Oklahoma appeals court affirms death sentence in Montana man's stabbing at Oklahoma City motel

October 05, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY — A man convicted of stabbing a 19-year-old Montana man to death in a motel room on New Year's Day 2002 has lost his appeal to have his death sentence overturned.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the death penalty given to Tremane Wood by an Oklahoma County jury that convicted him of first-degree murder for the Jan. 1, 2002, death of Ronald Reuben Wipf. Wood, 31, also was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for armed robbery and conspiracy to commit a felony in the case.

In its nine-page opinion, the appellate court rejected Wood's claims that he has received ineffective legal assistance since appealing his conviction and sentence. Wood claims his appellate counsel has not alleged that the defense attorney at Wood's trial was ineffective for not hiring a forensic pathologist to challenge the victim's autopsy report.

The court said it rejected Wood's appeal "because he cannot show a reasonable probability that the outcome of his trial would have been different had post-conviction counsel done so."

Wood's post-conviction attorney, James T. Rowan, said Wednesday he was disappointed in the ruling. "But it's only one hurdle in a long train of hurdles," Rowan said.

The appeals court ruling states that Wood's first name has sometimes been misspelled Termane in the state court record. It also says Wood has a separate appeal pending in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City.

Prosecutors alleged that Wood and his brother, Zjaiton Wood, 34, robbed Wipf and another Montana man, Arnold Jonathan Kleinsasser, before the stabbing. Zjaiton Wood was sentenced to life in prison without parole and an additional 120 years for the robbery and killing.

Wipf and Kleinsasser were working on a harvesting crew at a farm in Chickasha. The two men were members of the Hutterites of the Riverview Colony, a religious sect in Montana, and had returned to Oklahoma after spending the holidays with their families.

Prosecutors allege that Kleinsasser and Wipf met two women, Lanita Sue Bateman and Brandy Lynn Warden, at a restaurant on New Year's Eve 2001 and that they offered to have sex with the pair for $210. But prosecutors alleged that the women were setting the men up to be robbed.

Bateman, 29, was sentenced to life in prison plus 101 years for her role in the crime. Warden, 30, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and testified against Bateman in exchange for a 45-year prison sentence.

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/a38ef438a7b8444fa622424ac9529b72/OK--Motel-Murder-Appeal/

Exonerated death row inmate charged with retail theft
In 1998, man came within days of being executed

September 25, 2011
A former death row inmate whose release from prison in 1999 provided a crucial spark in the push to abolish Illinois' death penalty was back behind bars Saturday, accused of stealing deodorant from a South Side store, Cook County prosecutors said.

Anthony Porter, 56, was arrested just before noon Friday after an employee at Walgreens, 6330 S. King Drive, reported seeing him take four Dove deodorants from a shelf, tuck them in his waistband and walk past the cash registers toward the exit, according to court documents. Porter, who lives about five blocks from the store, was charged with felony retail theft.

Porter has had some minor legal troubles — including domestic disturbances — since he was exonerated 13 years ago of murdering a couple in the Washington Park neighborhood in 1982.

He had been just 50 hours shy of being executed in 1998 when his attorneys won a stay of execution by raising concerns about Porter's mental competence at the time of the murder trial.

Porter was released from prison the next year after Northwestern University journalism professor David Protess, his students and a private investigator obtained a statement from another man who said he killed the couple.

That victory helped lead to the creation of the Medill Innocence Project, which contributed to the exoneration of 11 wrongfully convicted men, including five who were on death row. Protess recently retired amid controversy over the Innocence Project's techniques in another recent case.

Former Gov. George Ryan has said Porter's release was the primary event that focused his attention on Illinois' flawed capital justice system. Ryan, now in federal prison for corruption, declared a moratorium on executions the next year and cleared death row in 2003 by commuting to life in prison the death sentences of more than 160 inmates.

Gov. Pat Quinn abolished Illinois' death penalty in March.

Porter received $145,875 in restitution from the state in 2000, but five years later a jury rejected his claim for $24 million in a lawsuit alleging Chicago police conspired to wrongfully charge him in the slayings.

On Saturday, as a prosecutor detailed Porter's criminal history, Porter quietly urged his attorney to clarify that he had been exonerated of the double-homicide.

Judge Peggy Chiampas ordered Porter held in lieu of $10,000 bail.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-anthony-porter-arrested-0925-20110925,0,4976099.story

Jury selection starts in capital murder trial

September 12, 2011
AMITE, La. (AP) — Attorneys say jury selection could last a week in the capital murder trial of a man accused of killing his girlfriend and her two children.

