AAP
November 11, 2010, 7:51 am
A woman drew a 23-year prison sentence on Wednesday for killing her alcoholic boyfriend by lacing a jug of margarita cocktails with antifreeze at her apartment.
"It's not as if you were captive in this house," Judge William Kocher said in imposing a near-maximum penalty on Cynthia Galens, who maintained that victim Thomas Stack was emotionally and physically abusive.
"It's just senseless what you did."
Galens, 52, was convicted of manslaughter in September and faced anywhere from five years to 25 years in state prison.
"I accept the consequences of my actions," she said. "I am sorry for all the pain I caused everyone. I'm really sorry."
Galens was charged with murder in January, three months after Stack, a 48-year-old Air Force veteran, died from complications of ethylene glycol poisoning. A grand jury later opted for a first-degree manslaughter charge and Galens turned down an offer to plead guilty in exchange for an 18-year sentence.
State police say Galens insisted she wanted to make Stack sick, not kill him, by mixing the toxic automotive chemical into a store-bought container of margarita mix. She said she placed the cocktail in the refrigerator and went to bed early on Oct. 2, 2009, predicting he would drink it. She said Stack drank most of the 1-gallon (nearly 4-litre) jug.
Stark was "feeling poorly" the next morning, she said, but she left at noon to visit the grave of her teenage son, who died of a drug overdose in 2005. When she returned at 4 pm, she found him unresponsive, foaming from the mouth and breathing loudly.
She said she first called David Galens, her ex-husband, and when he showed up some 20 minutes later, they agreed to call an ambulance. Galens didn't tell paramedics about the antifreeze.
The judge said Galens had "many opportunities to undo what she had done" over a 30-hour period.
Instead, prosecutor R. Michael Tantillo noted, she chose for Stack "a slow and agonising and horrific death" by telling doctors she had "no idea what he may have ingested".
Galens worked for 30 years at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Canandaigua and met Stack there while he was being treated for alcohol abuse in 2007. They lived on and off at her home in nearly Farmington, about 40 kilometres southeast of Rochester.
Based on his history of alcoholism, bipolar disorder and depression, state police deemed his death an accident or possibly a suicide. But during a trip to Clearwater, Florida, in early January, authorities say Galens told a friend what she had done - and her friend went to the police.
From: http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/8297896/woman-in-antifreeze-margarita-death-jailed/
Friday, November 12, 2010
Milwaukie Police Link Man To Crime Spree
UPDATED: 6:52 pm PST November 11, 2010
MILWAUKIE, Ore. -- Milwaukie police say a 46-year-old Portland man is behind a one-man crime spree that happened last month.
Officers tracked down Mark Siebenmorgen, 46, at his home in Portland last week and took him into custody.
Police said Siebenmorgen assaulted a man at a Milwaukie TriMet bus mall on Oct. 21 and minutes later was spotted jumping on the hood of a parked car with a driver inside.
Less than an hour later, police say Siebenmorgen began throwing rocks at a woman near Milwaukie Market Place on Oak Street. That woman suffered minor injuries.
When officers searched for the suspect, they weren’t able to find him, but they eventually learned he was living in an apartment on Southeast Stark Street in Portalnd.
Siebenmorgen was arrested last Thursday and booked into the Clackamas County Jail on charges of criminal mischief, assault and menacing.
From: http://www.kptv.com/news/25757463/detail.html
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Choking game steals life of 9-year-old
written by: Jeffrey Wolf Matt Flener 11/10/2010
ARVADA - If you have a child, you may have heard of a deadly practice called "the choking game." But at least one survey shows at least 75 percent of parents have not.
Studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show many middle school kids, mostly boys, are playing the potentially deadly game at parties or on dares. There is evidence younger kids are playing the game as well.
Sheila and Dexter Brown say their son, Luke Spencer of Arvada, died from the choking game.
"He spent a lot of time evangelizing people in the street and in the stores," his mom Sheila Brown said. "One of the things he knew, as a Christian, he was going to be with God forever."
His parents say the choking game took the life the 9-year-old could have led.
"I don't think he feared death," Sheila Brown said. "I don't think he feared this thing he was doing could lead to death."
What the 9-year-old was doing, his parents say, was playing the choking game which he had learned from friends.
YouTube videos show kids playing the choking game, looking for a euphoric high by asphyxiating themselves.
They will hit the floor, laugh about it, and if they live, doctors say, they will show warning signs, since the blood flow is cut off from the brain.
"We saw red bloodshot eyes on him a couple of times," Sheila Brown said, "really red bloodshot eyes."
They saw headaches as well.
"I would tell him to take one Tylenol," Dexter Brown, Luke's father, said.
But parents may not know why the symptoms are happening until after the day a child dies.
It was Oct. 29, 2009 for the Browns.
"I was downstairs reading and had no idea," Sheila Brown said.
That day, his mom found him in his bathroom with a belt around his neck.
"As soon as I saw him," she said, "I screamed, and I immediately took him down and put him in the hallway and started to do CPR."
It was too late.
"We just didn't understand how something like this could happen with us," Sheila Brown said.
Many parents say they don't understand why kids play the choking game.
A survey by the Dangerous Behaviors Foundation found, when asked, 75 percent of parents did not know about the game.
"Seventy percent [of children are playing the game] alone," psychologist Dr. Jeff Dolgan, with The Children's Hospital, said. "Thirty percent - their buddies are helping them."
Child psychologists say parents need to bring up the choking game at home, just like any other talk about drugs or alcohol.
"The best that we can do is to get out information to pediatricians and to parents to be alert about this," Dolgan said.
"You teach a kid not to drive fast, speeding will kill you, why not this?" Dexter Brown said.
"It's deadly if they're alone," Sheila Brown said. "Once they cross that line, there's no one there to revive them and that's what happened to Luke."
The Browns they hope no other child dies the same way.
"My only reason for doing this is to avoid anyone else going through this," Sheila Brown said. "We take comfort knowing that he's with God now."
The CDC can say definitively 82 that kids have died from the game since 1995, but many more are paralyzed or brain dead.
For more information on how you can talk to your kids about the game, the Dangerous Behaviors Foundation (www.chokinggame.net) has extensive resources to help parents talk to their children about the dangers of the game.
From: http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=162617&catid=339
Studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show many middle school kids, mostly boys, are playing the potentially deadly game at parties or on dares. There is evidence younger kids are playing the game as well.
Sheila and Dexter Brown say their son, Luke Spencer of Arvada, died from the choking game.
"He spent a lot of time evangelizing people in the street and in the stores," his mom Sheila Brown said. "One of the things he knew, as a Christian, he was going to be with God forever."
His parents say the choking game took the life the 9-year-old could have led.
"I don't think he feared death," Sheila Brown said. "I don't think he feared this thing he was doing could lead to death."
What the 9-year-old was doing, his parents say, was playing the choking game which he had learned from friends.
YouTube videos show kids playing the choking game, looking for a euphoric high by asphyxiating themselves.
They will hit the floor, laugh about it, and if they live, doctors say, they will show warning signs, since the blood flow is cut off from the brain.
"We saw red bloodshot eyes on him a couple of times," Sheila Brown said, "really red bloodshot eyes."
They saw headaches as well.
"I would tell him to take one Tylenol," Dexter Brown, Luke's father, said.
But parents may not know why the symptoms are happening until after the day a child dies.
It was Oct. 29, 2009 for the Browns.
"I was downstairs reading and had no idea," Sheila Brown said.
That day, his mom found him in his bathroom with a belt around his neck.
"As soon as I saw him," she said, "I screamed, and I immediately took him down and put him in the hallway and started to do CPR."
It was too late.
"We just didn't understand how something like this could happen with us," Sheila Brown said.
Many parents say they don't understand why kids play the choking game.
A survey by the Dangerous Behaviors Foundation found, when asked, 75 percent of parents did not know about the game.
"Seventy percent [of children are playing the game] alone," psychologist Dr. Jeff Dolgan, with The Children's Hospital, said. "Thirty percent - their buddies are helping them."
Child psychologists say parents need to bring up the choking game at home, just like any other talk about drugs or alcohol.
"The best that we can do is to get out information to pediatricians and to parents to be alert about this," Dolgan said.
"You teach a kid not to drive fast, speeding will kill you, why not this?" Dexter Brown said.
"It's deadly if they're alone," Sheila Brown said. "Once they cross that line, there's no one there to revive them and that's what happened to Luke."
The Browns they hope no other child dies the same way.
"My only reason for doing this is to avoid anyone else going through this," Sheila Brown said. "We take comfort knowing that he's with God now."
The CDC can say definitively 82 that kids have died from the game since 1995, but many more are paralyzed or brain dead.
For more information on how you can talk to your kids about the game, the Dangerous Behaviors Foundation (www.chokinggame.net) has extensive resources to help parents talk to their children about the dangers of the game.
From: http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=162617&catid=339
Atheism’s Poster Boy Sam Harris on the Science of Morality
If there is a hell, Sam Harris—author of The End of Faith and atheism’s poster boy—is going there. But while the faithful may argue that godless scientists are doomed to soul-destroying nihilism, Harris’ new book, The Moral Landscape, attempts to redeem the science-based worldview, arguing that it offers a clearer path to morality. Wired called Harris—from out of lightning-bolt range—to discuss his argument.
What do you mean by “moral landscape”? It’s a framework in which we can talk about the most important questions in scientific terms—questions that relate to human and animal well-being. For instance, we in the developed world have a different notion about how to live a long and healthy life. That’s because we have a science of medicine, which gives us an understanding of the mechanics of disease processes and how to address them.
How can you scientifically determine whether something is good or bad? The science of morality is about maximizing psychological and social health. It’s really no more inflammatory than that. Obviously it would be a good thing to stop nuclear proliferation and genocide and climate change, and to better educate our children. These are things that would be good for everybody and bad for nobody. People seem to believe that there’s no ground for truth-claims about human values—that these are not the sort of facts that science can ever deal with. But there is a place for science to argue, for instance, that the Taliban is really wrong. Its beliefs lead to unnecessary human suffering. Any conception of human well-being you could plausibly have, the Taliban patently fails to maximize it.
Religion makes those sort of truth-claims all the time. But religion is precisely the wrong software for analyzing human well-being. It’s the one area of our lives where people win points for saying, “I’m not going to change my mind no matter what happens.”
But hasn’t religion made some people behave more morally? The problem is that religion tends to give people bad reasons to be good. Is it better to alleviate famine in Africa because you think Jesus Christ is watching and deciding whether to reward you with an eternity of happiness after death? Or is it better to do that because you actually care about the suffering of your fellow human beings?
Why is science a better alternative? Science is the most durable and nondivisive way of thinking about the human circumstance. It transcends cultural, national, and political boundaries. You don’t have American science versus Canadian science versus Japanese science.
Science has suffered when it’s seen as the enemy of religion. But in your book you criticize scientists who have tried to build bridges. A religious scientist is someone who has decided he can behave rigorously in his scientific profession but has no obligation to connect that way of thinking to his larger worldview. If he did, he would notice contradictions between his science and his religion. Besides, the point is not to get religious people to accept evolution—it’s to get everyone thinking honestly about the nature of the world.
