Cult Murder of Baby Still Unsolved

NBC- Twenty-six years after a mysterious murder of an unnamed child, Fairfield police may be closed to finding the killer



A baby bundled in bloody white blankets, just hours old, was found by the banks of Lake Mohegan in Fairfield March 14, 1986. The boy was strangled and abandoned, and left for passerby to find. Surrounding Baby Doe were signs of a sinister motive.

Fruit and coins littered the crime scene. Police believed those clues pointed to the Occult. Specifically, a little-known religion called Palo Mayombe, known to ritually use human remains. Researchers involved with the case say Palo Mayombe is a dark offshoot of the Santeria religion. Santeria is a mix of Afro-Caribbean and Catholic faiths.





“The weather was just like this. Cold, rainy,” said Fairfield Police Det. Kerry Dalling. .





The questions remain unanswered: Who killed Baby Doe? And how come no one has ever claimed him?



“It was a baby. It was an innocent child and what was done to him was horrific,” said Dalling.



The killers inflicted terrible wounds on the infant, including facial mutilation and breaking the baby's jaw. Police believe they wanted the child to be found.

 "Were they trying to send a message? Yes,” said forensic expert Richard Walter. Walter is a founding member of the Vidocq Society, a group of cold case experts sought after by law enforcement around the country to help crack unsolved cases.
 DNA evidence uncovered in the last two years has breathed new life into the case.

"The murder is not over when the body dies. The murder is over when the perp stops deriving satisfaction from the killing, Walter said. "As a consequence the people unwittingly continue to give evidence, and that's a huge advantage to the investigation if they know how to read them. That’s one of my skills,” he said.



New forensic evidence has narrowed the pool of suspects. Detectives have a DNA profile of the baby. With help from the Vidocq Society, old information has led to fresh leads. While they are careful of what they reveal, investigators are confident they have the killers in their sights.



"We're coming. And we have every intention of solving this case,” said Dalling.



They have a message for the murderers.



"Somebody is going to be knocking on your door,” warned Walter.


Police believe someone in the community knows something about the murder.


“Somebody's got to be the voice for that child,” she said.

(The former bank processing center that once stood where Sym's is now. Police think that a baby found dead at Lake Mohegan in 1986 may have been born in a bathroom stall there.)


Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Fairfield Police at 203-254-4840.

BURN IN HELL

This story both infuriated me and scared the hell out of me when I first heard about it yesterday morning.

(On a side note, that makes [two] women in NYC to die in elevators in tragic/strange situations in one week.)

'Fiend confesses to elevator blaze that killed Brooklyn woman who fired him'

NY Post- A Brooklyn fiend repaid the kindness of an elderly woman who hired him for odd jobs by first stealing from her — and then burning her alive when she fired him, police said yesterday.

“I hope he burns in hell!” the victim’s stricken daughter, Sheila Gillespie Hillsman, 49, fumed to pals on Facebook.

Accused sadistic killer Jerome “Jerry’’ Isaac, 47, was reeking of gasoline when he turned himself in to cops more than eight hours after the horrific torching of tragic 73--year-old churchgoer Delores Gillespie.

Cops said Isaac was furious that the postal clerk had refused to pay him for some of the work he’d done at her Prospect Heights apartment after she discovered he’d swiped her kitchenware and DVD player.

Isaac allegedly ambushed the terrified woman at 4:10 p.m. Saturday, standing in the fifth-floor hallway of her building as the elevator doors opened and she started to step off, returning from a trip to Key Foods with bags hanging from her wrists.

Isaac sprayed her with a flammable liquid, used a barbecue lighter to set her ablaze, tossed a Molotov cocktail at her and then sprayed her again for extra measure even though she was already engulfed in flames, screaming in agony, police said.

The madman then fled — first to his nearby apartment at 315 Lincoln Place that he shared with his brother in the gentrifying neighborhood to also try to set it ablaze, police said. He managed to only damage the door frame.

The perp ran next to the rooftop of 571 Lincoln Place, where he hid, thinking he’d been burned — even though he wasn’t — and terrified that he would be easily identified if he was spotted on the street, police said.

He fell asleep on the roof, and when he woke up, Isaac went on the run again, wandering around before finally turning himself in at 12:30 a.m. at Transit District 32, about two miles away in Crown Heights, officials said.

Some of the items he had allegedly used to set ablaze Gillespie were recovered on the Lincoln Place rooftop, authorities said.

“I set the fire in the hallway, and I set the fire in the elevator,” the suspect sniveled to cops after surrendering — although he refused to admit he had also burned Gillespie, police told The Post.

He was charged with first-degree murder and arson.

The victim’s grief-stricken son, Maurice Gillespie, 37, said his trusting mother “just met [Isaac] one day and said he was an honest guy” and hired him.

Her nephew, Rick Causey, 52, who lived with the mother and son, added, “She trusted him” and even gave him a key to the apartment.

But the son said his mom realized that Isaac was a thief at some point earlier this year because she’d be on the street and found herself having to “[buy] her stuff back.”

“He was doing more stealing than cleaning,’’ Causey noted.

After learning of Isaac’s thievery, Gillespie refused to pay him for at least some of his work. A furious Isaac then left a note on the family’s door last summer with a list of chores for which he was demanding payment, relatives said.

Not getting any satisfaction, he began a campaign of terror against Gillespie, kin said.

He was harassing her, chasing her down the street and cursing at her,” Maurice said, adding he’d seen Isaac hanging around across the street from his mother’s apartment at 203 Underhill Ave. three days ago.

Neighbor Dorinda Thomas, 56, said Gillespie was “desperately afraid” of the suspect.

