Tempters by Frank Frazetta

By Frank Frazetta

Hazel Green Wife Admits To Killing Husband

Posted: May 30, 2010 04:28 AM

HAZEL GREEN- A Hazel Green woman confessed to stabbing and killing her husband with a kitchen knife Saturday morning.

Madison County Sheriff's deputies were called to a home on Ready Section Road around 2:00 Saturday morning. When they got there they found 38 year old Jonathan Elliff critically injured where he was stabbed in the chest with a kitchen knife.

His wife, 30-year-old Karla Elliff admitted to deputies she stabbed him during an argument. The victim was taken to Huntsville Hospital but later died. His wife is in the Madison County Jail charged with assault first degree. But she faces a murder charge.

Officials with the Sheriff's Department were unable to provide her mugs at this time.

From: http://www.waaytv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12566393

Traffickers dismember Mexico prison warden

Parts of victim's body were found in gift bags, 4 different locations

updated 10:01 p.m. ET May 29, 2010

MEXICO CITY - The body of a prison warden kidnapped by gunmen earlier Saturday was found dismembered and scattered in several locations in a small state adjacent to the Mexican capital, Mexican media reported.

Suspected drug gang hitmen grabbed Luis Navarro as he reported for work at the prison Saturday morning. Parts of his body were later found in gift bags at four locations near police stations in Morelos state.

At least two of the packages contained messages threatening police and other public officials, Mexican media said.

A spokesman for the state public security office confirmed Navarro's kidnapping but declined to say whether it was his dismembered body that was found.

Morelos state and Cuernavaca, its capital which is a popular weekend getaway near Mexico City, have witnessed a surge in drug-related violence since security forces killed Arturo Beltran Leyva, the leader of an eponymous regional drug cartel, in December.

Beltran Leyva's death has triggered a brutal power struggle as factions in the gang battle for control of its territory.

The half-naked bodies of two men were found hanged from a major bridge in the city in April in one of the most shocking recent crimes in the once-quiet colonial city.

Drug violence is raging across Mexico and almost 23,000 people have been killed in the fight among cartels and with Mexican security forces since President Felipe Calderon launched his army-led crackdown on drug gangs in 2006.

The escalating violence is scaring off tourists and worries Washington, which is giving anti-drug aid, equipment and police training to Mexico. Some investors have frozen investment in factories in cities on the U.S. border, especially in Ciudad Juarez, the most deadly flash point in the drug war.

From: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37419603/ns/world_news-americas/

Suspected Killer Charged With Murdering 3

May 30, 2010 10:01 pm US/Central

CHICAGO (CBS) ― They call him a serial killer, who preyed on women on the Far South Side. Sunday night he is in custody and being held without bond. Police say most likely he would have killed again, as CBS 2's Vince Gerasole reports.

Michael Johnson is charged in at least three murders. His arrest is being chalked up to some keen police work by detectives who were able to connect the dots that led to a serial killer. But also aiding in their work, the fact that one of his victims survived the attack and was able to idenitfy him in a police line-up.

A series of abandoned buildings and addresses on the far south side is forever linked by 24-year-old Michael Johnson -- a man police call a serial killer who either murdered or attacked the women he brought inside.

Detective Regina Hightower believes he would have attacked again. But before knowing Johnson's name or face, detectives only knew the women had all been choked to death and engaged in risky lifestyles. In community alerts, police warned the same person was most likely responsible.

"You are racing against the clock and you have to come up with ideas and strategies in order to handle the situation," Hightower said.

Johnson is now charged with the murders of Eureka Jackson, Leslie Brown, and Siobhan Hampton, murders commited between November 2008 and May 2010, according to police sources. He was arrested at his home Thursday, just blocks from the killings. Johnson provided DNA to detectives after the brother of another victim who managed to survive the attack pointed him out to authorities.

"The key common denominator among the three victims was Johnson's DNA which was linked to each of the three women," said Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis.

Johnson, 24, of the 100 block of East 120th Place, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder and one count of aggravated criminal sexual assault, according to a statement from police News Affairs. The Cook County State's Attorney's Office approved the charges late Saturday, police said.

The bodies of Leslie Brown, 38-year-old Eureka Jackson and 30-year-old Siobhan Hampton were all found in abandoned buildings on the Far South Side -- all strangled.

At 10:50 a.m. March 30, Hampton's body was discovered naked in an abandoned first-floor store front at 11322 S. Michigan Ave., police said. The building was previously the site of a fast food chicken restaurant.

Hampton, of an unidentified address, was dead on the scene and a March 31 autopsy determined she died of strangulation and her death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

Roy Siler, Hampton's neighbor, said he can't stop thinking about the young mother who he described as funny and kind. He also can't stop thinking about her brutal death.

Authorities "should stay by the book, because we don't want to go by what I think should happen to him," he told CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli.

Brown, of an unidentified age and home address, was found murdered in January 2010 and Jackson was found strangled in November 2008 inside an abandoned building at 34 E. 120th St.

Lutelda Michele Hudson, 29, of 11825 S. Princeton Ave., was found dead about 10:40 am. May 16 in a vacant building in the 11900 block of South Harvard Avenue, authorities said. A May 17 autopsy determined Hudson died of strangulation and her death has been ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner's office. Police are still awaiting DNA results in the case of Michele Hudson, a possible fourth victim who died two weeks ago.

All the women were African-American, and found in the area of 113th to 120th streets from South Michigan to South Harvard avenues, according to a community alert.

The killing is straining the faith of Hudson's mother.

"I am a child of god and I will forgive him because that's what you have to do," said Hudson's mother Lutelda. "It's going to be awhile before I can say I honestly forgive him and have closure."

On the street where he lived, neighbors say Johnson seemed an unlikey candidate for the gruesome crimes he's said to have commited.

"He wasn't really a tough guy, kind of rough or nothing like that, he seemd like he wasn't a threat or nothing," said Mr. Brown, a neighbor. "He was just a regular guy."

The brother of Johnson's surviving victim got into a fight with the suspect when they just walked by him on the street. That's when police collected their DNA. He was charged with battery and let go. He was only arrested later for the murders when tests were conclusive. Police believe Johnson may be responsible for other murders, so their investigative work continues.

From: http://cbs2chicago.com/local/dna.match.leads.2.1722515.html

Castle of Sin by Frank Frazetta

Castle of Sin by Frank Frazetta

Actor Dennis Hopper dead at 74

By Dean Goodman , Reuters May 29, 2010 11:25 PM

LOS ANGELES, May 29 (Reuters) - Hollywood actor Dennis Hopper, best known for directing and starring in the 1969 cult classic "Easy Rider," died on Saturday from complications of prostate cancer, a friend of the actor said. Hopper was 74.

The hard-living screen star died at his home in the coastal Los Angeles suburb of Venice at 8:15 a.m. PDT (1515 GMT), surrounded by family and friends, the friend, Alex Hitz, told Reuters.

In a wildly varied career spanning more than 50 years, Hopper appeared alongside his mentor James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause" and "Giant" in the 1950s and played maniacs in such films as "Apocalypse Now," "Blue Velvet" and "Speed."

He received two Oscar nominations — for writing "Easy Rider" (with co-star Peter Fonda and Terry Southern), and for a rare heartwarming turn as an alcoholic high-school basketball coach in the 1986 drama "Hoosiers."

But his prodigious drug abuse, temper tantrums, propensity for domestic violence and poor choice of movie roles often made him a Hollywood pariah.

Hopper felt over-indulgence was a requirement for great artists. He once claimed he snorted lines of cocaine "as long as your arm every five minutes, just so I could carry on drinking ... gallons" of alcohol.

Still, his legacy rests securely on "Easy Rider." Regarded as one of the greatest films of American cinema, it helped usher in a new era in which the old Hollywood guard was forced to cede power to young filmmakers such as Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese.

The low-budget blockbuster, originally conceived by Fonda, introduced mainstream moviegoers to pot-smoking, cocaine-dealing, long-haired bikers.