A lot of people must hate what you’re saying. Do you worry about your personal safety? I take security seriously, and I’ve gotten my share of weird emails. I don’t tell people where I live.
From: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/11/pl_print_harris/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+wired/index+(Wired:+Index+3+(Top+Stories+2))#
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Yours for £18,000: Mother charged with attempting to sell her eight-week-old son... so she could buy a new car
Last updated at 2:22 PM on 10th November 2010
A mother has been charged with attempting to sell her eight-week-old son to pay for a new car.
The baby's grandmother brokered the deal and initially demanded $75,000 (£46,000) but agreed to drop the price to $30,000 (£18,000) when told the prospective buyer could not get a bank loan.
Stephanie Bigbee Fleming, 22, of Bradenton, Florida, would have received $9,000 (£5,500) of the proceeds, according to police.
A spokesman said: 'Fleming planned to purchase a new vehicle from the money received.'
Arrest documents also revealed the woman also needed the money to pay court costs for an unrelated probation violation.
She was arrested yesterday and her mother - Patty Bigbee, 45 - was held last week with her boyfriend Lawrence Works, 42.
All three have been charged with the illegal sale of a child, and Bigbee was also charged with communications fraud.
The Daytona Beach News Journal has reported that the buyer-turned-informant was in fact another daughter who Patty Bigbee had given up for adoption but had recently got back in touch with.
When the daughter mentioned she wanted a baby, Bigbee offered her grandson for sale explaining she had been caring for her him but 'was not mother material'.
Her daughter then notified authorities and worked with them during the ensuing 'negotiations'.
Bigbee and Works were arrested when they collected a $30,000 (£18,000) cheque and handed over the baby to an undercover agent in a Daytona Beach car park.
Detectives moved in once the baby was put safely in the back seat of the 'buyer's' car.
'This transaction today was absolutely "take this baby, give us our money and go",' said Florida Department of Law Enforcement Agent Wayne Ivey.
'Not only were they attempting to go this route with the transaction, but who else would've been willing to buy that child?'
The baby boy is in the care of social services.
From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1328338/Stephanie-Bigbee-Fleming-charged-attempting-sell-son-pay-car.html
Two women and man dead as 'recycling rage' ends in shooting
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:41 PM on 10th November 2010
Two women and a man dumping rubbish were shot dead by a former police officer in a case being dubbed ‘recycling rage’.
Norbert Darriet, 64, had been reported for taking objects from skips at a recycling plant at Chateaubernard, a village near Cognac in south-west France.
Known as an obsessive collector of bric-a-brac and antiques, he was refused entry to the dump by an employee on Monday and drove off – returning with a double-barrelled shotgun.
Police believe he then shot two women employed by Calitom, a rubbish recycling company, and a man who merely happened to be there. It is believed the three victims died instantly.
Investigators say the former policeman then turned the gun on himself and pulled the trigger, but failed to kill himself.
One of the dead women, Sandie Bouillaud, a mother of two young children would have celebrated her 29th birthday on 20th November.
Her colleague Evelyne Leroux , 35, who lived at nearby Jarnac, was mother of three children, a 15 year old boy and two girls aged 7 and 9.
The dead man was Gerard Nadaud, aged 53, who was said to have been a regular visitor to the plant and a friend of the two women.
Alerted by a man who arrived at the scene a few minutes after the killings, police and ambulance officers found the bodies lying in pools of blood.
Darriet was taken to hospital, suffering from serious gunshot wounds.
According to the French newspaper Sud Ouest, Darriet had told employees at the plant that ‘if one day he was taken to court for taking objects, he would shoot himself beforehand’.
An employee said: ‘Tension had been rising for several weeks’.
From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1328210/Recycling-rage-shooting-Two-women-man-dead.html
Last updated at 2:41 PM on 10th November 2010
Two women and a man dumping rubbish were shot dead by a former police officer in a case being dubbed ‘recycling rage’.
Norbert Darriet, 64, had been reported for taking objects from skips at a recycling plant at Chateaubernard, a village near Cognac in south-west France.
Known as an obsessive collector of bric-a-brac and antiques, he was refused entry to the dump by an employee on Monday and drove off – returning with a double-barrelled shotgun.
Police believe he then shot two women employed by Calitom, a rubbish recycling company, and a man who merely happened to be there. It is believed the three victims died instantly.
Investigators say the former policeman then turned the gun on himself and pulled the trigger, but failed to kill himself.
One of the dead women, Sandie Bouillaud, a mother of two young children would have celebrated her 29th birthday on 20th November.
Her colleague Evelyne Leroux , 35, who lived at nearby Jarnac, was mother of three children, a 15 year old boy and two girls aged 7 and 9.
The dead man was Gerard Nadaud, aged 53, who was said to have been a regular visitor to the plant and a friend of the two women.
Alerted by a man who arrived at the scene a few minutes after the killings, police and ambulance officers found the bodies lying in pools of blood.
Darriet was taken to hospital, suffering from serious gunshot wounds.
According to the French newspaper Sud Ouest, Darriet had told employees at the plant that ‘if one day he was taken to court for taking objects, he would shoot himself beforehand’.
An employee said: ‘Tension had been rising for several weeks’.
From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1328210/Recycling-rage-shooting-Two-women-man-dead.html
Haverhill Pastor stole to support porn habit
Posted on Mon, Nov 08, 2010
Police allege a former Haverhill pastor stole thousands of dollars from the parish to support his pornography habit, racking up a $25,000 credit card bill along the way.
From: http://www.philly.com/philly/video/106883608.html
Police allege a former Haverhill pastor stole thousands of dollars from the parish to support his pornography habit, racking up a $25,000 credit card bill along the way.
From: http://www.philly.com/philly/video/106883608.html
Kitten in microwave survives fall; teens arrested
By Peter Mucha
Inquirer Staff Writer
Two teens are accused of tossing a kitten in a microwave oven, then tossing the unit out a third-story window.
A neighbor witnessed the flying appliance in the city's Juniata section Wednesday afternoon, called police and rescued the cat, according to the Pennsylvania SPCA.
The boys, ages 15 and 16, face first-degree misdemeanor charges of willfully and maliciously torturing an animal, said Wendy Marano, PSPCA spokeswoman.
The stray male cat, perhaps 2 to 6 months old, suffered "mostly some cuts and bruises on his face," she said. "He didn't have any broken bones."
Otherwise, the black, white and gray kitten seems to be OK. "They did not microwave the cat," she said.
After finding the stray over the weekend, the teens used a cellphone to shoot video of their actions, including the microwave's crash.
The kitten - nicknamed Tostino by PSPCA workers - will be under observation for several days. "He's not released yet for adoption," Marano said.
Adults convicted of an animal-torture offense face a fine or up to two years in jail.
From: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20101104_Kitten_in_microwave_survives_fall__teens_arrested.html
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Accused lived with decomposing corpse, court told
IAN STEWARD - Stuff Last updated 13:31 08/11/2010
An Auckland computer programmer murdered his Thai girlfriend then lived with her decomposing body in the lounge for nearly a month, a court has been told.
Gordon Hieatt, 49, is on trial in the High Court at Auckland for the murder of sex-worker Nuttidar Vaikaew, 48, in April 2009.
Crown prosecutor Rachael Reed said Hieatt told police he had choked her after an argument got out of control.
Reed said Hieatt killed Vaikaew on April 16 but continued living at her Western Springs, Auckland, flat for over three weeks, going about life as normal - taking trips to Wellington, visiting sex workers and going to family gatherings.
The police officers who responded to a call from Vaikaew's landlord on May 12 were greeted by a smell "indescribable and putrid".
Dead flies and maggots littered the floors.
Vaikaew's body was on a double bed in a curtained-off corner of the lounge, covered in blankets with a dressing gown over the head.
A fan was blowing over the bed to try and alleviate the stench, Reed said.
An examination of Hieatt's computer showed he had been on instant chat site MSM with another girlfriend in Thailand during the time his partner of two years lay rotting next to him.
The chat logs showed him saying Vaikaew "had gone and she was never coming back".
He later said Vaikaew had "made him crazy and he had killed her on Friday".
In other conversations he said he had read jokes all day to cheer himself up.
The trail before a jury and Justice Priestley is scheduled for three weeks.
From: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/4320875/Accused-lived-with-decomposing-corpse-court-told
An Auckland computer programmer murdered his Thai girlfriend then lived with her decomposing body in the lounge for nearly a month, a court has been told.
Gordon Hieatt, 49, is on trial in the High Court at Auckland for the murder of sex-worker Nuttidar Vaikaew, 48, in April 2009.
Crown prosecutor Rachael Reed said Hieatt told police he had choked her after an argument got out of control.
Reed said Hieatt killed Vaikaew on April 16 but continued living at her Western Springs, Auckland, flat for over three weeks, going about life as normal - taking trips to Wellington, visiting sex workers and going to family gatherings.
The police officers who responded to a call from Vaikaew's landlord on May 12 were greeted by a smell "indescribable and putrid".
Dead flies and maggots littered the floors.
Vaikaew's body was on a double bed in a curtained-off corner of the lounge, covered in blankets with a dressing gown over the head.
A fan was blowing over the bed to try and alleviate the stench, Reed said.
An examination of Hieatt's computer showed he had been on instant chat site MSM with another girlfriend in Thailand during the time his partner of two years lay rotting next to him.
The chat logs showed him saying Vaikaew "had gone and she was never coming back".
He later said Vaikaew had "made him crazy and he had killed her on Friday".
In other conversations he said he had read jokes all day to cheer himself up.
The trail before a jury and Justice Priestley is scheduled for three weeks.
From: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/4320875/Accused-lived-with-decomposing-corpse-court-told
Mother-of-two is sick more than 100 times a day due to vomiting syndrome
Last updated at 12:16 PM on 9th November 2010
Everyone knows the misery of vomiting when you have a stomach bug, but Sharon Wilson has a rare condition that means she can be sick more than 100 times a day.
The mother-of-two suffered from Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome for almost 10 years before she was finally diagnosed.
The violent attacks are triggered whenever she becomes excited and leave her completely drained and exhausted.
In the past she has regularly had to swap foreign holidays and nights out for a hospital stay as her body struggled to cope with her condition.
The care worker, from Doncaster, Yorkshire, can throw up as many as 140 times a day and leave her bed-ridden for three days.
Mrs Wilson said: 'Once it starts, it's like clockwork - I am sick almost exactly every 10 minutes until my body cannot cope anymore and I have to fall asleep.
'When my husband surprised me with a mini-break to Paris, I was sick 144 times in 24 hours.
'And when we went to Las Vegas to renew our wedding vows for our silver wedding anniversary, I was so ill I could barely leave the hotel.
'We should have been having the time of our lives - and I was stuck with my head in the toilet.
'It sounds unbelievable - funny even - but it really is a living hell.'
Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome is thought to affect just a few hundred people in the UK - and the vast majority of those are children, who often grow out of the condition.
Medics have no idea what causes the condition, but it's widely believed that attacks can be triggered by stress.
Sharon's stomach starts to churn on the run up to a holiday, or a special occasion - she even spent two days in hospital when her dalmatian had puppies.
She said:'The attacks don't happen when I'm over-excited - just when I have something nice to look forward to.