“She knew that something was going to happen to her in that building,” Thomas said. “Everyone knew this.”

Still, cops said Gillespie never filed an official complaint again Isaac, who claimed that she owed him $2,100 for work he’d supposedly done.

But Maurice’s girlfriend, Linda Moses, noted bitterly, “She was just trying to help [Isaac] out, and here we are, for being kind.”

Gillespie, who worked at the General Post Office in East New York, and Isaac were never romantically involved, relatives and cops said.

The suspect’s chilling attack on his victim was caught on video tape and showed him allegedly wearing gloves and a dust mask pulled up on top of his head when he pounced, police said.

His spraying of Gillespie was methodical, ensuring that the beloved Gillespie, known as a local activist who helped the homeless and spoke out passionately against crime in her neighborhood, was covered head to toe in the flammable liquid, police said.

“She’s cowering, trying to protect her face with her hands,’’ said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne, describing footage of Gillespie’s final moments.

Isaac made statements incriminating himself when he was under questioning, sources said.

“He was giving some of this stuff up,” a source said

One police source called the scene as nothing less than “torture.’’

Neighbors said the accused maniac, who had no prior arrests, was known locally as a loner.

“He’s always out riding his bike. He collects empty cans and bottles Sometime, he’ll have a big bag of them . . . He was never friendly. I’ve never seen him talking to anyone,” said Isaac’s neighbor, Eric Charles, 42.

“When I came home I saw all the police. One told me what he did in the elevator and said he did something here too. It’s crazy.”

Causey, Gillespie’s nephew, blamed himself partly for the tragedy, saying he usually walked the victim to and from the street when she went shopping.

“I should have been there,” he said.

Causey said he was watching TV when he heard a commotion and looked into the hallway but that cops and firemen forced him back into the apartment.

He said cops questioned him at the 77th Precinct station house until 9 p.m. Saturday before letting him go.

Neighbors described Gillespie as a “wonderful” person who always looked out for her neighbors and community.

“Everybody in the neighborhood would tell you, anything she had in her house she’d give you,” said Thomas, 56, adding that Gillespie was her nephew’s godmother.

“She was a wonderful lady, you understand.”

Margie Grooms, 67, who lives on the block, said Gillespie was a “community activist.”

Another neighbor who would only say her name was Rose, said Gillespie “was a lady who looked out for everybody. Whoever did this had no heart.”

Additional reporting by Doug Auer, Jessica Simeone, Jamie Schram and Jennifer Bain

Casey Anthony Trial Conclusion

I realized in all my anger and frustration over the verdict in the Caylee Anthony murder trial that I failed to update this blog.

I must remain faithful and conclude my reporting of this fiasco since I've been so vigilant since the dawn of it's creation; but I'm posting this so long after when the verdict first came out because I simply want to refuse it's reality... I can't believe that she was found not guilty (July 5th, 2011).

Yes, we all felt that way when O.J. raped the court system those seemingly few years ago, but somehow for me this hit me as way worse of a defilement of justice.

So I suppose no one is responsible for Caylee's untimely and probably torturous death? No one will be held accountable? No justice for the most innocent of victims... No justice for Caylee.

She can run, but she can't hide. Karma's a bitch, and there are many, many people looking to take an active role in the future of hers...

All that time of my being consumed by this case (mostly before the hopeless trial even began) and I have to conclude it like this. Tis a shame.


That's all I would like to say.

This Day In History

Jun 28 1997
Mike Tyson is disqualified from a championship boxing bout after biting off a large portion of Evander Holyfield's ear. Tyson is later banned from boxing and fined $3 million for the incident.
Tastes like chicken.

Two Juveniles Rob and Rape 80 Year old Woman

Sickness!!

RICHLAND COUNTY, SC (WIS) - Two male juveniles are arrested after authorities say they broke into an 80-year-old woman's home, stole some property, and raped her.

It happened in the Trenholm Acres Subdivision around 9:00pm Tuesday night. "We really think they were just up to no good that day, and then it just got out of hand," says Richland County Deputy Monique Mack.

Deputies say the 14 and 15-year-olds broke into the woman's home and demanded money. "She gave them whatever they wanted," says Mack, "She was being very cooperative."

They say one of the teens was armed with a shotgun. The teens proceeded to vandalize the inside of the home and took some electronics, jewelry, and money before sexually assaulting the woman in a bedroom. They then fled on foot.

Sheriff Leon Lott says, "The acts committed in this incident were both vicious and were carried out with malicious intent." He claims he's never seen anything more devastating.

Deputies say the woman is out of the hospital. They say she's still recovering but is surrounded by family.

She was able to give a detailed description of the suspects, and deputies began questioning neighbors Wednesday morning about unusual activity. "At which time we had neighbors saying, 'Yeah, we saw two juveniles walking through. They looked like they were looking in and out of homes and saw some suspicious activity.'," says Mack. The sheriff's office says several individuals were able to identify the teens, who happened to live nearby.

Deputy Mack says your watchful eye can always help in cases like this. "We're in the holiday season," says Mack, "We're going to have students out for the next two weeks. If you see them doing something they shouldn't be doing, then give us a call. We'd rather go and address them than anyone else becoming a victim."

Both young men attend the Richland Two School District, but district officials aren't releasing what grade the boys are in. One of them was eventually located in the subdivision while the other was found at school. Both are in custody and being charged first-degree burglary, criminal sexual assault, kidnapping, and armed robbery. Sheriff Lott says right now the teens will be charged as juveniles, but investigators are working with the solicitor's office to decide if the teens should be charged as adults.

Is Amazon Peddling Pedophilia?

