when Tang threatened to fight her because he was known to carry a pistol in the diaper bag he usually had with him.
Spotting Tang on the second-story balcony, deputies demanded he come down to talk about the incident. According to charging paper, Tang refused and asked deputies to speak with him inside the apartment.
Confronted about the incident, Tang allegedly became hostile and announced that he would not go back to jail. Deputies reported that Tang, his infant son in his arms, rushed into a rear bedroom of the apartment where his 68-year-old father was recovering from heart surgery.
Deputies were able to rush the elderly man out of the room and seize a kitchen knife from Tang's pocket, but the man was able to wedge himself in the corner of the room and maintain control of his son, a King County sheriff's detective investigating the case told the court.
"By then several deputies had noticed that Panhnha was using (his son) as a 'human shield' while at the same time reaching under his coat with his right hand," the detective told the court. "The deputies documented that Panhnha's words and conduct convinced them that he was armed and posed an immediate threat to their lives as well as (the boy's)."
Tang held the boy in front of his head and chest as deputies prepared to shoot the exposed parts of his body if Tang moved to shoot them, the detective said. Deputies ordered Tang to show his hands and release the child.
"I will kill you right now if you do not put your hand in the air!" one deputy told Tang, according to court documents.
That order apparently prompted Tang to drop a heavy, metal object, later determined to be a loaded 9 mm pistol, the detective reported. But he did not release the child, and pointed "something cylindrical" at one of the five deputies.
"Shoot me, mother (expletive)," Tang yelled, according to charging documents.
Instead, a deputy shocked Tang with a Taser stun gun, disorienting Tang enough for another deputy to grab the child, the detective reported. Deputies then took custody of Tang after shocking him a second time.
Searching the diaper bag, investigators found a diaper and baby clothes, as well as two rounds of 9 mm ammunition and a red bandana -- apparently a "flag" for the Bloods gang to which Tang belongs.
"Upon booking it was discovered that the defendant had numerous tattoos showing his gang affiliation to the Loko Asian Boyz, which is a local affiliate of the infamous Bloods," Deputy Prosecutor Samantha Kanner told the court.
Tang remained jailed Thursday, in part because his criminal history includes a 1993 second-degree murder conviction and two 2003 first-degree assault convictions. He has been charged with first-degree unlawful gun possession, harassment and reckless endangerment.
Where's the justice for victims of child molestation? - by Abigail Goldman
Excellent piece by Abigail Goldman at the Los Vegas Weekly on the lack of justice for child victims of sexual abuse and child pornography. Sadly, I've heard of "Vicky" before and her attempts to get justice and restitution after her father used her in child pornography.
http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2010/may/26/wheres-justice/
Where’s the justice for victims of child molestation?
Children whose molestations are posted online face an ongoing battle for safety—and restitution—in adulthood
Abigail Goldman
Wed, May 26, 2010 (11:45 a.m.)
The world of child pornography has its own stars. Their images and video footage are among the world’s most downloaded—a ghastly fame that’s turned childhood tragedy into a perpetual nightmare for victims who, now adults, live in a world where their abuse is always being downloaded.
The “Vicky series,” for example, is a collection of still images and video footage of a pre-teen being raped and sexually assaulted by her father. It is widely considered to be among the most downloaded and traded child porn in the world.
“Vicky” was 10 when the abuse started. Today, she’s in her 20s. In April, a former Nevada resident was charged with tracking Vicky down and stalking her online. Gregory Hoffman, 41, first asked Vicky to be his MySpace friend. When she refused, the harassment began.
In one message, Hoffman wrote: “I loved and adored those videos very much. He jus [sic] wanted to show the world how gorgeous u really were. Is that such a crime??... I want u to talk to me about everything going on in ur life now.”
In another, he wrote: “I wanna make a new porno of u and me.”
Beyond these excerpts, Hoffman’s other messages aren’t exactly fit for print. Hoffman also contacted her friends, sending them photographic montages of Vicky as a young child, performing sex acts.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children attempts to identify victims of child pornography. They reportedly spent years looking for Vicky, who was finally identified when she went on national TV in hopes of drawing attention to the her case, after her father fled the country. He’s since been arrested, and Vicky now receives notifications every time someone is being prosecuted for possessing her images.
