I'VE HEARD OF SELLING YOUR KID FOR CRACK, BUT THIS?

Hello! Try Home Depot or Lowe's! Call Bob Vila?

May there one day be a law where certain people who do not fit the criteria of "normal" are allowed to procreate. It will be the demise of our society. Besides, the guy looks like a total creepy psycho.

APPLETON, Wis. — A man raising his 18-month-old daughter alone tried to sell the little girl for $7,000 so he could make improvements to his house, police said Friday.


The Ashwaubenon man tried to sell his daughter to a Grand Chute couple, who helped authorities in the investigation, Grand Chute Police Chief Ed Kopp said. "He was having difficulties raising the child alone and wanted to use the money for some home remodeling," Kopp said.


Danny Vu, 37, was charged Friday with unauthorized adoption placement, a felony that carries up to six years in prison. The daughter showed no signs of physical abuse, Kopp said. Brown County officials will probably place her in temporary foster care.


The man wanted to sell the girl "and didn't want anything to do with the baby after that," Outagamie County District Attorney Carrie Schneider said. The man owns a nail salon in Green Bay. A salon employee told the man he knew a Grand Chute woman who was looking to adopt a baby, and the man and the Grand Chute woman were introduced, police said. A friend of the woman later called police.


Schneider said the couple wanted to contact attorneys and follow legal adoption procedures, but the man did not want to involve attorneys. Police arrested the man after the Grand Chute woman called police to say he was on his way to their home with the girl Wednesday night, Kopp said. "We obviously had some concern about the child and what condition she was in, so we made the decision to intercept him," he said. The girl's mother left the area several months ago and is not in the country, Schneider said.

THIS WASN'T HIS FIRST CRIME...WE HAVE A SEXUAL PREDATOR ON OUR HANDS

NEW YORK — A bouncer charged in the brutal slaying of a graduate student is facing new charges that he tried to abduct another college student last year in Queens.


The law enforcement official said Littlejohn, 41, had been linked to the attempted abduction of a 19-year-old woman who told investigators she was approached by a man driving a blue van. The official said that the attacker — carrying handcuffs and wearing a blue law enforcement baseball cap — forced the woman into the van, but that she later jumped out and escaped.


Littlejohn pleaded not guilty last month to murdering Imette St. Guillen. The defendant, a parolee with a long criminal history, was working at a SoHo bar where the graduate student was last seen alive. St. Guillen's body was found dumped in a desolate section of Brooklyn on Feb. 25 after she was raped, strangled and suffocated. Investigators said DNA evidence linked Littlejohn to blood found on ties that were used to bind St. Guillen's hands.

COLLEGE IDIOCY GONE BAD--JOHN FIOCCO FOUND IN LANDFILL

Missing student found dead in landfill

Police: No foul play suspected

EWING, New Jersey (AP) -- A body found in a Pennsylvania landfill is a college student who disappeared more than a month ago, and foul play doesn't appear to have been involved, authorities said Wednesday.


John Fiocco Jr., a freshman at The College of New Jersey, was last seen in his dormitory early March 25 after a party. His body was found Tuesday in the Pennsylvania landfill where the dorm's trash is dumped and was identified through dental records, state police and prosecutors said Wednesday.

"Our sincere condolences go out to his parents, John and Susan Fiocco, and the entire Fiocco family and to the administration and students of The College of New Jersey," said state police Superintendent Rick Fuentes. Fuentes said there is no evidence that Fiocco was stabbed or shot. He said the investigation is continuing but Fiocco's death is not classified as a homicide.


Investigators contacted 1,000 students and school workers, and interviewed more than 150 of Fiocco's friends and relatives, and don't suspect foul play, he said. The search for Fiocco started 36 hours after he was last seen, when his roommate reported him missing. Investigators found blood and blood-soaked material in and around a trash bin behind Fiocco's dorm. After a laboratory confirmed the blood was Fiocco's, investigators started sifting through a 1-acre, 20-foot deep area at the landfill in nearby Tullytown, Pennsylvania.


Authorities have said Fiocco may have slid down a trash chute into the bin, although a camera used to scan the chute found no traces of blood. The injuries that Fiocco's body had sustained were consistent with being processed by a trash disposal system, authorities said. They would not say whether the injuries had been sustained before or after Fiocco died. Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph Bocchini Jr. said it is possible authorities will never learn exactly what happened.

PRODUCT OF THE 80'S--AN AMERICAN EPIDEMIC

Associated Press


District Heights, MD--A 12-year-old boy accused of beating and stabbing to death his mother and younger brother was charged as a juvenile Monday with two counts of first-degree murder.


Katrina Denise Powe, 31, and 9-year-old Mystery Toma Hillian were found dead Sunday in the family's apartment outside Washington after police received a 911 call. Authorities have not said who made the call. Detectives interviewed the boy and arrested him there, said Cpl. Clinton Copeland. He said the boy implicated himself.


Copeland initially said a metal bar believed used in the killings was normally used to secure a car's steering wheel to prevent theft, but later corrected that description. No relatives attended the hearing and the boy was represented by a public defender.


Prosecutors said the 12-year-old's father was on his way Monday to Maryland from North Carolina. Children under 14 cannot be charged with homicide as adults in Maryland and are not eligible for the death penalty, said Ramon Korionoff, a spokesman with the office of the county state's attorney.

At 12, the defendant is believed to be one of the youngest ever charged with homicide in Maryland. If found responsible for the deaths, the boy could be held until he is 21 years of age.

Neighbors described the 12-year-old boy as a bully. "He was a bad kid," said 10-year-old Jasmine Williams. "He would get himself in trouble hitting people."

See more on Kids that Kill

JESUS! ANOTHER COLUMBINE WORSHIPPER? THIS ONE IN WASHINGTON STATE

I'm sure Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are laughing in hell right now... Looks like we've allowed them to continue their path of destruction. When are we going to learn as parents? Pay attention to your teens, be interactive, engage yourself in their lives. I don't have any or all of the answers, but this is something that needs to be addressed in every family in every city. This can't be ignored and just say, "That happens to someone else"...because it may very well be your child, or your loved one...or maybe even your child will be the killer.

You know what the scary thing is? This kid seems to enjoy telling the police all the details of what he planned.

The News Tribune


A 16-year-old Rogers High School student, armed with his stepfather’s guns, planned to shoot students and then kill himself Wednesday at the school, according to Pierce County court documents released today.


Sheriff’s investigators learned of the boy’s alleged plan Saturday from school officials who’d been told he outlined his plans in an instant message conversation with a friend, court documents state. According to documents, the boy wrote that he wanted “to finally go out in a blaze of hatred and fury … to wrongly hurt others for my own sick pleasure before ending it for myself.”

