KEVIN RANDAL HILL, 30, of Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, Admitted that he "slapped, shook, threw, dropped, squeezed, and slammed the baby onto the couch and the floor"...............SENTENCED TO MORE THAN 12 YEARS IN PRISON !

Kevin Randal Hill, 30, of Fort Sill, Oklahoma, was sentenced on April 5th, 2012, by United States District Judge Stephen P. Friot to serve 144 months in federal prison for child abuse of his 5-month-old daughter, announced Sanford C. Coats, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.

USDJ Stephen Friot

According to court records and information from the plea hearing and sentencing, Hill had recently been medically discharged from the Army and was living on post at Fort Sill with his wife—an active duty soldier—when he abused their 5-month-old daughter.

At the plea hearing, Hill admitted that on January 28th, 2011, while his wife was away from home performing Army field exercises, he slapped, shook, threw, and dropped the baby onto the floor, where he then sat on her.

Hill also admitted that on January 30, 2011, while his wife was still performing Army exercises, he slapped, squeezed, and slammed the baby onto the couch, then pushed his weight into her, causing her to stop breathing.

Medical evidence at the sentencing hearing established that Hill’s abuse resulted in a fractured skull and severe, permanent brain damage to the baby. Medical testimony established that the child now suffers from severe cerebral palsy and epilepsy, which is expected to significantly shorten her lifespan. Hill presented testimony and evidence at sentencing regarding a diagnosis for post-traumatic stress disorder related to his three deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hill was indicted on May 4, 2011. He pled guilty to two counts of committing child abuse on November 4, 2011.

This case was the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Hale.

SOURCE: http://www.justice.gov

New Jersey Crew Members: Erik James, 40, of Goshen & Christopher Martin, 40, of Wildwood Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Conspiring to Sink Boat for Insurance Payment

Two former crew members of the fishing boat Alexander II who admitted to participating in a plot to sink the boat off the coast of Cape May in August 2009 in exchange for payment were sentenced to prison in 2012.

Erik James, 40, of Goshen, New Jersey, who previously pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Renee Marie Bumb to a superseding information charging him with conspiracy to destroy the Alexander II on the high seas, was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Christopher Martin, 40, of Wildwood, New Jersey, who previously pleaded guilty before Judge Bumb as well, to a superseding information charging him with the conspiracy, was sentenced also to 30 months in prison.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

The defendants engaged in a scheme to sink the Alexander II so that boat’s owner, Scott Tran, 38, of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, could collect 400.000 USD on an insurance policy with State National Insurance Co.

In July 2009, Tran hired a captain for the ship, whom Tran and his right-hand man, Manh Nguyen, 58, of Philadelphia, solicited to sink the boat in return for payment. The captain recruited a crew, including James and Martin, to help him sink the boat.

On August 2, 2009, the Alexander II left Cape May, New Jersey, with little fuel, ice, food, and other supplies for a purported lengthy fishing trip. The ship’s log was falsified to read that more than 50 fish, weighing a total of approximately 3.000 pounds, had been caught. Once the Alexander II reached a point approximately 86 miles southeast of Cape May, the captain and his crew worked together in an unsuccessful attempt to sink it.

In addition to the prison terms, Judge Bumb sentenced both defendants to three years of supervised release and ordered them to pay restitution of 83.000 Dollars to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Source: www.vesselfinder.com

Idahos Most Wanted: LOREZO CALDERON Wanted for a murder committed in the City of Blackfoot on July 22nd, 2000

LOREZO CALDERON

A.K.A.:
1. Calderon, Lorenzo Jiminez
2. Jiminez, Lorenzo Calderon
3. Padilla, Juan Carlos

Race: HISPANIC
Sex: MALE
Hair Color: BLACK
Eye Color: BROWN
Height: 5'07''
Weight: 160
Birth Date: 09/05/1961

Tattoo/Scars:

• Panther Tattoo left hand 
• Scar from chest to back 
• Burn mark on one thumb

Calderon is wanted for a murder committed in the City of Blackfoot on 07/22/2000. A warrant for 1st degree murder has been issued for the arrest of Calderon. Calderon is currently on the run and should be considered armed and dangerous. Calderon may be in the Southern California area or Texas area.

DO NOT ATTEMPT to apprehend Calderon. 

Contact your local Law Enforcement or contact the Blackfoot Police with any information on Calderon.

Contact the Blackfoot Police Deptartment
(208)785-1235
blkftpd@blackfootpolice.org
SOURCE: blackfootpolice.org

Racist Killer BENJAMIN BLACK Kills Afro-American MARK ANTHONY SMITH in the deep South of Columbus, Georgia on August 24th, 1997

BENJAMIN BLACK
GEORGIA OFFENDER INFORMATION:
www.dcor.state.ga.us

KEVIN LAMB

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

Black v. State
Supreme Court of Georgia, Criminal Case (10/5/2001, 10/19/2001) S01A1184

FROM: opinions.dailyreportonline.com
Direct Source Link

On August 24th, 1997, Benjamin Black was out drinking with three friends, Lamb, Leslie and Hand, when Mark Anthony Smith passed their car. Leslie yelled a racially inflammatory statement and Smith allegedly answered back.

Leslie then jumped from the car and started chasing Smith while the others followed, first in the car and then Black and Lamb on foot. When the three men caught Smith, Leslie started beating him while Lamb struck him in the face with a beer can and Black stabbed him multiple times in the abdomen.

At trial, Hand testified that when Black returned to the car, he had a bloody knife and blood on his shorts. Later, when all four were at Hand's house, Black told witnesses that he had "poked a man."

Smith's body was found the following day.

It was stipulated at trial that he died as the result of two stab wounds to the abdomen that caused massive bleeding. Based on information from a confidential informant, police questioned the four men. Black, after being advised of his Miranda rights, gave a statement in which he initially blamed the stabbing on his co-indictees. In a later statement Black admitted that he only meant to "stick" the victim but he pushed too hard and stabbed him instead.