'When I was at my worst, I was having attacks that lasted between one and three days about every four weeks.
'If I know I have something nice planned for the next day, I will usually start feeling hot and dizzy at about 9pm the night before.
'By 9.30pm, I am really really ill - and I am usually up all night. I vomit until my stomach is empty and retch every 10 minutes after that.
'If I can avoid a hospital trip, I consider myself lucky.
'I was signed off work by my GP for a year. It got to the point where I started to think I would be housebound.'
Doctor's originally feared that Sharon's sickness was caused by a tumour in her pituitary gland - and after eight years of constant tests and brain scans, she was finally diagnosed with CVS.
She was prescribed anti-sickness tablets - but her constant vomiting meant that she struggled to keep the medication down.
She was then given amitriptyline - medication designed to stop migraines - and a supply of diazepam to take if she does feel an attack coming on.
Sharon has now gone six months without suffering an attack - and hopes that she may have finally be able to move on with her life.
She added: 'I'm thrilled not to have had an attack for so long - it feels great to have my life back.
'Only time will tell whether this new medication will work in the long term - but for now I'm enjoying being able to have some excitement in my life without spending days in my bathroom.'
From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1328023/Mother-sick-100-times-day-vomiting-syndrome.html
Schools get go-ahead to teach Paganism alongside major religions
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:10 PM on 9th November 2010
A council is allowing its schools to teach Paganism to pupils, it emerged today.
Lincolnshire County Council raised the issue of whether Paganism should be added to the Religious Education curriculum at a recent meeting.
The county's RE advisor questioned whether study of Pagan doctrine should be added to the six world religions currently studied in schools.
It was decided that individual schools can choose whether they wish to teach Paganism to pupils or not.
Minutes from a meeting of the Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education revealed the bizarre discussion.
It reads: 'The RE advisor reported she had looked into the query about Paganism forming part of the school curriculum.
'It was determined this covered a broad range of beliefs and practices.
However, there was no direct guidance about whether it should be included, and it was left to the individual schools to make the decision about whether to include it.
'The RE adviser told the committee she would keep her eye on the situation and report back should there be any developments.'
Paganism, which encompasses many non-Christian religious traditions, celebrates nature and worships many deities, both goddesses and gods.
Pagans view the cycle of the natural year as a model of spiritual growth and renewal and celebrate festivals at important times of the year.
Debbie Barnes, Assistant Director of Children's Services for Lincolnshire County Council, said individual schools can decide whether or not to teach Paganism.
She said: 'Currently the county council's RE curriculum for schools does not include Paganism, which is determined as covering a broad range of beliefs and practices.
'There is no direct guidance about whether it should be included in the school curriculum and it is left to individual schools to make a decision about whether to include it.
'Our RE Adviser has agreed to monitor national guidance on this and any changes that occur.'
From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1328080/Schools-ahead-teach-Paganism-alongside-major-religions.html
Last updated at 2:10 PM on 9th November 2010
A council is allowing its schools to teach Paganism to pupils, it emerged today.
Lincolnshire County Council raised the issue of whether Paganism should be added to the Religious Education curriculum at a recent meeting.
The county's RE advisor questioned whether study of Pagan doctrine should be added to the six world religions currently studied in schools.
It was decided that individual schools can choose whether they wish to teach Paganism to pupils or not.
Minutes from a meeting of the Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education revealed the bizarre discussion.
It reads: 'The RE advisor reported she had looked into the query about Paganism forming part of the school curriculum.
'It was determined this covered a broad range of beliefs and practices.
However, there was no direct guidance about whether it should be included, and it was left to the individual schools to make the decision about whether to include it.
'The RE adviser told the committee she would keep her eye on the situation and report back should there be any developments.'
Paganism, which encompasses many non-Christian religious traditions, celebrates nature and worships many deities, both goddesses and gods.
Pagans view the cycle of the natural year as a model of spiritual growth and renewal and celebrate festivals at important times of the year.
Debbie Barnes, Assistant Director of Children's Services for Lincolnshire County Council, said individual schools can decide whether or not to teach Paganism.
She said: 'Currently the county council's RE curriculum for schools does not include Paganism, which is determined as covering a broad range of beliefs and practices.
'There is no direct guidance about whether it should be included in the school curriculum and it is left to individual schools to make a decision about whether to include it.
'Our RE Adviser has agreed to monitor national guidance on this and any changes that occur.'
From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1328080/Schools-ahead-teach-Paganism-alongside-major-religions.html
Monday, November 8, 2010
Ten-day-old baby dies after going through entire spin cycle in washing machine
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 7:52 AM on 8th November 2010
A ten-day-old baby girl died after being placed in a washing machine as it went through an entire spin cycle.
The newborn's mother Lyndsey Fiddler put her daughter into the washing machine along with a pile of laundry.
The tiny baby was inside the top loading washing machine for up to 40 minutes before being discovered.
Maggie-May Fiddler was inside the top loading washing machine for up to 40 minutes before being discovered
A relative who called in to see Fiddler found her passed out and the baby, called Maggie May, missing.
She also heard a strange sound from the washing machine and when she opened the door found the crumpled body of Maggie mixed in with the clothes.
In a frantic call to emergency dispatchers 26-year-old Fiddler is heard saying :'My baby is dead.'
She can then be heard arguing with her aunt Rhonda Coshatt who is heard on the call saying: 'No I did not kill your baby, you did.'
The gruesome death in Bartlesville, Oklahoma left many of the emergency crews and police who responded to the incident in tears.
A veteran police chief, who has witnessed multiple murders and gangland shootings, said it was the most tragic crime scene he has ever investigated.
Police have charged Fiddler with second degree manslaughter after initially arresting her on drug charges.
They had been called to her flat on Thursday where they found the dead baby still inside the washing machine.
An investigation revealed it had gone through a full-spin cycle before she was discovered.
Bartlesville Police Chief Tom Holland said Coshatt had called in to see Fiddler, who has two other boys , to see how she was coping with her newborn daughter.
Family members had been concerned about Fiddler because of her past drug use.
Earlier this year they had tried to get her parental rights revoked before the birth of her third child.
The young mother had been arrested in April for taking drugs when she was four months pregnant.
She is suspected of being hooked on crystal meth and taking the drug the night her daughter died.
Holland said Coshatt walked into a grim scene.
'The mother was asleep and she had trouble waking her and heard the washer out of balance, clanging, so went to lift the lid so it would stop and in the washing machine, saw the baby,' Holland said.
Fiddler's two other boys, aged four and three, were taken into care by social workers.
The infant's father, Benjamin Trammel, said he can't believe his girlfriend deliberately killed their daughter.
'Inside my heart, I can't believe Lyndsey would have hurt our little girl.
I don't believe it in my heart to be honest with you,' Trammel said.
Paramedics had desperately tried to revive the newborn baby after she was pulled out of the washing machine, but she was already dead on arrival at hospital.
Paramedic John Houser,who worked on the baby, said: 'Terrible. I don't even know how to describe it.'
Fiddler has a long criminal history with arrests for assault, driving without a licence and not having her two older children in car seats.
Police chief Holland said the investigation in continuing with many of his men deeply affected by what they saw.
He said a veteran detective taking crime scene photos of the dead baby at the hospital had to step outside because he was overcome with emotion.
'I can assure you we’re not going to leave any stone unturned,' Holland said.
From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1327463/Ten-day-old-baby-dies-going-entire-spin-cycle-washing-machine.html
Last updated at 7:52 AM on 8th November 2010
A ten-day-old baby girl died after being placed in a washing machine as it went through an entire spin cycle.
The newborn's mother Lyndsey Fiddler put her daughter into the washing machine along with a pile of laundry.
The tiny baby was inside the top loading washing machine for up to 40 minutes before being discovered.
She also heard a strange sound from the washing machine and when she opened the door found the crumpled body of Maggie mixed in with the clothes.
In a frantic call to emergency dispatchers 26-year-old Fiddler is heard saying :'My baby is dead.'
She can then be heard arguing with her aunt Rhonda Coshatt who is heard on the call saying: 'No I did not kill your baby, you did.'
The gruesome death in Bartlesville, Oklahoma left many of the emergency crews and police who responded to the incident in tears.
A veteran police chief, who has witnessed multiple murders and gangland shootings, said it was the most tragic crime scene he has ever investigated.
Police have charged Fiddler with second degree manslaughter after initially arresting her on drug charges.
They had been called to her flat on Thursday where they found the dead baby still inside the washing machine.
An investigation revealed it had gone through a full-spin cycle before she was discovered.
Bartlesville Police Chief Tom Holland said Coshatt had called in to see Fiddler, who has two other boys , to see how she was coping with her newborn daughter.
Family members had been concerned about Fiddler because of her past drug use.
Earlier this year they had tried to get her parental rights revoked before the birth of her third child.
The young mother had been arrested in April for taking drugs when she was four months pregnant.
She is suspected of being hooked on crystal meth and taking the drug the night her daughter died.
Holland said Coshatt walked into a grim scene.
'The mother was asleep and she had trouble waking her and heard the washer out of balance, clanging, so went to lift the lid so it would stop and in the washing machine, saw the baby,' Holland said.
Fiddler's two other boys, aged four and three, were taken into care by social workers.
The infant's father, Benjamin Trammel, said he can't believe his girlfriend deliberately killed their daughter.
'Inside my heart, I can't believe Lyndsey would have hurt our little girl.
I don't believe it in my heart to be honest with you,' Trammel said.
Paramedics had desperately tried to revive the newborn baby after she was pulled out of the washing machine, but she was already dead on arrival at hospital.
Paramedic John Houser,who worked on the baby, said: 'Terrible. I don't even know how to describe it.'
Fiddler has a long criminal history with arrests for assault, driving without a licence and not having her two older children in car seats.
Police chief Holland said the investigation in continuing with many of his men deeply affected by what they saw.
He said a veteran detective taking crime scene photos of the dead baby at the hospital had to step outside because he was overcome with emotion.
'I can assure you we’re not going to leave any stone unturned,' Holland said.
From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1327463/Ten-day-old-baby-dies-going-entire-spin-cycle-washing-machine.html
Man Dressed As Jesus Kicked Out Of Church
This Is The Second Time Only He's Been Kicked Out Of Church
By Teresa Woodard
FOX2now.com
10:07 p.m. CDT, November 1, 2010
DES PERES, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com) — A man dressed as Jesus was kicked out of a St. Louis area church Sunday. Police were even called to get in the middle of the spiritual showdown. "We're called to be ambassadors for Jesus Christ, ambassadors should represent, and that's what I do. I try to represent my Lord and savior Jesus Christ," said Neal Thompson Monday night, wearing the same white robe and cross, and carrying the same staff he's been using every Sunday for 22 years.
He dresses up like Jesus every week, going to a new church every week, he says, to spread his Christian message.
"He said 'Take up your cross, your breastplate, and your staff and follow in Jesus Christ's footsteps and wear a white robe to show your sincerity,'" he said. "That's my job, to spread the word."
He says he is questioned most weeks, but then welcomed. But when he tried to enter St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Des Peres, he was not allowed in.