He wrote also: “I have the whole plan. I want to die and I will … But, I want to be hated when I leave.”

Investigators found two rifles, two handguns, ammunition, a homemade bomb and a copy of The Anarchist Cookbook, which includes directions to make explosives, Troyer said.


The boy and his parents were cooperative during the search, which also yielded several computers, he said. The boy told investigators that after his stepfather went to work Wednesday he planned to steal his .22 caliber rifle and handgun “because it was easy to conceal,” documents state.


He figured it would take about 30 minutes to walk home from school, load the guns and then walk back. Armed at the school, he planned “to take people out and save the last round for himself,” court documents state.


The boy told investigators he’d made the bomb, but that it didn’t have a fuse and he did not plan to use it. He was just curious if he could make it and if it would work, the documents state. “It’s, of course, very troubling to us that we had a student of ours pose these kinds of threats,” said Karen Hansen, spokeswoman for the Puyallup School District. “We are extremely grateful that upon learning the plot that our student called administration immediately so that we could notify law enforcement.”

7TH GRADE? MY GOD...WHAT IS WRONG WITH OUR SOCIETY?

Last week Kansas, now Alaska? The last state in the U.S. that I ever would have though this would happen in. Where are we failing our children? Is this fixable? Who is to blame? Can we change the future, or are we destined to live and continue to breed sociopaths, murderers and criminals?

6 Alaska Students Accused of Murder Plot

Associated Press--Police said a group of seventh-graders hatched an elaborate plan to cut off power and telephone service to their middle school, slay classmates and faculty with guns and knives, then escape from their small Alaska town.


The arrest Saturday of six students in North Pole, a town of 1,600 people about 14 miles southeast of Fairbanks, marks the nation's second breakup of an alleged Columbine-style school attack this week.


Five Kansas teenagers suspected of planning a shooting rampage at their high school were arrested Thursday, the seventh anniversary of the massacre in suburban Colorado.


The Alaskan seventh-graders had been picked on by other students and wanted to seek revenge, Police Chief Paul Lindhag said. They also disliked staff and students, he said.


The students had planned to disable North Pole Middle School's power and telephone systems, allotting time to kill their victims and flee from town, Lindhag said. A parent alerted police of rumors of an attack, Lindhag said. He would not elaborate on the case, or what kind of documented evidence led to the arrests. "These are the ones who had major roles in this," Lindhag said. "All our information came through our interviews."


The students, who were being held at the Fairbanks Youth Facility, could face charges of first-degree conspiracy to commit murder, authorities said.


The North Pole boys, whose names were not released, were among 15 students at the school who were suspended after a parent tipped police Monday evening. A child told the parent that rumors were circulating about the alleged plot, which had been postponed from Monday until Tuesday, Lindhag said. "We feel very thankful that a student felt they could talk to an adult, and very thankful that the adult had the wisdom to contact the North Pole Police Department," said Wayne Gerke, an assistant superintendent with the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District.


The suspended students were identified by officers working with a school safety official. Parents were advised to keep their children away from 500-student campus Tuesday. Lindhag said authorities don't believe all the suspended students were involved, but officials erred on the side of caution. "There were a lot of rumors flying around," Lindhag said.


Locals are "shocked, saddened and heartbroken about whole situation," but area schools have policies to deal with such a crisis, Gerke said. The other students remain suspended while the investigation continues, and police will have a presence at the school for the rest of the year, officials said.

WANNA-BE TRENCHCOAT MAFIA COLUMBINE IDIOTS

I don't understand kids these days. I just don't get it. I'm only 32 and stuff like this NEVER happened. We didn't have security, metal detectors, random locker searches. The occasional hallway fight was the excitement of the day. Never anything like this.

Associated Press--Five teenage boys fully intended to go on a shooting spree at their high school but were stopped after one of them discussed the plot on a Web site, law enforcement and school officials said.

The boys, ranging in age from 16 to 18, were arrested Thursday, the anniversary of the Columbine massacre, just hours before they planned to shoot fellow students and school employees, authorities said.

"What the resounding theme is: They were actually going to do this," Cherokee County Sheriff Steve Norman said.

The teens planned to wear black trench coats and disable the school's camera system before starting the attack between noon and 1 p.m. Thursday, Norman said. Sheriff's deputies found guns, ammunition, knives and coded messages in the bedroom of one suspect and documents about firearms and references to Armageddon in two suspects' school lockers.

Apparently, they had been plotting since the beginning of the school year. Norman said school officials began investigating Tuesday after learning a threatening message had been posted on MySpace.com. "The message, it was brief, but it stated that there was going to be a shooting at the Riverton school and that people should wear bulletproof vests and flak jackets," Norman said. It also discussed the significance of April 20 as Adolf Hitler's birthday and the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School attack.

School officials identified the student who posted the message and talked to several of his friends, he said.

But Riverton school district Superintendent David Walters said the significance of the threat did not become clear until Wednesday night, after a woman in North Carolina who had chatted with one of the suspects on Myspace.com notified authorities there would be about a dozen potential victims, at least one of them a staff member.

Riverton student Michaela Ferneau said Friday she had heard she was one of the targets. Back in January, one of the teen suspects had talked about Columbine, but "we thought he was joking because he was always joking about stuff like that," Ferneau told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Friday. "I guess I told on them, apparently, when I didn't know I did," she said. "It's kind of scary to know that people from a little town like this would even try anything like that."

Ferneau and other students described the teen as a class clown who was often in trouble with the teachers. He was an "oddball," student Trenton Berry told ABC. "Everybody picked on him and everything." Norman also mentioned bullying and said investigators had learned the suspects liked violent video games.

Four of the suspects were arrested at their homes Thursday; the fifth was taken into custody at the school. The suspects, who were not immediately identified, were expected to appear in court Friday, when charges are likely to be announced.

MySpace.com — a social networking hub with more 72 million members — released a statement declining to discuss the case because of the investigation, adding that it has provided users with mechanisms to report inappropriate content.

Barbara Gibson, a 17-year-old junior at the high school, said her classmates didn't seem too bothered by the threat. "A lot of people just talked about it," she said. "But there wasn't much reaction."

Riverton is a small community of about 600 people along what once was the famed Route 66 in southeast Kansas, near the Oklahoma and Missouri borders.

THE BECKY MIDDLETON STORY

Looks like it's not safe to travel outside the U.S. anymore. This 1996 incident just reiterates why we should boycott Aruba and most importantly be aware of your surroundings and stay alert to what is going on around you. 

Use common sense. Don't leave your group of friends. Have a plan. Keep an eye out for your friends as well. You don't have to be a 'babysitter', but as a friend, you should be wary of anyone you don't know...especially if you are a woman in another country. 

Tourist women are the number one targets in other countries.