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

Lamb v. State
Supreme Court of Georgia, Criminal Case (4/30/2001, 5/11/2001) S01A0006

FROM: opinions.dailyreportonline.com
Direct Source Link

On August 25th, 1997, the body of Mark Anthony Smith was found under a walkway at an elementary school in Columbus. Smith had been stabbed and had abrasions on his knees and legs and defensive wounds on his hands and fingers.

He died as the result of two stab wounds to the abdomen that caused massive intra-abdominal and external hemorrhaging. A confidential source informed police that Kevin Lamb, John Lesley, Benjamin Black, and Timmy Hand might have been involved.

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

Benjamin Black is currently held at the Burrus Correctional Training Center.
Kevin Lamb is currently held at the Dooly State Prison.

FLORIDA Inmates on the Run MICHAEL S. HAMBLIN Escaped on April 14th, 2014 from the Dinsmore Work Release Center (Lawtey Correctional Institution)

MICHAEL S. HAMBLIN

Date of Escape: Apr 14 2014 at 9:35PM
INMATE: MICHAEL S. HAMBLIN
DC-Number: 135714
Race: WHITE
Sex: MALE
Hair Color: BLONDE OR STRAWBERRY
Eye Color: BLUE
Height: 5'08''
Weight: 184
Birth Date: 03/03/1993

Escaped from the Dinsmore Work Release Center in Jacksonville, Florida in Duval County, which is part of the Lawtey Correctional Institution.
Source Link

IF YOU HAVE INFORMATION CONCERNING THE WHEREABOUTS OF THIS ESCAPEE, PLEASE NOTIFY YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY, OR CALL THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS:

CALL (850) 922-6867

October 19th, 1662: Who was TURC ? The first recorded execution in Delaware

If anyone knows where to find information about it, please let me know, Thanks !

NAME: Turc
RACE: Unknown
SEXE: Male
OCCUPATION: Slave
CRIME: Attempted Murder
EXECUTION BY: Hanging
DATE: 10/19/1662
STATE: Delaware

 

Cool-ORADO: GARY R. HOLLAND Who impregnated a 12-year old girl will serve the next 12 years of his life in prison

Gary R. Holland

COLORADO OFFENDER INFORMATION
Source & Picture from: http://www.doc.state.co.us 
 
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Antigo Man Headed To Prison For Sex Assault

FROM: www.vaildaily.com
Direct Source Link


An Antigo man who impregnated a 12-year old girl will serve the next 12 years of his life in prison. Gary R. Holland, 28, was arrested and later pleaded no contest to a felony count of first degree sexual assault of a child after DNA tests revealed that he was the infant’s father. Holland learned his fate at the closure of a lengthy sentencing hearing Tuesday in Langlade County Judge Fred Kawalski’s courtroom. The debate included statements by both District Attorney Ralph Uttke and defense counsel Shawn Mutter who differed greatly on their punishment recommendations.

Holland is currently sitting (or standing, or laying) in the Skyline Correctional Center in Cañon City, Colorado.

EXONERATIONS: Joseph Lamont Abbitt North Carolina

Joseph Lamont Abbitt was exonerated on September 2nd, 2009, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, after serving 14 years in prison for two rapes he didn't commit. He was convicted based in part on eyewitness (mis)identifications.

Joseph Lamont Abbitt

In the early morning of May 2nd, 1991, two sisters, ages 13 and 16, awoke in their Winston-Salem, North Carolina, home to get ready for school only to discover an intruder had entered their home through a kitchen window. The intruder raped the two girls at knifepoint and bound their hands and feet. The attacker was in the home for over an hour before leaving.

Although the opportunity to see the attacker's face was limited, the victims told investigators that their attacker "looked like" Joseph Abbitt, a man who had previously lived in the neighborhood and had been a visitor to their home. The girls separately identified Abbitt in a photographic lineup and police focused on him as the primary suspect. Rape kits were collected from the victims along with other evidence from the crime scene including bedding and clothing. DNA testing conducted on a piece of clothing did not match Abbitt, but the clothing wasn't tied directly to the crime. Other DNA tests were inconclusive.

Police issued a warrant for Abbitt's arrest, but learned upon investigation that he had left the state. Abbitt was located in 1994 in Texas, being held in jail for bounced check charges. He was transported back to North Carolina.

Abbitt was tried before a jury in June 1995. At trial, the victims testified that Abbitt was the man who attacked them. Abbitt maintained an alibi that he was working the day of the crime, and although his employer testified, he could not provide a time card due to the four-year time lapse from the crime to the trial. Based almost exclusively on the eyewitness identifications by the two young victims, Abbitt was convicted of rape, burglary and kidnapping and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences plus an additional 110 years. Abbitt appealed his conviction but it was upheld in May 1996.

In 2005, Abbitt applied to The North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence for assistance with his case. The organization accepted his case and began to search for evidence that could be subjected to DNA testing.

At the time of Abbitt's conviction, police were not required to preserve evidence after conviction. Although most of the evidence from the crime scene had been destroyed by the county clerk's office, a few items, including the rape kit, were located at the Winston-Salem police department. New DNA testing conducted on the evidence was initially inconclusive, but a second round of testing on one of the rape kits excluded Abbitt as the perpetrator. He was set free and officially exonerated on September 2nd, 2009, after serving 14 years in prison for crimes he didn't commit.