These notifications are frequent, and they make it difficult for the adult woman to leave the trauma of her childhood behind, according to Vicky’s attorney, Carol Hepburn. Vicky has a hard time interacting with the public; she has flashbacks and panic attacks and nightmares. She looks out into a crowd, and wonders who recognizes her as the girl her father dressed in skimpy clothes, tied up with ropes, and fed dirty lines to say to the camera.
“There is always a haunting fear of not knowing,” Hepburn says. “That person on the street may actually be a part her life as a closet pedophile.”
For the past year, Vicky and her attorney have fought for restitution or damages from people convicted of possessing her image or video—arguing that each download is a re-victimization, diminishing her potential and causing psychological trauma that must be treated with more counseling and more lawyers. This is a novel argument, one that Vicky and another young known victim of child pornography have only just started advancing in court, with varied success. In some cases, restitution has been flatly denied. In others, the awards are tremendous. A Florida man convicted of possessing and trading Vicky’s images was recently ordered to pay her almost $150,000.
Not everybody is certain this is fair or just. A February New York Times article cited the blog of a George Washington University professor who said demanding restitution in these cases “stretches personal accountability to the breaking point.”
And controversy or not, whether Vicky or any child porn victim will ever collect the money is questionable. People in prison don’t make much money, and any personal assets or funds a defendant has going into trial can be quickly consumed by attorneys.
Hoffman was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison, and ordered to pay just over $150,000 in restitution, transferable to an account in Vicky’s name. Of course, the Hoffman case is somewhat different—he not only had Vicky’s images, he stalked her. How much this harassment figured into the restitution payment is unclear; federal prosecutors did not reply to the Weekly’s request for comment.
Meanwhile, Hoffman has taken steps to appeal his charge from behind bars. Vicky and her attorney will doubtless follow the case, and every other one filed from here on out.
http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2010/may/26/wheres-justice/
Where’s the justice for victims of child molestation?
Children whose molestations are posted online face an ongoing battle for safety—and restitution—in adulthood
Abigail Goldman
Wed, May 26, 2010 (11:45 a.m.)
The world of child pornography has its own stars. Their images and video footage are among the world’s most downloaded—a ghastly fame that’s turned childhood tragedy into a perpetual nightmare for victims who, now adults, live in a world where their abuse is always being downloaded.
The “Vicky series,” for example, is a collection of still images and video footage of a pre-teen being raped and sexually assaulted by her father. It is widely considered to be among the most downloaded and traded child porn in the world.
“Vicky” was 10 when the abuse started. Today, she’s in her 20s. In April, a former Nevada resident was charged with tracking Vicky down and stalking her online. Gregory Hoffman, 41, first asked Vicky to be his MySpace friend. When she refused, the harassment began.
In one message, Hoffman wrote: “I loved and adored those videos very much. He jus [sic] wanted to show the world how gorgeous u really were. Is that such a crime??... I want u to talk to me about everything going on in ur life now.”
In another, he wrote: “I wanna make a new porno of u and me.”
Beyond these excerpts, Hoffman’s other messages aren’t exactly fit for print. Hoffman also contacted her friends, sending them photographic montages of Vicky as a young child, performing sex acts.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children attempts to identify victims of child pornography. They reportedly spent years looking for Vicky, who was finally identified when she went on national TV in hopes of drawing attention to the her case, after her father fled the country. He’s since been arrested, and Vicky now receives notifications every time someone is being prosecuted for possessing her images.
These notifications are frequent, and they make it difficult for the adult woman to leave the trauma of her childhood behind, according to Vicky’s attorney, Carol Hepburn. Vicky has a hard time interacting with the public; she has flashbacks and panic attacks and nightmares. She looks out into a crowd, and wonders who recognizes her as the girl her father dressed in skimpy clothes, tied up with ropes, and fed dirty lines to say to the camera.
“There is always a haunting fear of not knowing,” Hepburn says. “That person on the street may actually be a part her life as a closet pedophile.”