The Brutal Torture, Gang Rape, Sodomization and Murder of Becky Middleton Rebecca

(Becky) was a Canadian tourist visitor to Bermuda, only 17 years old. She was staying with her friend Jasmine, daughter of local resident Canadian Rick Meens and his Bermudian wife.

On the night of July 3, 1996, after going to the Town of St. George to attend the Wednesday evening Harbour Night (7 to 10 pm), she and Jasmine visited the White Horse Tavern bar and restaurant. Then she and Jasmine went to the home of another friend in the town for about 45 minutes or so. At 1:16 am, more than an hour after the last bus from St. George's had left, Jasmine Meens made her first call from there to Radio Cabs. The dispatcher said a cab was on its way. Jasmine called again shortly afterward. The dispatcher said the same thing. They went outside again to await its arrival. After the third call, Jasmine became very upset, and the woman again promised. This was a little after 2:15 a.m.

Finally, in desperation, the two girls, Becky and Jasmine, believing they had no other choices, accepted an offer of a ride home from young men on motor cycles.

Jasmine arrived home safely but Becky was abducted - kidnapped - by two young men, taken to a desolate place at Ferry Reach in Bermuda, brutally stabbed and cut 35 times, beaten, tortured, gang raped repeatedly and viciously, sodomized, brutalized and murdered.

Dr. Keith Cunningham and Dr. James Johnston completed an autopsy on the mutilated body of Becky. Both discovered anal and vaginal trauma, along with some 35 cuts, five of which were fatal. Also, the Police and prison physician Dr. Henry Pearse said her body was so covered in blood that it was hard to determine her exact injuries (at the site).

He also confirmed in writing that she had been raped again and again and reported the torture wounds at the top of her head, forehead, neck and throat. It was the worst, most brutal, most animal sexually-depraved, most violent and inhuman racial murder of any woman anywhere in the world.

News of the horrific, depraved murder of Rebecca (Becky) was flashed around the world when it happened. To date, it has been a notoriously botched murder case. The British and Bermudian authorities have done nothing so far to investigate it thoroughly and bring the perpetrators to full justice at long last. Scotland Yard was not called in, the perpetrators were never charged with murder. Bermuda's Attorney General, who had conducted every other murder trial during his tenure, declined to handle the case.

Two men were arrested over Rebecca's killing. Kirk Mundy, then 21, claimed to have had consensual sex with her and blamed co-accused Justis Smith, then 17, for the killing. Before Police had completed forensic tests, prosecutors accepted Mundy's guilty plea to a charge of accessory after the fact. He was sentenced to five years behind bars.

Smith was tried in November 1998 for premeditated murder, but halfway through the trial, Supreme Court Judge Vincent Meerabux ordered jurors to acquit him, saying there was no forensic evidence such as blood or semen tying Smith to the scene. The initial investigation was handled by police officers with only limited experience in relation to murder investigations.

The entire police investigation was criticized as inadequate and prosecution decisions were condemned as inept when one man was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge and the other was acquitted on a questionable ruling by the trial judge.

Bermuda has not regarded it as a crime so inhumane that the killers deserved the maximum penalty. The men who raped, sodomized and racially murdered Becky have not been banned from entering Canada, the USA, the United Kingdom or Europe.

There seem to be conflicting reports on whether or not a claim was ever made to the Bermuda Government under its Criminal Injuries Compensation Board methodology, if such a claim was legally possible, or for any other compensation, for the murder, sodomy and rape of Becky in the country the World Bank has rated as the richest in the world in per capita income. (The local Criminal Injuries Compensation provision is still very low compared to other countries, even since it was increased to $100,000 - the maximum was only $70,000 when Becky was murdered, etc).

The British Government has not offered to assist in any way despite for what occured in Bermuda has a British Overseas Territory. Nor has the Canadian Government offered to assist in such a prosecution for what happened to one of its citizens. 

On April 1, 2006, The Royal Gazette reported that Bermuda's Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Vinette Graham-Allen ruled that Justis Smith and Kirk Mundy could not be retried on sexual assault charges "as it broke the well-established law that a man should not be twice punished for an offence arising out of the same facts."

To run sequential trials for offences on an ascending scale of gravity could be deemed an abuse of the process of the court, she argued. She said the constitution guaranteed an individual cannot be re-tried for the same offence or any other offence for which he could have been convicted at the earlier trial. It is understood permission is needed from the DPP in order for a private prosecution to take place.

The DPP said the same evidence which formed the basis for charging Mundy in 1996 would be the same evidence for launching a trial on sexual assault. “No new evidence has surfaced since his conviction, to justify the preferment of fresh charges.” New charges would amount to a breach of Mundy's constitutional rights and an abuse of the courts and powers of the DPP, said Ms Graham-Allen. She argued the same protection of the Constitution applied to Smith who had been acquitted by the Supreme Court. That decision was upheld after being reviewed by higher courts.

In the review, which looked at the record of all the evidence provided plus the legal judgments on the case, Ms Graham-Allen said Rebecca had been sexually assaulted and there was evidence that which cast doubt on Mundy's claim of consensual sex. But that should have been put before a jury as it had been available to the Crown prior to Mundy's committal to trial in November 1996. Although there was no direct evidence to suggest Smith had sexually assaulted the teen, it had still been open for the Crown to prosecute under that offence as he could have been deemed to have taken part by aiding the perpetrator.

She added: “Further forensic reports subsequently received post-committal confirms and supports the contention that the issue of consent raised by Mr. Mundy in his admission to the Police could have been refuted.” If the DPP did launch a new prosecution the pair had ripe grounds to claim an abuse of the process on grounds of delay and pre-trial publicity, said Ms Graham-Allen.

Vinette Graham-Allen came to Bermuda from Jamaica in 2000 to take up the post of senior crown counsel and was promoted to principal crown counsel later. She became Director of Public Prosecutions in May 2004. Mrs. Graham-Allen had earlier stated that her ultimate goal is to prosecute war criminals in The Hague.

In distinct contrast to what has not happened in Bermuda: The government of Thailand acted quickly and decisively to prosecute to the fullest two Thai fishermen who in late 2005 raped and murdered a British tourist. In early 2006, they were sentenced to death. The Thai government apologized to the world and promised it would respond appropriately to the shocking crime. By doing so, it has kept its word and its actions help protect its tourism industry.

On March 20, 2006 in London, it was announced that a teenager who murdered a schoolgirl by knifing her through the heart at a party will serve a minimum of 14 years in prison. The Old Bailey was told Beatriz Martins-Paes took two knives to the birthday celebration in east London. She plunged one of them into Charlotte Polius, 15, after a petty incident on the dance floor.