"We’d gone through the whole ’60s and nobody had made a film about anybody smoking grass without going out and killing a bunch of nurses," Hopper told Entertainment Weekly in 2005. "I wanted ’Easy Rider’ to be a time capsule for people about that period."

Hopper and Fonda were joined on screen by a then-unknown Jack Nicholson as an alcoholic lawyer, but it was not a harmonious set. Hopper clashed violently with everyone and Fonda later described him as a "little fascist freak." Their friendship was destroyed.

Hopper’s 1971 directorial follow-up, "The Last Movie," shot amid what he later called "one long sex and drug orgy" in Peru, was a flop.

He was often gripped by paranoid delusions. In 1982, while filming "Jungle Warriors" in Mexico, he ran naked into the jungle, convinced World War Three had started. He was put on a plane home but jumped out onto the wing as it was about to take off, fearful that the plane was on fire. Upon his return, he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for three months.

He starred in bad movies just for the money, such as "Super Mario Bros." and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2," and turned down important projects that could have enhanced his legend, such as "Taxi Driver" and "Reservoir Dogs."

Hopper also found himself typecast as the psychotic villain thanks to such films as "Blue Velvet," in which he played a gas-huffing rapist, and the 1994 smash "Speed," in which his character rigged a city bus to explode.

Hopper mellowed somewhat in later years, becoming a Republican and a pitchman for the likes of Gap and Nike.

Outside of Hollywood, he was a noted photographer, painter, sculptor and art collector. He lived in a warehouse-style compound in the coastal suburb of Venice, in a neighborhood that was gang-infested until a decade ago.

Hopper fell ill last September. He continued working almost to the end, both on his cable TV series "Crash" and on a book showcasing his photography. But his final months were also consumed by a bitter divorce battle with his fifth wife, Victoria Duffy.

Indeed, his private life was never dull. His marriages included an eight-day union in 1970 with Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and Papas, who later told Vanity Fair that she was subjected to "excruciating" treatment.

Hopper is survived by four children. Funeral arrangements were pending.

From: http://www.canada.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Hollywood+hellraiser+Dennis+Hopper+dead/3087858/story.html

Judge confirms death sentence for killer of family of four

Originally published Thursday, May 27, 2010 at 3:46 PM

Conner Schierman, the Kirkland man who killed a family of four and then torched their home nearly four years ago, was sentenced to death Thursday.

By Jennifer Sullivan
Seattle Times staff reporter

Condemned to death for murders he says he doesn't recall committing, Conner Schierman read a prepared statement in court Thursday in which he lambasted the sentence as "vengeance."

"This sentence isn't justice, it's vengeance," Schierman said. "It's the premeditated ending of a human being."

Earlier this month, a Seattle jury found Schierman, a 28-year-old with no prior criminal history, guilty of killing four members of a Kirkland family and recommended the death sentence. Schierman claimed he suffered an alcohol-induced blackout and doesn't remember why or how he ended up in a neighbor's Kirkland house covered in blood and surrounded by two dead woman and two dead children.

On Thursday, Superior Court Judge Gregory Canova followed the jury's recommendation and ordered Schierman to death row at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla to await his execution. Many of the jurors who found Schierman guilty of four counts of aggravated murder and one count of first-degree arson packed the courtroom, along with Schierman's family and relatives of victims Olga Milkin, 28; her sons, Justin, 5, and Andrew, 3; and her sister, Lyubov Botvina, 24.

Schierman's was the first case in which King County prosecutors sought a death sentence since that of Green River killer Gary L. Ridgway. In exchange for his cooperation — he provided details that helped solve dozens of open murder cases — Ridgway was sentenced to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to 48 counts of aggravated first-degree murder in 2003.

Schierman questioned why he should face the death penalty when Ridgway did not.

Schierman is the first person to be sentenced to death in King County since 2001, when Dayva Cross was condemned to death for killing his wife and two of her daughters. Cross remains on death row.

Schierman had moved into a duplex across the street from the victims 17 days before the July 16, 2006, slayings. A self-described recovering alcoholic and drug addict, Schierman worked at a pet store and was a maintenance worker.

The defense claimed that after discovering the bodies of the four victims, Schierman feared no one would believe that he couldn't remember what had happened, so he set fire to the house.

No clear-cut motive for the slayings ever emerged during the trial.

"I don't know what happened. I'm no killer," Schierman said in court Thursday. "I woke up in a strange house with four dead strangers."

Relatives of the four victims testified Thursday that they were happy with the sentence. Yelena Shidlovski, whose two sisters were killed, told Schierman that she forgave him but that he needed to "reconcile" what he did with God.

Schierman's sentence comes as the death penalty remains in limbo in Washington state, where there has not been an execution since 2001.

Darold Stenson and Cal Coburn Brown were the most recent death-row inmates scheduled for execution in 2008 and 2009, respectively, but their cases were stayed.

Brown's case was stayed after his lawyers argued that the drugs used in lethal injection by the state Department of Corrections could constitute cruel and unusual punishment if they didn't work properly.

Stenson's stay was issued so DNA testing could be performed in the case. But with that stay set to expire this summer, his lawyers say they will seek a new stay based on possible evidence contamination.

From: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011971573_schierman28m.html

Stephen Griffiths: loner with a Ripper obsession

'Oddball' student's arrest came after CCTV at flats caught gruesome murder of woman with crossbow.

By John Bingham, Paul Stokes and Gordon Rayner
Published: 11:23PM BST 27 May 2010

As he began his shift on Monday morning, the caretaker of the Holmfield Court flats in Bradford settled into his office chair to review the weekend's CCTV footage.

He fast-forwarded the recording, looking out for evidence of vandalism or petty crime. Instead, he found himself witnessing cold-blooded murder.

In a corridor of the flats, a man chased and grabbed a young woman before knocking her unconscious. The attacker then disappeared from view, only to return moments later with a crossbow which he used to fire a bolt into her head.

The man could then be seen dragging the body out of view, and later going backwards and forwards with bin bags and a rucksack.

The caretaker reached for the phone and dialled 999. Within hours West Yorkshire Police, for the second time in its history, was investigating whether a serial killer had murdered at least three prostitutes in the Bradford area.

At the time of Stephen Griffiths's arrest on Monday, detectives had found no physical trace of three prostitutes reported missing over the previous year. But on Tuesday, the police received another call from a member of the public, this time reporting the discovery of female body parts in the River Aire in nearby Shipley. The dismembered corpse, which included a head found in a rucksack, was later identified as the remains of 36-year-old Suzanne Blamires, who had not been seen since last Friday.

It was quickly linked to the disappearance of two other prostitutes, Shelley Armitage and Susan Rushworth, echoing the case of the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe, who stalked some of his 13 victims in Bradford in the late 1970s.

Meanwhile, police had begun searching Mr Griffiths's one-bedroom flat and delving into the background of the suspect, a 40-year-old criminology PhD student at Bradford University who had a special interest in Jack the Ripper.

Mr Griffiths, they discovered, was a loner with a history of mental health problems who had spent time in Rampton Special Hospital in Nottinghamshire.

He had set up his own website, using the pseudonym Ven Pariah, on which he wrote: "I am a pseudo human at best. A demon at worst … what will this pseudo human do, one wonders?"

The web page, on which he gave his age as 99 and listed his mood as "evil", also included a quotation from the book of Ezekiel – "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides" – and listed his academic interests as "aggregate homicide, multiple homicide, capital punishment and targeted political homicide".

In keeping with his university studies, he had posted pictures on his website of serial killers including Fred and Rose West, and Myra Hindley and Ian Brady.

He also used the internet to try to find a girlfriend, and had joined The Guardian's Soulmates dating site in December 2008, exchanging emails with one woman.

Inside his cluttered rented flat, where he lives alone, detectives found two large monitor lizards that Mr Griffiths kept as pets.

Rachel Farrington-Naylor, a neighbour who once went inside the flat, told The Daily Telegraph that Mr Griffiths bred rats to feed to the lizards, keeping up to 100 rodents at a time in a large trunk.

