Hiển thị các bài đăng có nhãn Killing. Hiển thị tất cả bài đăng
Hiển thị các bài đăng có nhãn Killing. Hiển thị tất cả bài đăng

Thứ Tư, 3 tháng 4, 2013

PERP TO PROFESSOR?Ex-Radical Jailed for 1981 Killing Reportedly Teaching

A former Weather Underground radical who spent 22 years in prison for an armored-car robbery that killed two cops and a Brinks guard now reportedly holds a prestigious adjunct professorship at Columbia University’s School of Social Work.

The New York Post reports that Kathy Boudin’s return to respectability after her 2003 parole occurs a week before the release of Robert Redford’s “The Company You Keep,” a movie loosely based on the $1.6 million heist.

Boudin, 69, acted as a getaway driver in the heist and her status as perp-turned-prof outraged the widow of one of her victims, Brinks guard and father of three Peter Paige, who was killed in New York’s Rockland County by her accomplices from the Black Liberation Army on Oct. 20, 1981.

“She doesn’t deserve a job at all,” Josephine Paige, 74, told the Post. “She doesn’t deserve anything, nothing at all. I think she should be back in an institution.”

Of the hundreds of students Boudin has taught since her hiring in 2008, just three have express concerns regarding her criminal background and only one “switched out” of a class due to that reservation, Columbia School of Social Work Associate Dean Marianne Yoshioka said.

Boudin, who teaches about issues facing convicts and relatives when a person is released from prison, did not respond to a request for comment.

John Hanchar — the nephew of another victim of the robbery, Nyack Police Officer Edward O’Grady — said that while Boudin “has a right to do whatever she wants . . . I just hope the people that she’s lecturing are smart enough to question why [she felt] like killing people is an acceptable choice to forward their goals.”

Hanchar continued: “It’s easy to forget that violence is never the answer. Nine children grew up without their dads because of her actions.”

Yoshioka, meanwhile, said Boudin has been an “excellent teacher who gets incredible evaluations” from students each year.

Click for more from the New York Post.


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Thứ Sáu, 22 tháng 3, 2013

STROLLER SHOOTING:Teen Suspects ArrestedIn Georgia Baby Killing

  • BabyinStroller.jpg

    March 22, 2013: This photo provided by Sherry West, of Brunswick, Ga., shows her son Antonio Santiago celebrating his first Christmas in December of 2012.AP

Police are going door-to-door in a coastal Georgia town in a frantic search for two young suspects after a gunman shot an infant dead in the stroller his mother was pushing.

Officer Todd Rhodes of the Brunswick Police Department told FoxNews.com that numerous tips had been received in connection to the Thursday morning shooting, but no suspect or weapon had yet been located, police said Friday. Investigators were also checking school attendance records for leads.

Several nearby residents called 911 after hearing gunshots fired, but Rhodes said investigators believe the mother was the only witness to what happened.

"Understand this: There is no clear motive right now," he said.

The suspects in the killing of the 13-month-old boy and wounding of his mother are thought to be as young as 10 years old, Brunswick Police Chief Tobe Green said.

"He said 'I'm going to kill you if you don't give me money,' and I said, ‘I swear I don't have any,"' the mother, Sherry West, said in a interview with Jacksonville’s WAWS-TV.

West said she attempted to protect her baby, Antonio but shots rang out, striking her in the leg and her son in the head.

"I put my arms over my baby and he shoves me and then he shot my baby right in the head," West said.

West was later transported to the Southeast Georgia Health System for medical treatment. She is expected to recover.

"This is obviously a terrible day in Brunswick," Brunswick Mayor Bryan Thompson said. “If you know something and don’t call, you are complicit in this crime.”

Antonio's father, Louis Santiago, told WAWS-TV he wishes he could have been there to protect his family.

"He was special," Santiago said. "He had the bluest, bluest eyes."

Residents described Brunswick — a city of roughly 15,000 about 80 miles south of Savannah — as normally quiet despite some property crimes of late.

"This makes me very uneasy," Patricia Buie told The Brunswick News. "Now I am very concerned. It is making me want to move to the mountains."

Officers from a SWAT team checked vacant houses as investigators tried to find possible witnesses. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources provided a helicopter to aid the search.

A sketch artist from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was en route to Brunswick to assist police with the case. Police in Brunswick are heading the investigation, but the GBI assisted in the neighborhood search, according to GBI Special Agent Mike McDaniel.

A $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction if being offered by the Brunswick Police Department. Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at (912) 267-5516.

The mother lives in a rented house in the city's Old Town historic district. Beverly Anderson's husband owns the property and she said West has lived there for six or seven years.