The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/oeiSKn) state Judge Wayne Ray Chutz ordered 500 people summoned for jury duty Monday in Amite.

That's about 200 more than normal, said Clerk of Court Julian Dufreche, whose office sends out jury notices.

Jury selection could take anywhere from a couple of days to a full week, the attorneys said.

"Anyone that has heard about the case, we are going to be very suspect," said defense attorney Michael Thiel. "We are looking for people who can consider mitigating factors and come in with an open mind."

The trial could last from four days to a week, said Assistant District Attorney Don Wall.

Michael Varnado, 33, is accused of the Feb. 16, 2007, smothering death of his girlfriend, Juana Quantrell Roberts, 20, of Hammond; setting her Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer on fire; and leaving her infant and toddler behind in the burning trailer.

The children died of smoke inhalation, investigators have said.

If Varnado is convicted of first-degree murder, a second trial would begin to determine whether he would receive the death penalty or life in prison, Wall said.

Varnado also has been indicted on a charge of aggravated kidnapping, Wall said.

In that case, Varnado is accused of kidnapping an elderly woman in Mississippi and forcing her to accompany him as he drove to Hammond after the fire which killed Roberts and her children, Wall said.

Varnado's trial originally was scheduled for Aug. 19, 2008, but was delayed due to scheduling conflicts from Assistant District Attorney Don Wall and defense attorney Mike Thiel.

It was postponed again in July and August of 2010.

Those delays were caused by a strand of hair that was lost at the State Police Crime Laboratory and then found months later.

http://www.chron.com/news/article/Jury-selection-starts-in-capital-murder-trial-2166206.php

S.C. Upholds Death Sentence for Murder of Fresno Teenager
 
The California Supreme Court yesterday unanimously upheld the death sentence for a Fresno man convicted of the murder and attempted rape of a 14-year-old girl and the attempted murder of her best friend.

In an opinion spanning nearly 200 pages, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye cited a half-dozen instances in which Fresno Superior Court Judge John Fitch clearly or arguably erred. But defendant Royal Clark Jr. was not prejudiced in the guilt, sanity, or penalty phases of his lengthy trial, the chief justice said.

“Given the strong evidence of defendant’s guilt of first degree murder and the aggravating circumstances attending that crime, we further conclude that none of the trial court’s missteps amounted to substantial error and there was no prejudicial cumulative effect warranting reversal,” Cantil-Sakauye wrote.

Clark was sentenced in 1995 for the killing of Billie-Jo Laurie Farkas, whose body was found on a rural road in Madera County in January 1991. Her friend Angie Higgins, then 15, was found badly beaten in a rural area of Fresno County.

Higgins testified that Clark, whose girlfriend Donna Kellogg was a cousin of the murdered girl, drove the two Fresno High School students to Lost Lake Recreation Area to look for a party, then became angry when Farkas refused to have sex with him. Others testified that Clark had shown a longstanding sexual interest in the victim.

The prosecution presented evidence that Clark tied up Higgins in one restroom, then took Farkas to another and strangled her with a rope. Higgins said Clark told her Farkas had run away, then put her in his car and drove towards the area of southwest Fresno called “Chateau Fresno.”

Higgins was choked with a rope, then left by the roadside at about 3 a.m. She was found by a passing motorist and hospitalized.

Defendant Confesses
Clark confessed to assaulting Higgins and killing Farkas, whom he said was like a sister to him. He pled not guilty by reason of insanity, and a defense expert testified he became insane at the point he assaulted Higgins and that he remained in that state during the next four to six hours until he returned home, but jurors found him sane.

He was found guilty of eight felonies—the first degree murder and attempted rape of Farkas, the attempted murder, felonious assault, false imprisonment, and kidnapping of Higgins, and the robberies of both girls, based on the taking of small amounts of money they had in their pockets.

The jury also found three special-circumstances—murder in the commission of robbery, murder in the commission of attempted rape, and murder with intent to prevent the victim from testifying in a criminal proceeding. The last special circumstance was based on evidence Clark killed Farkas, in part, because he feared she would tell police he had assaulted Higgins.

In the penalty phase, the prosecution portrayed Clark as a violent man, presenting testimony from two witnesses from Texas that he once slit a man’s throat and stole his money on a train. Clark, who was convicted of robbery in that incident and imprisoned, later assaulted two fellow inmates, and committed two batteries and a robbery in California after his release, the evidence showed.