"One of the deacons saw me," he said, "and when I went in the church he met me and he said, 'Can I help you? What do you want?' I said, 'I want to go to church here today.' And he said, 'What do you believe in? Are you Christian? What religion are you?' I said, 'I'm a Christian.'"
Thompson said he was not allowed in the sanctuary. Church members told him he'd have to sit in the hallway.
"And I said, 'Well this ain't right, you guys ain't treating me right.' He said, 'We're gonna call the police.' I said, 'Well call them, I don't care. Call them.' So I sat down and the next thing I know four or five police showed up."
The church secretary referred us to Des Peres police, who did not even write a report. They say Thompson wasn't causing a scene, but they asked him to leave and he did, peacefully.
"Oh I forgive them, I forgive them," said Thompson.
He said this was only the second time he's been kicked out of a church in the last 22 years.
He says he'll try to go to St. Paul's Lutheran again some day, but police told him he should try to set up an appointment with the pastor before his next visit.
From: http://www.fox2now.com/news/ktvi-man-dressed-as-jesus-kicked-out-church-110110,0,1407462.story
By Teresa Woodard
FOX2now.com
10:07 p.m. CDT, November 1, 2010
DES PERES, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com) — A man dressed as Jesus was kicked out of a St. Louis area church Sunday. Police were even called to get in the middle of the spiritual showdown. "We're called to be ambassadors for Jesus Christ, ambassadors should represent, and that's what I do. I try to represent my Lord and savior Jesus Christ," said Neal Thompson Monday night, wearing the same white robe and cross, and carrying the same staff he's been using every Sunday for 22 years.
He dresses up like Jesus every week, going to a new church every week, he says, to spread his Christian message.
"He said 'Take up your cross, your breastplate, and your staff and follow in Jesus Christ's footsteps and wear a white robe to show your sincerity,'" he said. "That's my job, to spread the word."
He says he is questioned most weeks, but then welcomed. But when he tried to enter St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Des Peres, he was not allowed in.
"One of the deacons saw me," he said, "and when I went in the church he met me and he said, 'Can I help you? What do you want?' I said, 'I want to go to church here today.' And he said, 'What do you believe in? Are you Christian? What religion are you?' I said, 'I'm a Christian.'"
Thompson said he was not allowed in the sanctuary. Church members told him he'd have to sit in the hallway.
"And I said, 'Well this ain't right, you guys ain't treating me right.' He said, 'We're gonna call the police.' I said, 'Well call them, I don't care. Call them.' So I sat down and the next thing I know four or five police showed up."
The church secretary referred us to Des Peres police, who did not even write a report. They say Thompson wasn't causing a scene, but they asked him to leave and he did, peacefully.
"Oh I forgive them, I forgive them," said Thompson.
He said this was only the second time he's been kicked out of a church in the last 22 years.
He says he'll try to go to St. Paul's Lutheran again some day, but police told him he should try to set up an appointment with the pastor before his next visit.
From: http://www.fox2now.com/news/ktvi-man-dressed-as-jesus-kicked-out-church-110110,0,1407462.story
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Grant County Woman Pleads Guilty To Raping Her Children
Posted: 9:33 am PDT November 4, 2010
Updated: 11:33 am PDT November 4, 2010
SPOKANE, Wash. -- The Grant County woman accused of sexually abusing her children and broadcasting it on the Internet pleaded guilty Tuesday to four counts of first-degree rape of a child.
Pamela Ortega has an 8-year-old daughter, 6-year-old son and had also baby-sat a 2-week-old infant. She told police that she video chats with men online and lets them watch as she has sex with her daughter and performs sexual acts on her son. Orgeta also admitted to sexually abusing the 2-week-old baby she babysat.
Investigators believe she abused her children more than a dozen times, which was watched by men from the Tri-Cities and Spokane and in countries worldwide.
Ortega was turned in to authorities in April by a source in Europe who contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, saying Ortega offered her daughter to him for sex.
Each count of child rape carries a possible sentence of 20 years to life in prison. Ortega will be sentenced in December.
Police said her children are now safe.
From: http://www.kxly.com/news/25633740/detail.html?source=spo
13-year old Performs Home Abortion With Pencil
KTLA News
2:35 p.m. MDT, June 8, 2010
KUNKLETOWN, Pa. -- A 30-year old man has been charged with raping a 13-year-old neighbor who got pregnant and burying the body after the girl performed a home abortion.
Michael James Lisk was arrested after the girl was treated at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest for complications from the abortion.
The girl stated she tried to abort the fetus using a pencil, state police said.
The girl's actions made her violently ill for three days, and she went into contractions before delivering the baby at her home, police said.
The baby was placed in a plastic shopping bag, Lisk told police.
He admitted burying the body in woods near his home in Kunkletown in eastern Pennsylvania.
Lisk is charged with the rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, concealing the death of a child and abuse of a corpse.
He is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Police did not say how far along the pregnancy was, or whether the baby was born alive.
The Monroe County coroner's office has scheduled an autopsy for Tuesday.
From: http://www.kdvr.com/news/ktla-home-abortion-rape,0,5862660.story
Woman Utters Line Never Previously Recorded In A Police Report
Meet Melissa Lee Williams. The West Virginia woman, 41, is facing assault and weapons charges after allegedly waving a knife at two men who declined her demands to engage in sexual conduct at a West Virginia motor inn.
The October 22 incident is detailed in an amusing/gross Jackson County Sheriff’s Department report excerpted here.
According to investigators, Williams--who lives four doors down from her estranged husband at the 77 Motor Inn--showed up at his door and asked Danny Williams and another man to “eat my pussy.” At this point, Williams, pictured in the mug shot at right, “commenced to undress herself,” reported Deputy Ross Mellinger.
While Danny Williams “declined said invitation,” the other man, Adam Watson, told cops that he “agreed to perform at her request.” However, as Watson approached Williams, “he became overwhelmed by horrible vaginal odor emitting from Melissa Williams.” Watson, understandably, “declined to proceed any further.”
This is when Melissa Williams allegedly “produced a lock-back folding knife,” opened it, and pointed the weapon at her estranged husband. She then reportedly uttered a line never before memorialized in a police report: “Somebody is going to eat my pussy or I’m going to cut your fucking throat.”
When Deputy Mellinger arrived on the scene he observed Williams--who, like the two men, appeared to be intoxicated--nude from the waist down. After pocketing a knife that was on the coffee table in front of Williams, Mellinger arrested her for domestic assault and brandishing a deadly weapon.
Williams, who was released from jail after posting $3000 bond, is next due in Jackson County Magistrate Court on February 16.
From: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/west-virginia/woman-utters-line-never-previously-recorded-police-report
Four children among twelve killed in Russian mass murder
Agence France-Presse · Friday, Nov. 5, 2010
MOSCOW — Twelve people, including four children, have been found suffocated and stabbed to death in a suspected mass murder in a house in southern Russia, investigators said on Friday.
Investigators made the horrific discovery Friday in a two-storey house in the village of Kushchevskaya in the southern Krasnodar region, the investigative committee of prosecutors said in a statement.
“According to preliminary information, the death of a young child was caused by toxic gas and another was strangled. The deaths of the other 10 were caused by multiple stab wounds,” it said.
Traces of fires had been found in the house, it added. All of the victims had received between three and 10 stab wounds.
Initial reports had said that all 12 had been killed in a fire in the house but the new statement confirmed that fire was not the immediate cause of death.
The local branch of the emergencies ministry said in a statement on Russian news agencies that its employees had not been called out to fight any fire in the area.
The committee said it has opened a murder investigation, describing the crime as being of “particular brutality”.
The motive remains a mystery and further details on the circumstances were not immediately available.
The Krasnodar region lies just northwest of Russia’s troubled Caucasus mountains which has been plagued by Islamist militant violence and revenge murders over the last years but it was unclear if there was any link.
The investigative committee statement said that owing to the gravity of the crime the case had been handed to the top investigative body for the region of the Caucasus and southern Russia.
From: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Four+children+among+twelve+killed+Russian+mass+murder/3783762/story.html
MOSCOW — Twelve people, including four children, have been found suffocated and stabbed to death in a suspected mass murder in a house in southern Russia, investigators said on Friday.
Investigators made the horrific discovery Friday in a two-storey house in the village of Kushchevskaya in the southern Krasnodar region, the investigative committee of prosecutors said in a statement.
“According to preliminary information, the death of a young child was caused by toxic gas and another was strangled. The deaths of the other 10 were caused by multiple stab wounds,” it said.
Traces of fires had been found in the house, it added. All of the victims had received between three and 10 stab wounds.
Initial reports had said that all 12 had been killed in a fire in the house but the new statement confirmed that fire was not the immediate cause of death.
The local branch of the emergencies ministry said in a statement on Russian news agencies that its employees had not been called out to fight any fire in the area.
The committee said it has opened a murder investigation, describing the crime as being of “particular brutality”.
The motive remains a mystery and further details on the circumstances were not immediately available.
The Krasnodar region lies just northwest of Russia’s troubled Caucasus mountains which has been plagued by Islamist militant violence and revenge murders over the last years but it was unclear if there was any link.
The investigative committee statement said that owing to the gravity of the crime the case had been handed to the top investigative body for the region of the Caucasus and southern Russia.
From: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Four+children+among+twelve+killed+Russian+mass+murder/3783762/story.html
Friday, November 5, 2010
Boy swallows scissors but amazes his family and doctors by suffering just minor cuts
Last updated at 1:11 PM on 5th November 2010
This shocking X-ray shows how a 12-year-old boy had a lucky escape after he swallowed a pair of nail scissors, but suffered only minor cuts.
Curtis Francis, who suffers from learning difficulties which affect his sense of danger, escaped with the minor injury after he put the scissors down his throat handle first when his mother's back was turned.
Luckily the object did not block his airway, and when his mother discovered he was coughing blood, she immediately dialled 999.
Curtis was then taken by ambulance to Bristol Royal Infirmary where doctors removed the scissors under general anesthetic, and afterwards said he was extremely lucky not to suffer serious injury or permanent damage.
He has now made a full recovery from his ordeal, but mother Karon Edwards said she didn't realise at first how serious it was.
She said: 'I just thought he had swallowed a pen lid but I knew something was wrong when he started coughing up blood and making panicked noises.
'By the time the ambulance arrived both me and my son were in tears. When we got to the hospital and we were told it was scissors I was so, so worried.
'Curtis is a multi-needs child and doesn't have any sense of danger so I have to watch him all the time.
The incident occurred on August 11 when Karon went to put the kettle on at their home in Bristol and left her son alone.
Curtis then picked up the scissors and placed them in his mouth.
When she returned Curtis, who cannot talk due to his disability, was making distressed noises, and had stared to cough blood.
Karon then dialled 999 and Curtis was rushed to hospital, where the X-ray revealed he had swallowed the scissors.
Karon continued: 'It was the worst day of my life. It was such a nightmare. I am even more careful with him now but it is very difficult because he is getting older.'
'It was absolutely horrendous. I didn't know you could swallow scissors so it came as a huge shock.'
From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1326687/Curtis-Francis-swallows-scissors-suffers-just-minor-cuts.html
NSW doctor removed woman's genitalia without consent, court told
Lisa Davies From: The Daily Telegraph November 03, 2010 2:37PM
A REGIONAL NSW gynaecologist "deliberately" performed a "massively disfiguring" operation on a female patient without her consent, leaving her without her entire genitalia, a court has heard.