ADDITIONAL INFOMATION LINKS:

• http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/article_491bf171-76db-5b3d-af27-f312bb854886.html
• http://centralnc.twcnews.com/content/news/631239/questions-raised-about-overturned-rape-conviction
• http://winston-salem.myfox8.com/news/news/46464-man-freed-rape-case-suspect-again

May 2013: Colorado Arsonist ANDREW WELLS Sentenced to more than16 Years Prison for attempted Murder and for his broken Heart

Andrew Wells

COLORADO OFFENDER INFORMATION
Source & Picture from: http://www.doc.state.co.us

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

Investigators comb Vail fire scene

FROM: www.vaildaily.com
Direct Source Link

An Eagle man allegedly harassed his ex-girlfriend in 2012 for weeks before trying to burn down the building where he thought she was sleeping, residents said Tuesday. Authorities said Andrew Wells, 31, was trying to avenge his broken heart when he allegedly set two fires in an East Vail apartment complex where his ex-girlfriend was living. Ironically, she wasn't there when the fires were set, residents said.

Wells faces at least a half dozen felony and misdemeanor charges for allegedly setting two fires early Saturday. Wells was arrested Saturday and is being held in the Eagle County jail on a 765.000 USD bond.

District Attorney Mark Hurlbert

Because one of the fires blocked the only escape route from a four-story apartment building, Wells could face an attempted murder charge for each person occupying the building when the fire was set, around 5 a.m. Saturday. "He said he intended to scare the victim and force her to relocate out of Vail and to gain revenge against the victim for breaking his heart," said District Attorney Mark Hurlbert, citing the arrest affidavit.

Pattern of harassment

The harassment started around Labor Day, building residents said Tuesday. Days before Saturday's alleged arson fires, a Volkswagen Jetta burned in the night while it was parked outside an adjacent building. "The investigation of the car fire found an accelerant in a place you wouldn't expect to find it," said Mike Vaughn, fire marshal with the Vail Fire Department.

VW Jetta

Residents said that car fire started in the wheel well on the front passenger's side, residents said, and that the car was completely destroyed. The car did not belong to Wells' ex-girlfriend; it belonged to a female resident living in a different building, residents said. Police and fire investigators are trying to determine whether that car fire is tied to Wells and some of the other criminal activities in the apartment complex.

The sliding glass door leading to the apartment's fourth floor balcony had been shattered earlier this month when a rock was thrown through it. Tires on vehicles in the parking lot had been slashed and vehicles vandalized over the past few weeks, residents said. Wells' ex-girlfriend's car had been broken into repeatedly over the last few weeks, reports said. Vail Police had been keeping a close eye on the apartment complex for weeks, and had been there three or four times over the past several days, residents said.

Police close at hand

Police were close at hand at 5 a.m. Saturday with a resident on an upper floor in one building spotted someone on the berm along Bighorn Road in East Vail, throwing rocks at the neighboring building, Vaughn said. That resident called 911 and as he talked to dispatchers, he told them he smelled smoke. He went down the stairs and outside his building into the dark to take a look.

He walked about 90 feet across the grass and around to the front of the neighboring building, where he spotted the flames climbing up the exterior staircase, Vaughn said. That exterior staircase was the only escape route for a dozen apartments on the building's upper floors. Vail police were on the scene moments later and knocked down the 8-foot-high flames with fire extinguishers they carry in their patrol vehicles. Less than four minutes after that, an engine company from Vail's East Vail fire station extinguished the fire, which had begun to work its way up the inside of the staircase wall.

Chemical trail

Wells allegedly tried to set two fires, one on an exterior corner of a neighboring building, from which the resident called 911, and one on the exterior staircase of the building where Wells apparently thought his ex-girlfriend was. As Wells allegedly moved from one building to another, petroleum-based chemicals leaked from the can he carried from the spot of that first fire, investigators said. What appears to be gasoline leaked from the can, onto the grass across the lawn and parking lot, and to the exterior staircase where the second fire was set, officials said.

The leaking can left a trail of dead grass and gasoline stains between the two buildings.Vaughn said he could smell some sort of chemical accelerant as soon as he approached the stairwell to begin his investigation early Saturday morning. "I walked to within 20 feet of the stairwell and I could smell something that should not be there," Vaughn said.

Vaughn called Jerry Means, an arson investigator with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Means brought Sadie, an arson dog trained to detect petroleum products. When Sadie finds something, and she often did Saturday, Means drops a yellow coin that says, "Sadie was here." On the other side is Means' name and contact information.

Wells allegedly drove from his home in Eagle to East Vail where the fires were set using gasoline as an accelerant. He drove back to his home in Eagle where he was arrested later Saturday, reports said. Wells faced two previous charges for violating a protection order in Massachusetts in 2007, and an Eagle County possession of marijuana case from 2009.

Wells told Judge Katharine Sullivan he will be applying for the public defender for the charges that led to Saturday's arrest.

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

Arsonist pleads guilty to attempted murder

FROM: www.vaildaily.com
Direct Source Link

Andrew Wells admitted he tried to burn down two apartment buildings where seven people were sleeping, because his former girlfriend broke his heart.Wells, 32, pleaded guilty Wednesday to three felonies. He'll spend between 26 years and 48 years in state prison.

Wells sat with his head down, staring at a spot inches in front of him on the defendant's table, as Chief District Court Judge Tom Moorhead worked through the list of charges, asking Wells if he understood them.

Each time Wells answered, "Yes, your honor."

"With that understanding what is your plea?" Moorhead asked as he again read through the list of felonies.

Wells softly spoken answered, "Guilty" to each.

He'll be sentenced May 22nd 2013 at 2 p.m. (14:00)

His former girlfriend wasn't even in her apartment when he set the fires. But the woman was in the courtroom Wednesday, as she had been each time Wells was in court.

During Wells' videotaped confession, he told Vail Police Detective Justin Liffick, "I'll talk."

Liffick replied, "I'll listen."