NEW YORK (WPIX) — It's an e-book with a subject so heinous, it's hard to believe it exists, "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child-Lover's Code of Conduct"

The how-to guide was available on Amazon.com Wednesday, but by Thursday, it was taken down. We did find a sample, however. The self-published author writes he'd "rather see pedosexuals conquer the world than hear of even one more child being killed because another pedosexual-pedophile is driven into a state of pedocidal-psychosis or a paranoid-panic attack, due to the constant hate-mongering which can be heard from every corner of the Earth, demonizing every juvephile regardless of the quality or character of their sexual relations with minors." Who would write this and why? Phillip R Greaves II of Colorado and here's his reason, "Every time you see them on television they're either murderers, rapists or kidnappers, and that's just not an accurate presentation of that particular sexuality.

So, is it free speech, or just foul and sickening? We asked Jason Boog, the editor of eBookNewser. He says the power of Twitter helped whip the world into a frenzy, "All this anger swelled up, you had a huge crowd saying this was distasteful and dangerous, we have to get this book off the shelf and we had this whole other side saying this is book burning."

At the same time, Amazon users commented on the site, expressing their disgust and talking of a boycott. Facebook pages popped up to condemn Amazon. The book e-tailer didn't get back to our questions but said this yesterday: "...it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable. Amazon does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts..."

Before it was taken down, 300 copies have been sold. Greaves reportedly says he thinks the book'll be back up on the site soon.

----------------------

If someone wrote in a book on how they wanted to commit acts of murder on children, would we sit there and say "OH hey, that's freedom of speech, let him go on!" NO. So why should we sit there and let him write such criminal material, trying to conjur up a following of sick, drooling psychos to come molest and abuse our children?

Damn right they're always rapists and murderers! They're screwed up weirdos in the first place! To desire a child in that way is purely sick and evil. I bet my whole life savings this guy is no father himself. People like him should have children and see what it's like when other men seek them, looking for sex- then see how he feels.. He's sick, twisted, and in his own world.

They should lock him up for what he's doing- he'll go out and have what he thinks is an "appropriate sexual relationship" with your own daughter. Or son. Does he not realize the psychological impact is has on children when there are grown adults molesting/raping them??
Enough for now, I feel like throwing up at the moment.. I just hope someone finds him and puts him out of his misery. >__>

Mexican Investigator in Falcon Lake Case Beheaded, Officials Say

AH!! This is scary.
(CNN) -- The lead Mexican investigator in the Falcon Lake case, Rolando Armando Flores Villegas, has been killed, his severed head delivered Tuesday in a suitcase to the Mexican military, officials told CNN.

"His head was delivered to the army garrison this morning in a suitcase after he failed to report back home last night," Zapata County, Texas, Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr. said.

A spokesman for the attorney general of Tamaulipas state in Mexico, Ruben Dario-Rios, confirmed the killing Tuesday afternoon in a telephone interview.

The report came a day after authorities in the Tamaulipas state attorney general's office gave conflicting information on whether authorities were pursuing a pair of suspects in the case of David Michael Hartley's disappearance.

Hartley's wife, Tiffany, told authorities that her husband was fatally shot September 30 during a sightseeing trip the two were taking on Falcon Lake, which straddles the border.

While Luis Homero Uvalle, a spokesman for the office, told CNN the suspects are brothers who are "well known to this area" -- identifying them only as "El 27" and "El 31" -- Dario-Rios, the chief spokesman for the attorney general said, "We have nothing official about suspects in the disappearance of David Hartley. I do not know where that is coming from."

Dario-Rios said Monday that Flores had not indicated to him that any suspects had been identified.

Eva Rodriguez, Flores' secretary, said the news of his death came as a surprise. "We saw [Rolando] last night," she said. "After he came back [from the search for Hartley] we were all together here in the office. That was the last time any of us saw him."

She said she was not aware that Flores -- whom she described as "very dedicated to his job" -- had received any threats from narcotraffickers.

"What can you do?" she asked. "We're still going to be here. We still have to work."

And, despite the fact that "we're all scared right now," their work will go on, she vowed. "The investigation and search will still continue," she said.

On Monday, Tiffany Hartley, along with David Hartley's mother, Pam, appeared on television talk shows asking for information to help investigators find those responsible for David's death and find his body.

"Until we have him back, it's not final," Tiffany Hartley said on NBC's "The Today Show."

On Sunday, the U.S. Border Patrol, the Coast Guard, and Parks and Wildlife officials were back on the U.S. side of the lake searching for new evidence in the case, said Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzales.

Authorities from both nations have been conducting separate searches and holding regular meetings, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Virginia Staab said. But because the disappearance allegedly occurred on the Mexican side of the border, the United States cannot prosecute or make arrests in the case, the sheriff said.

Falcon Lake is a reservoir on the Rio Grande. The U.S.-Mexican border runs through the middle of the lake, with Zapata and Starr counties on the U.S. side.

Rep. Cuellar said 60 Mexican personnel, three boats and a helicopter had participated in the search.

Dr. William Petit Won't Testify at Sentencing of Family's Killer

(CNN) -- A Connecticut man whose wife and two daughters were murdered in a 2007 home invasion will not testify at the sentencing of the convicted killer, he said Friday.

Dr. William Petit has "regretfully decided" against testifying because he said Connecticut's law on victim impact statements is unclear and could provide convicts with grounds to appeal their sentences.

Announcing his decision in a statement Friday, Petit urged Connecticut's General Assembly to "promptly amend the law to guarantee ... the right of surviving family members of capital murder victims to present victim impact statements" at sentencing.