She said: "He used to let the lizards walk up and down the corridor. My grandson said to me one day, 'There's a crocodile'."

Mr Griffiths kept irregular hours, she added. "We used to hear bumping and banging, we used to think he was moving furniture around at 5 o'clock in the morning."

Mr Griffiths, who grew up in Wakefield, was "a tearaway" as a boy, according to family friends, and went to live with his father, also called Stephen, and his younger sister Caroline when his parents split up. His brother Phillip, however, lived with their mother, Moira.

A former family friend said: "They were an odd family, real oddballs. They were loners. As a child, Stephen and the others never played out with other children."

Neighbours in Wakefield said Mr Griffiths had been in trouble with police as a boy for stealing from a garage, but matured into a diligent schoolboy, attending Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wakefield before completing a degree in psychology at Leeds University.

But at about the time he left university, he began suffering from mental health problems and in December 1991 he was sent to Rampton Special Hospital for assessment. He later recovered, though he told neighbours he suffered from depression.

For the past six years he had been studying for his PhD in the history of homicide in 19th century England from 1847-99, comparing Victorian investigative techniques with modern policing methods.

His 61-year-old mother, who lives in Dewsbury, was convicted of benefit fraud in 2007 after falsely claiming £8,500 in housing and council tax benefits, despite having £55,000 in savings.

Mr Griffiths told neighbours he had a girlfriend in Shipley, and one said a brown-haired woman had visited him several times last year.

Mr Griffiths, who almost always wore a long black leather coat, round sunglasses, black trousers and black boots, was nicknamed "Penfold" after the bespectacled character in the children's television series Danger Mouse.

One neighbour said: "A couple of weeks ago he kept going downstairs to turn off his smoke alarm at the main box. That prevents the signal going to the fire brigade. It was strange but he just said he kept burning toast."

Mr Griffiths often posted comments on various social networking sites. One message, to a woman called Jacqueline, said: "Hope you have a nice day as well – lots of them, in fact. Glad you could see past the scary image I generally project to the world in general. Thought I'd add a picture of a stylish young 19-year-old to your page – poor thing, she never made it to 20." The message referred to a black and white image of a young woman leaning against a car.

He has lived alone in his £275-a-month flat in the heart of Bradford's red light district for 13 years.

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7774349/Stephen-Griffiths-loner-with-a-Ripper-obsession.html

Crows attack Berlin residents

Berliners have been warned to beware of attacking crows after cyclists, pedestrians, market stalls and even babies in prams have all fallen victim to the marauding birds.

By Allan Hall in Berlin
Published: 1:29PM BST 28 May 2010

Scenes reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" have prompted police to post warning notices around the city at blackspots.

"Attacks happen during breeding season, and crows have a natural instinct to protect their nests and young and to keep people at distance," Anja Sorges, the head of the Berlin office of the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union told Germany's Spiegel magazine.

Sometimes the crows have drawn blood. On Wednesday a cyclist pedalling past the archives of the old Stasi secret police in East Berlin was dislodged from the saddle by the feathered attackers, which then continued to peck at him ferociously on the ground.

He needed medical attention. "Their beaks aren't so small," he said.

Near the city's Reichstag parliament building, a crow pecked at the back of man's head as he walked along a pathway.

But there is an end in sight: experts say the attacks will peter out and then finish altogether in a matter of weeks when the crow chicks are ready to flee the nest.

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/7777096/Crows-attack-Berlin-residents.html

'Murdered' student wrote killer's name in his own blood, court hears

A student tried to write his killer's name in his own blood after he was stabbed by a love rival he knew through an internet war games site, a court heard.

By Murray Wardrop
Published: 7:41PM BST 05 May 2009

David Heiss, 21, allegedly travelled from his home in Limburg, Germany, to murder Matthew Pyke after becoming infatuated with his girlfriend Joanna Witton online.

Jurors were shown a photograph of Mr Pyke's computer monitor, on the side of which the letters "DAV" were daubed in blood.

The court earlier heard that Mr Pyke, who ran the Warcentral site, was stabbed 86 times in a "savage and sustained" attack by Mr Heiss, at the flat he shared with Miss Witton in Nottingham.

Giving evidence at Nottingham Crown Court, Mr Heiss was shown the photo of the blood-smeared computer but denied that either he or Mr Pyke could have written it.

Mr Heiss, who adopted the alias Eagle the Lightning on the site, said: "That couldn't have been possible. He was dead when I left."

Shaun Smith QC, prosecuting, asked him: "Did you stand over Matthew and watch him write those letters in blood?" Mr Heiss replied: "No."

Mr Pyke and Miss Witton spent much of their lives on their website, discussing strategies and characters for the computer game Advanced Wars.

Jurors were told that Mr Heiss "lived his life through the internet" and regularly contacted Miss Witton through the site, sending her intimate and bizarre messages.

It is alleged that his obsession with the 21-year-old led him to travel to Britain to meet her, but that after she blocked his advances, he returned on September 19 to murder Mr Pyke.

Mr Heiss said that he stabbed Mr Pyke in self-defence after the 20-year-old physics student "charged" at him with a knife.

He admitted that he had gone to the flat carrying a knife but that during a scuffle inside, Mr Pyke wrestled it from him and tried to attack him with it.

Mr Heiss said: "He lost the knife when it fell to the floor. He tried to crawl towards it but I tried to prevent it by sitting on him. After a few seconds I got hold of it. I was almost sure that if I had lost the knife it would have been my end.

"I don't know if it was adrenalin but I managed to get my arm away and then I stabbed him."

Mr Heiss denies murder. The trial continues.

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/5280301/Murdered-student-wrote-killers-name-in-his-own-blood-court-hears.html

Victims beat home invader with his shotgun, records show

Man charged in attack is former friend

By Keith W. Kohn, Orlando Sentinel
12:22 p.m. EDT, May 26, 2010

The man arrested in a home invasion Thursday night in which he and two victims were hospitalized was injured when the two people in the house fought back, records show.

The sheriff's report shows Michael Lessard, 25, was wearing a bulletproof vest, mask and gloves when he barged into the home on Athens Court near Apopka and fired a shotgun at a former friend.

The incident report also shows the gunman fired at the former friend, but he jumped up as the pellets struck the floor and they missed. The former friend, Vu Nguyen, 25, and his mother, Tuyet To, 47, then struggled with the intruder. They rushed him, and Nguyen was able to pull the shotgun away and they continued to fight over a handgun.

The fight soon moved outside, where Nguyen's mother continued to batter the attacker's face with the shotgun. To, the mother, kept up her barrage until the man gave up and neighbors came and helped keep him on the ground until deputies arrived.

Lessard, Nguyen and To were hospitalized with injuries from the fight, but as police spoke to witnesses, Lessard's car was identified as one at the scene when the house was bombed March 20. A police dog identified the car as possibly containing bomb material and the county bomb squad was called out. Squad members went over the car and the scene was cleared.

Nguyen said their friendship soured when he claimed Lessard began treating their friendship as an "intimate relationship" in 2008.

Items found in the car with ties to the March bomb incident were turned over to the FBI's Jopoint Terrorism Task Force.

Lessard remained — beaten and bruised —in the Orange County Jail on Tuesday without bail.

From: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/crime/os-family-fights-back-20100526,0,4603685.story

Crafty prison matchmaker under the gun

By Gary Rivett

Updated Fri May 28, 2010 12:22pm AEST

Authorities have seized a gun made of matches and charged an inmate over the find at Mobilong prison in South Australia.

Jail staff made the discovery after they noticed an inmate behaving suspiciously.

Authorities say the 13cm replica was made out of matchsticks and had been painted black.

They described it as highly realistic.

Correctional Services Minister Tom Koutsantonis said it could have appeared threatening if used against prison staff.

"There is no doubt that if confronted with such an object staff would have felt threatened," he said.

"Our fear is that it could have been used for an escape attempt or to threaten other inmates.