The defense urged jurors to spare Clark, citing his mental problems and abusive childhood, and the fact that he was a father of five children, three of them with Kellogg. But jurors, who deliberated for about five hours, according to a Fresno Bee account, retuned a death penalty verdict.

Jurors told the newspaper that the deliberate nature of the murder, the fact that the victim trusted Clark, and his lack of remorse led them to their verdict.

The defense argued on appeal that the penalty verdict was flawed by an inconsistency in the special-circumstance verdict. The sequence of events, they argued, precluded a finding that Clark killed the victim in the course of attempted rape and robbery and also to prevent her from testifying about what he had done to Higgins earlier.

Fair Determination
It was also argued that Clark’s right to a fair determination of penalty was violated because the court ordered his lead lawyer, who was ill, replaced during a months-long recess prior to the penalty phase, and that jurors may have forgotten testimony or been exposed to prejudicial publicity during the interim.

Cantil-Sakauye said there was nothing in the law that precludes different special-circumstance findings based on multiple intents.

“That defendant’s plan to engage in sexual intercourse with Laurie preceded his decision to silence her as a witness to Angie’s assault by killing her meant only that he had more than one reason for killing her,” the chief justice explained. “There is no inconsistency in the application of both special circumstances here.”

With respect to the replacement of counsel, Cantil-Sakauye said Fitch acted within his discretion when Deputy Public Defender Barbara O’Neill, the lead counsel in the guilt phase, underwent cancer treatment and reported that she did not know when, if at all, she would be able to resume representing Clark. Under the circumstances, the chief justice said, the judge was not obligated to wait for the results of O’Neill’s scheduled surgery before taking her off the case.

The chief justice also approved of Fitch’s handling of the delay prior to the penalty phase.

Publicity Issue
The publicity issue, she said, was adequately handled by asking jurors if they had been exposed to the media coverage. Since none indicated that they had, nothing further was required, Cantil-Sakauye said.

And “even if the lengthy delay caused jurors to forget evidence presented at the guilt or sanity phase, their memories could be restored by referring to their notes, requesting readbacks of testimony, and relying on counsel’s review of the guilt and sanity phase evidence during closing arguments,” she wrote.

The chief justice was joined by Justices Marvin Baxter, Ming Chin, and Carol Corrigan, and by Court of Appeal Justice Sandy Kriegler, of this district’s Div. Five, sitting on assignment.

Justices Joyce L. Kennard and Kathryn M. Werdegar, in separate opinions, disagreed with the majority as to the sufficiency of the evidence that Farkas was killed to prevent her from becoming a witness.

The dissenters argued that the prosecution did not prove that Farkas “witnessed a crime prior to, and separate from, the killing,” an essential element of the special circumstance. But the error was harmless, they said, because the other two special circumstances were sufficient to impose the death penalty, and the evidence presented as to the circumstance of witness killing was admissible in any event because it was relevant to the circumstances of the crime.

The case is People v. Clark, 11 S.O.S 4802.

http://www.metnews.com/articles/2011/clar083011.htm




SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA
08/29/11
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/S045078.PDF
 

SACRAMENTO- The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) today announced it has begun reporting Facebook accounts set up and monitored by prison inmates to the Facebook Security Department.
Facebook accounts set up and/or monitored on behalf of an inmate will be removed, as it is a violation of Facebook’s user policies.

“Access to social media allows inmates to circumvent our monitoring process and continue to engage in criminal activity,” CDCR Secretary Matthew Cate said. “This new cooperation between law enforcement and Facebook will help protect the community and potentially avoid future victims.”

The Federal Bureau of Prisons National Gang Intelligence Center has reported increasing instances of inmates with active Facebook accounts. These active accounts are either maintained illegally by inmates or are administered by an outside person on behalf of the inmate.

As part of its ongoing efforts to ensure public safety both inside and outside the state’s prisons, CDCR has been actively monitoring Facebook for accounts administered by inmates or on behalf of an inmate. The department has seen numerous instances in which inmates, using their Facebook accounts, have delivered threats to victims or have made unwanted sexual advances.

Last year, CDCR received a call from a mother of a victim of a child molester. The family had just returned from vacation to find several pieces of mail from the offender who was in state prison. The mail contained accurate drawings of the woman’s 17-year old daughter, even though it had been at least seven years since the offender had been convicted and sent to prison. Details of the victim, such as how she wore her hair and the brand of clothes she wore were accurate. An investigation revealed the inmate had used a cell phone to find and view the MySpace and Facebook web pages of the victim. With access to the pages, the offender was able to obtain current photos, which he used to draw his pictures.