On Tuesday, a jury convicted 47-year-old Steven Hayes of capital murder in the deaths of Petit's family members. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

On Friday, Petit said he would have preferred to make a statement at Hayes' sentencing.

"Unfortunately, however, our General Assembly has failed to enact an appropriately clear law to allow a victim like me the right to make a statement on behalf of myself and my family members during the course of a capital sentencing trial," his statement said.

"This lack of clarity in the law is a crippling disincentive to surviving family members of victims in capital murder cases to make a statement," Petit continued, because such statements could be construed to violate state law, giving a convict "a basis for appeal and possibly even a new sentencing trial."

Petit said Friday that the law fails to specify who may offer a victim impact statement or when the statement could be introduced.

"Does it permit the victim himself to read the statement or does its passive-voice phrasing require that a prosecutor or other court official read the statement?" he asked.

"More significantly, does it allow the statement to be read prior to the jury's decision on what sentence to impose or should the statement be read as a pointless formality after the jury has already decided what sentence to impose?"

Hayes was found guilty of 16 of the 17 charges against him in connection with the deaths of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, including nine counts of murder and capital murder and four counts of kidnapping. The jurors acquitted him of an arson charge in the burning of the family's home.

The killings took place in the New Haven suburb of Cheshire early on July 23, 2007.

Petit's and his wife's home was invaded in the middle of the night by Hayes and another man, Joshua Komisarjevsky, prosecutors say. Komisarjevsky will be tried separately.

"There is some relief, but my family is still gone," Petit told reporters after Tuesday's verdict. "It doesn't bring them back. It doesn't bring back the home that we had."

At the penalty phase, jurors will determine whether the mitigating evidence the defense is expected to present will outweigh the aggravating factors in favor of the death penalty. Judge Jon Blue set the penalty phase to begin October 18.

On Friday, Petit said that a victim impact statement should be a part of that process.

"Just as a capital murderer is permitted to seek to 'humanize' himself by presenting all manner of mitigating evidence about his own background and circumstances, the prosecution should also be permitted equally to 'humanize' the lives of a defendant's victims," his statement said.

During the trial, Jeremiah Krob, a Connecticut prison officer, testified he overheard Hayes confess to another inmate that he killed Jennifer Hawke-Petit.

Connecticut State Police Detective Anthony Buglione, who interviewed Hayes after the crime, has testified that the duo beat Petit bloody and left him in the basement.

According to the testimony, the two men then went upstairs and found Hawke-Petit and 11-year-old Michaela Petit asleep in the master bedroom. After tying Hawke-Petit to her bed, they led the girl to her room, tied her to her bed and put a pillowcase over her head, Hayes told Buglione.

They then found 17-year-old Hayley Petit in her room and did the same, he said.

After finding evidence of a bank account containing $20,000 to $30,000, they decided to have the mother go to the bank in the morning and withdraw money from her account, Buglione testified.

Hayes is accused of taking Hawke-Petit to the bank while Komisarjevsky allegedly stayed behind. When Hayes and Hawke-Petit returned with the money, the two men allegedly set the home on fire and fled.

Inside the home, authorities said, Hawke-Petit, 48, was found raped and strangled. Her two daughters, one of whom had been sexually assaulted, died of smoke inhalation. Petit, the sole survivor, escaped to a neighbor's home.

Marcos Colono Arrested In Rape Of 11yo Boy, Barely Decapitates Father

This Mother Effer Is SICK..
Cambridge — 32-year-old Cambridge resident Marcos Colono was held on a $1 million bail after allegedly raping a 11-year-old boy and stabbing his father with a knife in a Pearl Street apartment on Aug. 26.

Colono was reportedly arrested Thursday morning while walking in the Cambridgeport neighborhood where he is from and where the crime took place. He was arraigned in the Cambridge District Court Thursday afternoon but did not appear in the courtroom. He is accused of two counts of rape on a child, armed assault to murder and home invasion.

Police have been searching for the suspect in the brutal crime from last month at 220 Pearl St. where a masked man reportedly broke into a first floor apartment around 1 a.m. with a large butcher knife and attacked a man and his child.

Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Katharine Folger said Colono stacked the father and son on top of each other while he rummaged through the house for money. Colono then allegedly raped the boy at knifepoint while his father was forced to listen.

Police reportedly found the victims lying in a pool of blood in the apartment. There was blood on the door knob of the apartment door as well.

"The apartment was a bloody mess," said Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone at a press conference Thursday 1 p.m. at the Cambridge Police Department.

"Today this man has a name, he has an identity and he's behind bars," said Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley at a press conference with Leone and Cambridge Police Commission Robert Haas, among other officials.

The 53-year-old dad, a researcher at Harvard’s Kennedy School, was reportedly stabbed eight to 10 times in the upper chest and neck and three times in his back, underwent surgery and was last reported to be in critical condition. According to Folger, doctors said the attacker tried to decapitate the victim.

The 11-year-old son also suffered injuries and was later released from the hospital.

The knife used in the assault was left behind -- as well as a bloody fingerprint investigators say connect Colono to an unsolved home invasion in Brighton where two college-aged women were raped in September 2008. They also have other forensic evidence linking Colono to the Cambridge and Brighton crimes.

He has not yet been formally charged with the Brighton incident, in which two women, then 18 and 23, were raped inside their Commonwealth Avenue apartment at about 8:45 p.m. on Sept. 21, 2008. A warrant charging him with that offense is expected to be sought in the near future.

"We believe at this time, there is no personal connection between the defendant and the 53-year-old man or his 11-year-old son. It looks to be a home invasion with no personal connection between those involved," Leone added. "At this time, it's unclear what the exact motivation was. Robbery may be a motivating factor."