On April 1, 2006 in London, it was announced that Thomas Waddell, 19, who raped and murdered 34 year old Farah Noor Adams, a mother power-walking along a popular riverside park in Glasgow, Scotland, was sentenced to at least 16 years in prison.

On April 11, 2006, rapist Robert Greens, 28, who on May 15, 2005 carried out a brutal sex attack on a 19 year old Dutch student near the Rosslyn Chapel, Scotland - made famous by the novel the Da Vinci Code - was jailed for 10 years by the High Court in Edinburgh, Scotland.. In mid-April 2006, the case was thrust into the US national television spotlight. Prime-time Fox News crime show On The Record – hosted by leading presenter Greta Van Susteren – examined the heavily criticised investigation into Rebecca’s death and why no one has been convicted of her murder.

The TV program examined the way prosecutors handled the case against two men who were arrested over the killing, Justis Smith and Kirk Mundy and why, in 1996, before Police had completed forensic tests, prosecutors accepted Mundy’s guilty plea to a charge of accessory after the fact. He was sentenced to five years behind bars.

Smith was acquitted of a murder charge in November 1998 after Supreme Court judge Vincent Meerabux ruled there was no case to answer. That decision was branded “astonishing” by London’s Privy Council.

TARA GRINSTEAD-NEW WITNESS

 

New to Tara's case? Read Tara Grinstead's Story Part I Part II

New witness reported in Grinstead disappearance

New tips are coming in after word surfaced of a new witness and suspect vehicle in the disappearance of Tara Grinstead, said the sister of the missing Irwin County High School teacher. The Tara Command Center - a clearinghouse for tips, searchers and volunteers - received about a half dozen calls this week after a North Carolina criminal psychologist working on the case said he located a new witness, said Anita Gattis, Grinstead's sister. 

Maurice Godwin, who, according to his Web site, holds a doctorate in investigative psychology from the University of Liverpool, said he learned of the existence of a witness during a recent trip to Ocilla. 

Godwin said the witness saw a man near a black Chevrolet pickup truck parked on the grass at Grinstead's house the night she was last seen, Oct. 22. "The person standing by the truck said something very rude to the witness," Godwin said Wednesday. 

The man threatened the witness, Godwin said, which might be the reason that person hasn't come forward. Godwin said he has talked to the best friend of the witness and plans to contact the witness today. "This person is legitimate. I can tell you that," Godwin said. Godwin said he was triple-checking his information before turning over the witness's name to investigators, he said.

He expects to notify GBI Special Agent Gary Rothwell before the week is out, he said. "When I get my ducks in a row ... I'm going to shoot them some information," Godwin said. 

Rothwell would not comment Wednesday on the specifics of the investigation or any witnesses. "It's a very complex investigation," Rothwell said. "We still have a lot of resources devoted to this investigation, and we still believe it's a solvable case."

As the investigation nears the six-month mark, Gattis said Godwin's new development "gives me hope that at some point justice would be served." Godwin agreed to take the case without pay about six weeks ago, when he first traveled to Ocilla and gathered evidence at Grinstead's home, he said. There have been two other witnesses who reported seeing a dark-colored pickup at Grinstead's house, including one man who called the tip line Wednesday, Gattis said. "It really sounds like somebody she knew," Gattis said. "It's just kind of a bizarre thing, but then again, this whole thing has been bizarre. We're just waiting to see what comes of it."

In the meantime, Gattis said she spends every weekend looking for her sister. Over the Easter weekend, searchers drained a pond looking for evidence, she said. Two psychics, Carla Baron and John Oliver, also have taken an interest in the case, Gattis said. Baron and Oliver filmed an episode about the Grinstead site for "Haunting Evidence," a television series scheduled to begin airing on Court TV in June, according to Baron's Web site.

In the meantime, anyone with information is asked to call the tip line at (229) 468-0667 or visit the Tara Command Center at its new location at 121 North Cherry St. in Ocilla, Gattis said. "We feel like we're really moving in a positive direction right now," Gattis said.

AN OLD SCHOOL RAPE ARTICLE THAT STILL RINGS TRUE

By Laura Flanders



Rape, and in particular acquaintance rape, has become something of a human interest story-of-choice for mainstream newspaper editors recently. But more coverage has usually not meant better.



When five St. John's University students were charged in the rape of a fellow student last spring, the New York Daily News went out of its way to present the assailants as more than just nice guys. "To Friends, a Fab 4" was the headline on one story (5/11/90) that quoted the men's lacrosse coach as saying, "They are the types to give something back to the community."



It isn't just tabloids that promote this theme. "After Rape Charge, 2 Lives Hurt and 1 Destroyed" was the New York Times headline (11/12/90) above astory about a University of Rhode Island student who committed suicide before giving testimony to police about a rape he had witnessed.



The story, by William Celes 3rd, presented the rape survivor and her attacker as equally "hurt," the real victim being the 20-year-old young man with "personal problems" who couldn't bear the memory of the assault he'd witnessed without trying to prevent. (Celes points out, however, that "some said the real victim was Mr. Lallymand," the man charged with the rape.)



Few facts are given about the survivors of the assaults in these stories, except the victim-blaming detail that the women were reportedly drunk at the time of their assaults. (This is mentioned twice in the Times' story.)



While there are conventions protecting the identity of rape victims, there is nothing to prevent them from being "humanized" at least as fully as their assailants. In neither of these stories was that even attempted. In a special report on rape on campus (New York Times, 1/2/91), Celes suggests why the Times might show equal or greater sympathy for rapists than for the women they assault. "Sexual activity that goes too far and becomes abhorrent to the woman is not new among college students," writes Celes. "But calling it date rape is,...defining sex between dates or acquaintances without the woman's consent as a form of male assault rather than a form of female error."



The report describes as "agony on campus," not the women's ordeal, but the confusion on campus stimulated by discussion of the subject. The old argument that men cannot help raping women is suggested -- co-ed dormitories are repeatedly blamed for the rise in rape on campus, although more rapes occur in single-sex fraternities.



But the underlying premise is that changing social relations have caused the problem: "Assumptions about the roles of men and women seem to be shifting, with a resulting confusion on both sides about what is and is not acceptable behavior." A new brand of "blame the victim," this thesis blames rape on the movement that fights for women's survival.



In his section on "Women," Celes quotes university administrators saying the problem is "partly the result of mixed signals sent by women." Even feminist author Susan Brownmiller is taken out of context to defend this blaming of the female, saying, "Women need to react more quickly."



Meanwhile, under the topic of "Men," the emphasis is not on individual responsibility. Interviewed sympathetically is a troubled young man who, after attending several workshops on the subject, had to admit that probably he had raped "some" of the women he had dated.