"The gun has a position for a rubber band so it can be moved to seem it's being cocked like a real gun, at its tip are the ends of two pencils which have a metal casing for a rubber or eraser which were removed so if pressed against someone's neck or body from behind would feel as if it was cold, hard metal."

Mr Koutsantonis said the inmate had been moved from Mobilong prison, near Murray Bridge, to the high-security Yatala prison in Adelaide.

He said the prisoner had been banned from any type of craft activity.

Charges have been laid under the Correctional Services Act.

From: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/28/2912003.htm

Anti-Semitic student game spurs outrage

By Michelle Mitchell - May. 27, 2010 04:16 PM
(Palm Springs, Calif.) Desert Sun

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. - A game with anti-Semitic elements played by dozens of high school students was offensive but isn't illegal, officials say.

The game, called "Beat the Jew," has caused "extreme disappointment," but the 40 students involved can't be punished because it happened off school property, La Quinta High Principal Donna Salazar said Wednesday.

Some people said something more should be done to teach tolerance.

"We only have three weeks until there's not much you can do about it," said the 18-year-old La Quinta High student who alerted officials to the game and Facebook page promoting it. She has asked to remain anonymous and is staying home from school out of fear of retribution.

"Some of these kids that have joined the group, they're like the cream of the crop of my class," she said. "They're going to be the leaders of our future and they feel this way?"

The chase game involved a runner - called a "Jew" - and groups of people chasing in cars - "Nazis."

"The objective for the Jew is to run down Hwy. 111 to a specified checkpoint before the Nazis can catch up to him, tackle him down and capture him," according to a Facebook page that was taken down Friday.

"I'm profoundly disappointed and very surprised that our students don't think or didn't realize that this was offensive and insensitive and not acceptable," Salazar said.

School administrators learned of the game from the student and her parent.

School officials said they spoke with the students and asked them to take down the page, but no crime was committed and they cannot punish students for actions that happened outside of school.

"They claimed that this was just a game and it really has nothing to do with targeting Jewish people," Salazar said. "I'm surprised that they don't see that when you start using these labels that it's offensive."

Although the game is insensitive, La Quinta police Lt. Jason Huskey said that if all players are willing participants, the game likely isn't criminal.

"(It's) their freedom of speech; there's not much we can do except be disappointed," Desert Sands Unified School District Superintendent Sharon McGehee said, adding that many of the students apologized.

"There was no threat (made); there was no crime. They just played a game that had an ugly, insensitive, stupid name, so there is no crime."

It was unclear if students from other schools also played.

Rabbi Avi Levine of Temple Sinai said the school should take students to the Tolerance Education Center in Palm Desert or a Holocaust museum in Los Angeles.

"Just because it's not on (school) property, they are your students, and if they're acting in a way that's contrary to tolerance, they should be educated," Levine said. "It's not going to stop just because a kid says, Oh, I'm sorry.' "

La Quinta High students are well educated on the Holocaust and its impact, Salazar said.

Next year, the school may add more counseling on tolerance and respect, she said.

"I think you can't do too much," Salazar said.

Much of the game was communicated through social networking pages such as Facebook and MySpace - another reason parents need to keep a close eye on what their children are doing online, La Quinta High parent Darlene Nelson said Wednesday.

"I think it's a wake-up call to parents to stay in tune with what their kids are doing," she said.

Some students expressed disappointment and anger in those who played or joked about the game.

"I'm ashamed by the kids that did that," sophomore Josh Orr said.

"It's not right at all," junior Makel Cunningham said, adding that it has tarnished the school's reputation. "Now we're going to be known for Beat the Jew.' "

The student who blew the whistle says she has received more negative reaction than positive to her decision.

She still plans to attend graduation next month and hopes someone will speak on tolerance during the ceremony.

"None of this is funny whatsoever. ... It's just disgusting," she said. "Where are people's humanity?"

From: http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/2010/05/27/20100527california-students-play-anti-semitic-game.html

Calif. actor charged in killings of 2

By Sue Manning - May. 29, 2010 12:00 AM
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - A stage actor shot, beheaded and dismembered his neighbor in a military-base theater, then killed the victim's friend after using the dead man's cellphone to lure her to his apartment, police said Friday.

Daniel Wozniak, 26, of Costa Mesa, was charged with two counts of murder Friday, the same day he was supposed to get married to fiancee Rachel Buffet at a park in Long Beach, Calif., said Detective Sgt. Ed Everett of the Costa Mesa Police Department.

Wozniak's father, Daryl Wozniak, said his son was in a coma after trying to commit suicide. Everett said Daniel was being treated at Western Medical Center, but he did not describe his condition.

Daniel Wozniak, who recently starred in the lead role as Guido Contini in the musical "Nine" at the Hunger Artists Theatre Company in Fullerton, is accused of dismembering the body of Samuel Herr, 26, on May 21, leaving his torso at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base and scattering the limbs elsewhere.

Wozniak is also accused of shooting Juri Kibuishi, 23, after summoning her with a text message on Herr's phone, then removing her clothes to fake a sexual assault. Her body was found May 22 by Herr's father.

The motive appears to be financial, police said.

Police detained a 17-year-old boy after he withdrew nearly $2,000 from Herr's bank account, Costa Mesa police Lt. Bryan Glass said. The teen told police he made the withdrawals for Wozniak.

From: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/05/29/20100529NeighborBeheading0629.html

Ballard man, 74, kills woman, then jumps to his death

By Seattle Times staff

In what police are saying was a murder-suicide, a 74-year-old man beat a woman to death with a hammer and then jumped to his death from an apartment building Thursday night in Ballard.

The unidentified man, who has the same last name as the woman, apparently beat her to death before taking his own life, said Seattle Police spokeswoman Renee Witt.

Police were called to the apartment building in the 2400 block of Northwest 57th Street about 10:45 p.m. after there were reports of a disturbance. Police found the woman who had been beaten with a hammer. She was taken to Harborview Medical Center, where she died.

As officers were checking the apartment they noticed broken windows on the south wall of the apartment. When they looked out, they saw the man on the ground.

Police are looking for witnesses, but say the evidence at the scene leads them to believe it was a murder-suicide.

From: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011976439_twodead29m.html?prmid=related_stories_section

Baby Dropped By Dad Dies At Harborview

Posted: 9:48 am PDT May 28, 2010
Updated: 10:09 am PDT May 28, 2010

SEATTLE -- A 4-month-old Thurston County baby has died at Harborview Medical Center, where she was taken early this week after her father reported he threw her up into the air and dropped her.

The King County Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy. The results will determine the course of the investigation by the Thurston County Sheriff's Office, a deputy told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News.

The 20-year-old father told the sheriff's office that he was playing with his daughter, throwing her into the air and catching her, when the child fell and landed on her head and back on Sunday.

A sheriff's office spokesman said earlier in the week that there was no evidence that pointed to a crime.

From: http://www.kirotv.com/news/23709953/detail.html?cxntlid=cmg_cntnt_rss

Scientists Find Genes for Longer Life

Posted May 18, 2010

By Seth Fiegerman

Forget all the folklore and movies, the real fountain of youth isn’t a place, but a cluster of genes.

Dutch scientists recently announced the discovery of a group of genes that may be the secret to a longer life. These genes actually prevent other “diseased genes” from acting up and deteriorating the body. The finding is based on an ongoing study of 3,500 Dutch citizens who are at least 90 years old.

What’s particularly surprising is that people who possess these genes may live long lives regardless of whether they maintain healthy lifestyles. Eline Slagboom, the researcher leading the study, told The London Times that a long life is ultimately “strongly genetic and inherited.”

"People who live to a great age metabolise fats and glucose differently, their skin ages more slowly and they have lower prevalence of heart disease, diabetes and hypertension,” Slagboom said, according to the Times. “These factors are all under strong genetic control, so we see the same features in the children of very old people.”