Colono's 18-year-old brother Michael Colono, was killed by Harvard student Alexander Pring-Wilson in a drunken stabbing in Cambridgeport in 2003. Pring-Wilson pleaded guilty in 2008 and received a two-year sentence in prison.

Leone did not have an explanation and said it is a coincidence.

Colono's mother and sister were present in court but did not speak Thursday.

Colono's lawyer, Ben Selman, tried to argue for a lower bail calling the $1 million cash amount "excessive" based on his client's personal history. He said Colono has no past convictions and only two minor offences on his record -- shoplifting and assault and battery from more than a decade ago. He argued that one partial fingerprint is the only thing that links his client to the crime scenes with no other positive identification.

Judge Roanne Sragow said the bail amount is appropriate given the facts and the nature of crime in this case.

Colono will have to meet several requirements, including wearing a GPS bracelet and having no contact with children until his pre-trial hearing scheduled for Nov. 9, Sragow said.

Colono was born in and lived in Cambridge his whole life and has a 15-year-old son, Selman said. He attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin, dropped out in tenth grade but later earned his GED in 1994. He has been working in construction as a labourer. He has family and friends in the area has no ties to any other community, Selman added.

"Virgin" Bikini Waxing Now Popular for Pre-Teen Girls

Disgusting..
Gothamist- MSNBC has a long trend-piece about how increasingly younger girls are getting bikini waxing.

How young? Well, Wanda Stawczyk, who runs Wanda's European Skin Care on West 57th Street, offers discounts for clients as young as 8, and she says pre-teen business is booming, telling the Post that "in 10 years waxing children will be like taking them to the dentist or putting braces on their teeth." Her company’s website says it all:

"Virgin-waxing for children 8 years old and up who have never shaved before. Virgin hair can be waxed so successfully that growth can be permanently stopped in just 2 to 6 sessions. Save your child a lifetime of waxing... and put the money in the bank for her college education instead

And leave it to the Post to enlighten those readers “interested in whether there's even hair to wax. Pre-puberty hair, called ‘velus,’ is a fine, light pigmented hair. When a child hits puberty - which these days is happening to kids as young as 9 - the hair coarsens and darkens.” And must be torn out by the roots if you don't want the other girls to laugh at you!

Of course some people, like child psychiatrist Candida Fink, think “this is another example of how younger and younger girls are being sexualized and objectified.” And Dr. Diane Levin, co-author of the book So Sexy So Soon, tells MSNBC that “girls are learning the worst possible lessons about body image and body hair. Keep your bodies like little girls’ because that’s what men like.” Anyway, better you hear about all this here, in a safe place, instead of from your creepy co-worker. Or did we just become your creepy co-worker?

Jail for Couple Whose Baby Died While They Raised Online Child

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- A couple whose baby starved to death while they raised a virtual child in an online fantasy game was sentenced Friday, their defense attorney said.

Prosecutors at Suwon District Court had sought a five-year sentence for negligent homicide, but the court handed out a two-year sentence.

Sentence was suspended for the female defendant, Kim Yun-jeong, 25, who is expecting the couple's daughter in August. Her partner, Kim Jae-beom, 41, will serve two years.

The unmarried couple's defense attorney said he was satisfied with the sentence.

"This is the first legal case regarding Internet addiction in Korea," said Kim Dong-young, a lawyer with the Korean Legal Aid Corp. "I am pleased that the female defendant's Internet addiction was taken into consideration, and she was bailed."

Three-month-old Kim Sa-rang died of malnutrition in September while her parents were engaged in 12-hour sessions of Prius Online. In the 3-D fantasy game, players nurture an online girl who gains magical powers as she grows.

Kim's mother is a former factory worker while her father is a taxi and truck driver.

During their trial, the court heard that the toddler weighed 6.4 pounds (2.9 kgs) when she was born, but was only 5.5 pounds (2.5 kgs) at the time of her death.

The trial was in March, but sentencing was delayed after the court requested a psychological examination of the mother. Both defendants appeared contrite during the trial, with the mother frequently breaking down in tears.

Internet gaming is hugely popular in South Korea, with some 21,500 'PC Bangs' -- or Internet cafes -- offering ultra-high speed Internet connections nationwide.

The case has highlighted the dark side of the nation's Internet, an industry touted by South Korean officials as cutting edge. A public debate is under way in the nation over online privacy and regulating Internet rumors.

There is particular concern about gaming addiction and its effects on teenagers and those estranged from mainstream society. "Consequently, it comes as no surprise to me that two people who were disconnected from society in general found a common psychological space that kept them physically and socially divorced from reality," said Tom Coyner, Seoul-based author of "Mastering Business in Korea."

Suwon, the satellite town south of Seoul where the tragedy occurred, was named "Intelligent City of the Year" this month by a New York-based think-tank Intelligent Community Forum.

The honor was awarded because of the town's investment in broadband infrastructure and its push to increase connection speeds to 1 gigabyte per second, according to reports.

Tacoma Teacher Killed Outside School; Deputy Fatally Shoots Suspect

This is one case I'm glad they were able to kill this offender right off.. No trial, no wasting of tax-payer's dollars- just get rid of the animal.

The News Tribune- A man reportedly infatuated with a 30-year-old special education teacher shot and killed the woman outside a Tacoma elementary school teacher this morning, police said. The gunman later was shot dead by a Pierce County sheriff's deputy near Fredrickson.

The initial shooting occurred about 7:30 a.m. at Birney Elementary School, where the victim helped teach reading to kids with learning disabilities.

Witnesses told police the gunman, who lived in Ellensburg, arrived at the school about two hours before the teacher and shot her when she and a female colleague later arrived. No children were at the school at the time of the shooting. No one else was hurt.