Syndicated columnist Mona Charen (Newsday, 1/9/91) blamed the feminist movement for eroding the "old sexual mores" that she seems to think once kept rape at bay. "While it seems plausible that reporting of date rape is up, it is obvious that there is simply much more of it than there used to be. And for this the feminist movement must take its share of the blame."



There is a lot of blame, and (to judge by the mainstream press) far too few feminists to take it. The Senate Judiciary Committee in June 1990 reported that rape is increasing four times as fast as the overall crime rate (Time, 10/1/90). One in five adult women has been raped, one in six by an acquaintance or a relative.



It is possible to treat violence against women in a way that helps to fight the crime. A three-part ABC News series on rape (1/7/91 through 1/11/91) included more insightful comments than a culling of print articles produced in a year. "Violence against women is done by men, and it's time that men took the responsibility to stop the violence," one male anti-rape activist was quoted. "What we want is the recognition that any sort of forced sexual contact is unacceptable, plain and simple," said Mary Ellen Shone of the King's County Sexual Assault Center.



But helpful reporting on rape is the exception, not the norm. Instead of hearing the cries of survivors, the press is hearing the complaints of apologists; instead of condemning cruelty, the press promotes excuses.

POOR LITTLE RICH RAPISTS

Oh...poor little rich boys. I hope this woman gets her justice. I wish everyone would stop blaming her and questioning her, her condition, her job, her actions, etc. I'm sick of the blame the victim game. The hospital nurse already stated that the victim had visible trauma to the vaginal and anal area, along with bruising on the neck. After hearing that Collin Finnerty was arrested for assault on a gay man while screaming derrogatory homophobic comments at him...another HATE crime.

Excerpts from Yahoo News

Police searched the dorm rooms of Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann for two hours after the two were arrested on charges of raping and kidnapping an exotic dancer during an off-campus team party. Each posted $400,000 bond and was released within hours. (Daddy must have shelled out for that!) District Attorney Mike Nifong said Tuesday he also hoped to link a third man to the alleged attack soon, but he said that person had not been "identified with certainty."

"It is important that we not only bring the assailants to justice, but also that we lift the cloud of suspicion from those team members who were not involved in the assault," Nifong said in a statement. The accused lawyers assailed the district attorney for bringing the charges after DNA tests had failed to connect any of the team members to the alleged rape. Defense attorneys have said they have time-stamped photos from the party, bank records, cell phone calls and a taxi driver's statement to support Seligmann's claim of innocence. Defense attorneys have also alleged that the accuser was intoxicated and injured when she showed up for the party.

Robert Ekstrand, who represents dozens of players on the team, said neither Seligmann nor Finnerty was at the party "at the relevant time." The indictment represents "a horrible circumstance and a product of a rush to judgment," he said.

A cousin of the accuser, Jackie stated, "Before she went to the party she was not intoxicated, she was not drinking," Jackie said. "There's a great possibility that when she went to the party, she was given a drink and it was drugged."

"Many lives have been touched by this case," Duke President Richard Brodhead said in a statement. "It has brought pain and suffering to all involved, and it deeply challenges our ability to balance judgment with compassion."

Collin Finnerty was charged in Washington, D.C., with assault after a man told police in November that Finnerty and two friends punched him and called him "gay and other derogatory names." Finnerty agreed to community service.

Both Seligmann and Finnerty are products of wealthy New York City suburbs and all-male Roman Catholic prep schools. Finnerty attended Long Island's Chaminade High School, where 99 percent of the students go on to college. Seligmann went to the exclusive Delbarton School, a lacrosse powerhouse in Morristown, N.J.

DUKE RAPE INDICTMENT PAPERS

LACROSSE ARRESTS!

Wow...I was wrong. Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann are the real suspects. I won't apologize for what I wrote about the other men I called rapists in the past week because to me, they were part of the entire crime. They were there...they knew what happened. They condoned it, I'm sure.

"Today, two young men have been charged with crimes they did not commit," attorney Robert Ekstrand said in a statement. "This is a tragedy. For the two young men, an ordeal lies ahead. ... They are both innocent."

BOO HOO...your clients are guilty. They raped that poor woman with a broomstick. That is why there is no DNA evidence.




Let their little rich white asses get raped like they did to that girl. Let them see what it's like. Karma's a bitch!

SHE JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THAT 13 YEAR OLD PIECE OF ASS?

I don't get it!? What is up with these beautiful young women getting off on boys who don't even know what to do with their piece. Are they either too disturbed or are so desperate for love and/or power, they must dominate and violate the young men...who in turn probably worship her. Is that what she wants? Attention? Admiration? Well, she sure has attention now. And she'll get plenty of attention in prison, too.

McMINNVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A former elementary school teacher who spent six months in jail for having sex with a 13-year-old student was arrested again, this time for violating probation by apparently communicating with the victim.


Pamela Rogers, 28, was arrested Tuesday and released on $10,000 bond. A judge Wednesday ordered her to appear at a July 12 hearing. Last August, Rogers reached a plea deal to serve nine months on an eight-year sentence, allowing her to avoid a trial on 28 charges of sexual battery and statutory rape. She was released from jail in February for good behavior.


Under terms of the plea deal, she was, among other things, ordered not to contact the victim or his family and not to use the Internet. Authorities said she violated probation by establishing a Web site through the online social networking hub MySpace.com. The site features a blog that included what authorities said was communication between Rogers and the victim's 17-year-old sister.


Rogers is also accused of issuing a cryptic message to the victim through the Web site by addressing his basketball jersey number, saying he was her hero and that she would not fall in love again for three years. The Web site also features several pictures of Rogers in a bikini.


District Attorney General Dale Potter said he will seek to have Rogers return to prison to serve the remaining seven years of the original prison term. "This came in such a short amount of time after she was released on probation and in our opinion these were intentional violations of the terms of her release," Potter said. Rogers' attorney, Peter Strianse of Nashville, told WSMV-TV he was "very concerned" that Rogers' plea agreement was in jeopardy.

KILLED OVER COLD SANDWICH?

Police: Man killed girlfriend who refused to heat his sandwiches

UNIONTOWN, Pa. (AP) —A man threw a microwave at his girlfriend, then fatally beat her after she refused to heat up sandwiches, police said. Walter S. Fordyce, 58, of Uniontown, remained jailed without bond Thursday on a charge of criminal homicide. It wasn't clear if he had an attorney.

Fordyce told police he began arguing with his live-in girlfriend, Mary McCann, 58, early Thursday. After throwing her to the floor, Fordyce threw a microwave oven onto McCann's chest after she refused to heat up sandwiches for him, he told police. Fordyce also said he stomped on McCann's chest repeatedly then banged her head on the floor until she lost consciousness -- but that he also said he didn't mean to kill her, police said. "It was an accident. I didn't do it on purpose," police quoted Fordyce as saying.