For the past year, Vicky and her attorney have fought for restitution or damages from people convicted of possessing her image or video—arguing that each download is a re-victimization, diminishing her potential and causing psychological trauma that must be treated with more counseling and more lawyers. This is a novel argument, one that Vicky and another young known victim of child pornography have only just started advancing in court, with varied success. In some cases, restitution has been flatly denied. In others, the awards are tremendous. A Florida man convicted of possessing and trading Vicky’s images was recently ordered to pay her almost $150,000.
Not everybody is certain this is fair or just. A February New York Times article cited the blog of a George Washington University professor who said demanding restitution in these cases “stretches personal accountability to the breaking point.”
And controversy or not, whether Vicky or any child porn victim will ever collect the money is questionable. People in prison don’t make much money, and any personal assets or funds a defendant has going into trial can be quickly consumed by attorneys.
Hoffman was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison, and ordered to pay just over $150,000 in restitution, transferable to an account in Vicky’s name. Of course, the Hoffman case is somewhat different—he not only had Vicky’s images, he stalked her. How much this harassment figured into the restitution payment is unclear; federal prosecutors did not reply to the Weekly’s request for comment.
Meanwhile, Hoffman has taken steps to appeal his charge from behind bars. Vicky and her attorney will doubtless follow the case, and every other one filed from here on out.
Dad to stand trial in murder of 2-month-old son (Frazier Park, California)
Dad JAYSON SCHIMMEL is standing trial for murder in the death of his 2-month-old son. Seems Daddy has already admitted to head-butting and throwing the baby, who died from blunt force trauma to the head. Reading this entire article will really churn your guts--this guy is truly an @$$hole. And that's being charitable.
Breaking News: Jayson Schimmel to Stand Trial for Son's Death
FRAZIER PARK, CALIF. (Wednesday, May 26, 2010, 5:51 p.m.)—Ventura County Superior Court Judge Charles Campbell today denied a motion by Jayson Schimmel's lawyer to dismiss a murder indictment against his client. Schimmel, 33, will return to court on Friday, May 28 for scheduling of his trial.
Schimmel was arrested in March, 2009 in Frazier Park for the murder of his two-and-a-half month old biological son Steven Otto Schimmel, after an investigation by Ventura County Sheriff's deputies determined that the father was responsible for the baby's death.
A reprint from the March, 2010 edition of The Mountain Pioneer follows:
Grand Jury Transcript Sheds New Light on Lockwood Valley
Tragedy
A Warning to Our Readers: The following story contains harsh language and blunt information from the Ventura County Grand Jury hearing transcript. We publish this report in the public interest: domestic violence can occur anywhere, and often begins with verbal abuse. It is important to seek assistance. The Alliance Against Family Violence Hot Line is (800) 273-7713. If you or your children are in danger, call for help. You are not alone.
By Alex Wilson
The Lockwood Valley man accused of murdering his two-month-old baby son [in March, 2009] admitted to authorities that he head-butted his son, according to a transcript of a previously secret Ventura County Grand Jury hearing. The transcript was just released in February.
The grand jury indicted 32-year-old Jayson Schimmel on murder charges last October after conducting closed-door hearings in which his Deputy Public Defender Rod Kodman was not allowed to be present. The 171-page transcript is now a public document included in his court file.
Kodman was upset that the case was taken before a grand jury instead of proceeding to a public preliminary hearing where Schimmel’s defense counsel would have an opportunity to cross-examine witnesses. Kodman says he may challenge the indictment in a pre-trial motion.
During two days of testimony the grand jury heard from Elizabeth Hill (the baby’s mother), Ventura County Sheriff’s Senior Deputy Ryan Clark, Sheriff’s Detective Scott Peterson and Ventura County Medical Examiner Ronald O’Halloran.
In opening comments, the grand jury foreperson (whose name is concealed from the public) told the panel that Sr. Deputy Clark and his partner Deputy William Hollowell responded to a call of a “baby not breathing” shortly after midnight on March 2, 2009 in the 17500 block of Maple Trail in Lockwood Valley.
Deputies and paramedics performed CPR but could not revive the baby. The child was transported by ambulance and then helicopter to Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield where he was pronounced dead at 2 a.m.
During the autopsy, Dr. O’Halloran observed numerous abrasions and contusions in various stages of healing on the outside of the baby’s body. He also found a fracture to the right side of the child’s skull and a subdural hematoma, the grand jury reported.