Inmates are allowed to have Facebook profiles created prior to incarceration. If any evidence shows the account has been used while in the facility, Facebook Security will disable the account.

Over the past few years CDCR has seen a massive influx in the number of cell phones being used by prisoners. In 2006, correctional officers confiscated 261 devices, while in the first six months of this year, more than 7,284 were confiscated.

To report a Facebook account that you suspect is being administered by an inmate, or an outside party on behalf of the inmate, please contact CDCR’s Office of Victim and Survivor Rights & Services, call toll free 1-877-256-OVSS (6877) or e-mail victimservices@cdcr.ca.gov

Law enforcement representatives and members of the public can notify Facebook security of accounts administered by registered sex offenders. To report a registered sex offender’s Facebook account To report a registered sex offender’s Facebook account visit: http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=15160#!/help/contact.php?show_form=wos_sex_offender

http://cdcrtoday.blogspot.com/2011/08/cdcr-and-facebook-security-will.html

Jurors being selected for Patterson murder trial

Thursday, July 28, 2011
CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. -- The Pemiscot County jury that will decide the fate of Ryan Patterson is expected to be finalized today, with the 12 jurors and two alternates scheduled to begin hearing opening statements in Jackson on Monday.

Patterson is the accused trigger man in the October 2009 murder of Jamie Orman, her 15-year-old son Derrick and her unborn child. If convicted, Patterson faces the death penalty.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys whittled the potential jury pool of 93 to 43 on Thursday, according to Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle. On Wednesday, potential jurors answered a six-page form asking their views on several topics, including the death penalty, he said. That made questioning on Thursday easier, he said.

The lawyers will spend Friday getting the remaining 43 slimmed down to 12, with two alternates, Swingle said.
Authorities say Patterson and his accomplice, Samuel Hughes, went to the home of John Lawrence at the urging of Lawrence's estranged wife, Michelle Lawrence. The two were there to kill John Lawrence and burn down the house, according to the prosecution's version of events, but when John Lawrence wasn't home, Patterson instead shot his girlfriend, Orman, and her children.

Hughes pleaded guilty to being the lookout in the murder in exchange for testimony against Patterson. Michelle Lawrence pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy to commit murder.

Following Friday's proceedings, Swingle said the finalized jury will be excused until Sunday night, when they will be brought to Cape Girardeau County in preparation for the five-day trial to start at 9 a.m. Monday. Swingle said he expects the trial to be concluded by Friday.

http://www.semissourian.com/story/1748104.html?response=no


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Earlier Story below

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Third suspect named in Cape triple murder
Pregnant mother, oldest son shot to death

10/29/09
CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO - Cape Girardeau Police have named Samuel Ray Hughes, 25 of Cape Girardeau, MO, as a third suspect in a triple murder in the 1200 block of N. Missouri Ave. that happened early Tuesday morning.  Hughes is charged with three counts of Second Degree Murder in the shooting deaths of Jamie Orman, 30, her son, Derrick Orman, 15, and her unborn 7-month-old fetus.  Hughes is also charged with one count of First Degree Burglary.

The Cape Girardeau/Bollinger County Major Case Squad says Ryan Terell Patterson, 28, and Michelle Renee Lawrence, 39, both of Cape Girardeau, MO, are charged in connection to multiple homicides at a home in the 1200 block of N. Missouri Ave. early Tuesday morning.  Investigators say Michelle Lawrence was estranged but still married to the homeowner.
The homeowner was at work when the deadly shootings occurred, but his girlfriend and her three sons were home at the time.  Investigators say Jamie Orman, 30, and her oldest son, Derrick Orman, 15, were shot and killed just before 5 a.m. Tuesday.  Cape Girardeau County Coroner John Clifton says Jamie Orman was also pregnant and in her third trimester.  Killing an unborn child can be considered murder in the state of Missouri.
Relatives tell Local 6 Orman's 14-year-old son called 911 after finding both shot in the living room of their home.

Prosecutors say the Lawrence and Patterson were co-workers.  Police they arrested the pair early Wednesday morning.  Court documents claim the children in the house at the time of the shootings usually stayed with their father in Perryville, MO, but had permission to stay with their mother the night before the shootings.

Ryan Patterson is charged with three counts of First Degree Murder, one count of First Degree Burglary and three counts of Armed Criminal Action.  He is on $750,000 cash bond.