The doctor, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is standing trial in the Sydney District Court charged with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm on Carolyn De Waegenaire, as well as an offence of excising or extracting her clitoris unnecessarily.
The doctor has pleaded not guilty, and today his barrister told the jury his client performed the operation because he was “trying to save her life”.
Deputy Senior Crown Prosecutor Margaret Cunneen SC has told the jury that Ms De Waegenaire had a consultation with the practitioner in 2002, allegedly telling her that the operation known as a “simple vulvectomy” would be a “relatively minor procedure”.
He allegedly said “only a small flap of skin” would be excised and she would be in hospital for about three days.
Ms Cunneen told the jury that Ms De Waegenaire would tell the court that at no stage did the doctor inform her that her clitoris or any other part of her anatomy would be touched.
"The accused deliberately performed this surgery, he did it either deliberately, to hurt her, or recklessly - without considering her human suffering," Ms Cunneen said.
"He did it without lawful cause or excuse, because there was no reason to take so much tissue ... He did it with intent to cause the grievous bodily harm that he did."
Defence counsel John Stratton SC told the court there was no contest that his client had done the operation.
“(My client) wasn’t trying to mutilate or harm Ms De Waegenaire, he was trying to save her life,” Mr Stratton said.
Ms De Waegenaire is the first witness in the trial, being heard before Judge Greg Woods.
From: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/nsw-doctor-removed-carolyn-de-waegenaires-genitalia-without-consent-court-told/story-e6frf7l6-1225947308903
A REGIONAL NSW gynaecologist "deliberately" performed a "massively disfiguring" operation on a female patient without her consent, leaving her without her entire genitalia, a court has heard.
The doctor, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is standing trial in the Sydney District Court charged with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm on Carolyn De Waegenaire, as well as an offence of excising or extracting her clitoris unnecessarily.
The doctor has pleaded not guilty, and today his barrister told the jury his client performed the operation because he was “trying to save her life”.
Deputy Senior Crown Prosecutor Margaret Cunneen SC has told the jury that Ms De Waegenaire had a consultation with the practitioner in 2002, allegedly telling her that the operation known as a “simple vulvectomy” would be a “relatively minor procedure”.
He allegedly said “only a small flap of skin” would be excised and she would be in hospital for about three days.
Ms Cunneen told the jury that Ms De Waegenaire would tell the court that at no stage did the doctor inform her that her clitoris or any other part of her anatomy would be touched.
"The accused deliberately performed this surgery, he did it either deliberately, to hurt her, or recklessly - without considering her human suffering," Ms Cunneen said.
"He did it without lawful cause or excuse, because there was no reason to take so much tissue ... He did it with intent to cause the grievous bodily harm that he did."
Defence counsel John Stratton SC told the court there was no contest that his client had done the operation.
“(My client) wasn’t trying to mutilate or harm Ms De Waegenaire, he was trying to save her life,” Mr Stratton said.
Ms De Waegenaire is the first witness in the trial, being heard before Judge Greg Woods.
From: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/nsw-doctor-removed-carolyn-de-waegenaires-genitalia-without-consent-court-told/story-e6frf7l6-1225947308903
Mum killed toddler to 'expel evil spirits'
Posted 11/05/2010
A court has found a mother was psychotic when she killed her two-year-old son by standing on him.
The Supreme Court in Adelaide received psychiatric reports that Rachel Cherie Hadley stood on her son's chest and mouth to expel evil spirits.
The doctors said she thought she was curing him, rather than killing him.
An autopsy found the toddler died from asphyxiation.
It is a year to the day since Duke Hadley died.
Justice Kevin Duggan found his mother was mentally incompetent when she killed him.
He put off the case until December to get at least two more reports before sentencing Hadley.
The woman's lawyer, Bill Braithwaite, said there would be no application for her release, meaning she is expected to be kept in a mental health facility.
From: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/05/3058480.htm
A court has found a mother was psychotic when she killed her two-year-old son by standing on him.
The Supreme Court in Adelaide received psychiatric reports that Rachel Cherie Hadley stood on her son's chest and mouth to expel evil spirits.
The doctors said she thought she was curing him, rather than killing him.
An autopsy found the toddler died from asphyxiation.
It is a year to the day since Duke Hadley died.
Justice Kevin Duggan found his mother was mentally incompetent when she killed him.
He put off the case until December to get at least two more reports before sentencing Hadley.
The woman's lawyer, Bill Braithwaite, said there would be no application for her release, meaning she is expected to be kept in a mental health facility.
From: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/05/3058480.htm
Handyman jailed for hammer killing
Updated Thu Nov 4, 2010 8:17pm AEDT
A Sydney handyman has been jailed for up to 24 years for bashing a dissatisfied client to death with a hammer.
A Supreme Court jury found 48-year-old Jian Dong guilty of murdering Ming Hai Jiang whose body was found in the bathtub at his house at North Ryde in January 2009.
The bathtub was filled with blood and water.
The offender went to trial after his offer to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter was rejected.
In sentencing him to 24 years jail with a non-parole period of 17 years, Justice Derrick Price said Dong hit the homeowner on the head nine times with a hammer.
He said the men had argued about the quality of the offender's home renovations and the homeowner had refused to pay an outstanding amount of $1,500.
During his trial Dong had argued that he acted in self defence but the judge found the attack on the 27-year-old victim was "ferocious" and in response to "limited provocation".
He said afterwards Dong threw the hammer over the Gladesville Bridge and left Sydney.
But Justice Price also said that Dong has shown remorse and is unlikely to reoffend.
He noted that the offender left school at 16, was bullied and a loner.
Dong sat quietly in the dock as his sentence was conveyed to him through an interpreter.
The victim's widow cried in the public gallery. Outside court she said justice had been done.
"Jian Dong is not very honest... no one believes him," she said.
"I am happy with all the works done by the Crown, the jury, court officials and police officers and other people who contributed to this case."
From: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/04/3057009.htm
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Pinal officials say church shooting is a murder-suicide
By Lindsey Collom & Kate Jacobs - Nov. 3, 2010 05:53 PM
The Arizona Republic
The Pinal County Sheriff's Office said a man who fatally shot his ex-wife in Florence turned a gun on himself.
Authorities searching the desert Wednesday afternoon found the body of Dominic Donatella, 39, about a mile from his vehicle on Interstate 8 near Gila Bend. The Sheriff's Office said he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Officials began searching for Donatella on Tuesday night, after ex-wife Jamie Gallegos was gunned down in front of Christ the Victor church on Arizona Farms Road near Hunt Highway. Gallegos, 35, had been taking their young sons, ages 7 and 9, to karate practice.
Bystanders performed CPR on Gallegos, who had been shot multiple times. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Banner Baywood Medical Center in Mesa, where Gallegos and her boyfriend worked, had additional security measures in place Wednesday. A hospital statement said, "Today our thoughts are with Jamie's family and friends as they learn of this great loss."
In May, Gallegos told the Sheriff's Office that Donatella threatened to kill himself and her coworker, who later became a love interest. Donatella refuted the claim and was charged with assault and disorderly conduct against Gallegos.
From: http://www.azcentral.com/community/pinal/articles/2010/11/02/20101102florence-church-shooting-abrk.html
The Arizona Republic
Authorities searching the desert Wednesday afternoon found the body of Dominic Donatella, 39, about a mile from his vehicle on Interstate 8 near Gila Bend. The Sheriff's Office said he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Officials began searching for Donatella on Tuesday night, after ex-wife Jamie Gallegos was gunned down in front of Christ the Victor church on Arizona Farms Road near Hunt Highway. Gallegos, 35, had been taking their young sons, ages 7 and 9, to karate practice.
Bystanders performed CPR on Gallegos, who had been shot multiple times. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Banner Baywood Medical Center in Mesa, where Gallegos and her boyfriend worked, had additional security measures in place Wednesday. A hospital statement said, "Today our thoughts are with Jamie's family and friends as they learn of this great loss."
In May, Gallegos told the Sheriff's Office that Donatella threatened to kill himself and her coworker, who later became a love interest. Donatella refuted the claim and was charged with assault and disorderly conduct against Gallegos.
From: http://www.azcentral.com/community/pinal/articles/2010/11/02/20101102florence-church-shooting-abrk.html
Fence pole impales 14-year-old boy, friend in Eloy crash
By William D'Urso - Nov. 2, 2010 03:00 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com
A 14-year-old boy and his friend have life-threatening injuries after being impaled by a metal pole during a car crash, authorities said.
The boy's mother, Griselda R. Figueroa of Casa Grande, allowed her son to drive four friends around in her 1999 Chrysler LHS, said Tim Gaffney of the Pinal County Sheriff's Office.
The driver had apparently been driving at a high speed and lost control of the vehicle at the 6300 block of South Iron Bar Road in Eloy, the Sheriff's Office said in a press release.
A metal fence pole went through the front of the vehicle, through the driver's chest and into the rear-seat passenger, Gaffney said. Medics responded to the scene and both the driver and passenger were airlifted to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, Gaffney said.
Gaffney said both the driver and passenger were fortunate to have survived the crash. The pole was inches away from instantly killing them, he said.
Gaffney said authorities will continue to monitor both juveniles' health status.
Any charges are pending from Pinal County Attorney's Office.
From: http://www.azcentral.com/community/pinal/articles/2010/11/02/20101102pinal-county-crash-two-impaled-abrk.html
The Republic | azcentral.com
A 14-year-old boy and his friend have life-threatening injuries after being impaled by a metal pole during a car crash, authorities said.
The boy's mother, Griselda R. Figueroa of Casa Grande, allowed her son to drive four friends around in her 1999 Chrysler LHS, said Tim Gaffney of the Pinal County Sheriff's Office.
The driver had apparently been driving at a high speed and lost control of the vehicle at the 6300 block of South Iron Bar Road in Eloy, the Sheriff's Office said in a press release.
A metal fence pole went through the front of the vehicle, through the driver's chest and into the rear-seat passenger, Gaffney said. Medics responded to the scene and both the driver and passenger were airlifted to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, Gaffney said.
Gaffney said both the driver and passenger were fortunate to have survived the crash. The pole was inches away from instantly killing them, he said.
Gaffney said authorities will continue to monitor both juveniles' health status.
Any charges are pending from Pinal County Attorney's Office.
From: http://www.azcentral.com/community/pinal/articles/2010/11/02/20101102pinal-county-crash-two-impaled-abrk.html
'She doesn't have a brain, sir,' says Hollywood Lakes man charged with killing his mother, scattering her organs
The Miami Herald
Updated: 12:51 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2010
Posted: 10:03 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2010
On Halloween Eve, Beau Henri Bruneau woke up and decided to kill his mother, he told police.
When the cops found the partially gutted body of Nancy Bruneau face down on the lawn of her upscale Hollywood Lakes home, they also found a cinder block, a knife, and a hammer -- all covered in blood -- nearby.
Human organs -- presumably Nancy Bruneau's liver and brain matter -- were scattered about.
On Monday, Bruneau was at the Broward County jail, charged with the murder.