"We're just very sorry about what happened and very aghast that something could happen in our little neighborhood," Anderson said. "It's a quiet, safe little neighborhood."

Anderson said people walk up and down the street, children walk to school and families are frequently outdoors. "It's scared everybody," she said. "They don't feel so safe outside."

She said West stayed home to care for her baby, who was often spotted in his mother's arms.

"The house has a front porch with a swing and we'd see him out on the swing with his mother," Anderson said. "He was a happy, cheerful baby."

It's not the mother's first loss of a child to violence. Sherry West said her 18-year-old son, Shaun Glassey, was killed in New Jersey in 2008. She still has a newspaper clipping from the time.

Glassey was killed with a steak knife in March 2008 during an attack involving several other teens on a dark street corner in Gloucester County, N.J., according to news reports from the time.

"He and some other boys were going to ambush a kid," Bernie Weisenfeld, a spokesman for the Gloucester County prosecutor's office, told the AP Friday.

Glassey was armed with a knife, but the 17-year-old target of the attack was able to get the knife away from him "and Glassey ended up on the wrong end of the knife," Weisenfeld recalled.

Prosecutors decided the 17-year-old would not be charged because they determined that he acted in self-defense.

FoxNews.com’s Joshua Rhett Miller and The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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TEXAS CONNECTION? Car Chase May Be Tied to Killing of Colorado Official

A paroled Colorado inmate who may be linked to the slaying of the state's prison chief led Texas deputies on a 100 mph car chase that ended Thursday after he crashed into a semi and then opened fire before being shot down by his pursuers.

Evan Spencer Ebel, 28, was driving a Cadillac in Texas that matched the description of the vehicle seen leaving the neighborhood where prisons chief Tom Clements was shot. Ebel was hooked up to equipment for organ harvesting and authorities say he is not expected to survive.

Colorado investigators immediately headed to Texas to determine whether Ebel was linked to Clements' slaying and the killing Sunday of Nathan Leon, a Denver pizza delivery man. Police in Colorado would only say the connection to the Leon case is strong but would not elaborate or say if they believe Ebel killed Clements and Leon.

The Denver Post first reported Ebel's name, and that he was in a white supremacist prison gang called the 211s. A federal law enforcement official confirmed his identity and gang affiliation to The Associated Press. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the case and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

The killing of Clements, 58, shocked his quiet neighborhood in Monument, a town of rolling hills north of Colorado Springs, for its brutality: He answered the door of his home Tuesday evening and was gunned down. Authorities wouldn't say if they thought the attack was related to his job, and all Clements' recent public activities and cases were scrutinized.

The Texas car chase started when a sheriff's deputy in Montague County, James Boyd, tried to pull over the Cadillac around 11 a.m. Thursday, authorities there said. They wouldn't say exactly why he was stopped, but called it routine.

The driver opened fire on Boyd, wounding him, Wise County Sheriff David Walker said at an afternoon news conference in Decatur. He then fled south before crashing into a semi as he tried to elude his pursuers.

After the crash, he got out of the vehicle, shooting at deputies and troopers who had joined the chase. He shot at Decatur Police Chief Rex Hoskins four times as the chief tried to set up a roadblock.

"He wasn't planning on being taken alive," Hoskins said.

Boyd, the deputy who was shot, was wearing a bulletproof vest and was at a Fort Worth hospital, authorities said. Officials had said he wasn't seriously injured but later said his condition was unknown.

The car is so far the main link authorities have given between the Colorado case and the Texas shootout. El Paso County sheriff's investigators have been looking for a dark, late-model car, possibly a Lincoln or a Cadillac, that a neighbor spotted near Clements' home around the time of the shooting.

"We don't know yet exactly whether this is the guy," Gov. John Hickenlooper told reporters Thursday afternoon. "There's some indication. I hope it is."

El Paso County sheriff's officials did not return repeated messages Thursday. In a statement, Lt. Jeff Kramer said investigators will inspect evidence in Texas and would need crime lab analysis before they're able to determine whether the suspect is linked to Clements' shooting.

"These efforts take time," Kramer said.

Other links between Ebel and the Colorado killings aren't clear. Legal records show he was convicted of several crimes in Colorado dating back to 2003, including assaulting a prison guard in 2008. He apparently was paroled, but Colorado Department of Corrections spokeswoman Alison Morgan said she could not release information on prisoners because of the ongoing investigation into Clements' death.

Scott Robinson, a criminal defense attorney and media legal analyst, represented Ebel in 2003 and 2004. He said Ebel had been sentenced to a halfway house for a robbery charge in 2003 before he was accused in two additional robbery cases the following year that garnered prison sentences of three and eight years.