Michelle Lawrence is charged with one count of Conspiracy to Commit 1st Degree Murder.  She is on a $250,000 cash bond.

Cape Girardeau/Bollinger County Major Case Squad arrested two people in connection to Tuesday's double homicide in Cape Girardeau. Those people's names have not been released. They are currently in custody at the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Formal charges are expected later today.

Cape Girardeau County Coroner John Clifton says both Jamie and Derrick Orman died of a gunshot wound.  Coroner John Clifton says Jamie Orman was also pregnant and in her third trimester.

Police spent most of the day combing a Cape Girardeau home for clues.
Rick Broniste lives just across the street, and still struggles with the double homicide that happened without catching anyone's attention.

"I even woke up at 3am and the neighborhood was quiet. there is all kinds of dogs that bark. Nothing indicated an intruder had gotten into the area," says Broniste.

Broniste has gotten to know his neighbors well. He says Jamie Orman lived in the home with her three sons and boyfriend. They were expecting a new baby soon.
"They were so looking forward to that baby coming. Now that whole thing is just over and gone," continued Broniste.

Cape police say a broken screen led them to believe the person who killed Jamie and Derrick Orman broke into the home. However, police aren't sure why someone shot the two.

 "There is no indication of anything like that at this time. Like I said, we are still gathering information. We don't have a motive that I can say this is why it happened," says Cape Girardeau Police Sergeant. Jason Selzer.

Unsettling news for neighbors like rick broniste, who wonder if the killer will return.

"I think us and many other neighbors are going to be securing their homes a lot more now," says Broniste.

Cape Girardeau County Coroner John Clifton has released the names of the two bodies found at 1224 North Missouri, in Cape Girardeau.  The victims were identified as Jamie Lynn Orman, 30, and Derrick Joseph Orman, 15.  WPSD will continue to bring you updates as they become available.

http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/66418012.html


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Probable Cause Report for Patterson
http://wpsd.bimedia.net/content/pc1.pdf


Probable Cause Report for Lawrence
http://wpsd.bimedia.net/content/pc2.pdf

Probable Cause Report for Hughes
http://wpsd.bimedia.net/content/pc3.pdf

Inmate serving 60 years for abusing an infant dies

May. 3, 2011
A 66-year-old inmate, convicted in 1985 of physically abusing a 5-month-old boy, died Sunday following a lengthy illness, prison officials said Monday.

William R. Reed, formerly of Middletown, died shortly before 7 a.m. at Kent General Hospital, said Department of Correction spokesman John Painter.

No foul play is suspected.

Reed was serving a maximum 60-year prison sentence after being convicted on three counts of second-degree assault in what prosecutors described at the time as "one of the most shocking Delaware child-abuse cases in recent memory."

According to a report in The News Journal, Reed "tore the flesh of the baby's genital area, repeatedly beat the infant over a monthlong period, sprayed him with ant and roach killer, burned the boy with cigarettes and stuck his head in a bucket of water."

The child, the son of his 22-year-old girlfriend, suffered a fractured skull, pelvis, leg and arm.

Reed was arrested in August 1984.

His body was turned over to the state Medical Examiner's Office for autopsy.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110503/NEWS01/105030343/Inmate-serving-60-years-abusing-an-infant-dies?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|s

Opinion http://www.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/06/01/033721P.pdf

Case files: Russell Earl Bucklew

Thursday, October 15, 2009
By Bridget DiCosmo ~ Southeast Missourian

Russell Earl Bucklew
Russell Earl Bucklew
Age: 41

Location: Missouri Department of Corrections: Potosi Correctional Center

Sentence: Death plus 60 years

Charges: first-degree murder, forcible rape, burglary, kidnapping, armed criminal action

Victim: Michael L. Sanders, killed March 21, 1996

Facts:

* Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle has said that before serial killer Timothy W. Krajcir, Bucklew was the "most evil man he ever prosecuted," and at trial, referred to Bucklew as a "a homicidal and bloodthirsty Energizer bunny."

* Court records showed that Bucklew had been treated for a medical condition involving tumors on his face and neck, called angioma, and suffered from deep depression.

* After Bucklew's escape from the Cape Girardeau County Jail three months after his arrest for Sanders' murder, the jail reconsidered their "trusty" system. Bucklew escaped by hiding in a trash bag with the aid of a jail trusty.