Bruneau, 29, had a long history of mental illness, violence and threats against himself, his mother and others. Police reports date back to 2001, when he jumped off the Hollywood Bread building, breaking both his legs. He has been Baker-Acted at least 10 times over the years -- including as recently as Sept. 30 after he allegedly threatened to cut his mother's throat.
According to Saturday's arrest affidavit, Bruneau told detectives he decided to kill his 62-year-old mother because he was upset that she was ``trying to kill him by neglecting him and yelling at him.''
At first, he tried to poison her by putting lithium in her drink. But, he said, she caught him and yelled at him.
Then he hatched a second plan that involved interrupting her shower by fondling himself. Finally, he began hitting her lightly on the back.
Nancy Bruneau began to hit back, so her son hit her harder. When Nancy Bruneau then tried to wrestle her son to the ground, he grabbed a hammer from a tool box and slammed into into her skull.
Afterward, Bruneau called 911, telling the dispatcher: ``I just tried to kill my mom. I hit her. Then I hit her with a hammer, and then with a brick.''
When the 911 dispatcher asked Bruneau if his mother was conscious, he responded ``No, she doesn't have a brain, sir.''
When police found her body, in front of her home at 1452 Van Buren St., a ``portion of her skull above her nose was completely shattered.''
The Broward County Medical Examiner formalized the ruling of homicide on Monday, declaring Nancy Bruneau's cause of death to be blunt force trauma.
According to the affidavit, neighbors described Bruneau as a loner who strolled the neighborhood talking and singing to himself.
Police reports reflect his family's struggle to care for Bruneau, who suffered from manic depression. On Sept. 30, his sister Amber called 911, telling police her brother had threatened to kill himself and his mother. At the time, she told authorities that Bruneau had not been taking his medications for three months.
From: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime/she-doesnt-have-a-brain-sir-says-hollywood-1014146.html?cxntlid=cmg_cntnt_rss
Retired detective on how he caught a pervert cleric
Oct 31 2010 by Darren Devine, Wales On Sunday
A WELSH detective has lifted the lid on how he caught a pervert cleric who cut the genitals off dead parishioners.
Trusted minister Emyr Owen mutilated corpses after they had been laid out in a chapel of rest.
After chopping off penises, he admitted injecting some of them with boiling water over breakfast so they would stand erect.
When cops searched his home, they found a collection of sadomasochistic pornography and three photo negatives of dismembered penises and scrotums arranged on plates.
They also uncovered a sinister collection of tools they believe the cleric used to aid his depravity.
They included a syringe, forceps, a screwdriver, handcuffs, a length of rope, cord from pyjamas, a razor and tooth extractors. The case made headlines around the world when it unfolded in the 1980s. Now, retired detective constable Gwyn Roberts has lifted the lid on the hunt for the sick snipper as he works on his autobiography, Forty Thousand Blue Days.
In a bizarre tale, Mr Roberts reveals how he first crossed paths with the Methodist minister when sheep were being disembowelled in a remote part of the old county of Meirionnydd, now part of Gwynedd. Mr Roberts believed the sheep were being savaged by a wild animal but the minister at Bethel Chapel, in Tywyn, Gwynedd, told him he believed the bizarre attacks were the work of freemasons.
From their initial contact the detective became suspicious of the respected cleric and his outlandish views.
The gay clergyman wore Cuban heels to add extra inches to his 5ft 6in frame and drove a Fiat 127 decorated with flame-blowing serpents in the small Mid Wales coastal town where trendy clergymen were unheard of.
Later the local superintendent at Dolgellau police station, Elwyn Davies, called Mr Roberts in to his office and told him anonymous letters had been sent to Tywyn police station and the then chief constable, David Owen, at Colwyn Bay.
The letters were littered with swear words and confessed an admiration for Hitler.
Mr Roberts said though the writer, who composed his letters in English and Welsh, never gave away his identity he let slip a number of important clues.
“When pieced together they gave indications that he knew Tywyn and Blaenau Ffestiniog,” said Mr Roberts.
“And the handwriting was in the style of someone educated in the 1920s or 30s, with a particularly unusual letter T.
“It was writing not unlike that of my parents and the Welsh phraseology was superior to the English, which convinced me the perpetrator’s first language was Welsh.”
The case became more serious when a woman received a letter threatening to kill her four-year- old granddaughter.
Mr Roberts, whose book is named after the number of days he completed with the force, compiled an all-male list of suspects.
The now 66-year-old soon got the breakthrough he was looking for when a farmer gave him a copy of the New Testament with a message inside the front cover signed “Emyr Owen”.
The handwriting was a perfect match for that found in the letters.
Mr Roberts, from Dolgellau, immediately headed to the cleric's home in Maethlon Close at the northwestern end of Tywyn, but it was empty.
He was also frustrated by several days of unanswered phone calls to the clergyman. But on December 22, 1984, the clergyman finally answered the phone.
Mr Roberts was warned to ensure he had the right man by superiors who felt nervous about such a high profile arrest.
The minister, who moved to Tywyn in 1976 and covered chapels over a 12-mile area, had been chaplain to the High Sheriff in 1982.
After initially denying everything the clergyman, who often shared his house with two other gay men, one of whom was a clerk to the courts, crumbled when probed by the 6ft 4in, 15-stone detective.
“Yes, yes, yes I wrote all those letters. I can’t tell you why. I was ill at the time,” the former cop recalls him blurting out.
Owen was sentenced to four years at Chester Crown Court for the mutilation of three corpses but Mr Roberts believes the reverend, 62 at the time, dismembered as many as six.
When sentenced the only explanation he could offer for the bizarre mutilations was that his personality was split between a good Emyr and “Emyr Ddrwg” (bad Emyr). Emyr Ddrwg was responsible for the letters and mutilation.
But the cleric, who died in 1991, was examined by a psychologist who said he was not deranged.
The psychologist said he believed the cleric had been having a crisis of faith and this may have prompted the mutilations.
Owen himself linked his behaviour to having his trousers pulled down as part of an initiation ritual while working in slate mining before he became a minister.
The severed male members were never produced in court – one had been fed to the seagulls on Tywyn beach, another burnt and a third thrown in the sea.
After his release from prison, Owen joined a church congregation in Colwyn Bay, where he again began a letter writing campaign before being thrown out.
Later, Mr Roberts would also uncover evidence linking Owen to a break-in at a church vault in Pentrefelin, near Criccieth, in 1982.
The body of a woman who had died in childbirth was laid out next to that of the infant with purple candle wax found near by.
The ex-detective believes Owen had been carrying out a sinister black magic ritual in the vault.
Mr Roberts said he made the crucial decision to continue searching after the twisted clergyman’s confession in the vicarage because he sensed the cleric was concealing more than crank letter writing.
“You get a sixth sense in these situations and I’ve never had it as strong as I did in that house,” he said.
“There was something very eerie and cold about the place.”
No links between the clergyman and the mutilation of sheep were ever proven.
From: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/10/31/retired-detective-on-how-he-caught-a-pervert-cleric-91466-27572828/
A WELSH detective has lifted the lid on how he caught a pervert cleric who cut the genitals off dead parishioners.
Trusted minister Emyr Owen mutilated corpses after they had been laid out in a chapel of rest.
After chopping off penises, he admitted injecting some of them with boiling water over breakfast so they would stand erect.
When cops searched his home, they found a collection of sadomasochistic pornography and three photo negatives of dismembered penises and scrotums arranged on plates.
They also uncovered a sinister collection of tools they believe the cleric used to aid his depravity.
They included a syringe, forceps, a screwdriver, handcuffs, a length of rope, cord from pyjamas, a razor and tooth extractors. The case made headlines around the world when it unfolded in the 1980s. Now, retired detective constable Gwyn Roberts has lifted the lid on the hunt for the sick snipper as he works on his autobiography, Forty Thousand Blue Days.
In a bizarre tale, Mr Roberts reveals how he first crossed paths with the Methodist minister when sheep were being disembowelled in a remote part of the old county of Meirionnydd, now part of Gwynedd. Mr Roberts believed the sheep were being savaged by a wild animal but the minister at Bethel Chapel, in Tywyn, Gwynedd, told him he believed the bizarre attacks were the work of freemasons.
From their initial contact the detective became suspicious of the respected cleric and his outlandish views.
The gay clergyman wore Cuban heels to add extra inches to his 5ft 6in frame and drove a Fiat 127 decorated with flame-blowing serpents in the small Mid Wales coastal town where trendy clergymen were unheard of.
Later the local superintendent at Dolgellau police station, Elwyn Davies, called Mr Roberts in to his office and told him anonymous letters had been sent to Tywyn police station and the then chief constable, David Owen, at Colwyn Bay.
The letters were littered with swear words and confessed an admiration for Hitler.
Mr Roberts said though the writer, who composed his letters in English and Welsh, never gave away his identity he let slip a number of important clues.
“When pieced together they gave indications that he knew Tywyn and Blaenau Ffestiniog,” said Mr Roberts.
“And the handwriting was in the style of someone educated in the 1920s or 30s, with a particularly unusual letter T.
“It was writing not unlike that of my parents and the Welsh phraseology was superior to the English, which convinced me the perpetrator’s first language was Welsh.”
The case became more serious when a woman received a letter threatening to kill her four-year- old granddaughter.
Mr Roberts, whose book is named after the number of days he completed with the force, compiled an all-male list of suspects.
The now 66-year-old soon got the breakthrough he was looking for when a farmer gave him a copy of the New Testament with a message inside the front cover signed “Emyr Owen”.
The handwriting was a perfect match for that found in the letters.
Mr Roberts, from Dolgellau, immediately headed to the cleric's home in Maethlon Close at the northwestern end of Tywyn, but it was empty.
He was also frustrated by several days of unanswered phone calls to the clergyman. But on December 22, 1984, the clergyman finally answered the phone.
Mr Roberts was warned to ensure he had the right man by superiors who felt nervous about such a high profile arrest.
The minister, who moved to Tywyn in 1976 and covered chapels over a 12-mile area, had been chaplain to the High Sheriff in 1982.
After initially denying everything the clergyman, who often shared his house with two other gay men, one of whom was a clerk to the courts, crumbled when probed by the 6ft 4in, 15-stone detective.
“Yes, yes, yes I wrote all those letters. I can’t tell you why. I was ill at the time,” the former cop recalls him blurting out.
Owen was sentenced to four years at Chester Crown Court for the mutilation of three corpses but Mr Roberts believes the reverend, 62 at the time, dismembered as many as six.
When sentenced the only explanation he could offer for the bizarre mutilations was that his personality was split between a good Emyr and “Emyr Ddrwg” (bad Emyr). Emyr Ddrwg was responsible for the letters and mutilation.
But the cleric, who died in 1991, was examined by a psychologist who said he was not deranged.
The psychologist said he believed the cleric had been having a crisis of faith and this may have prompted the mutilations.
Owen himself linked his behaviour to having his trousers pulled down as part of an initiation ritual while working in slate mining before he became a minister.
The severed male members were never produced in court – one had been fed to the seagulls on Tywyn beach, another burnt and a third thrown in the sea.
After his release from prison, Owen joined a church congregation in Colwyn Bay, where he again began a letter writing campaign before being thrown out.