The gunman, also 30, then fled in a car which a deputy stopped near 166th and Canyon about half an hour later. The gunman reportedly fired at the deputy, who returned fire killing the man, authorities said.

School has been cancelled at Birney for today, and school district officials are discussing whether to cancel Monday classes as well, district spokesman Dan Voelpel said.

Authorities also evacuated a day-care center near the site of the second shooting. No one aside from the gunman was injured there. Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said the teacher and the gunman were acquaintances but were not in a romantic relationship.

The gunman may have been infatuated with the woman, Fulghum said.

She recently took out an anti-harassment order against the man in Tacoma Municipal Court, the police spokesman said.

A teacher, who asked to remain anonymous, told The News Tribune the gunman had been in the victim's master's degree class when she was at the University of Washington-Tacoma. He had been stalking the victim, leaving roses on her car and notes.

"We've been trying to watch out for him," the teacher said.

The woman began working for the Tacoma School District as a substitute teacher in 2004 and also worked at Stanley elementary and Hunt middle schools before signing on at Birney in 2007, Voelpel said.

"This is a situation that doesn't cross your mind," Voelpel said. "You don't think it's going to happen and when it does, it knocks everybody flat."

Staff members were in tears outside Birney this morning. Superintendent Art Jarvis was on scene and was seen hugging staff members as they arrived. A pastor who lives nearby walked over the school with a Bible in his hand. As the teachers passed, he told them he was praying for them.

Following the shooting, witnesses provided descriptions of the shooter, which were relayed to responding Tacoma officers and other law enforcement in the county.

A Pierce County sheriff's deputy spotted the suspect's vehicle on Canyon Road, sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said. The deputy got behind the car and, with the assistance of an undercover sheriff's detective, initiated a traffic stop on Canyon Road.

The driver took off at a high-rate of speed. After about four blocks, the driver pulled over in a day-care parking lot on 166th Street.

"He came out with a semiautomatic handgun, he fired off a round," Troyer said.

The deputy returned fire, killing the man. It's not immediately clear where the man was going. The deputy involved has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure.

A WITNESS ACCOUNT:

A man who lives across from Birney Elementary heard the gunshots this morning.

Omar Moreno said after the two gunshots, he heard a woman screaming and saw the gunman run across Sheridan Avenue and got into a tan Honda sedan.

Moreno also saw an "older gentleman" running away from the gunman. Moreno said the gunman fired at the other gentleman.

A custodian came out of the school and said to call the police.

Police Eye Porn Suspect in Child's Slaying

(CNN) -- A man authorities want to question in the slaying of a 7-year-old girl, whose body was dumped in a landfill, appeared in a Florida court Wednesday on child pornography charges after being extradited from Mississippi.

Jarred Harrell, 24, faces 29 counts of possession of child pornography in Clay County, Florida.

Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler has said Harrell is also sought for questioning in the abduction and murder of Somer Thompson, but has not said why.

Harrell was arrested in Meridian, Mississippi, by federal agents earlier this month, and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist asked Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour to extradite him. The arrest followed a search of Harrell's residence, Clay County authorities said.

Somer Thompson was last seen in the Clay County town of Orange Park on October 19. Her body was found in a landfill in Folkston, Georgia, about 55 miles north of there. Authorities have not said how she was killed.

Somer's 10-year-old sister told police that Somer had been in a fight with another girl at school earlier that day and that she brought up the subject while she and her brother walked Somer home from school. Somer ran off, apparently upset. The sister said she lost sight of Somer in a group of other children leaving the school, according to a police report.

Police said in October that witnesses including several children reported seeing her that day on a sidewalk in front of a vacant house that was being renovated following a fire.

At Wednesday's hearing, a judge continued Harrell's $1 million bond.

Left To Die: Off Duty EMTs In Question Suspended

NEW YORK (CBS) ― In Brooklyn the FDNY is investigating two emergency medical technicians for allegedly not rendering aid to a woman who ended up dying. Witnesses said the two EMTs didn't help because they were off duty.

Cynthia Rennix wants to know why the two off-duty emergency medical technicians walked away from her daughter and allowed her to die.

"I think it was unfair and unjust and very heartless," Rennix said.

Dead is 25-year-old Eutisha Rennix, who was six months pregnant. She was a cashier at a bakery in downtown Brooklyn, near the fire department's headquarters.

The victim's family said Eutisha Rennix suffered shortness of breath and collapsed with two off-duty EMTs in the store buying breakfast.

"After she collapsed they asked for help. They were told, call it in … because they were on a break. They got their bagels and coffee and left," Cynthia Rennix said.

Records show the first 911 call resulted in an ambulance from Long Island College Hospital dispatched at 9:13 a.m. and arriving at 9:24. But with Eutisha Rennix's condition worsening a fire department ambulance was also dispatched at 9:22, arriving at 9:28. At an area hospital she was declared dead at 10:17. Her baby was delivered, but died two hours later.

A source close to the investigation said the two EMTs were Jason Green and Melissa Jackson, who are dispatchers but were trained as EMTs. The EMTs have since been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.

Union spokesman Bob Unger said this about the conduct:

"We never condone activity by our members that could harm the public. If these members are found to have violated department protocols, the FDNY has a process to deal with that."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's reaction was swift.

"There's no excuse whatsoever," he said. "Just normal human beings. Drop your coffee and go help somebody if they're dying. Come on."

A source within the union said, "If the charges are true, why should we go out on a limb to defend these two and hurt our own good reputation?"

Eutisha Rennix and her baby were buried on Friday. The family is considering legal action against the two EMTs.