Unfortunately, just one in 10,000 people actually live to 100 years old, which may be an indication of how rare it is to have this ideal combination of genes. Yet, the findings in this study may help scientists to produce more efficient anti-aging drugs down the road. Amazingly, as the study notes, all it takes is a “tiny mutation” in a person’s genes to boost their lifespan significantly.

In the meantime, there are other steps you can take to increase your odds of leading a long and healthy life. A couple years ago, one National Geographic writer looked at several communities around the world with the highest amount of people living to 100 or older and found that it may all depend on fundamental things like leaving a little food over at the end of each meal and being part of a close-knit community of friends and family.

From: http://www.mainstreet.com/article/lifestyle/scientists-discover-genes-longer-life?puc=msibs&cm_ven=msIBS

Woman Kills Herself While Driving

Posted: 11:40 am MDT May 28, 2010

LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- A California woman shot and killed herself while driving on Interstate 10 in New Mexico while her 9-year-old daughter was inside the vehicle.

The girl wasn't injured.

State police Lt. Roman Jimenez said the woman shot herself in the chest Thursday about 25 miles west of Las Cruces -- after the girl refused the woman's request to kill her.

The girl told investigators her mother began to breathe heavily -- possibly from an asthma or emphysema attack -- and handed over a 9-mm handgun.

The girl refused.

The woman then fired a shot into her own chest and the car rolled to a stop on the road's left shoulder.

The woman and her daughter were traveling to Oklahoma City to see the girl's father.

From: http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/23710505/detail.html?cxntlid=cmg_cntnt_rss

Girl, 15, robbed by two teens, then sexually assaulted moments after in the Bronx

By Joe Kemp
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Saturday, May 29th 2010, 4:00 AM

A 15-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by a teenage boy in the Bronx last week - just moments after she was robbed by two other teens, cops said.

A young man held the teenage girl on Grand Concourse and McClellan St. May 19 so his gal pal, who's believed to be 17 years old, could snatch the victim's cell phone, cops said.

Soon later, a man - described as black and 17 to 19 with a stocky build - approached the distraught teen and offered to help her, cops said. He led the girl to a nearby courtyard, where he forced her to perform a sex act, police said.

It was still unclear whether the pervert was connected to the duo in the robbery moments before.

"Whether he was an opportunist or if they were connected is still unknown," a source said.

From: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/05/29/2010-05-29_teen_robbed__then_assaulted.html

Student suffers amputation after embarrassing school assault

By Boyd Huppert 05/27/2010



CROSBY, Minn. -- Pain is the operative word in the unfortunate story of 14-year-old David Gibbons. It is a pain he has endured both physically and emotionally after being punched in the groin by another student as he changed classes at Crosby Ironton High School.

"One o'clock in the morning he woke me up and told me he was in excruciating pain," recalls Christy Gibbons, David's mom. Not long after, David was in surgery at St. Joseph's Hospital in Brainerd having his right testicle removed.

"This may be called a game, but it's not a game. It's dangerous and it needs to stop," said Christy.

It's a notion seconded by Dr. Scott Wheeler, a Brainerd urologist.

"It's just gotten way out of control," said Wheeler, who now performs "three to four surgeries a year" on boys with ruptured testicles and other complications of being groin punched - with dozens more coming in with less severe injuries. "It's high school, junior high, elementary school," said Wheeler.

Dubbed "sack tapping" by some students, the practice is now featured in dozens of homemade videos on YouTube.

"We're gonna see who our first victim is," says a student in one video before punching an unsuspecting male student in the groin as he walked down a school hallway.

It is painful to watch and Dr. Wheeler says increasingly common. "All parents, you need to have this talk with your kids not to do it. It's lost its humor. It's not a game anymore. People get hurt."

"I don't know how to stop it," said David, who says he's been the recipient of similar attacks in the past. His parents pulled him out of school and are now planning a move to a different school district.

Jamie Skjeveland, superintendent of Crosby Ironton schools, says the investigation of the incident involving David is complete, but he declined to comment on any disciplinary action for privacy reasons.

On Wednesday morning the Gibbons are scheduled to meet with Crow Wing County Attorney Don Ryan to learn if criminal charges will be filed against the other student.

"This kid doing that, he should definitely be held responsible for that," said Denny Gibbons, David's dad.

Doctors have told David that even though he lost a testicle in the attack, he should still be able to have children someday.

David's mom mostly wants other parents to be aware. "I seen the pain he was in. I seen what he went through every day, and it just breaks my heart and I don't want any other child to have to go through this."

From: http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=851660

Pregnant teenager watched torture of boyfriend who was then murdered

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:05 PM on 27th May 2010

A former football star was tortured and murdered after his pregnant girlfriend set him up to be attacked by two thugs so she could watch the savage beating for pleasure.

Chelsea Platt, 18, despised Martin Hyde, 22, and enjoyed seeing him bullied and humiliated.

When Mr Hyde got caught up in a petty row over £15, sadistic Platt lured her lover into the clutches of two thugs who ambushed him as he followed her down the street.

Platt later watched unfazed as Mr Hyde was viciously assaulted at her own flat during a two hour beating during which his killers shouted: 'I want a spade so we can watch him dig his own grave and put him in it.'

The victim - who played trials for Stockport County - was eventually frogmarched to a country park where he was battered to death, stabbed in the back and neck with what was believed to be a chisel and thrown into a river.

The body of the victim who had suffered 72 injuries was later found floating in the water by dog walkers.

On the day of the killing Platt had sent a message to one of the killers on her Facebook page saying: 'Are U getting Martin 2Day X.'

In the months prior to the murder, Platt also sent bullying messages to Mr Hyde on Facebook, one saying: 'My two-year-old nephew is more of a man than you'.

Another message read: 'You need to die really badly because no one likes you.'

At Manchester Crown Court a judge condemned Platt's 'haunting and casual approach to violence' as he jailed her for four years after she admitted conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.

James Dellaway, 24, and Jason Hughes, 28, pleaded guilty to murder and were each jailed for life with a recommendation they each serve 25 years and 73 days.

Judge Mr Justice Ernest Ryder told Platt who is due to give birth to Mr Hyde's child in just one month's time said: 'You are a reprehensible amoral facilitator of casual violence.

'You admit setting up Martin Hyde knowing he would be beaten up. It was something you had done before on many occasions.

Brutal: James Dellaway, left, and Jason Hughes, right, pleaded guilty to murder and were each jailed for life for the savage killing of Martin Hyde

'It is almost inexplicable despicable behaviour. You did not nothing to stop this orgy of violence that was occurring in front of you.'

He added: 'This was a crime of the gravest severity against a defenceless vulnerable man who was a talented footballer and who was described as someone who wouldn't hurt a fly.

'This society and this court views the actions of those responsible with the utmost revulsion.

'It was sadistic bullying and the background described a haunting and casual approach to violence that is all to prevalent.

'There was a despicable history of bullying of Martin Hyde and there have been acts of depravity towards him.'

Mr Hyde was murdered last November after a row over £15, which he owed to Dellaway's girlfriend Lindsay Dunn for board and lodgings at her flat in Stockport.

When the victim realised he had no money to pay, Hughes and Dellaway turned up and threatened him with violence.

Within three days the two thugs had grabbed Mr Hyde outside a council drop in centre, beat him up inside a phone box then later attacked him again behind a church.

Hughes said: 'If you don't get me the f****** money I will put you six feet under.'

Mr Hyde went to a police station but left without being seen by an officer.

On November 6, Mr Hyde and Platt were in Stockport town centre when he saw his tormentors and fled to a nearby shop.

Platt then lured Mr Hyde to a bus station by pretending she had a text message from a friend asking her to meet up.

Instead, Mr Hyde was ambushed by Dellaway and Hughes who were hiding in a doorway, jumping out as he passed by and knocking him to the floor where

They then punched and repeatedly kicked him in the neck and face.
Mr Hyde again went to police and the two attackers were arrested. But they were bailed and carried on terrorising him.