O’Halloran ruled the death a homicide and concluded it was caused by blunt force head injury due to battered child syndrome.
Deputy District Attorney Rameen Minoui began his presentation with an overview of the case, saying Elizabeth Hill was 19 years old on the day of the child’s birth and Jayson Schimmel was 32. He said the property included a main house where Jayson’s mother and stepfather resided, as well as a detached building where Jayson, Elizabeth and baby Steven lived.
Minoui told the grand jury that Jayson Schimmel admitted his involvement in the crime to Detective Scott Peterson.
He said Peterson “interviewed Jayson Schimmel and the defendant made many admissions to the subject of this investigation, including the fact that he had head-butted the baby Steven that night, and also threw baby Steven as he was lying on the bed with him backwards where baby Steven’s head struck his knee.”
Minoui told the grand jury that the fatal incident occurred while Elizabeth Hill was running bath water for the baby and then Schimmel called out, “Something’s wrong, something’s wrong,” and she saw the baby gasping for air.
The prosecutor also told the grand jury about an incident two weeks earlier. She woke up from a nap to hear Schimmel screaming at the baby.
“She woke up to hear Jayson Schimmel screaming, holding the baby up to his face and screaming at him, telling him to ‘shut up’ because baby Steven was crying,” said Minoui. “And she saw him grab baby Steven as he’s holding [him] underneath the armpits, face to face, and wrench back the shoulder blades of baby Schimmel, and she began screaming at him ‘Stop! You’re hurting him! Stop! Stop!’”
Minoui said Schimmel then told Hill, “You want him—take him,” and thrust the baby at her before storming out of the residence.
Deputy Clark testified that when he arrived at the property on the night of March 2, he saw Jayson Schimmel in a car outside the residence before realizing his connection to the case. Schimmel directed him toward his mother’s house, where the baby had been taken.
“He was just kind of sitting there,” the deputy said of the father. “He looked pretty calm. I didn’t see a lot of emotion. He was just directing me to the area.”
Clark told the grand jury that Schimmel initially denied hurting the baby. “He explained that he was inside the residence with the child. He said that he was feeding the child a bottle. The baby began to choke, so he explained that he took the child, placed him up against his chest and was lightly patting his back, which I recognized as a common burping technique,” said Clark.
“He said after choking for a few moments, Steven began crying for about a minute—which is a good sign—and then he said Steven went limp and he took him next door to the main residence and then CPR started,” said Clark.
Minoui asked Clark if there was anything unusual about Jayson Schimmel’s demeanor when he was contacted after the incident and Clark responded, “He seemed to be detached from what was happening. Elizabeth Hill was highly emotional,” said Clark.
Elizabeth Hill described a difficult relationship with Jayson Schimmel during her testimony before the grand jury. She noted many fights and his frequent expression of doubts that he was the baby’s real father.
She said they met at the Flying J in Lebec where she worked as a cashier and he worked as a truck mechanic. “It wasn’t a very healthy relationship to be in,” said Hill. “There was a lot of fighting and I had been hit at least once. But in his honest defense I did hit him first.”
Hill said that after she became pregnant Schimmel broke up with her on her birthday in July, but they got back together in October.
“He called me a whore and a slut and said the baby couldn’t be his. Everything went downhill after the baby was born,” said Hill. She testified that around January or February Jayson Schimmel lost his job and money was tight.
Then one day she woke up from a nap after being up all night with the baby. “I saw him holding my baby...at arms length away from him, screaming to shut up, and when the baby kept crying more and more he said he would give the baby something to cry about and he kept screaming ‘Shut up, shut up,’” said Hill.
Hill testified that Schimmel bought a paternity test to confirm the baby was his, and that when she was still pregnant he said “he wasn’t going to support someone else’s kid.”
Detective Scott Peterson testified about his investigation. He said that while he suspected Schimmel was responsible from the outset, the suspect was treated like any grieving father, to try and gain his confidence. One of their first contacts was when Schimmel left him a voice mail message asking why authorities talked to Elizabeth Hill and not to him.
Schimmel agreed to be interviewed and even suggested himself that he bring a doll to the meeting to show exactly what happened to the baby. Peterson told the grand jury that he planned the theme of his interview to be that the death was accidental and tragic, as a ruse to get Schimmel to come clean about what happened.