Fordyce ran to a neighbor's house for help, but couldn't find anyone there to call 911, police said. After returning home and checking McCann for a pulse -- and finding none -- he went downstairs and drank a beer before going to another neighbor's home and asking them to call 911, police said. Autopsy results were not immediately available.

A NEW ONE: A PRIEST WHO MOLESTS AND MURDERS

This EVIL Priest will be Satan's Bitch in Hell

Priest to Be Tried for Nun's 1980 Easter Slaying

TOLEDO, Ohio - A day before Easter in 1980, Sister Margaret Ann Pahl was found strangled and stabbed in a hospital chapel, the wounds on the nun's chest and neck forming what investigators say resembled a cross. An altar cloth covered part of her body. The trail soon went cold and stayed that way for more than 20 years until investigators circled back to the priest who presided at her funeral Mass.


On Monday, the Rev. Gerald Robinson, 68, goes on trial on murder charges in a case swirling with allegations of an official cover-up, rumors of sexual abuse rites among priests, and suspicions that the killing was some kind of ritual slaying. Robinson could get life in prison if convicted. Investigators have not disclosed a motive for the slaying and have said the nun was not sexually assaulted.


Robinson was the Roman Catholic chaplain at Mercy Hospital and a popular priest in this blue-collar city of about 300,000, where a quarter of the residents are Catholic. He was especially well-liked in Polish neighborhoods because he delivered some sermons and heard confessions in Polish.


Sister Margaret Ann, 71, was the caretaker of the hospital chapel. She was stabbed 30 times. Robinson was a suspect early on because he was near the chapel at the time of the killing. Police questioned him for hours and found a sword-shaped letter opener in his room that prosecutors now believe was the murder weapon. But Robinson was not arrested until two years ago.


Since then, some community members have accused the Toledo police and the Toledo Catholic Diocese of not aggressively investigating the slaying and crimes involving priests accused of molesting children."We know this is a trial about murder, but the cover-up can't be ignored," said Claudia Vercelloti, director of the Toledo office of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Current and former police officers deny there was a cover-up, saying Robinson was not charged earlier because there was not enough evidence. There were no fingerprints, no footprints, no witnesses. DNA technology was not available.


Investigators who reopened the murder case say they found bloodstains on the altar cloth that matched those from the letter opener. They said the stains were created when the letter opener was laid down. Prosecutors also plan to use Robinson's statements made to police, including a claim that someone else had confessed to killing the woman. He later admitted making that up.


Investigators reopened the murder case in December 2003 after prosecutors office received a letter about a woman's claims that she was molested by priests for years as a child. Among the names she mentioned was Robinson. Police were unable to substantiate her allegations of sexual abuse. There also have been whispers that a few priests, including Robinson, took part in ritual abuse ceremonies.


A woman who filed a lawsuit against Robinson and other clergy members said they tortured and raped her in rituals performed in a church basement nearly 40 years ago. Robinson's attorney, Alan Konop, has said the allegations did not "deserve the dignity of a reply." No charges have resulted from those claims, and police could not link any ritual abuse to Robinson, The Blade reported a year ago. However, police have said the nun's killing appeared to be some type of ritual slaying. They have refused to elaborate, other than to say that the body was posed to look as though she had been sexually assaulted, with the nun's underwear pulled down.


Dave Davison, the first police officer to arrive in the chapel, said he saw no evidence of a ritual and called those claims a "smokescreen" set by the killer to throw off investigators. It is not known whether there will be any mention of ritual abuse at Robinson's trial. Dawn Perlmutter, an expert on religious violence and ritualistic crimes, has been assisting prosecutors, and said that in previous cases she has advised prosecutors not to mention claims of ritualistic acts. "It just muddies the water," she said. "People do not want to believe these things go on. It can really affect the outcome."


Robinson was transferred from the hospital a year after the slaying and became pastor at three parishes in Toledo. At the time of his arrest he ministered to the sick and dying in nursing homes. He is on leave but is allowed to wear his priest's collar. Prosecutors and defense attorneys are not commenting, saying the judge has ordered them not to talk about the case.

Robinson is free on bail. He cannot get the death penalty because it was not in effect at the time of the slaying.

Jack Sparagowski, a parishioner at an inner-city church where Robinson used to celebrate Mass on Easter weekend, set up a legal defense fund that raised $12,000. Some family members and supporters put their houses up to post a $400,000 bond. "For someone to commit murder, you have to have a violent streak," Sparagowski said. "I've never heard Father raise his voice or show any expression of anger. The whole thing seems so bizarre."

GIVE THE VICTIM A BREAK...SHE'S NOT THE ONE ON TRIAL

Ok, so the nurse at the hospital determined that the victim had bruising on her neck, and obvious signs of trauma in the vaginal and anal area. She was hysterical, typical of a rape victim. On top of that, she went to the hospital right away...something most rape victims DO NOT do. I believe the three men she described are guilty of rape. Wait for an arrest, a grand jury investigation, a trial?


These rich kids and their parents will do anything to get their boys off the hook. Duke has irreparably damaged their name, status and the students who attend Duke. Look at what money can buy! It bought OJ Simpson out of jail; it bought Michael Jackson his freedom to leave the country. What next?

The system sucks for rape and assault victims and I hope this woman gets the justice she deserves. And for the BOYS (and I stress BOYS) that did this, I hope you get raped and beaten in prison. Use your Lacrosse moves there. See what the real world is like. Mommy and Daddy can't protect you then.

Defense Attorney, Bill Thomas and His Take on the Situation

DURHAM -- A defense attorney representing a Duke lacrosse player says he expects at least one team member to be indicted as early as Monday in connection with the alleged gang rape of an exotic dancer at a team party last month.


Durham lawyer Bill Thomas also predicted a second set of DNA tests sought by District Attorney Mike Nifong will clear the lacrosse players of any wrongdoing, just as the first set released earlier this week did.


Nifong has not discussed with him the possibility of charges being filed, Thomas said. "It is very unclear to me what his intentions are other than he intends to charge someone," Thomas said. "Based on his public comments I am assuming that he is submitting this case to the grand jury as quickly as he can and seeking one or more indictments when he does." Nifong repeatedly has said he is convinced a rape occurred the night of March 13-14 at a lacrosse party at which two exotic dancers performed for pay at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd.


He suggested at a public forum Tuesday that the alleged victim positively identified one lacrosse player from a photo selection last week. That was news to defense attorneys. Thomas said he has no way of knowing who might be implicated in any possible charges. "My opinion is it would be like a roulette wheel. You could possibly pick anyone because the event she is describing did not occur," he said.