Later, Mr Roberts would also uncover evidence linking Owen to a break-in at a church vault in Pentrefelin, near Criccieth, in 1982.
The body of a woman who had died in childbirth was laid out next to that of the infant with purple candle wax found near by.
The ex-detective believes Owen had been carrying out a sinister black magic ritual in the vault.
Mr Roberts said he made the crucial decision to continue searching after the twisted clergyman’s confession in the vicarage because he sensed the cleric was concealing more than crank letter writing.
“You get a sixth sense in these situations and I’ve never had it as strong as I did in that house,” he said.
“There was something very eerie and cold about the place.”
No links between the clergyman and the mutilation of sheep were ever proven.
From: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/10/31/retired-detective-on-how-he-caught-a-pervert-cleric-91466-27572828/
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Bar manager mauled to death by three lions in front of pal: 'It was like something out of a horror movie'
Last updated at 4:39 PM on 1st November 2010
A bar manager has been mauled to death by three lions at a game park after claims he had been taunting the beasts with a friend.
Witnesses saw Jan Bredenhand grabbed by one of the cats and dragged into the animal enclosure after he climbed onto a gate pole.
They said the 30-year-old was torn apart in a scene that looked like ‘something out of a horror movie’.
His traumatised friend, known only as Simon, immediately ran for help, flagging down motorists and knocking on doors screaming: ‘Please help me, my friend is being eaten by a lion’.
But Bredenhand, from Worcester in the Western Cape, stood no chance in the attack which took place at 5am yesterday morning at the Addo Croc and Lion Ranch, 35 miles north of Port Elizabeth.
Witness Jamiel Jonas claimed the two men had been taunting the female and two males from behind the high perimeter fence before climbing onto a support pole.
He added: 'That’s when one of the lions apparently got hold of his leg and he fell in.
'When we got to the camp (about 500 metres away), we saw the remains of his body. It was like something out of a horror movie.
'The friend was totally beside himself. You could see it happening, but screaming at the lions did not help. He was definitely dead by the time we got there.'
Another visitor, Veluchia Hassim, said: 'When we ran to the encampment it was horrific. One lion was gnawing on his ribs.'
A motorist driving near the 5,400sq foot animal enclosure was also flagged down by Simon.
Waldo Le Roux said: 'He came out of nowhere and was suddenly in the road right in front of me. I drove past, but he looked so upset that I turned around.
'But I couldn’t do anything. Even if the police were at the scene sooner they wouldn’t have been able to do anything.
'Simon told us Bredenhand had wanted to show him how big the lions were when one of the males attacked.'
Bredenhand had only worked at the ranch for a month.
Owner Johnny Janse van Rensburg shot dead the animals so police could enter the enclosure and retrieve the body.
He said:' There was no reason for him to be there. He was not involved with the lions'.
“We had to put them down. The lions were in a state of mind where you can’t work with them any more'.
Mr van Rensburg said three four-month-old lion cubs would be removed and the park would close until further notice.
A post mortem will be carried out on Bredenhand in the next few days.
From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1325622/Bar-manager-mauled-death-lions-It-like-horror-movie.html
Murder charge lodged against suspect in triple murder in Ottawa County
and DAVID PATCH
BLADE STAFF WRITERS
Article published November 01, 2010
BONO, Ohio - A single count of murder has been filed in Ottawa County Municipal Court against the man accused of killing his father, stepmother, and stepbrother Sunday.
The one count is enough to hold William J. Liske, 24, until the case is presented to a grand jury, Ottawa County Prosecutor Mark Mulligan said at a news conference Monday morning.
The suspect is scheduled to be in court at 2:30 p.m. Monday and is expected to be transported back to Ottawa County later that day.
He is accused of killing his father, William E. Liske, Jr., 53; his wife, Susan M. Liske, 46, and Mrs. Liske's son, Derek L. Griffin, 23, at their home along State Rt. 2 in Ottawa County's Benton Township near the Lucas County line.
Ottawa County Sheriff Detective George Byington said during a Monday morning news conference that the suspect's stepbrother Devon Griffin, 16, had spent the night at his father's house and came home Sunday morning to change his clothes for church.
Det. Byington said Devon saw his stepbrother and then left for church. He said it is possible but not known whether or not the family members were already dead at that point.
It was when Devon arrived home from church that he noticed something was suspicious in the home and went to the Liskes' bedroom, where he found his mother deceased.
He then called his aunt, who came to the home and placed a 911 call to authorities.
The story below is the original, and more detail is included
BONO, Ohio - Three family members were found dead Sunday in their two-story home along State Rt. 2 in Ottawa County's Benton Township near the Lucas County line, and a suspect later was apprehended in Carroll County in east-central Ohio, authorities said.
Ottawa County Sheriff Bob Bratton identified the victims as William E. Liske, Jr., 53; his wife, Susan M. Liske, 46, and Mrs. Liske's son, Derek L. Griffin, 23.
Deputies were called to the scene at 1:57 p.m. Sunday. About 3 1/2 hours later, William J. Liske, 24, was arrested by Carroll County sheriff's deputies in a family cabin in that county's Perry Township, about 170 miles away in east-central Ohio.
Mr. Liske, who is a son to William E. Liske and a stepson of Mrs. Liske, was held last night in the Carroll County jail. Ottawa County detectives were processing an arrest warrant last night for three homicide counts, Sheriff Bratton said. Court records list Mr. Liske's most recent address as a motel at 3230 Venice Rd., near Sandusky.
Carroll County Sheriff Dale Williams said no weapons were recovered during the arrest, but warrant applications had been made to search the cabin and a pickup.
The murder weapon has not been identified, but the sheriff said a preliminary examination by Ottawa County Coroner Jerome McTague indicated that the deaths appeared to have been caused either by gunshot or by a blunt object.
Carroll County Sheriff Williams said his agency received an alert describing the suspect and his truck at about 2:50 p.m. that listed the family cabin on Poker Road as a site to which the suspect might flee.
The sheriff's office dispatched two patrols to the area and one of the deputies spotted the suspect's pickup. The suspect, Mr. Liske, came out of the cabin and surrendered without resistance, Sheriff Williams said.
The victims' bodies had been found by another son of Susan Liske, Devon Griffin, 16, who had arrived after spending the night elsewhere, the sheriff said.
Initially unaware of what had happened, young Griffin went to a bedroom to play video games.
When he discovered his mother's and stepfather's bodies, he first thought the scene was a joke left over from a Halloween party in a barn at the house Saturday night. Then, Sheriff Bratton said, he realized it was all real.
The Liskes lived on about 100 acres at 7054 State Rt. 2 with their two-story farmhouse set back about 200 feet from Route 2.
The bodies of the elder Mr. Liske and Mrs. Liske were upstairs and Derek Liske's body was found downstairs, Sheriff Bratton said. Sheriff's Sgt. Kent C. Davis said there was no clear evidence of a struggle and all three victims were found in their beds.
No information about a possible motive for the slayings was released, but both the sheriff's office and court records indicate the younger William Liske had repeated run-ins with law enforcement that included both jail time and mental health treatment.
"There was enough [evidence] presented to officers here that we knew he was someone we wanted to talk to right away," Sheriff Bratton said.
Sergeant Davis said authorities had been summoned numerous times to the Liske residence because of disturbances involving the younger William Liske.
"We've got a lot of history out here," Sergeant Davis said. "He's got a violent past."
The younger William Liske has faced a series of criminal charges in courts including Oregon Municipal Court, Lucas County Common Pleas Court, and Sandusky Municipal Court.
On Dec. 29, 2004, when he was 19, he was charged in Oregon Municipal Court with felonious assault and robbery stemming from an incident in which he allegedly struck his stepmother with a coffee cup and then took her car keys.
At the time, he was ordered to have no contact with her. Mr. Liske was indicted in January, 2005,, in Lucas County Common Pleas Court with one count of felonious assault and two counts of robbery, both second-degree felonies.
Two months later, Mr. Liske was found incompetent to stand trial on those charges and a not guilty by reason of insanity plea was filed on his behalf.
In September, he was found competent to stand trial, but the next month, the state dropped the charges.
This year, a series of misdemeanor counts have been filed in Sandusky Municipal Court against the younger William Liske, mostly for disorderly conduct.
Mr. Liske pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct in both April and June, with the first case handled as a minor misdemeanor and the second as a fourth-degree misdemeanor.
In August, an obstruction of justice charge against him was dropped, but Mr. Liske was found guilty yet again of disorderly conduct. Sergeant Davis said Mr. Liske had an outstanding arrest warrant in Oregon for assault at the time of the slayings.
The slayings were the first homicides in Ottawa County this year, and before a murder last year the county had gone nearly eight years without a homicide, he said.
From: http://toledoblade.com/article/20101101/NEWS02/11010307/0/NEWS14
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Jealous killer planned girl's murder
By KEVIN MARTIN, QMI Agency
Last Updated: October 30, 2010 4:56am
CALGARY - Convicted killer Tristan Ryan on Friday relived the "horror" of killing his former girlfriend -- a nightmare he has experienced regularly for the past two decades.
A sometimes teary Ryan, who has legally changed his name from Bradley Paetsch, told defence lawyer Kirk MacDonald the murder led to drug addiction in prison.
Testifying about the Jan. 23, 1991 killing for the first time, Ryan said he murdered Stephanie Spooner in a jealous rage.
And he admitted going to the 16-year-old girl's Okotoks home that day armed with a knife with the intention of murdering her.
"My all consuming thought at that time was 'was I going to kill her and how and when,'" he told a Calgary jury.
"I loved Stephanie a lot."
Ryan, who was 18 at the time of Spooner's murder, wants a jury to reduce the number of years he must serve before he can apply for full parole.
He's currently serving a life sentence without eligibility for 25 years, but is hoping to get that number lowered under the so-called "faint hope" clause.
Ryan told court about how he pounced on Spooner after reading a birthday card to her from her new lover, Jarrett McRae.
He had gone to Spooner's parents' home after she had invited him over to talk.
As she got ready to go out Ryan noticed several birthday cards in her bedroom, he said.
"There was a letter by Jarrett ... a birthday card," he said.
Reading it, he realized his worst fears about her seeing someone else had come true.
"Not only had there been a relationship, it was quite intense -- they had slept together and he looked forward to the next encounter," Ryan said.
"I went to the bathroom, she was still doing her hair and I pulled the knife on her.
"I ... put it to her throat, I cut her and she screamed and then I proceeded to stab her repeatedly -- many times."
Ryan, 38, said after Spooner fell to the floor he slashed her throat as well.
He said he now feels "horrible, horrific" for what he did.
Spooner's cousins, Shawna McEwen and Scott Verot, weren't impressed with Ryan's testimony, saying parole after 25 years should be his reward for rehabilitating himself in prison.
Jurors will hear final submissions from MacDonald and Crown prosecutor Jonathan Hak on Monday.
From: http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/canada/2010/10/30/15888761.html
Last Updated: October 30, 2010 4:56am
CALGARY - Convicted killer Tristan Ryan on Friday relived the "horror" of killing his former girlfriend -- a nightmare he has experienced regularly for the past two decades.
A sometimes teary Ryan, who has legally changed his name from Bradley Paetsch, told defence lawyer Kirk MacDonald the murder led to drug addiction in prison.