* Bucklew used the Jon Bon Jovi song "Blaze of Glory" as his theme song when he kidnapped and raped his ex-girlfriend, Stephanie Ray, fleeing with her north on the interstate. His reign of terror ended in a high-speed chase in St. Louis, Mo., during which Bucklew exchanged gunfire with Missouri State Highway Patrol and was shot several times.

* Stephanie Ray later married John Shuffit, who killed her on June 8, 2009 before taking his own life.

Russell Bucklew is currently awaiting execution on Missouri's death row for the murder of Michael H. Sanders, a romantic rival who he shot and killed on March 21, 1996, the same night he kidnapping and raped his former girlfriend.

Russell Bucklew, the only killer in history to have Bon Jovi lyrics play a role in his trial, is one of two men currently sitting on Missouri's Death Row for murders committed in Cape Girardeau County.

Bucklew was convicted in April of 1997 of rape, kidnapping, murder, burlgary, and armed criminal action, charges that involved kidnapping his ex-girlfriend, Stephanie Ray, at gunpoint minutes after he shot and killed Michael H. Sanders, Ray's new boyfriend,

Bucklew was sentenced to death and has been housed at Potosi Correctional Center ever since.

The murder occurred on the evening of March 21, 1996, Ray was getting ready to prepare dinner and her children were playing video games when she heard Sanders' 6-year-old son say someone was at the door.

Worried it might be Bucklew, who had recently threatened Ray with a knife, Sanders checked out the window, and withdrew a shotgun Ray's father had loaned her for protection.

By the time Sanders got to the door, however, Bucklew was already inside the trailer, a pistol in each hand, and screamed at Ray and Sanders to get down, Ray later testified at trial.

Sanders didn't have time to react before Bucklew shot him in the chest. When Ray threw herself in front of his fallen body in an attempt to protect him from another gunshot wound, Bucklew hit her in the face with a handgun and dragged her into the kitchen. Then he returned to the doorway and shot Sanders three more times, while Sanders's two sons and Ray's two daughters cried and screamed.

Bucklew handcuffed Ray, took her as hostage, and raped her in the car on a back country road before heading north on the interstate.

"He said he was going to go down in a blaze of glory and take out as many cops as he could," Ray later testified.

A neighbor who heard the gunshots called the police, and Sanders was pronounced dead when they arrived at the mobile home, triggering activation of the Cape Girardeau County-Bollinger County Major Case Squad.

Later that night, Bucklew was captured in St. Louis after a high speed chase and gun battle with Missouri highway patrolmen on Interstate 270. He was wounded in the firefight and hospitalized in critical condition, and Ray suffered a gunshot wound to the leg from Bucklew's gun.

On June 17, after Bucklew had recovered from his injuries and was housed in the Cape Girardeau County Jail without bond, he again led police on an all-out manhunt when he escaped with the help of an inmate trusty by hiding in a trash bag.

Bloodhounds, a helicopter, and scores of police combed the countryside for Bucklew in 90-degree heat for nearly three days before he was captured in a stolen truck near Egypt Mills after using a hammer to attack Ray's mother and her friend at their home. Ray was in protective custody since Bucklew's escape at the time.

Bucklew was convicted on April 4, 1997, by a Boone County jury and sentenced to death the next day.

Stephanie Ray, who later became Stephanie Shuffit, died on June 8 at her Perryville, Mo., home at the hands of her estranged husband, John Shuffit, who then turned the gun on himself.

http://www.semissourian.com/story/1579204.html

Young Victim Stabbed 127 Times in Raytown Quadruple Murder

March 21, 2011
INDEPENDENCE, Mo.—
Gevante Anderson is on trial for the murder of two little boys, their aunt and her boyfriend at a Raytown, Missouri apartment complex two years ago.  As the prosecutor made her opening statements Monday morning with graphic descriptions and pictures of the crime scene, family members often had to step out into the hallway to hug and weep.

Even some of those on the jury teared up.

Amir and Gerard Clemons were staying with their aunt Precious Triplett and her boyfriend Andre Jones on March 16, 2009.  The children's mother couldn't reach Triplett on the phone and asked her husband to check on them.

A haunting 911 call was played in court as Gerard Clemons, Senior found the four murder victims.

"My kids are dead," he said in the call. "(Screaming) Gerard, Amir, Gerard...oh, God."

The only survivor of the attack was 14-month-old Devon, Anderson and Triplett's child.
   
Prosecutor Tammy Dickenson says when police questioned Triplett's ex-boyfriend Gevante Anderson, he shows no emotion.