The defense's hopes were dealt a death blow earlier when Judge Moorhead denied their motion to have that confession thrown out. Moorhead also ruled that DNA evidence tying Wells to the scene of the arsons would be part of the evidence. Vail police and fire investigators found Parliament cigarettes butts at the scene, with DNA that matched Wells'. After those rulings, defense attorneys Jim Little and Terry O'Connor negotiated with the prosecutors for the plea agreement. Wells was originally charged with seven counts of attempted murder, one for each of the people sleeping in the buildings he tried to burn down.

Wells had harassed his former girlfriend for weeks before trying to burn down her building, police said. Wells admitted he had removed a spark plug from the woman's car, so she'd be stranded and have to call him to help her. He had a key to her car, but didn't have her consent to have it, police said. Police accused Wells of planting two GPS applications on the woman's phone so Wells could track her.

Wells was originally charged with vandalizing the woman's car after police found damage to a CV joint, loosened lug nuts, and a plastic shopping bag had been stuffed into the nozzle of the gas tank. All that culminated in the predawn hours of Sept. 22. Around 5 a.m. a resident called Vail Police to report rocks being thrown onto the roof. The rocks were being thrown by a "shadowy figure," who escaped by "skulking" through some bushes, police were told.

When Vail Police Officer Dan Torgerson arrived moments later, the man who had called ran toward him, panicked and shouting, "There's a fire in Building E!" The flames were 2 feet high by that time, spreading quickly up an exterior wooden stairwell, the only escape route for people on the building's upper floors.

Torgerson sprinted to his police car and grabbed his fire extinguisher. In the seconds it took him to sprint back the flames had grown another 3 feet. He emptied his fire extinguisher onto the fire, knocking down the flames just as the Vail fire department arrived around one minute later to completely extinguish the blaze.

As investigators combed the crime scene in East Vail, Vail Police Detective Russell Jacobs drove a marked Vail police car to Wells' apartment in Eagle. Jacobs and officers from the Eagle Police Department and an Eagle County Sheriff's Office waited outside Wells' apartment for about an hour and a half. Around 12:30 p.m., Wells finally walked up to Jacobs' marked Vail police car, and asked Jacobs if Jacobs could help him find his car.

When police found Wells' car at 7 a.m. there was no frost on his vehicle, indicating it had been running, Liffick said. When Liffick interviewed Wells later that day, Wells told him he picked up a friend, drove to Gypsum, bought a gas can and filled it with gasoline, and also bought a pack of cigarettes. Police said Wells' car reeked of gasoline when they searched it following his arrest.

Police said Wells tried to set his first fire on a condo building adjacent to the one where his former girlfriend was living. That fire did not ignite because lawn sprinklers had soaked the surface minutes before, according to police. As that flame smoldered and died, Wells walked to the building directly to the east where his former girlfriend lived in a top floor apartment, police said. He poured gasoline on the wooden stairs and set the fire, then fled the scene, police said.

California, February 15th 1944: GLENARD BROWN Executed in San Quentin by Gas for the Murder of 78-year-old Ada Belle Turner

 

People vs. Brown , 22 Cal.2d 752

[Crim. No. 4486. In Bank. Sept. 15, 1943.]

THE PEOPLE, Respondent, v. GLENARD BROWN, Appellant.

COUNSEL

Charles A. Tuttle for Appellant.

Robert W. Kenny, Attorney General, and T. G. Negrich, Deputy Attorney General, for Respondent.

OPINION

THE COURT

Direct Source Link

On September 27th, 1942, Mrs. Ada Turner, a widow seventy-eight years of age, was living alone at her home in Colfax, Placer County, California. She was seen that day in her yard by neighbors. She was seen in the rear yard of her home with Brown on the same day, and he was carrying a gun.

DOWNTOWN Colfax

The dead body of Mrs. Turner was discovered in the basement of her home the following morning, and shortly thereafter, County and State Peace officers were at the scene. The basement where the killing occurred showed blood on the floor, walls and furniture. There were large smears of blood on the floor indicating that the body of Mrs. Turner had been dragged about. Mrs. Turner's body was practically nude.

Dr. Smith made a post-mortem examination of the body and examined all wounds, as well as the vaginal tract. Eight knife wounds were found; also one wound on the face made by a blunt instrument. The blow producing this last wound was of sufficient force to fracture the jaw bone. The cause of death was hemorrhage due to multiple lacerations. There was no evidence of trauma in the vaginal tract; the vagina was dry and there was no evidence of rape.

On October 1st, 1942, Brown made a statement to the District Attorney and Peace Officers. In this statement he admitted the killing and asserted repeatedly that he did not know why he had done it. The rifle and knife used by defendant in the killing were found by officers at places designated by Brown.

Glenard Brown, (a Goat Herder) testified that he drank large quantities of intoxicating liquors the day of the killing; that he was "rumdum" as a result of such drinking; and that he was eighteen years of age at the time of the killing.

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

Youth Sentenced To Gas Chamber

Nineteen-year-old Glenard Brown will be executed in the prison gas chamber Friday for the knife slaving of 78-year-old Mrs. Ada Bell Turner of Colfax, Placer County. Brown employed as a goat herder in the Oolfax area, was convicted in November 1942. He admitted knifing Mrs. Turner to death after she refused to lend him 4 Dollars. He was arrested soon after Mrs. Turner's body was found in the basement of her home. She was the widow of a former Colfax City Councilman.

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

Who's Who in the Colfax District cemetery

FROM: www.colfaxhistory.org
Direct Source Link

Ada Belle Turner (Maiden Name: Powers) 1864-1942

A Colfax housewife and widow of Colfax City Coucilman Randle L. Turner, who preceded her in death by 19 months. She was murdered by 19-year old Glenard Brown, who was employed as a goat herder in this area. He was convicted in November 1942 for knifing Mrs. Turner to death after she refused to give him $4. He was executed at San Quentin in 1944. She is buried next to her husband at the Colfax District Cemetery.