The grand jury heard portions of the interviews that were audio and videotaped, but the text of those interviews was not included in the transcript. Peterson told the grand jury that Schimmel used the doll he brought to illustrate the injuries he had inflicted on the baby and said at one point, “I killed my own kid, man,” Peterson reported.
After hearing all the testimony the grand jury indicted Schimmel on three felony counts and one special allegation. The charges are assault on a child causing death, murder and corporal injury to a child. The special enhancement is for domestic violence causing great bodily injury.
Schimmel is being held at the Ventura County Jail on $505,000 bail and his trial date was set for February 25. Kodman said he expects the case will be postponed so the defense can have time to work on pre-trial motions.
Breaking News: Jayson Schimmel to Stand Trial for Son's Death
FRAZIER PARK, CALIF. (Wednesday, May 26, 2010, 5:51 p.m.)—Ventura County Superior Court Judge Charles Campbell today denied a motion by Jayson Schimmel's lawyer to dismiss a murder indictment against his client. Schimmel, 33, will return to court on Friday, May 28 for scheduling of his trial.
Schimmel was arrested in March, 2009 in Frazier Park for the murder of his two-and-a-half month old biological son Steven Otto Schimmel, after an investigation by Ventura County Sheriff's deputies determined that the father was responsible for the baby's death.
A reprint from the March, 2010 edition of The Mountain Pioneer follows:
Grand Jury Transcript Sheds New Light on Lockwood Valley
Tragedy
A Warning to Our Readers: The following story contains harsh language and blunt information from the Ventura County Grand Jury hearing transcript. We publish this report in the public interest: domestic violence can occur anywhere, and often begins with verbal abuse. It is important to seek assistance. The Alliance Against Family Violence Hot Line is (800) 273-7713. If you or your children are in danger, call for help. You are not alone.
By Alex Wilson
The Lockwood Valley man accused of murdering his two-month-old baby son [in March, 2009] admitted to authorities that he head-butted his son, according to a transcript of a previously secret Ventura County Grand Jury hearing. The transcript was just released in February.
The grand jury indicted 32-year-old Jayson Schimmel on murder charges last October after conducting closed-door hearings in which his Deputy Public Defender Rod Kodman was not allowed to be present. The 171-page transcript is now a public document included in his court file.
Kodman was upset that the case was taken before a grand jury instead of proceeding to a public preliminary hearing where Schimmel’s defense counsel would have an opportunity to cross-examine witnesses. Kodman says he may challenge the indictment in a pre-trial motion.
During two days of testimony the grand jury heard from Elizabeth Hill (the baby’s mother), Ventura County Sheriff’s Senior Deputy Ryan Clark, Sheriff’s Detective Scott Peterson and Ventura County Medical Examiner Ronald O’Halloran.
In opening comments, the grand jury foreperson (whose name is concealed from the public) told the panel that Sr. Deputy Clark and his partner Deputy William Hollowell responded to a call of a “baby not breathing” shortly after midnight on March 2, 2009 in the 17500 block of Maple Trail in Lockwood Valley.
Deputies and paramedics performed CPR but could not revive the baby. The child was transported by ambulance and then helicopter to Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield where he was pronounced dead at 2 a.m.
During the autopsy, Dr. O’Halloran observed numerous abrasions and contusions in various stages of healing on the outside of the baby’s body. He also found a fracture to the right side of the child’s skull and a subdural hematoma, the grand jury reported.
O’Halloran ruled the death a homicide and concluded it was caused by blunt force head injury due to battered child syndrome.
Deputy District Attorney Rameen Minoui began his presentation with an overview of the case, saying Elizabeth Hill was 19 years old on the day of the child’s birth and Jayson Schimmel was 32. He said the property included a main house where Jayson’s mother and stepfather resided, as well as a detached building where Jayson, Elizabeth and baby Steven lived.
Minoui told the grand jury that Jayson Schimmel admitted his involvement in the crime to Detective Scott Peterson.
He said Peterson “interviewed Jayson Schimmel and the defendant made many admissions to the subject of this investigation, including the fact that he had head-butted the baby Steven that night, and also threw baby Steven as he was lying on the bed with him backwards where baby Steven’s head struck his knee.”