"I thought he was a young man who was redeemable, otherwise I wouldn't have taken the case," Robinson said, saying he didn't recall the details of the case.

Robinson said he knew Ebel before he got in trouble. He said Ebel was raised by a single father and had a younger sister who died in a car accident years ago.

Clements came to Colorado in 2011 after working three decades in the Missouri prison system. Missouri Department of Corrections spokeswoman Mandi Steele said Thursday the department was ready to help in the probe if asked.

"Tom regularly commented that corrections is inherently a dangerous business, and that's all that I'll say," Morgan, who worked closely with Clements, said earlier.

Officials in positions like Clements' get a deluge of threats, according to people who monitor their safety. But it can be hard sorting out which ones could lead to violence. A U.S. Department of Justice study found that federal prosecutors and judges received 5,250 threats between 2003 and 2008, but there were only three attacks during that time period.

The last public official killed in Colorado in the past 10 years was Sean May, a prosecutor in suburban Denver. An assailant killed May as he arrived home from work. Investigators examined May's court cases, but the case remains unsolved.


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Thứ Năm, 21 tháng 3, 2013

TEXAS CONNECTION? Car Chase May Be Tied to Killing of Colorado Official

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    March 20, 2013: Searchers use a dog to search the area around the Monument, Colo. home of Colorado Department of Corrections Executive Director Tom Clements, pictured left.AP/Colorado Department of Corrections

A man who may be linked to the slaying of Colorado's state prison chief led authorities in Texas on a harrowing, 100-mph car chase Thursday that ended after he crashed into a semi and then opened fire before being shot down by his pursuers, authorities said.

The man is still unidentified and is "basically legally deceased" while still hooked up to equipment for organ harvesting at a Fort Worth hospital, Wise County Sheriff David Walker told an afternoon news conference in Decatur.

The possible link to the Tuesday night slaying of Colorado prison director Tom Clements is tentative but intriguing enough to put Colorado investigators on a plane to Texas. The black Cadillac the man drove, with Colorado license plates, matches the description of a car spotted outside Clements' home just before the Department of Corrections chief was fatally shot while answering his front door.

"We don't know yet exactly whether this is the guy," Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper told reporters Thursday afternoon. "There's some indication. I hope it is."

A deputy in Montague County, Texas, tried to pull the Cadillac over at about 11 a.m. Thursday on a routine traffic stop, though officials wouldn't elaborate on the reason.

The driver opened fire on the deputy, wounding him, Walker said. He then fled south before crashing into a semi as he tried to elude his pursuers.

Walker says Colorado investigators are heading to Texas to determine whether the man is connected to Clements' killing. The wounded deputy was wearing a bulletproof vest and is at a Fort Worth hospital, authorities said. Officials earlier said he wasn't seriously injured, but now say his condition is unknown.

Decatur Police Chief Rex Hoskins said the man appeared to be a white man in his 30s. The man shot at Hoskins four times as the chief tried to set up a road block to halt him. The man left his car after it crashed and opened fire on the authorities around him, Hoskins said.

"He wasn't planning on being taken alive," Hoskins said. In a brief interview, he added that the man had no identification on him.

El Paso County, Colo., sheriff's investigators have been looking for a dark, late-model car, possibly a Lincoln or a Cadillac, that a neighbor spotted near Clements' home around the time of the shooting. Lt. Jeff Kramer refused to say what other clues may have been found after Clements' neighborhood was canvassed by officers.

Clements, 58, was killed as he answered the door to his home Tuesday night in Monument, a town of rolling hills and alpine trees north of Colorado Springs. His death stunned law enforcement colleagues in Colorado and Missouri, where he spent most of his career as a highly respected corrections official.

Police haven't said if they think his death was linked to his job.

Denver's KMGH-TV reported Thursday that Clements may have put a bicycle up for sale for $1,200 on Craigslist. Kramer told the station, "I can't speak to the efforts behind this tip, or the level we are giving it."

In recent weeks, Clements had requested chemicals to plan for the execution of a convict on Colorado's death row and denied a Saudi national's request to serve out the remainder of a sentence in his home country. Officials refused to say whether they were looking at those actions as possible motives.

Clements came to Colorado in 2011 after working three decades in the Missouri prison system. Missouri Department of Corrections spokeswoman Mandi Steele said Thursday the department was ready to help in the probe if asked.

"Tom regularly commented that corrections is inherently a dangerous business, and that's all that I'll say," said Alison Morgan, a Colorado corrections spokeswoman who worked closely with Clements.