On November 29 Mr Hyde turned up at Platt's flat, when she tipped off the two thugs and they arrived minutes later to give him a fourth and fatal beating.

Two witnesses who turned up at the flat in Brecon Towers, Stockport saw Mr Hyde battered and bleeding on the floor of the lounge with a blood soaked sponge in his mouth.

Hughes and Dellaway were repeatedly kicked him and battering him with a saucepan, with Platt looking on unconcerned as the the victim was then ordered to wash his own blood off his face.

Hughes was overheard calling for a meeting at nearby Reddish Vale country park and shouted: 'I want a spade so we can watch him dig his own grave and put him in it.'

He then offered Mr Hyde a choice: 'Death on the motorway or at the Vale.'
Mr Hyde was bundled out of the flat where they met Lindsay Dunn who shouted at the victim: 'you deserve it' before Mr Hyde was dragged down a flight of stairs towards a waterfall where he was repeatedly punched and kicked.

He then had his head repeatedly stamped on as he lay dying on the ground. The killers knifed him five times in the back and three in the neck before his body was lifted over a fence and tossed into the waters of the River Tame.

Mr David Turner QC prosecuting said: 'Platt orchestrated the violence at her flat. She didn't lift a finger or raise her voice to help the man who she knew might be the father of the child she was expecting.

'She like Dunn was quite prepared to see Martin terrified humiliated and badly beaten. She was instrumental in bringing Dellaway and Hughes back to the flat.

'She watched whilst the two men beat Martin up, she seemed unconcerned by this brutality which was akin to sadistic bullying.'

Dunn, 20, and another accomplice Peter Mayne, 18, admitted conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm. Dunn received a four-year sentence and Mayne got 18 months.

In a statement Mr Hyde's family said: 'He will be so sadly missed, we cannot believe the terrible way in which he has been taken from us.

'He was a good lad and did not deserve what has happened. We're just glad Martin has been given justice for this horrendous crime against him. He was a happy fun loving wonderful person and will always be in our hearts.'

Det Chief Inspector Jon Chadwick said: 'This was a sadistic and inhumane attack on a vulnerable young man, during which a gang of people turned on their victim for no reason other than a small amount of money being owed.
'It was the most brutal and sustained attack I have witnessed in my career.'

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1281804/Pregnant-teenager-watched-torture-boyfriend-murdered.html

Asian bear filmed doing 'Kung Fu' moves with stick

Footage has emerged of an Asian black bear allegedly doing 'Kung Fu' style moves with a stick.

By Amy Willis
Published: 6:04PM BST 26 May 2010



The footage, which was uploaded to YouTube a few days ago, shows the bear first playing with the 5ft stick with a paw.

The bear then appears to start twirling the stick rapidly around its head using 'Kung Fu' style moves.

At one point the bear - allegedly named Claude - even throws the stick mid-twirl into the air and catches it.

The three-minute clip of the bear was filmed by Canadian YouTube user alexbuzzkentaroguy at the Asa Zoo in Hiroshima, Japan. He says he then uploaded the clip to YouTube.

Animal behaviour expert Professor Marc Bekoff from the University of Colorado said the footage appears genuine.

He said: "This is an amazing example of animal object control. This goes beyond normal animal usage of complex tools but then again you can train seals to balance balls on their noses and train elephants to paint with their trunks, so why not this.

"I would guess this is the result of extreme training and would find it hard to believe the animal taught itself this spontaneously."

Professor Bekoff added that the bear's 'Kung Fu' moves were not natural and the bear must have been in a situation of extreme boredom.

The Asa Zoo has not yet confirmed if the footage is genuine.

The unedited version of the clip plus a previous edited version have so far gained more than 800,000 hits.

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7767375/Asian-bear-filmed-doing-Kung-Fu-moves-with-stick.html

2 Year Old Smoking

More Info/Background: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1281538/Smoking-year-old-Ardi-Rizal-40-cigarettes-day.html

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

In the late 1950s, three men who identified as the Son of God were forced to live together in a mental hospital. What happened?

By Vaughan Bell

Posted Wednesday, May 26, 2010, at 11:59 AM ET

In the late 1950s, psychologist Milton Rokeach was gripped by an eccentric plan. He gathered three psychiatric patients, each with the delusion that they were Jesus Christ, to live together for two years in Ypsilanti State Hospital to see if their beliefs would change. The early meetings were stormy. "You oughta worship me, I'll tell you that!" one of the Christs yelled. "I will not worship you! You're a creature! You better live your own life and wake up to the facts!" another snapped back. "No two men are Jesus Christs. … I am the Good Lord!" the third interjected, barely concealing his anger.

Frustrated by psychology's focus on what he considered to be peripheral beliefs, like political opinions and social attitudes, Rokeach wanted to probe the limits of identity. He had been intrigued by stories of Secret Service agents who felt they had lost contact with their original identities, and wondered if a man's sense of self might be challenged in a controlled setting. Unusually for a psychologist, he found his answer in the Bible. There is only one Son of God, says the good book, so anyone who believed himself to be Jesus would suffer a psychological affront by the very existence of another like him. This was the revelation that led Rokeach to orchestrate his meeting of the Messiahs and document their encounter in the extraordinary (and out-of-print) book from 1964, The Three Christs of Ypsilanti.

Although by no means common, Christ conventions have an unexpectedly long history. In his commentary to Cesare Beccaria's essay "Crimes and Punishments," Voltaire recounted the tale of the "unfortunate madman" Simon Morin who was burnt at the stake in 1663 for claiming to be Jesus. Unfortunate it seems, because Morin was originally committed to a madhouse where he met another who claimed to be God the Father, and "was so struck with the folly of his companion that he acknowledged his own, and appeared, for a time, to have recovered his senses." The lucid period did not last, however, and it seems the authorities lost patience with his blasphemy. Another account of a meeting of the Messiahs comes from Sidney Rosen's book My Voice Will Go With You: The Teaching Tales of Milton H. Erickson. The renowned psychiatrist apparently set two delusional Christs in his ward arguing only for one to gain insight into his madness, miraculously, after seeing something of himself in his companion. ("I'm saying the same things as that crazy fool is saying," said one of the patients. "That must mean I'm crazy too.")

These tales are surprising because delusions, in the medical sense, are not simply a case of being mistaken. They are considered to be pathological beliefs, reflecting a warped or broken understanding that is not, by definition, amenable to being reshaped by reality. One of most striking examples is the Cotard delusion, under which a patient believes she is dead; surely there can be no clearer demonstration that simple and constant contradiction offers no lasting remedy. Rokeach, aware of this, did not expect a miraculous cure. Instead, he was drawing a parallel between the baseless nature of delusion and the flimsy foundations we use to construct our own identities. If tomorrow everyone treats me as if I have an electronic device in my head, there are ways and means I could use to demonstrate they are wrong and establish the facts of the matter—a visit to the hospital perhaps. But what if everyone treats me as if my core self were fundamentally different than I believed it to be? Let's say they thought I was an undercover agent—what could I show them to prove otherwise? From my perspective, the best evidence is the strength of my conviction. My belief is my identity.

In one sense, Rokeach's book reflects a remarkably humane approach for its era. We are asked to see ourselves in the psychiatric patients, at a time when such people were regularly locked away and treated as incomprehensible objects of pity rather than individuals worthy of empathy. Rokeach's constant attempts to explain the delusions as understandable reactions to life events require us to accept that the Christs have not "lost contact" with reality, even if their interpretations are more than a little uncommon.

But the book makes for starkly uncomfortable reading as it recounts how the researchers blithely and unethically manipulated the lives of Leon, Joseph, and Clyde in the service of academic curiosity. In one of the most bizarre sections, the researchers begin colluding with the men's delusions in a deceptive attempt to change their beliefs from within their own frame of reference. The youngest patient, Leon, starts receiving letters from the character he believes to be his wife, "Madame Yeti Woman," in which she professes her love and suggests minor changes to his routine. Then Joseph, a French Canadian native, starts receiving faked letters from the hospital boss advising certain changes in routine that might benefit his recovery. Despite an initially engaging correspondence, both the delusional spouse and the illusory boss begin to challenge the Christs' beliefs more than is comfortable, and contact is quickly broken off.