Another event happened in 1942 when an infamous murder occurred in Colfax. A 78-year-old woman, Ada Belle Turner, was found dead in the basement of her Auburn Street home. Coroner West took part in the investigation that led to the arrest and conviction of a local goat herder. Glenard Brown was found guilty and sentenced to the death penalty, which was carried out in the San Quentin gas chamber on February 15th, 1944.

Source Link: http://www.auburnjournal.com/article/funeral-home-has-lively-history

July 13th 1949: 15 Year old VELMA RUTH BOHANNON from the Ham Town Community near Mulberry, Arkansas murdered by Jack Perkins and/or James Eugene Harris

PERKINS v. STATE No. 4608.
230 S.W.2d 1 (1950)
PERKINS
vs.
STATE
Supreme Court of Arkansas
May 8, 1950

FROM: www.leagletax.com
Direct Source Link

Jack Perkins and James Eugene Harris were jointly charged by information with the crime of murder in the 2nd degree in the death of a 15-year-old girl, Velma Ruth Bohannon. They were jointly tried and convicted of involuntary manslaughter and their punishment fixed at three years in the penitentiary.

There is little dispute in the evidence which, in the light most favorable to the state, tends to show the following facts:

In July, 1949, Velma Ruth Bohannon resided with her parents in the Ham Town Community near Mulberry, Arkansas. Perkins and Harris appeared at the Bohannon home in Perkin's truck on the afternoon of July 13th, 1949, and Harris made an engagement to take Velma Ruth to a picture show.

The young men returned about 7:00 p. m., picked up Velma Ruth and drove to the home of another girl who refused to accompany the party. The three then drove to a place in Ozark, where Perkins and Harris drank some beer and procured a bottle of wine. They then drove to Perkins's home where they parked the truck. Perkins went into his house leaving Harris with the girl in the truck. A quarrel resulted when Harris attempted to have sexual intercourse with Velma Ruth. Harris then left the girl and went into the house where he reported the quarrel to Jack and told him to take the girl home.

After Harris assured Perkins that he did not love the girl, Perkins indicated his intention of having sexual relations with her. Perkins overtook the girl on the road. She refused to ride in the cab with him but got on the running board on the right-hand side. Perkins then drove a short distance to Highway 64 and the girl still refused to get in the truck. Perkins accelerated the speed of the truck in order to frighten or force the child to get into the cab. Instead of taking the dirt road that led to the girl's home, Perkins drove past the point where the road enters Highway 64 toward the town of Mulberry. After driving about a mile past the intersection, he discovered that the girl was not on the truck. Perkins reported the incident to Harris and they went to the Bohannon home shortly after midnight and asked Mrs. Bohannon if the girl had come in. When the girl's mother replied in the negative, Harris stated that Velma Ruth left them at a cafe. Perkins and Harris then drove back to the highway and after a short search, the motor of the truck would not start. Perkins then went to sleep in the truck and Harris went home.

Velma Ruth's body was found by her mother about 5 (a.m.) o'clock the next morning on the shoulder of Highway 64 about an eighth of a mile east of the point where the Ham Town road intersects the paved highway. An autopsy revealed that the girl had suffered a broken neck, concussion of the brain and cuts and abrasions about the face apparently caused when she jumped, or was thrown, from the truck. There was other evidence that Perkins and Harris were intoxicated on the night in question and that the girl's body had been moved to the place where it was found in some high grass about six feet from the paved highway. At the time of the trial Perkins was 27 years of age while Harris gave his age as 18.

The young men were arrested the following day and both made statements to investigating officers which were later reduced to writing and introduced in evidence at the trial.

About the only material difference in the statements introduced and the testimony of Harris at the trial is that, in his testimony, he denied having intercourse with the girl.

Velma Ruth is buried at the Hixon Cemetary, in Arkansas.

JOSEPH RUDOLPH WOOD III (Arizona)------------------------------------------------------ Death Sentenced for killing Debra Dietz and her Father Eugene Dietz in the Summer of 1989

JOSEPH R. WOOD III

ARIZONA OFFENDER INFORMATION:
Source: www.azcorrections.gov

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

STATE of Arizona, Appellee,
vs.
Joseph Rudolph WOOD, III, Appellant

FROM: www.courtlistener.com (October 11th 1994)
Direct Source Link

Joseph Wood shot and killed his estranged girlfriend, Debra Dietz, and her father, Eugene Dietz, on August 7th, 1989 at a Tucson automotive paint and body shop owned and operated by the Dietz family.

Since 1984, Joseph and Debra had maintained a tumultuous relationship increasingly fueled by Woods’s abusive and violent behavior. Eugene generally disapproved of this relationship, but did not actively interfere. In fact, the Dietz family often invited Joe to dinners and other social activities & events. Several times, however, Eugene refused to let Joseph visit Debra during business hours, while she was working at the shop. On the other hand, Joseph Wood disliked Eugene and told him he would “get him back” and that Eugene would “be sorry.”

Debra had rented an apartment that she shared with Joseph. Because Wood was seldom employed, Debra supported him as well financially. Wood nevertheless assaulted Debra periodically. At some point she finally tried to end the destructive relationship after a fight during the 1989, 4th of July weekend. She left her apartment and moved in with her parents, saying “I don’t want any more of this.” After Debra left, Joseph ransacked and vandalized the apartment. She obtained an order of protection against Wood later on July 8th, 1989.

In the following weeks, however, Joseph repeatedly tried to contact Debra at the shop, her parents’ home, or her apartment. Debra was often bruised and sometimes wore sunglasses to hide blackened eyes. A neighbor who heard “thuds and banging” within Debra’s apartment called police on June 30th, 1989, after finding Debra outside in a “hysterical” mood. The responding officer saw cuts and bruises on Debra.

Joe Wood left at least 10 messages on Debra’s apartment answering machine on the night of Friday, August 4th, 1989. Some messages contained threats of harm, such as: “Debbie, I’m sorry I have to do this. I hope someday somebody will understand when we’re not around no more. I do love you babe. I’m going to take you with me.”