Minoui told the grand jury that the fatal incident occurred while Elizabeth Hill was running bath water for the baby and then Schimmel called out, “Something’s wrong, something’s wrong,” and she saw the baby gasping for air.
The prosecutor also told the grand jury about an incident two weeks earlier. She woke up from a nap to hear Schimmel screaming at the baby.
“She woke up to hear Jayson Schimmel screaming, holding the baby up to his face and screaming at him, telling him to ‘shut up’ because baby Steven was crying,” said Minoui. “And she saw him grab baby Steven as he’s holding [him] underneath the armpits, face to face, and wrench back the shoulder blades of baby Schimmel, and she began screaming at him ‘Stop! You’re hurting him! Stop! Stop!’”
Minoui said Schimmel then told Hill, “You want him—take him,” and thrust the baby at her before storming out of the residence.
Deputy Clark testified that when he arrived at the property on the night of March 2, he saw Jayson Schimmel in a car outside the residence before realizing his connection to the case. Schimmel directed him toward his mother’s house, where the baby had been taken.
“He was just kind of sitting there,” the deputy said of the father. “He looked pretty calm. I didn’t see a lot of emotion. He was just directing me to the area.”
Clark told the grand jury that Schimmel initially denied hurting the baby. “He explained that he was inside the residence with the child. He said that he was feeding the child a bottle. The baby began to choke, so he explained that he took the child, placed him up against his chest and was lightly patting his back, which I recognized as a common burping technique,” said Clark.
“He said after choking for a few moments, Steven began crying for about a minute—which is a good sign—and then he said Steven went limp and he took him next door to the main residence and then CPR started,” said Clark.
Minoui asked Clark if there was anything unusual about Jayson Schimmel’s demeanor when he was contacted after the incident and Clark responded, “He seemed to be detached from what was happening. Elizabeth Hill was highly emotional,” said Clark.
Elizabeth Hill described a difficult relationship with Jayson Schimmel during her testimony before the grand jury. She noted many fights and his frequent expression of doubts that he was the baby’s real father.
She said they met at the Flying J in Lebec where she worked as a cashier and he worked as a truck mechanic. “It wasn’t a very healthy relationship to be in,” said Hill. “There was a lot of fighting and I had been hit at least once. But in his honest defense I did hit him first.”
Hill said that after she became pregnant Schimmel broke up with her on her birthday in July, but they got back together in October.
“He called me a whore and a slut and said the baby couldn’t be his. Everything went downhill after the baby was born,” said Hill. She testified that around January or February Jayson Schimmel lost his job and money was tight.
Then one day she woke up from a nap after being up all night with the baby. “I saw him holding my baby...at arms length away from him, screaming to shut up, and when the baby kept crying more and more he said he would give the baby something to cry about and he kept screaming ‘Shut up, shut up,’” said Hill.
Hill testified that Schimmel bought a paternity test to confirm the baby was his, and that when she was still pregnant he said “he wasn’t going to support someone else’s kid.”
Detective Scott Peterson testified about his investigation. He said that while he suspected Schimmel was responsible from the outset, the suspect was treated like any grieving father, to try and gain his confidence. One of their first contacts was when Schimmel left him a voice mail message asking why authorities talked to Elizabeth Hill and not to him.
Schimmel agreed to be interviewed and even suggested himself that he bring a doll to the meeting to show exactly what happened to the baby. Peterson told the grand jury that he planned the theme of his interview to be that the death was accidental and tragic, as a ruse to get Schimmel to come clean about what happened.
The grand jury heard portions of the interviews that were audio and videotaped, but the text of those interviews was not included in the transcript. Peterson told the grand jury that Schimmel used the doll he brought to illustrate the injuries he had inflicted on the baby and said at one point, “I killed my own kid, man,” Peterson reported.
After hearing all the testimony the grand jury indicted Schimmel on three felony counts and one special allegation. The charges are assault on a child causing death, murder and corporal injury to a child. The special enhancement is for domestic violence causing great bodily injury.
Schimmel is being held at the Ventura County Jail on $505,000 bail and his trial date was set for February 25. Kodman said he expects the case will be postponed so the defense can have time to work on pre-trial motions.
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