Florida Man Held in Haiti Charged in Family Slayings

(CNN) -- A Florida man in custody in Haiti faces first-degree murder charges in the deaths of his wife and five children, authorities said Tuesday.

Police obtained a warrant overnight to arrest Mesac Damas, 33, on suspicion of six counts of first-degree murder, the Collier County, Florida, Sheriff's Office said in a statement. "This warrant was obtained based on information and evidence collected thus far in the investigation and statements made by Damas to a federal agent after his detention in Haiti," the statement said.

The body of Damas' wife, Guerline Damas, 32, was found Saturday in the family's North Naples, Florida, home, along with those of the couple's five children -- Michzach, 9; Marven, 6; Maven, 5; Megan, 3; and Morgan, 11 months, police said.

Authorities have not said how the five were killed, but Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk described the scene as "horrific."

Police released few new details in the case at a Tuesday news conference, except to say they think the killings were premeditated. They added that under the law, "premeditated" does not necessarily mean a crime was planned far in advance.

Damas was last seen about 9 p.m. Thursday at the Naples restaurant where he was employed as a cook, authorities said. On Friday, he is thought to have arrived at Miami International Airport about 7 a.m. He boarded a flight for Haiti about 10 a.m., Rambosk said. His car was found at the airport. He purchased a one-way ticket to Haiti, police said Tuesday.

Police had asked the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for help in finding Damas. The FBI's legal attaché in the Dominican Republic notified Collier County authorities that a man believed to be Damas was taken into custody Monday by the Haitian National Police.

"Information obtained by CCSO shows Damas was found hiding near a hotel in the capital city of Port-au-Prince," a sheriff's statement said Tuesday.

The judge who signed the warrant ordered that Damas be held without bond upon his return to Collier County, authorities said. If convicted of six counts of first-degree murder, Damas could face life in prison or the death penalty.

Collier County investigators are traveling to Port-au-Prince on Tuesday to interview Damas, the statement said.

Rambosk said authorities are looking into two options to return Damas to Florida: following the normal extradition process, or having him deported from Haiti, since he is a U.S. citizen.

Mesac and Guerline Damas had a history of domestic violence, police said. Mesac Damas was arrested in January, and pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery charges against his wife in June. Police said they did not believe he served any jail time, and did not think a restraining order was currently in place regarding the couple.

However, an arrest warrant was issued Monday for Damas on charges of violating probation stemming from the January arrest.

The Damases had been married about 10 years, Rambosk said. He did not know how long they had lived in Naples.

The six bodies were found about 6:30 p.m. Saturday, a day after police had visited the home to check on the family, Collier County sheriff's Capt. Chris Roberts said.

A family member asked police to conduct a welfare check on the home Friday, saying a resident there had not been heard from, Roberts said. Responding officers knocked on the door and got no answer, he said, but they saw nothing that aroused their suspicions.

The following morning, the family member became more concerned and filed a missing persons report, Rambosk said. Later, authorities requested a key to the house from property management, as well as authorization to enter.

Rambosk said Tuesday the victims' family members are "extremely emotional and distraught."

Dogs Sense Remains on Garrido Property

ANTIOCH, California (CNN) -- Two cadaver dogs working separately each showed interest in the same area of property belonging to kidnapping suspects Phillip and Nancy Garrido, a possible indication of human remains, police said Thursday.

Authorities will use ground-penetrating radar equipment on Friday to examine the area, and "we will eventually be digging in that location," said Hayward police Lt. Chris Orrey.

The Garridos face a combined 29 felony counts in the 1991 kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard, then 11, from South Lake Tahoe, California. Authorities believe the couple held Dugard in a hidden compound behind their home for 18 years and have said Phillip Garrido, a registered sex offender, fathered her two children.

On Tuesday, police from Hayward and Dublin, California, began executing search warrants simultaneously on the Garrido property and an adjacent property to which Garrido had access.

They are seeking any evidence in the 1988 abduction of 9-year-old Michaela Garecht of Hayward and the 1989 disappearance of 13-year-old Ilene Misheloff of Dublin. Both agencies have said that while Garrido has not been named a suspect in either case, he cannot be eliminated as a suspect.

On Wednesday, authorities said they had found bones on the Garrido property as well as the adjacent property but do not know whether they are animal or human. The bones are being analyzed, Orrey said on Thursday, and no new information was available about them.

In addition, a bone fragment was found on the adjacent property last week. Police said it was probably human, and it is being tested at the state DNA lab.

Police said the spot that the dogs showed interest in was in "open ground" on the Garrido property. The first dog gave a tentative indication of something there, so the second dog was brought in and made a more definite indication, said Sgt. J.D. Nelson of Alameda County Sheriff's Office. The dogs, which undergo between six months and a year of training, are trained to find human remains.

It is possible for the dogs to give "false positives," Nelson said -- a reason why the second dog was brought in. However, since both dogs showed interest, going forward with the other methods is recommended, he said.

Orrey said the digging could begin as soon as Friday, but was not sure when it would occur.

Police have disassembled some horse sheds and a deck on the properties, Orrey said, and plan to overturn the concrete slabs they were built on in order to have the dogs check the spots out. There are other slabs on the property as well, she said, some of which are "randomly placed" and "piqued our interest," she said.

Authorities have seized documents from the home, apparently some writings by Garrido -- "it appears he was a pretty prolific writer," Orrey said.

Police also have taken some things for Jaycee and her family, and "a few things we want to take a second look at," she said, adding, "nothing compelling so far has been taken." Officers are "doing a lot of photo-documentation" in case anything turns out to be connected to another case, she said.