"You'll see his demeanor, how he falls asleep during this interview, how police have to pound on the table," Dickenson said.
 
She says Anderson went to his cousin Rocky's house needing clothes, saying he burned his because he'd killed four people.

"He said he shot them and then ran out of bullets so he had to cut 'em," Dickenson said. "And he said the little one wouldn't die and he just kept stabbing him and stabbing him and stabbing him."

The prosecutor explained Gerard, Jr's blood was found throughout the entire apartment as he fought against the attack. He was stabbed 127 times.
   
The defense argues the brutality of the crimes is not in dispute.

"These are terrible murders," Tiffany Gregg with the defense said. "That's not in dispute and you'll see terrible horrible photos in this trial but that doesn't mean my client committed them. That doesn't mean that Gevante had anything to do with this."

Gregg said Anderson went to the police voluntarily and they questioned him for eight hours.

"And throughout the entire interview, Gevante says I had nothing to do with the homicides, I'm here to help you any way I can, I'm telling you everything I know," Gregg said.

She says Anderson gave a DNA sample and it didn't match DNA collected from two cell phones stolen from the homicide scene.

In fact she says the DNA collected pointed to cousin Rocky, the man who says Anderson confessed everything to him.

http://www.fox4kc.com/news/wdaf-young-victim-stabbed-127-times-in-raytown-quadruple-murder-20110321,0,7771935.story

David Duyst continues to appeal conviction from wife's murder

March 16, 2011
GRAND RAPIDS – Convicted killer David Duyst is taking another shot at freedom, hoping this time that a federal appeals court will order a new trial despite a judge's recent ruling denying the same request.

The appeal is expected to drag out the 2000 murder of Sandra Duyst, the suspect's wife, at least another year and possibly two.

Duyst, 51, was convicted of shooting his wife twice in the head with a 9 mm Smith & Wesson handgun as she lay in bed.

Authorities initially ruled the death a suicide until an autopsy found two bullet wounds to the 40-year-old woman.

Duyst, a prominent Grand Rapids insurance salesman at the time of his wife's death, has repeatedly professed his innocence. He claims that the weapon malfunctioned, causing it to shoot twice, when his wife decided to take her own life.

Authorities said the slaying was motivated by Duyst's infidelity, financial problems and a recent half-million-dollar life insurance policy on Sandra Duyst's life.

Lawyers for Duyst say his trial attorney was ineffective for not challenging ballistics evidence, blood spatter testimony and the admissibility of a letter in which Sandra Duyst said if she died to look at her husband.

U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts in a ruling issued last month found that the attorney, David Dodge, properly considered each defense scenario. Roberts had granted Duyst an evidentiary hearing to determine if she should order a new trial.

Duyst called the opinion devastating but said that he and his family will go to the U.S. Sixth Circuit of Appeals to try again.

This time, Duyst wrote in a letter to supporters, “it's really all or nothing,” as the U.S. Supreme Court is highly unlikely to hear his case.

“We recognize that the possibility of winning there is slim, but we feel it is worth the effort and expense,” Duyst wrote in a letter to The Press.

“ It is indeed unfortunate that the criminal justice system in general and the appellate system in particular is so stacked against the accused.”
Duyst is serving a life term at the Saginaw Correctional Facility in Freeland.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/03/david_duyst_continues_to_appea.html

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Appeal here
http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/michigan/miedce/2:2008cv11728/229720/41/0.pdf?1297277181&chrome=true

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He's trying to say that the gun malfunctioned and she shot herself in the head twice while she was sleeping in bed.   
I know this is only a life sentence case, but it goes to show how desperate these thugs get with their appeals.

Sentence angers slain tot's family
Man pleads guilty to manslaughter, may be out within four years

March 13, 2011
Family members of a slain 1-year-old are outraged the man who caused the child's death received what they regard as a "lenient" sentence.

Zachariah Lacey last week pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 2007 death of Alvondus Kyles, whom he was babysitting.

The child died of blunt-force trauma to his stomach, according to an autopsy.

On the recommendation of special prosecutor Ashley Ogden, Hinds County Circuit Judge Tomie Green sentenced Lacey to 20 years in prison with 12 years suspended and eight to serve.

But Lacey could be free within four years because he was given credit for time served since 2007.

"He should have gotten life; he needs life for what he did," the child's mother, Shamone Harris said. "He killed my baby."

But Lacey's mother, Karen Smith, said her son isn't guilty of a crime.