Debra and Eugene drove together to work at the shop early on August 7th, 1989, a Monday morning. Wood phoned the shop three times that morning, where Debra hung up on him once, and Eugene hung up on him twice. Joseph then called back again and asked another employee if Debra or Eugene were at the shop. The employee said that they had temporarily left but would return back soon. Debra and Eugene came back at 8:30 a.m. and began working in different areas of the shop. Six other employees were also present that morning. At about 8:50 a.m., a Tucson Police Officer saw Joe Wood driving in a "suspicious manner" near the shop.

The LE officer slowed her patrol car and made eye contact with Wood, as he left his truck and entered the shop. Eugene was on the telephone in an area where three other employees were working. Joseph waited for Eugene to hang up the phone, drew a .38 caliber revolver, and approached to within four feet of him. The other employees shouted for Wood to put the gun away. Without saying a word, he fatally shot Eugene once in the chest and then smiled. When the Police Officer saw (or heared) this from her patrol car she immediately called in for more Police Officers to get to the scene. Wood then left the shop, but in some moment quickly returned and again pointed his revolver at the now supine Eugene. Donald Dietz, an employee and Eugene’s seventy-year-old brother, struggled with Wood, who then ran to the area where Debra was working.

Debra had apparently heard an employee shout that her father had been shot and was trying to telephone for medical help when Wood grabbed her around the neck from behind and placed his revolver directly against her chest. Debra struggled and screamed, “No, Joe, don’t!” Another employee heard Wood say, “I told you I was going to do it, I have to kill you.” He then called Debra a “bitch” and shot her twice in the chest.

By then several Police Officers were already on the scene when Wood left the shop after shooting Debra. Two officers ordered him to put his hands up. He instantly complied and dropped his weapon, but then regrabbed it again, and began raising it toward the Officers (possibly in attempt to deal with "suicide by cops"). After once more ordering Wood to raise his hands, the officers shot Joe Wood several times but did not die.

A grand jury indicted Defendant on two counts of first degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault against the officers. Although he did not testify, Defendant did not dispute his role in the killings but argued he had acted impulsively and without premeditation.

A jury found Defendant guilty on all counts. The trial court sentenced him to death for each of the murders and to concurrent fifteen-year prison terms for the aggravated assaults, to be served consecutively to the death sentences.

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Prosecutors ask Arizona court to order execution

FROM: The Washington Post (April 23rd 2014)
Direct Source Link

State prosecutors are asking the Arizona Supreme Court to order the execution of a man sentenced to death for killing his estranged girlfriend and her father in Pima County nearly a quarter-century ago.

The Attorney General’s Office on Tuesday asked for a warrant scheduling the execution of 55-year-old Joseph Rudolph Wood III for the 1989 killings of Debra and Eugene Dietz.

Appeals courts have upheld Wood’s convictions and death sentence and the Attorney General’s Office says Wood has exhausted his appeals and has no action pending in any court.

A defense lawyer for Wood, assistant public defender Dale Baich, says the Department of Corrections’ recent decision to use a two-drug combination for executions is “novel and highly untested.”

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Additional Information Links:

• http://www.azcorrections.gov/inmate_datasearch/results_Minh.aspx?InmateNumber=086279&LastName=WOODJOSEPH%20R&SearchType=SearchInet
• http://cronkitenewsonline.com/2012/09/appeals-court-rejects-claims-of-death-row-inmate-in-tucson-murders/
• http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/death-row/2014/04/23/arizona-joseph-wood-execution-lethal-injection/8056101/
• http://leagle.com/decision/1994233180Ariz53_1222.xml/STATE%20v.%20WOOD

JANELL SHELTON--------------------------- Receiving Life Sentence in Prison for the 2001 slaying of her longtime Friend and Supporter Emelie Rainbolt and her beloved Dog Rusty

JANELL SHELTON

ALABAMA OFFENDER INFORMATION:
Source: http://www.doc.state.al.us/

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State authorities have arrested a woman and her son in the murder and kidnapping of a Georgia woman

FROM: newsok.com (August 28th 2001)
Direct Source Link

Janell Shelton, 36, and her son Charles Ingram, 17, were wanted by Georgia authorities for their suspected role in the kidnapping and slaying of Emelie Rainbolt, 58. Georgia officials asked the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to check an Oklahoma City home to see if Shelton's car was there, said Kym Koch, OSBI spokeswoman.

Murdered by her "Friend": Emelie Rainbolt

The two were arrested Friday after a fugitive task force officer found the car at the house. A third suspect, Darra Glover, 29, was arrested earlier this month in Georgia on assault, kidnapping and theft complaints in Rainbolt's death. Rainbolt's body was found burned in the trunk of her car. She was last seen alive on August 9th. Alabama officials said Rainbolt was still alive when her car was set on fire. She died from burns and smoke inhalation.

Shelton and Rainbolt had a dispute between their competing massage parlor businesses, Koch said.

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Charles Ingram

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Darra Glover

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A fatal friendship?

Emelie Rainbolt's generous nature may have set the stage for her brutal slaying along with her beloved dog

FROM: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (August 18th 2003)
This story about Rainbolt and Shelton  was developed with information from court documents and interviews with Rainbolt's husband, family and friends.
Direct Source Link

Emelie Rainbolt was always helping people. Friends. Family. Even People she didn't know very well. Once she bought a suit and teeth for a homeless man, said Diane Withers, a friend for 52 years. When the Atlanta businesswoman met Janell(e) Shelton, it was only natural that she would offer help, said her husband, Jim Rainbolt.