Officials in positions like Clements' get a deluge of threats, according to people who monitor their safety. But it can be hard sorting out which ones could lead to violence. A U.S. Department of Justice study found that federal prosecutors and judges received 5,250 threats between 2003 and 2008, but there were only three attacks during that time period.

The last public official killed in Colorado in the past 10 years was Sean May, a prosecutor in suburban Denver. An assailant killed May as he arrived home from work. Investigators examined May's court cases, but the case remains unsolved.


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Chủ Nhật, 24 tháng 2, 2013

TRAYVON MARTIN CASE: 1 Year After Teen's Killing, Florida City Tries to Heal

One year after the shooting of Trayvon Martin thrust this small central Florida city into the national spotlight, life in Sanford is returning to its regular rhythm.

After the death of the black 17-year-old at the hands of a neighborhood watch leader, civil rights leaders warned that Sanford risked its reputation as an upscale Mayberry and could become a 21st century version of civil rights flashpoints like Selma, Ala.

It seems Mayberry won out -- at least for now. Downtown is abuzz with the activity of 1st Street shops and restaurants, not the sounds of marching protesters.

Literature lovers peruse Maya Books & Music. Craft beers are poured at The Imperial, a bar that doubles as a furniture store. At Hollerbach's Willow Tree Cafe, patrons feast on sauerbraten and listen to the house polka band.

But beneath the usual pace of life lurks the memory of what happened a year ago Tuesday in a nearby gated community.

Civil rights leaders said that if Martin had been white, the neighborhood watch leader, George Zimmerman, would have been arrested the night of the shooting. Zimmerman's father is white, and his mother is Hispanic.

In the weeks after the shooting, thousands of people marched through Sanford, demanding Zimmerman's arrest. T-shirts and posters of Martin sold rapidly on Sanford streets. The police chief lost his job.

The protests stopped after Jacksonville prosecutor Angela Corey took over the investigation and filed second-degree murder charges against Zimmerman a month and a half after Martin's shooting.

Zimmerman, whose trial is set for June, has pleaded not guilty, claiming self-defense.

At the height of the protests last March, national civil rights leaders such as the Rev. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and the NAACP's Ben Jealous had vowed to turn Martin's shooting into a movement addressing equal justice under the law, as well as "stand your ground" laws that allow people to use deadly force if their lives are in danger. While those issues have retreated somewhat in the national discussion, they haven't in Sanford, where race relations and concerns about traditionally underrepresented communities have moved to the forefront.

"It's on our minds all the time," said City Manager Norton Bonaparte, who is black.

Since the arrest, Sanford leaders have taken steps they hope ease racial tensions in the city of 53,000 residents, more than a quarter of whom are African-American. Officials have held a series of community meetings in the predominantly black neighborhood of Goldsboro, established a community relations office, and appointed a human relations commission and a panel to review police-community relations. And they've studied how other communities, such as Rochester, N.Y., have overcome periods of tense race relations.

"Out of tragedy comes opportunity," said Mayor Jeff Triplett, who is white. "There was a scab over the wound of race relations, and this event opened it up."

Residents of Sanford's historically black neighborhoods say that for the most part, they are encouraged by the dialogue that has emerged with city officials. Shantree Hall said she welcomes the scrutiny Martin's shooting death has brought to Sanford.

"It's not just local eyes that are looking," Hall said. "It's the international eyes that are looking too. Sometimes you can fall weak and can't stand upon your own feet to fight a battle, but people look at that battle and fight it for you. And that's what happened in Sanford."

Natalie Jackson, a Sanford native who also is an attorney for Martin's parents, said the city is slowly reaching a point of reconciliation.

"There's something good that's coming out of this, and that's going to be the understanding," she said. "I think Sanford will be a better community for it."

But officials are aware that protests and racial tension could return during Zimmerman's June trial or April self-defense hearing. It's then that a judge will decide whether his defense argument is sufficient to allow for the case to be dismissed. Weighing on local leaders' minds are the 1992 Los Angeles riots that followed the acquittal of three police officers in the beating of Rodney King.

"History has shown it can happen if people feel justice isn't served," Bonaparte said.

"The community itself is standing fast, waiting to see what happens," Seminole County NAACP President Turner Clayton said this month at a gathering to commemorate what would have been Martin's 18th birthday. "Right now there is a lot of calm throughout the city. ... They're just laidback, waiting to see what goes on. So we'll see."

And while the fervor over the Martin shooting may have calmed for now, Sanford residents point out other problems, such as a recent rash of shootings between rival gangs.

"Unfortunately, there's a lot that's still going on with violence in our community, with violence against other people," resident Marc Booker said. "There's a lot of people trying to pull together and understand that there needs to be unity."


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