In fact, very little seems to shift the identities of the self-appointed Messiahs. They debate, argue, at one point come to blows, but show few signs that their beliefs have become any less intense. Only Leon seems to waver, eventually asking to be addressed as "Dr Righteous Idealed Dung" instead of his previous moniker of "Dr Domino dominorum et Rex rexarum, Simplis Christianus Puer Mentalis Doctor, reincarnation of Jesus Christ of Nazareth." Rokeach interprets this more as an attempt to avoid conflict than a reflection of any genuine identity change. The Christs explain one another's claims to divinity in predictably idiosyncratic ways: Clyde, an elderly gentleman, declares that his companions are, in fact, dead, and that it is the "machines" inside them that produce their false claims, while the other two explain the contradiction by noting that their companions are "crazy" or "duped" or that they don't really mean what they say.

In hindsight, the Three Christs study looks less like a promising experiment than the absurd plan of a psychologist who suffered the triumph of passion over good sense. The men's delusions barely shifted over the two years, and from an academic perspective, Rokeach did not make any grand discoveries concerning the psychology of identity and belief. Instead, his conclusions revolve around the personal lives of three particular (and particularly unfortunate) men. He falls back—rather meekly, perhaps—on the Freudian suggestion that their delusions were sparked by confusion over sexual identity, and attempts to end on a flourish by noting that we all "seek ways to live with one another in peace," even in the face of the most fundamental disagreements. As for the ethics of the study, Rokeach eventually realized its manipulative nature and apologized in an afterword to the 1984 edition: "I really had no right, even in the name of science, to play God and interfere round the clock with their daily lives."

Although we take little from it scientifically, the book remains a rare and eccentric journey into the madness of not three, but four men in an asylum. It is, in that sense, an unexpected tribute to human folly, and one that works best as a meditation on our own misplaced self-confidence. Whether scientist or psychiatric patient, we assume others are more likely to be biased or misled than we are, and we take for granted that our own beliefs are based on sound reasoning and observation. This may be the nearest we can get to revelation—the understanding that our most cherished beliefs could be wrong.

From: http://www.slate.com/id/2255105/

South African hired hitman to shoot his unborn child

A South African man hired a hitman for £824 to kill his unborn child by shooting his former girlfriend in the stomach on Valentine's Day.

Published: 3:20PM BST 27 May 2010

Melissa Shelver, 27, had split with her partner David Best after discovering she was pregnant but he had agreed to support her and accompanied her to all her hospital appointments.

As the couple returned from the final scan, they were carjacked.

Their attacker drove them to remote scrubland where he shot Best in the shoulder before turning the gun on Miss Shelver. She pleaded with him to spare her unborn baby's life but he shot her twice in the stomach before fleeing.

Miss Shelver said that she never suspected Best was involved in any way. However, two weeks in to the investigation police officers discovered Best's wallet and mobile phone at the home of the man he had hired to carry out the killing.

Although in South Africa carjackings are common, Miss Shelver's case on Valentine's Day 2006 shocked the country because she was deliberately shot in the stomach in an attempt to murder her baby.

Speaking about the attack for the first time, Miss Shelver, of East London, South Africa, said: "There was blood all over the inside of the car," Melissa remembered.

"As soon as I realised I'd been shot, I started going into labour. The mix of the heat, the panic, the blood, it all seemed so unreal."

Best managed to drive Miss Shelver to the nearest ambulance station and she was taken to hospital.

Doctors rushed Miss Shelver in for an emergency caesarean but they were unable to save Jenna-May, who had been shot in the womb.

"My world stopped as the agony of what had happened sunk in," said Melissa.

"As I looked at my daughter's tiny face I could hardly believe she had gone. She was beautiful with thick curly black hair. But the nurse wouldn't let me unwrap her blanket because of her wounds.

"I was angry at the world because of what had happened to me. But I never imagined David would be behind it."

Best, 31, was arrested and his case went to trial the following year.

The court in Cape Town heard he had paid the gunman £824 to have the baby killed because he didn't want it.

Evidence also proved he had tried and failed to have Miss Shelver shot several times previously.

Best and the attacker Ludwe Mashupma, 25, were found guilty on 20 different charges, including attempted murder, robbery, perverting the course of justice and conspiracy to commit murder.

Best was sentenced to 21 years in prison, while Mashumpa, 25, will serve at least 15 years.

Miss Shelver said: "I had been through so much, I was grieving the loss of my daughter and then finding out it was David behind it, I just wanted to disappear into my bedroom and never come out again,"

Miss Shelver has now found happiness with her childhood sweetheart, who contacted her after finding out about the case. She and Jason Dyer are planning to get married and are hoping to have their own children.

"I have been told I should be able to have more babies if we have IVF," said Miss Shelver.

"We want kids and plan to start trying right away. Jenna-May will always be a part of me, but for the first time in years, I am looking forward to the future."

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/7771622/South-African-hired-hitman-to-shoot-his-unborn-child.html

Body of suspected Bradford serial killer's victim indentified as missing prostitute

The remains of a woman found dumped in a river have been identified as those of a prostitute believed to be among up to six victims of a serial killer in Bradford.

By Paul Stokes, Richard Edwards and John Bingham
Published: 11:55AM BST 27 May 2010



Stephen Griffiths, a mature student in criminal justice at Bradford University, is being questioned by police over the killing of Suzanne Blamires, 36, and two other prostitutes who worked in Bradford’s red light district and went missing over the past year.

On his Myspace page he operated under the pseudonym Ven Pariah, listing his mood as 'evil' and describing himself as the "misanthrope who brought hate into heaven".

Police are also questioning him on suspicion of murdering Susan Rushworth, 43 and Shelley Armitage, 31,

A police spokesman said this morning: "An examination of human remains recovered from the River Aire have confirmed a positive match to Suzanne Blamires.

"Inquiries into the incident remain ongoing and a 40-year-old man remains under arrest in custody.

"He is being questioned on suspicion of the murder of Suzanne Blamires, Shelley Armitage and Susan Rushworth."

Ms Blamires was last seen on Friday, while Ms Armitage, 31, has been missing since Monday April 26, and Ms Rushworth, 43, disappeared on June 22 last year.

Parts of Ms Blamires body were found in the River Aire on Tuesday after calls from members of the public. It is understood that a severed head was discovered in a rucksack.

West Yorkshire police were last night checking missing persons files. It was reported that they were investigating three more unsolved murders possibly linked to the case. Mr Griffiths, 40, who is studying criminal justice, specialising in homicide, is a postgraduate student with a degree in psychology.

The bachelor lives in Bradford’s red light district. One neighbour said he would walk around in a long black leather coat and boast he was doing a “PhD in Jack the Ripper”.

It is understood that Mr Griffiths was detained after detectives studied CCTV footage from the city centre over the weekend, when Miss Blamires went missing.

Separate searches for all the missing women had been continuing throughout Bradford but until yesterday police refused to link them.

Miss Rushworth was the first to go missing, on June 22 last year. She spent the previous evening with her family in Thornton before returning to her bedsit in Manningham.

Miss Armitage was last seen on CCTV cameras at 10pm on Monday, April 26, close to the city centre and again in the red light district.

Miss Blamires went missing on Friday. She was friends with Miss Armitage and lived a few streets away from her in Bradford’s Allerton district.

Mr Griffiths was arrested on Monday and the scope of the inquiry was expanded to link the other women.

At the same time as he was detained, a person found parts of a body in the River Aire, in nearby Shipley. Officers are yet to identify the victim.

The developments evoked memories of Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, who was convicted in 1981 of 13 murders and seven attempted murders of women, mainly prostitutes.

He lived in Bradford and killed three of his victims in the city.

Mr Griffiths was arrested by about 40 armed police at his flat. Forensics officers spent the day searching the third floor of the property, a converted mill building.