Shelton, 38, was raising three children alone, with little money. Over the years, Emelie Rainbolt, 58, gave Shelton often cash, found her jobs, bought food for her children and provided a place for the family to live. When Shelton went to jail on charges of forgery and car theft, Rainbolt bailed her out. When Shelton was in jail, Rainbolt took her children to school.

But after 13 years of friendship and frequent requests for help, Rainbolt wanted to sever ties, her husband said. Police say that when Rainbolt stopped giving and ended the friendship, Shelton ended her life.

Mugshot of Darra Adwana Glover

Today Shelton will be tried in Cleburne County, Alabama, in the kidnapping and slaying of Emelie Rainbolt. Police reports allege that Shelton, in August 2001, along with her eldest child, Charles Ingram, 20, and new acquaintance, Darra A. Glover, a 30-year-old former amateur boxer from Wisconsin, used a stun gun to disable Rainbolt and her dog, "Rusty". The bodies were then thrown into the back of Rainbolt's Cadillac and driven to the Talledega National Forest, just into Alabama on I-20, where the car was set on fire, the reports say.

All three have pleaded not guilty. Shelton's lawyer, William Broome, declined to comment further on the case. Repeated efforts to reach Ingram's lawyer, Debrah Jones, were as well unsuccessful. Glover's lawyer, Randy Brooks, said his client is not guilty and never met Emelie Rainbolt.

Glover used a Stun Gun to disable Emelie

The Background Story

Rainbolt met Shelton when the younger woman answered a help-wanted ad and began working for her massage parlor in DeKalb County, according to police reports.

At first, the women were best friends. But notes scribbled in a notebook Rainbolt kept, to chronicle day-to-day events describe, toward the end of her life, violent encounters between the two women. Pages from the notebook will be used during the trial.

The Talledega National Forest, where the Trio finally murdered Emelie, by setting her car on fire as she lay in the Trunk

Rainbolt was someone people turned to when they needed money fast. She trusted first and questioned later, if ever, her family and friends say.

When business was good, Rainbolt brought home a half-million dollars a year, Withers said. But she was always looking for ways to make more money and investing in schemes proposed by people she barely knew. Too often, Rainbolt was left with bills or merchandise, Withers said, adding that her friend once loaned a man 125.000 Dollars and never got a cent back. "Her money was always for other people," Withers said.

Instead of going to college, Rainbolt helped a friend run a franchise studio of Merle Norman, a family-owned Los Angeles-based cosmetics company with over 2.000 stores in the United States and Canada. At 26, Rainbolt opened her own Merle Norman salon on Memorial Drive in Atlanta. She later moved the store to Northlake Mall. But she wanted more.

North Lake Mall, Atlanta

Through various companies, she sold jewelry, custom-made bras, diet drinks, attic insulation and even motor oil. Some products flew off the shelves. Others flopped. But her cosmetics store was thriving, so she opened another store in Shannon Mall in south Fulton County (which today does not exist anymore).

In the mid-1980s, she suffered a devastating loss due to a bad investment, said her brother, Bill Carroll. Then Rainbolt found during an audit that she owed Merle Norman 44.118  $ according to court papers. The company took back its credit, and soon landlord, contractors, utilities and tax collectors lined up. Unable to pay her bills, she closed the cosmetics studios in the late 1980s.

After years of helping other people get a new start, she needed one herself. Rainbolt decided to attend a local school to become a masseuse. "We were somewhat apprehensive about her getting in a business that seems somewhat seedy," Carroll said. His wife, Flow, added, "In her mind it was the best way to make an income the quickest." Rainbolt opened Stress Reduction Clinic in a strip mall on Lawrenceville Highway. The shop had two rooms and a hot tub.

Customers received a massage in the tub by masseuses in bathing suits. They paid 65 $ an hour, and 125 an hour if the masseuse went to them. The masseuses split half of what they earned with Rainbolt. But one rule governed: No sex. Rainbolt feared that her business would be labeled a brothel and she'd be forced out of business by DeKalb County.

Fortunes rebound

DeKalb County designated Stress Reduction Clinic a training center for novice masseuses. Anyone without a criminal background who wanted a career in massage could learn the basics there. Rainbolt's personal life was looking up too. She met a divorcé from Tampa, James "Jim" Rainbolt, now 73, and they were married within a week in Ringgold. In the early 1990s, as she started her second career, Rainbolt met Shelton, a friendly woman originally from Oklahoma. Like Rainbolt, she was a professional masseuse trying to make ends meet.

Rainbolt hired her and they quickly became good friends.

When Rainbolt was hospitalized for 30 days in 1995 for infected ovaries, Shelton was there to talk and massage Rainbolt's feet. Shelton's three children were attached to Rainbolt, especially her oldest, Charles, said Diane Garrison, the sister of a man Shelton was married to for a short while. In emergencies, especially when her family needed help, Shelton often turned to her friend Rainbolt. Shelton asked Rainbolt to help pay a phone bill and to help the family when they faced eviction, according to Rainbolt's notebook.

Assistance adds up

At some point, Rainbolt began jotting down things she did for Shelton and money she spent on her family. In the notebook, Rainbolt noted: 31 $ for pork chops, 38 for Popeye's Chicken and 222 to rent a van to help the Sheltons to move. Shelton and her children moved a lot, usually staying no longer than three months in one place, Jim Rainbolt said. According to Rainbolt's notebook, they lived in a house in Alpharetta, an apartment in Tucker, then Roswell, Fayetteville and Douglasville. The Sheltons would stay rent-free until evicted. Janelle Shelton still owes the Roswell landlord 2.129 Dollars, according to Fulton County Magistrate Court.

Dodge Durango

In January 2000, Shelton was arrested on car theft charges. She rented a green Dodge Durango and did not return it, according to Fulton court documents. When Shelton was stopped in Cobb County, she provided a false name, according to court documents. Shelton also was wanted in Doraville on motor vehicle violations, where she was fined 515 Dollars.