According to court orders used to obtain DNA samples, Nifong's office has considered all 46 white members of the lacrosse team as suspects. The alleged victim, who is black, told police her three attackers were white. Thomas said he also considers it troubling that authorities did not conduct a photo lineup process sooner to try to identify specific suspects. "That is a very important question," he said. "This photographic lineup was conducted after three weeks of intense media coverage, which included a picture of these young men all over the television, printed media as well as the Internet. I would be at a loss to explain why the police would wait that period of time unless the prosecuting witness was not cooperating with the investigation."


Thomas said he could think of no reason the dancer could not have done the identification sooner. "We know that the accusing witness has conducted a comprehensive media interview within a few days of this alleged brutal assault, so I certainly cannot understand why the identification procedure would have taken this long to conduct, nor do I understand why it would have taken such a long period to prepare the report," Thomas said.


Nifong has not given him a copy of the photo lineup report, Thomas said. "He faxed a letter to my office today [Wednesday] informing me the report with respect to the examination, which he is required to disclose, would not be available prior to the week of April 17," Thomas said. Given public comments by the district attorney and the interest of the law enforcement community in the case amid weeks of strong public reaction, "It seems to me a report would be prepared immediately." "I think a legitimate inquiry could and will be made as to why it would take the Durham Police Department such an unreasonable time to prepare such a report," he said.


On Tuesday, a Durham Police spokeswoman said a question about the department's role in the alleged victim's identifying a suspect would be referred to Nifong's office. Although he has spoken in at least two public forums this week, Nifong has declined requests for an interview. Thomas seemed unfazed by Nifong's decision to have a second set of tests conducted on DNA samples collected from the lacrosse players. "That's not unusual at all," he said. "He has not disclosed the nature of the tests, but these young men are glad these tests are being conducted. They are in favor of all scientific and DNA tests which can be conducted because they know that these tests will clear them."


Results of the DNA tests conducted by the SBI and revealed by defense lawyers on Monday showed no evidence of DNA traces from any of the 46 lacrosse players in or on the dancer, on her clothing or other personal possessions, or on the false fingernails that she said popped off while clawing at one of her attackers. Also, no traces of her DNA were found in the bathroom in which she said she was raped, sodomized, beaten and strangled by three men for 30 minutes.


Meanwhile Wednesday, students and leaders of Duke Chapel gathered in an interfaith service for healing in the university and city. The event also provided an antidote, organizers said, to an image of Duke playing along a story line in the national limelight as the lacrosse team rape investigation unfolds -- that of the university as a bastion of white, male privilege. Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Muslim students, as well as Jewish Rabbi Michael Goldman of the Freeman Center for Jewish Life, read sacred texts from their faiths.


At the invitation of the Rev. Sam Wells, dean of Duke Chapel, the approximately 50 people outdoors in front of the Chapel joined hands in a ring and prayed, within an outer ring of television cameras and news photographers. Wells prayed for mercy, justice and cleansing of hearts "in the life of this community, bringing healing, truth and peace." "The people here today come from a range of different faiths," Wells said in an interview afterward. "We don't take our similarities for granted, but we do see each other's presence here on campus as deeply enriching and we do enjoy the rich diversity of life at Duke. "Duke has been portrayed as privileged and rich and male, and I don't think you've seen that today. I think you've seen just how a wonderful diverse place we are." Members of the Duke community requested the prayer service, which Durham City Councilwoman Cora Cole McFadden also attended.


The interfaith prayer vigil, as the service was billed, was sponsored by Duke Chapel and Duke Religious Life. "All of us are aware of the pain and anger and frustration and confusion in our community," said Craig Kocher, assistant dean of Duke Chapel and director of religious life. "None of us here ... are here to point fingers or to offer any comment whatsoever on the legal proceedings of the present situation."

District Attorney, Mike Nifong's Rebuttal

DURHAM -- Saying he would rather be right than be re-elected, District Attorney Mike Nifong on Wednesday defended his handling of allegations that an exotic dancer was gang raped by Duke University lacrosse players.


Nifong said he would have done nothing differently in the case, even though DNA test results showed no evidence that any of 46 lacrosse players had sexually assaulted the woman, or that she had left any DNA traces in the bathroom where the 30-minute assault allegedly occurred. A veteran of more than 27 years as a Durham prosecutor, Nifong said during an election forum for the three district attorney candidates that some in the community had pressured him to make almost instant arrests in the lacrosse incident, while others urged him to do nothing about the rape accusation.


"If I had done that, you should vote against me," said Nifong. "I would vote against me if I had done that. ... It's not about making people happy. It's about doing the right thing. I expected I would be criticized. "I didn't pick the crime. I didn't pick the time. But I'm going to do the case right because you deserve that," he said at another point.


No one has been criminally charged so far, but Nifong has said he is convinced a rape occurred and is pursuing the case regardless of the DNA tests. But lawyers Freda Black and Keith Bishop, Nifong's opponents in a May 2 Democratic primary election that will decide who is Durham's chief prosecutor for the next four years, said Nifong has been too vocal about the case, sowing seeds of community discord in the process.


Nifong received a gubernatorial appointment as district attorney a year ago this month after his predecessor became a judge. Black had been an assistant prosecutor here for more than a decade but resigned on the day Nifong took office, saying he asked her to go. Bishop has extensive private-practice experience. "Do you want to live over the next four years with what we have endured over the last three weeks?" Bishop asked Wednesday, alluding to public and media frenzy about the lacrosse incident. "It's no wonder this community is as fragile as it is and is able to break like a twig under the unsteady hand of the incumbent," Bishop said. "You have to know when you make errors," Bishop added, accusing Nifong of telling reporters an arrest was imminent in the rape case when he didn't have evidence to back him up. "If I had enough evidence to make an arrest, there would have been an arrest," said Bishop. "If you don't have the correct information, you should have sat back and be silent. "It casts a long shadow over the integrity of your administration," Bishop added. "Don't put the public through this kind of discord. You should have some compassion both for those who are accused and for the victim. I would have done things a lot differently -- with integrity."


Black told the forum audience that Durham was "completely off course" and was experiencing divisive tension because of Nifong's handling of the rape allegations. Among other problems, she said her opponent's extensive media statements might force a change of venue if the case were to go to trial. In fact, Nifong by his own count did more than 70 media interviews in one week, although he has since been declining them. "Perhaps he thought he landed a case that would save his prosecutorial career," Black said of Nifong. "Now the damage has already been done.


Some of the damage is most likely irreversible. Durham has been portrayed in a negative light nationally. When the cameras leave, who will pick up the pieces?" Although the rape allegations were the dominant topic Wednesday evening, the candidates also discussed gang violence, immigration, court overcrowding and judicial efficiency in general.


Nifong said that while Durham County Superior Court disposed of 86 percent of its felony caseload last year, the figure was up to 103 percent under his administration this year, including some cases carried over from the past.