Neighbours said he bred rats to feed to his pet lizards.

One said: “He claimed he was doing a PhD in murder and Jack the Ripper.”

To neighbours and regulars in the local pub he walked past every day, he was known as “Penfold” because he wore round glasses and a dark overcoat like the cartoon character in Danger Mouse.

Locals, who would not be named, said Mr Griffiths was a “loner” and a “goth”. Mr Griffiths, who lived alone, had been renting his flat since 2001.

Detectives will study links with the murder of three other women in the area, including Rebecca Hall, who died in Bradford in April 2001.

The body of the 19-year-old sex worker was found dumped in an alleyway two weeks after she went missing.

Other cases being looked at include the disappearance of Gemma Simpson, 23, in 2000, and Yvonne Fitt, who went missing in January 1992.

Police said they were not formally linking the cases to the current inquiry at present.

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7771034/Body-of-suspected-Bradford-serial-killers-victim-indentified-as-missing-prostitute.html

Video game fanatic hunts down and stabs rival player who killed character online

A French video game fanatic hunted down and stabbed a rival player who had killed his character in an online war game.

Published: 3:18PM BST 27 May 2010

Julien Barreaux, 20, told police he wanted to see his rival player "wiped out" after his character in the game Counter-Strike died in a virtual knife fight.

A court in Cambrai, northern France, heard how Barreaux plotted revenge for seven months after the online "killing" last November.

He then located the victim, named only as Mikhael, several miles from his home.

When the man answered the door, he plunged a kitchen knife into his chest, missing his heart by less than an inch, a police officer told the court.

He added: "Barreaux was arrested within the hour and told us he had wanted to see his rival wiped out for killing off his character."

Barreaux was jailed for two years for causing grievous bodily harm, and ordered to undergo psychiatric tests and anger management therapy.

Judge Alexiane Potel told him: "You are a menace to society. I am frankly terrified of the disproportionate reaction you could have if someone looked at you the wrong way in the street."

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/7771505/Video-game-fanatic-hunts-down-and-stabs-rival-player-who-killed-character-online.html

Trial told man 'behaved like he had killed'

Last updated at 9:27 GMT, Wednesday, 26 May 2010 10:27 UK

A jury has been urged to convict a man of murdering a woman whose head was found near a city path because "only a murderer would behave" the way he did.

Prosecutor Alex Prentice asked jurors to "look at the bigger picture" in the case to find Alan Cameron, 56, guilty of killing Heather Stacey, 44.

Mr Cameron denies murdering Ms Stacey at her Edinburgh flat in 2007.

He has admitted hiding her body in her flat in Granton for more than a year, dismembering and dumping her remains.

Summing up the case for the Crown, Mr Prentice told jurors they had heard a "gruesome" case involving the "undignified and awful" treatment of another human being.

Buying chips

Speaking after five days of evidence at the High Court in Livingston, he questioned Mr Cameron's position that he found Ms Stacey dead in her bed when he returned from buying her chips.

Mr Prentice told the jury: "Who else but a murderer would behave in the way Alan Cameron did? Who else but a murderer would take steps to prevent the discovery of the body?

"Who else but a murderer would live with that dead body?

"Who else but a murderer would cut into the body with a view to dismembering the body? Who else but a murderer would keep the body for a year or so?

"Who else but a murderer would take apart and distribute parts of that body around Granton and Newhaven in Edinburgh?"

Mr Prentice described as "chilling" and "apt" one witness's assertion that Ms Stacey told her she "always ended up with the wrong guy" and would be fine if she could "keep away from creepy guys".

'Bigger picture'

Urging jurors to find Mr Cameron guilty of murder, he told them: "I ask you to look at the bigger picture. Look at the overall conduct of the accused and ask yourselves: Who else but a murderer would behave and act in the way Alan Cameron did?"

Earlier the court heard that Mr Cameron said he was worried that if he reported Ms Stacey's death he would be picked up as well and that nobody would believe how Ms Stacey died.

Solicitor-advocate John Scott, defending, said the evidence "was simply not there" to convict Cameron of Ms Stacey's murder.

He said: "Exactly how the relationship was between Alan Cameron and Heather Stacey will never truly be known.

"We know that one of them was an alcoholic, the other a fantasist and a liar.

"There is no evidence of an assault, never mind a murder.

"We are left with behaviour that is strange and gruesome on the other charges, as he has proved himself capable of attempted dismemberment on a women he loved.

"Saying she is murdered is mere speculation.

"Suspicion is nowhere near enough."

The trial before Judge Lord Matthews continues.

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/scotland/edinburgh_east_and_fife/10153194.stm

Bus poster stating 'There definitely is a God' most complained about

A bus poster which read: ''There definitely is a God'' attracted more complaints than any other advert in 2009, the Advertising Standards Authority said.

Published: 11:45AM BST 26 May 2010

A total of 1,204 people complained that the Christian Party advert was offensive to atheists and could not be substantiated.

The ASA did not investigate the advert - a response to a British Humanist Association (BHA) poster reading: ''There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life'' - because political party campaigns are outside its remit.

The ASA also did not investigate the BHA ad, which was the sixth most complained-about campaign with 392 objections, concluding that it was an expression of the advertiser's opinion and not capable of being objectively substantiated.

BHA chief executive Andrew Copson said: ''Our adverts were a light-hearted response to exactly the kind of dogma that says people must be told what to believe and how to live, often accompanied by the threat of punishment in another world.

''It is with some satisfaction that the public chose to complain about an advert that did not want them to decide for themselves about the existence of god, rather than encouraging them to make their own minds up as ours did.''

The total number of complaints to the ASA increased by 9.6 per cent to 28,978, although the number of ads attracting complaints declined by 10 per cent to 13,956.

ASA rulings led to 2,397 ads or campaigns being changed or withdrawn.

Volkswagen produced the second most complained about ad, with 1,070 objections, for including graphic scenes of a man fighting his clones. The ASA partly upheld the complaints.

HomePride took third place with 804 complaints for an oven cleaner ad reading: ''So easy, even a man can do it''. The ASA ruled that the ad was tongue-in-cheek and did not uphold the complaints that it was offensive.

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/7766951/Bus-poster-stating-There-definitely-is-a-God-most-complained-about.html

Man questioned over murder of three prostitutes in Bradford

A man is being questioned over the murder of three prostitutes in Bradford after body parts were discovered in a river.

By Paul Stokes and Richard Edwards
Published: 2:06PM BST 26 May 2010

Police sources have disclosed that a 40-year-old local man, who has not been named, is being interviewed by detectives about three women who have gone missing in the past year.

Susan Rushworth, 43, disappeared last June, while Shelley Armitage, 31, and Suzanne Blamires, 36, both went missing in the past month. All three women worked regularly in Bradford’s red light district.

On Monday, the 40-year-old man was arrested in connection to the case of Miss Blamires.

Yesterday, a member of the public discovered human body parts in the River Aire, in nearby Shipley. They are believed to be a significant discovery but officers are yet to identify the victim.

West Yorkshire police initially denied any links had been made but sources said that the man is now being quizzed over his alleged involvement in the disappearance of all three women.

Scenes of crime officers and police divers continue to search the stretch of river where the body parts were found.

Miss Blamires went missing on Friday. She was friends with, and lived only a few streets away from Miss Armitage in the Allerton district of Bradford.

Separate searches for both missing women had been ongoing throughout the Bradford district.

A sniffer dog and members of the underwater search unit went into a drainage culvert at the end of a cobbled side street off Thornton Road, close to the city centre. Other members of the team searched Bradford Beck on the opposite side of Thornton Road, close to Bradford College, while another police dog investigated undergrowth.

Forensic officers in white suits and masks were seen checking black bin bags taken from rubbish skips behind halls of residence at Laistridge Lane.

Police chiefs are expected to make a statement on the case this afternoon.

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7767580/Man-questioned-over-murder-of-three-prostitutes-in-Bradford.html