While in jail, she again turned to Rainbolt, who bailed her out, using her Tucker home as collateral, Jim Rainbolt said. Then Emelie took the family into the home. But Rainbolt was starting to get problems on her own. She lost her business license in DeKalb County when officials cracked down on massage parlors. DeKalb officials said the business was no longer used for training in therapeutic massage and ruled all massage parlors illegal.

Roswell Road in Sandy Springs

By April 2000, Stress Reduction Clinic was closed. Rainbolt rented a two-bedroom apartment on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs and operated a business there illegally.

Rusty

A joy in her life during this time was her dog, Rusty, a weak 13-year-old Cocker Spaniel, who went to work with her every day. When Rusty fell ill, Rainbolt paid 600 $ to have fluid drained from his heart.

Friction grows

Due to Rainbolt's mounting financial problems, Rainbolt asked Shelton to pay weekly rent of 300 $. And rather than providing use of a car, Rainbolt sold her 1987 Mazda to Shelton's son's girlfriend for 1.000 USD. Neither arrangement sat well with Shelton, Jim Rainbolt said, but what drove a wedge between the women was when Rainbolt heard Shelton was planning to leave town. Rainbolt revoked her bond and Shelton was arrested and put back to jail.

Meanwhile Rainbolt continued to be involved with Shelton's family. With Shelton in jail, Rainbolt drove Charles and his girlfriend Antoinette to Ringgold, where they were married without Shelton's approval. "She thought it was the right thing to do," said Bill Carroll, Rainbolt's brother. "When you have a family, you've got to get married. It was values, morals and ethics. Emelie dove into all aspects of her life (Sheltons), personal and financial."

Shelton was released after two weeks in jail. No payments were made on rent or the car, Jim Rainbolt said. Emelie Rainbolt wanted the family off her property, and the couple asked that the Sheltons return a pool table they had loaned the kids. The Rainbolts also took back the Mazda.

Waffle House in Tucker, GA

Shelton showed up at a Waffle House in Tucker, where Jim Rainbolt works part time, he said. "We're not leaving that damn place," he said Shelton told him. "Yes, you are," he said he replied. "That's when she told me she was going to kill us," Jim said.

On April 8th, 2001, Jim Rainbolt, escorted by police, evicted the family from the couple's house. Emelie wrote in her notebook that an argument followed. "She (Shelton) grabbed my stomach and then my shirt around the neck. She said she would kill me within a year then she ran her finger across her neck while saying she would kill me several times."

After his evening shift on August 8th, 2001, James "Jim" Rainbolt phoned the Sandy Springs apartment his wife used as a business. There was no answer. He went to the apartment and found the lights and Television on, but still could not find his wife.

The next day, he called Fulton County Police to file a missing person report, but he was told to wait 24 hours. He called again the next day and told them the couple's Cadillac was gone. Around 7 a.m. on August 10th, 2001, a Park Ranger in the Talledega National Forest, about an hour west of Atlanta, noticed smoke coming from a wooded embankment. It was a badly burned car.

When fire officials popped open the trunk, they found two badly burned skeletons, one of an adult human, the other one that of a dog. In late August 2001, the bodies were identified as those of Emelie Rainbolt and her dog, Rusty.

Police arrested Shelton and her son Charles Ingram in Oklahoma City. Glover was arrested in Atlanta. All pleaded not guilty. Shelton pleaded not guilty by "reason of mental disease or defect." Shelton reported hallucinations and visions and said she was "taunted" by "nameless demons," according to documents filed in Cleburne County Court by a psychologist at Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She said she has suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and manic depressive disorder for 25 years.

Shelton, although, was found competent to stand trial.

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Woman pleads guilty in killing of friend

FROM: The Tuscaloosa News (August 17th 2003)
Direct Source Link

A Georgia woman has pleaded guilty to helping kidnap and kill a woman who had been a friend and benefactor for a decade. Despite Monday's plea by Janell(e) Shelton, 38, she is still on trial in the death of Emelie Rainbolt, 58, of Norcross, Georgia. Shelton's trial will continue because it is a capital murder case. Prosecutors and Shelton's attorneys agreed to seek a life sentence, but the jury must convict her before she can be sentenced.

Rainbolt's skeleton, along with her dog's (Rusty), was found in the trunk of a burned car two years ago. Shelton, a former (Wannebe) masseuse, said she pleaded guilty to help her eldest son, Charles Ingram, to get a lighter punishment if he (she) is found guilty. Charles Ingram is facing murder charges along with an acquaintance, Darra Glover. They have pleaded innocent and will be tried separately later.

Authorities allege that in August 2001, Shelton, Ingram and Glover used a stun gun to disable Rainbolt and her dog, Rusty. Prosecutors say the bodies were then thrown into the back of Rainbolt's Cadillac and driven to the Talladega National Forest, just inside the Alabama-Georgia line on Interstate 20, where the car was set on fire.

Rainbolt and Shelton had worked together at massage parlor that Rainbolt owned. Authorities said Rainbolt had helped Shelton and her family by providing money, jobs, food and other assistance. Prosecutors said Shelton took her friend's life when that help ended.

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Georgia woman receives life sentence for slaying

FROM: The Tuscaloosa News (August 26th 2003)
Direct Source Link

A Georgia woman has received a life sentence in prison for the 2001 slaying of a longtime friend. Janelle Shelton was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, said Barbara Jordan, Clerk of the Cleburne County, Alabama Circuit Court. Last week, a jury found Shelton guilty of murdering Emelie Rainbolt 58, of Norcross. Authorities alleged Shelton had disabled Rainbolt with a stun gun, locked her in the trunk of her Cadillac and burned her and her Dog "Rusty" alive.

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Additional Information Links:

2002

• https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/deathpenaltynews/conversations/messages/5013

2003

• http://old.chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2003/08/20/met_385249.shtml