The operation may wrap up midweek next week, Orrey said. The home is in unincorporated Contra Costa County, near Antioch, California.

Meanwhile, officials at Contra Costa County Animal Services Department said Dugard and her daughters will be reunited with pets taken from the Garrido home after he and his wife were arrested in late August -- five cats, two dogs, three cockatiels, a pigeon, a white mouse and a parakeet.

Officials said the animals appeared to be well cared-for. It was unclear when Dugard would get them back.

Burn This Mother DOWN!

BOSTON -- A Newbury homeowner was charged Thursday with arson after her $1.4 million house went up in flames.

Nancy Moore, 65, was arraigned Thursday afternoon after her 5,700-square-foot home at 108 Pine Island Road caught fire Wednesday night. Moore was sent to a substance abuse facility after her arraignment.

A prosecutor told the court that she allegedly used gas-soaked rags to start the fire, and she parked her car in the driveway to block emergency vehicles from responding to the blaze.

"She had burned the house down -- set the house on fire by lighting gas-soaked rags," prosecutor Maura Bailey said. "That's what she told them, 'because she said she was sick of this house.'"

The fire that started at about 7 p.m. was first spotted by a neighbor, who saw smoke coming out of the roof. Fire officials said it appeared the blaze started in the kitchen.

"She had parked her vehicle in the narrow drive leading to the house and police had to move it. Inside they noticed valuables -- including pictures of her children and jewelry," Bailey said.

Court documents list Moore as divorced from her ex-husband Harrington Moore. The house has been on the market for more than a year, and the price was recently lowered to $1.45 million.

Investigators Study Knife Found Near Slain Pastor's Church

(CNN) -- Investigators plan to examine a knife found near an Oklahoma church where a 61-year-old pastor was killed, they said Friday.

Police found the nude body of Carol Daniels, her arms outstretched, lying behind the altar of Christ Holy Sanctified Church in Anadarko, Oklahoma, about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, a source close to the investigation said.

She died of "multiple sharp-force injuries," according to a preliminary autopsy report that detailed wounds to her neck, back, chest and hand.

Now the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has submitted a knife for forensic analysis, said Steve Neuman, a spokesman for the bureau. He said Friday that he could not comment on the usefulness of the knife to investigators.

The knife -- 8 to 10 inches long -- was found near a car wash across from the church by a satellite truck operator for CNN affiliate KOCO-TV of Oklahoma City, the station reported. Neuman said investigators appreciate the operator and the station for "handling the situation the way they did."

Meanwhile, KOCO broadcast an interview with an Anadarko man, Robert Robertson, who said he saw someone leaving the church on the day Daniels died.

"At the time, I looked around the corner, he was coming out of the front door," Robertson said in an interview posted on the station's Web site. He said the man "had something like a ski mask on" and "was covered in blood."

Robertson told the station that he sleeps at the car wash and investigators have interviewed him.

Daniels was found dead August 23.

District attorney Bret Burns has described the crime scene as "horrific," the worst he's seen in 17 years as a prosecutor. Jessica Brown, a spokeswoman for Oklahoma's State Bureau of Investigation, has said that the body was "staged" after the killing, but she declined to elaborate.

Daniels' clothes were taken from the scene, and a dissolving agent had been sprayed around her body, the source close to the investigation told CNN.

Investigators have offered a $15,000 reward and brought in an FBI profiler.

Daniels' son, Alvin Daniels, has told CNN that she traveled many Sundays to Anadarko, "in case people came to worship" in the church.

He told HLN's "Nancy Grace" that his mother was "always joking with us and always taking care of us, even giving her last dollar even if she didn't have it."

NYPD Cop Charged In Murder-For-Hire Plot Against Ex-Wife

NEW YORK (WPIX) - An New York City police officer - accused of hiring another man to kill his ex-wife - appeared in a Long Island courtroom Friday morning where he entered a plea of not guilty in connection with the crime.

Officer Anthony Battisti, 42, a 17-year veteran of the force was suspended by the NYPD, after allegations surfaced that he had hired a hit-man to attack his ex-wife, 44-year-old Patricia Battisti.

According to prosecutors, Patricia Battisti was stabbed in the neck with a screwdriver outside the couple's Franklin Square home in January. Battisti paid 37-year-old Timothy Gersbeck, who had worked as a handyman for the officer, to execute the assault on his ex-wife because he was jealous of her new boyfriend, investigators said.

Gersbeck was also charged in connection with the stabbing.

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice reacted to the news about the indictment with remorse.

"I'm sickened by this officer's betrayal of the badge," she said in a statement. "We cannot let one single act by one officer overshadow the brave work by men and women who wear the uniform and put themselves in harm's way every day to protect our families and our neighborhoods."

Battisti reportedly met his wife Patricia when both were enrolled in the New York City Police Academy. The couple also served together in the Bronx's 41st Precinct before Patricia Battisit left the department, the New York Daily News reported.

Woman Jailed For Tossing Baby Away

WESTLAND, Mich. -- A Westland woman was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison for placing her newborn baby boy in a trash bag in her parent's garage.

Valeeka Gartell, 28, accepted a plea agreement after originally entering a guilty plea to first-degree child abuse while mentally ill.

Gartrell was found mentally competent and took the plea because she did not want to face trial on a more serious charge of assault with intent to murder, which could have brought penalties up to life in prison.

Family members noticed Gartrell was bleeding in April 2007, but didn't realize she had delivered the baby boy until they took her to St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia.

They returned home and found the newborn alive in the garage.

Gartrell has been allowed supervised visits with her baby, who will be 2 in April.

The grandparents have custody of both of Gartrell's children.