NO DNA? SO WHAT?

First of all, rape doesn't necessarily mean genital penetration. Rape can be used with objects. Such as a broom handle that one of the "aggressive" players asked the victim to use before she decided to leave. Maybe they used objects to rape her...therefore no DNA. The doctors at the hospital confirmed that she had trauma to both anal and genital areas, including contusions in the neck region.


You don't necessarily need DNA to prove a rape case. I hope District Attorney, Mike Nifong continues to pursue this. It's obvious these rich Duke kids are blaming the victim and trying to smear her and her credibility. What about Ryan McFadden's email? There are other circumstances that are not known as of right now. They will get to the bottom of this...

Latest Information:

Duke Chronical--While defense attorney Wade Smith claims the DNA results prove no rape occurred, some criminal lawyers, like Ed Shohat from the Miami firm Bierman, Shohat, Loewy & Klein PA, disagree.

"The fact that no DNA was found doesn't end the inquiry-especially if there is an assertion that the rape involved the use of a prophylactic," said Shohat, whose daughter currently attends Duke. "There are basic biological functions that occur during intercourse that-depending on how the victim described the account-may [account for the lack of DNA evidence]."

"They can say anything they want, but I'm still in the middle of my investigation. I believe a sexual assault took place." Nifong said March 28 that he was convinced a rape occurred, citing testimony from a nurse who examined the woman that she had "injuries consistent with being raped and sexually assaulted vaginally and anally," according to a search warrant.

Some Duke students said the results were surprising, but they noted that the lack of a DNA match does not necessarily close the case. Several said their skepticism stemmed, in part, from the strong assertions of guilt made by District Attorney Mike Nifong and the alleged victim's medical results.

"You definitely can't discount that because those results are negative that a rape did not occur," said Chalice Overy, a third-year student in the Divinity School. "If medical exams show that injuries are consistent with a rape, then police should continue with investigations to find out who did this."

JUSTICE FOR ALL RAPE VICTIMS




Read the synopsis of Ohio v. Elkins regarding a rape with no DNA evidence:

Memorandum

To: Martin D. Yant, Investigator

CC: Elizabeth Kelley, Attorney for Clarence Elkins; Donna J. Robb, Journalist, Plain Dealer

From: Brent E. Turvey, MS, 329 Harbor Dr., Suite 211, Sitka, AK 99835, Office: 907-747-5121; Cell: 831-254-5446

Date: June 24, 2002

Re: Ohio v. Elkins, CR 98-06041: DNA Evidence

In May of 2002, I was contacted by Investigator Martin Yant and asked to provide consultation on the above-mentioned case.

This case involves the rape homicide of Judith Johnson, a 58-year-old grandmother who was beaten, strangled, and anally raped with a foreign object in her own home on June 7^th of 1998. It also involves the assault on Brooke Sutton, the 6-year-old granddaughter of Johnson, who was beaten, strangled, and anally raped with a foreign object during the same incident. Sutton, however, survived the attack.

According to investigative and court documents reviewed by this examiner, the sole defendant in this case, Clarence Elkins, was convicted of a lesser charge of murder (aggravated murder was sought), attempted aggravated murder, rape, and felonious assault. This conviction was based almost entirely on statements made by Brooke Sutton implicating Mr. Elkins. There is no dispute that each statement given by victim Sutton (then 6 years old) has been significantly different, none of which have yet to fully explain all of the facts and all of her injuries. Furthermore, according to the post-conviction petition filed in May of 2002, victim Sutton has recanted her trial testimony and statements implicating Mr. Elkins.

Of greatest significance in this case is the hair evidence collected from both victims, associated directly with the sexual assaults.

According to an evidence submission sheet dated June 9^th, 1998, prepared by S.A. Charlie Snyder of the Ohio BCI in conjunction with the Barberton Police Department, among the items of evidence submitted to the Ohio BCI were:

Item B1 – “One white envelope containing on black hair – from victim Johnson / Anus (Trace)”

Item B18 – “One brown paper bag containing one box with rape evidence from victim Sutton. (Serology)”

According to a Certificate of Analysis prepared by LabCorp, dated May 4, 1999, that laboratory conducted PCR DNA analysis of hair evidence from evidence items B1 (a black hair from Johnson’s anus described as Item 2) and B18 (a slide with three hair fragments collected from the victim’s rape kit, the longest of which was analyzed).

According to the Certificate of Analysis, Item B1, the black hair collected from victim Johnson’s anus, is “consistent with the genetic material in this sample originating from: Brooke Sutton, Judith Johnson, or someone maternally related to them.” That is to say, this hair may have originated from one of the victims, one of their family members, or from someone else with similar PCR profiles. However, Clarence Elkins is entirely excluded.

According to the Certificate of Analysis, a foreign hair collected from victim Sutton’s rape kit (Item B18) does not belong to anyone tested. In their words “Clarence Elkins, Brooke Sutton and Judith Johnson are excluded as the contributor to the genetic material in this sample.”

Given the circumstances, only the victims or an offender could have contributed hair samples that would have been found associated with the victim’s anal areas. And only the victims or an offender could have contributed hair samples that would have been subsequently collected and placed in to a victim’s rape kit. Therefore, as it stands, this DNA evidence alone completely excludes Clarence Elkins, pointing to another offender.

However, this DNA evidence does not preclude the involvement of two offenders. To completely investigate this possibility, the following is mandatory:

1. Further DNA testing of Item B1 (such as Mitochondrial aka mDNA testing) is mandatory to determine this hair’s actual origin. If mDNA testing provides a genetic match to both Johnson and Sutton, then an argument may be made that it is not a foreign hair and it is unrelated to a second offender. If mDNA testing does not provide a genetic match to Johnson and Sutton, this would be confirmation of a second offender.

2. Only one of the hairs (labeled Item 1) from B18, victim Sutton’s rape kit, was tested. Further DNA testing of Item B18 (such as Mitochondrial aka mDNA testing) is mandatory to determine the origins of these remaining two hairs. If they provide a genetic match to Item 1, this may further solidify a single offender theory. If they do not provide a genetic match to Item 1, this points directly to additional offenders.

In any event, Clarence Elkins has already been completely excluded by ALL of the established DNA evidence in this case. That is to say, the DNA evidence proves unequivocally that the foreign hair, which must have come from the offender, collected in to victim Sutton’s rape kit (B18), did not come from Clarence Elkins. Given the overwhelming DNA evidence, the undisputed fact that NO physical evidence associates Clarence Elkins with the crime scene or the crime, and the proven tenuousness of eye-witness ID (especially that of a frightened 6 year old child), this examiner is at a loss as to why Mr. Elkins has been convicted of any crime related to this case.

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.

Brent Turvey, MS
Forensic Scientist