"I want the world to know how sorry the judicial system is," Karen Smith said. "They railroaded my son into making a guilty plea."

Shamone Harris said in addition to trauma to the stomach, her baby also had a blood clot on his brain.

The child's grandfather, Arthur Lee Harris, also said what happened to his grandson was no accident.

In explaining why he agreed to reduce the charge, Ogden said Lacey admitted he spanked Alvondus but had no intent to harm him.

Ogden said Lacey was attempting to hit the child on his buttocks when he missed and hit the child in the back, lacerating his liver.

Ogden said he doesn't believe Lacey should be sent away for the rest of his life.

"He has shown remorse for what happened," Ogden said.

Lacey, now 26, was babysitting the child May 8, 2007, while Shamone, then 16, attended school, according to court records.

Lacey entered a best interest plea, meaning he believed it was in his best interest to plead guilty to manslaughter rather than to be tried on a capital murder charge.

Ogden was appointed as special prosecutor in the case because Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith's office had a conflict.

Lacey's initial attorney was Frank Jones, who went to work for the district attorney's office. Jones is no longer employed as an assistant district attorney.

Smith said he would have sought a stiffer sentence for Lacey because the victim was a baby.

Tension has been high between Lacy and the baby's relatives. During Lacey's initial court appearance in Jackson Municipal Court on May 11, 2007, a brawl erupted in the courtroom between them.

http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20110314/NEWS/103140315/Sentence-angers-slain-tot-s-family?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|p

Sex Offender Charged In Arson, Killing Of Mother, Daughter

Victims Shot Execution Style, Court Documents Say

March 10, 2011
BUTLER, Mo. -- The Bates County Sheriff's Office said a Rich Hill, Mo., man with a criminal history shot and killed a mother and daughter and lit their house on fire.

Firefighters were called to a fire on Rural Route 3 in Bates County, Mo., on Wednesday night. After they put the fire out, investigators found the bodies of two women inside.

The Jackson County Medical Examiner's Office determined both women had been shot in the head before the fire was set, court documents said.

One of the women has been identified as Brandee Bickleman, 35. The other female is believed to be Bickleman's daughter, but she has not been positively identified yet. Bickleman was found laying face down in her bed, the other body was found next to another bed in the home.

Bickleman's ex-boyfriend, Raymond Samuel Harvey Jr., 38, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and one count of second-degree arson.

According to court documents, Harvey said he lived at the home up until 10 days before the fire. The documents said Bickleman told a sheriff's deputy that he had gotten into a fight with Bickleman on Tuesday night and that she slapped, kicked and stabbed Harvey. He stated after getting attacked, Harvey grabbed Bickleman by the throat and "saw red and lost control."

Court documents also said Harvey told his mother and sister that he knew Bickleman and her daughter were dead before the fire.
Harvey's bail has been set at $10,000,000.

The Sheriff's Office said Bates has a criminal history: He was convicted of rape in 1992 and served 17 years in prison. He had been out of prison on parole for about two years.

http://www.kmbc.com/news/27148504/detail.html

Northern California inmate found dead in cell

Thursday, March 10, 2011
Officials at a Northern California prison believe an inmate found dead in his cell was killed by his cellmate.

Officials at High Desert State Prison say the inmate was pronounced dead around 9:29 a.m. Thursday after being found unresponsive in his cell. Officials have not released the name of the inmate, but say he was serving 90 years to life on a conviction out of Riverside County for the aggravated sexual assault of a child.

The inmate's cellmate has been identified as prime suspect in his killing. His name has not been released, but officials say he is a 35-year-old inmate serving 64 years to life on a Los Angeles County rape conviction.

High Desert State Prison is located in Susanville in Lassen County. It houses about 4,500 inmates.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fn%2Fa%2F2011%2F03%2F10%2Fstate%2Fn221749S16.DTL

Delaware inmate dead in hanging

03.11.11
DOVER, Del. -- Delaware prison officials say an inmate serving a life sentence for first-degree murder has apparently hanged himself.

Officials said 21-year-old Christopher Wallace was pronounced dead at a Dover hospital about 6:30 a.m. Friday.

The cause of death was an apparent suicide by hanging in his cell at the state's maximum-security prison in Smyrna.

Wallace, from Cocoa, Fla., was serving a life sentence plus five years after being convicted of stabbing to death his 9-year-old cousin, Daniel Schlor, in 2005.

Wallace, who was 15 at the time of the killing, was found guilty but mentally ill.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/11/2110279/del-inmate-dead-in-hanging.html