Testifying about the Jan. 23, 1991 killing for the first time, Ryan said he murdered Stephanie Spooner in a jealous rage.
And he admitted going to the 16-year-old girl's Okotoks home that day armed with a knife with the intention of murdering her.
"My all consuming thought at that time was 'was I going to kill her and how and when,'" he told a Calgary jury.
"I loved Stephanie a lot."
Ryan, who was 18 at the time of Spooner's murder, wants a jury to reduce the number of years he must serve before he can apply for full parole.
He's currently serving a life sentence without eligibility for 25 years, but is hoping to get that number lowered under the so-called "faint hope" clause.
Ryan told court about how he pounced on Spooner after reading a birthday card to her from her new lover, Jarrett McRae.
He had gone to Spooner's parents' home after she had invited him over to talk.
As she got ready to go out Ryan noticed several birthday cards in her bedroom, he said.
"There was a letter by Jarrett ... a birthday card," he said.
Reading it, he realized his worst fears about her seeing someone else had come true.
"Not only had there been a relationship, it was quite intense -- they had slept together and he looked forward to the next encounter," Ryan said.
"I went to the bathroom, she was still doing her hair and I pulled the knife on her.
"I ... put it to her throat, I cut her and she screamed and then I proceeded to stab her repeatedly -- many times."
Ryan, 38, said after Spooner fell to the floor he slashed her throat as well.
He said he now feels "horrible, horrific" for what he did.
Spooner's cousins, Shawna McEwen and Scott Verot, weren't impressed with Ryan's testimony, saying parole after 25 years should be his reward for rehabilitating himself in prison.
Jurors will hear final submissions from MacDonald and Crown prosecutor Jonathan Hak on Monday.
From: http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/canada/2010/10/30/15888761.html
Facebook brawl ends in knifing
By Leigh van der Stoep 5:30 AM Sunday Oct 31, 2010
A student at a top Auckland school has been arrested after stabbing another teenager during a public fight organised online.
The Herald on Sunday understands that a group of young people showed up at a North Shore underground carpark to watch and video the brawl last weekend.
It is understood the fight was over a girl and had been organised through Facebook.
Sources close to the school said there was widespread talk about the incident and clips of the "fight club" style event had since been pulled from the internet.
As the fight continued, the 16-year-old who was arrested allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed his opponent, also 16, causing lacerations.
The victim was taken to North Shore Hospital and sent home shortly afterwards.
Police confirmed to the Herald on Sunday they had charged the youth with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
He is due to appear in the Youth Court next week.
It is at least the fourth time in recent years that school pupils have been involved in fights which have been filmed and posted online.
Last year, a schoolgirl at James Cook High in South Auckland was suspended for seven days after she was filmed attacking another female pupil.
A few months earlier a 13-year-old Tauranga boy was filmed being beaten up by three others at his secondary school.
In 2008, Takapuna Grammar student Toran Henry, 17, took his own life after being referred to youth mental health services following a self-harm attempt.
His mother Maria Bradshaw said he was embarrassed that a video of him being bashed by schoolmates was posted on the internet.
The principal of the school involved in the latest incident, which cannot be named for legal reasons, said the school was disappointed to hear about the fight.
"While a weekend event and beyond our jurisdiction, the students' schools support the police in their investigation enabling those involved to realise the consequences of their actions."
The principal did not respond when asked whether the alleged offender had been suspended from school.
From: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10684263
A student at a top Auckland school has been arrested after stabbing another teenager during a public fight organised online.
The Herald on Sunday understands that a group of young people showed up at a North Shore underground carpark to watch and video the brawl last weekend.
It is understood the fight was over a girl and had been organised through Facebook.
Sources close to the school said there was widespread talk about the incident and clips of the "fight club" style event had since been pulled from the internet.
As the fight continued, the 16-year-old who was arrested allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed his opponent, also 16, causing lacerations.
The victim was taken to North Shore Hospital and sent home shortly afterwards.
Police confirmed to the Herald on Sunday they had charged the youth with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
He is due to appear in the Youth Court next week.
It is at least the fourth time in recent years that school pupils have been involved in fights which have been filmed and posted online.
Last year, a schoolgirl at James Cook High in South Auckland was suspended for seven days after she was filmed attacking another female pupil.
A few months earlier a 13-year-old Tauranga boy was filmed being beaten up by three others at his secondary school.
In 2008, Takapuna Grammar student Toran Henry, 17, took his own life after being referred to youth mental health services following a self-harm attempt.
His mother Maria Bradshaw said he was embarrassed that a video of him being bashed by schoolmates was posted on the internet.
The principal of the school involved in the latest incident, which cannot be named for legal reasons, said the school was disappointed to hear about the fight.
"While a weekend event and beyond our jurisdiction, the students' schools support the police in their investigation enabling those involved to realise the consequences of their actions."
The principal did not respond when asked whether the alleged offender had been suspended from school.
From: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10684263
Actor playing gunman shot dead after he is mistaken for a real-life assassin
Last updated at 3:18 PM on 2nd November 2010
An actor playing a masked assassin was shot dead by a security guard on a British film being made in the Philippines after being mistaken for a real-life killer.
Kirk Abella was filming an action scene in which he plays an assassin taking part in a drive-by shooting.
As the cameras rolled on the film set, a security guard who claims he was unaware of the film stumbled into the action.
Believing he was chasing after two real-life robbers, Eddie Cuizon opened fire with his handgun fatally wounding 32-year-old Abella in the back.
The 51-year-old later told police he wasn't aware a film was being made and had been told by villagers about gunmen roaming the street.
Many assassinations of political figures take place by masked killers who use a motorbike for a fast getaway.
The tragedy took place in the city of Cebu, central Philippines.
British director Alan Lyddiard was filming 'Going Somewhere' with a cast of local actors.
The actors were carrying plastic guns as they acted out a pivotal scene.
Police said Cuizon had been woken by other villagers and told gunmen were on the loose and looking for people to kill.
The security guard told police that he attempted to approach two armed, masked men on motorcycles when they sped away.
He said he stumbled, hurting his knee, and pulled out a .357 calibre a gun and fired, hitting Abella in the back.
Cuizon was employed by a private security firm as night-watchman for the village and was not supposed to be armed.
Local police chief Alexis Relado said Cuizon will be charged with murder. He said notices had been sent out by the filmmaker explaining he was shooting scenes in the village.
Reports from Cebu said Lyddiard had arranged for police assistance with traffic and crowd control.
'Going Somewhere' is about a fictional documentary filmmaker's travails in Cebu, where he plans to make a movie about the first circumnavigation of the world by Ferdinand Magellan, whose voyage to the Philippines led to its colonization by Spain.
Lyddiard is the former artistic director of Northern Stage in Newcastle and the TAG Theatre Company, Glasgow.
Lyddiard refused to comment.
From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1325784/Actor-Kirk-Abella-shot-dead-mistaken-real-life-assassin.html
'Romanian' girl aged TEN gives birth to healthy 6.3lbs baby in Spanish hospital
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 4:56 PM on 2nd November 2010
A 10-year-old girl has given birth in southern Spain and authorities are evaluating whether to let her and her family retain custody of the baby, an official said today.
The baby was born last week in the city of Jerez de la Frontera, said Micaela Navarro, the Andalusia region's social affairs minister.
Navarro told reporters the father of the baby is also a minor, and both the mother and the baby were in good health.
Her department declined to give further details, such as the sex of baby.
Spanish newspapers said the mother is of Romanian origin.
The daily Diario de Jerez quoted medical staffers who treated the girl as saying they were told by her mother that giving birth at such a young age is common in their country.
The mother was admitted to a 'minimum care' ward at the hospital and gave birth naturally to the 6.3lb baby, the paper claimed.
The mother appeared to tell hospital staff her daughter 'lived with her boyfriend' back in Romania.
Medical experts warn that because young girls are still growing themselves, they are at higher risk during pregnancy.
Studies have shown that teenage girls are more likely to give birth to premature babies and their infants have a higher chance of dying by age one.
The youngest confirmed mother in medical history is Lina Medina from Peru who gave birth at the age of five years, seven months and 21 days.
Tressa Middleton is Britain's youngest mother after giving birth at the age of 12.
From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1325910/Romanian-girl-aged-10-gives-birth-healthy-baby-Spain.html
Last updated at 4:56 PM on 2nd November 2010
A 10-year-old girl has given birth in southern Spain and authorities are evaluating whether to let her and her family retain custody of the baby, an official said today.
The baby was born last week in the city of Jerez de la Frontera, said Micaela Navarro, the Andalusia region's social affairs minister.
Navarro told reporters the father of the baby is also a minor, and both the mother and the baby were in good health.
Her department declined to give further details, such as the sex of baby.
Spanish newspapers said the mother is of Romanian origin.
The daily Diario de Jerez quoted medical staffers who treated the girl as saying they were told by her mother that giving birth at such a young age is common in their country.
The mother was admitted to a 'minimum care' ward at the hospital and gave birth naturally to the 6.3lb baby, the paper claimed.
The mother appeared to tell hospital staff her daughter 'lived with her boyfriend' back in Romania.
Medical experts warn that because young girls are still growing themselves, they are at higher risk during pregnancy.
Studies have shown that teenage girls are more likely to give birth to premature babies and their infants have a higher chance of dying by age one.
The youngest confirmed mother in medical history is Lina Medina from Peru who gave birth at the age of five years, seven months and 21 days.
Tressa Middleton is Britain's youngest mother after giving birth at the age of 12.
From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1325910/Romanian-girl-aged-10-gives-birth-healthy-baby-Spain.html
Son Claims Mom Was Trying to Kill Him "By Yelling"
By TODD WRIGHT
Updated 2:35 PM EDT, Mon, Nov 1, 2010
A 911 call released in the brutal beating of a Hollywood woman by her own son displayed just how disturbing the crime was.
Beau Henri Bruneau told police he clubbed his mom, 62-year-old Nancy Bruneau, because he was scared of the woman and that she was trying to kill him by yelling at him.
The revelation was the only motive given by the 29-year-old, who told a 911 operator Saturday morning that he had just murdered his own mother at their Hollywood home.
"I just tried to kill my mom. I hit her, then I hit her with a hammer and then with a brick," Bruneau said.
When police arrived on scene, they found Bruneau covered in blood and his mother dead in the front lawn. Bruneau also told police that he tried to cut out the woman's heart and even tried to poison her just before the brick attack.
The crime has shocked those who knew Nancy Bruneau, who worked at Hillcrest Golf & Country Club. Co-workers told the Sun-Sentinel that she had recently said she feared her son.
Beau Bruneau has been charged with first-degree murder and was ordered held without bail Monday.
From: http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/Son-Claims-Mom-Was-Trying-to-Kill-Him-By-Yelling--106460399.html
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"He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches."
"Being is substance and life; life manifests by movement; movement is perpetuated by equilibrium; equilibrium is therefore the law of immortality.
"The doctrine of equality!... But there exists no more poisonous poison: for it seems to be preached by justice itself, while it is the end of justice.... "Equality for equals, inequality for unequals" that would be the true voice of justice: and, what follows from it, "Never make equal what is unequal."
