Derrion Albert's Senseless Death Captured On Video Illustrates Our Need To Return To Basics ~by J.J.

The words of Mark have fallen on deaf ears of our youth. Teens listen, believe and follow for you have unjustly taken the life of Derrion Albert, an innocent man.

"45. If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell,
46 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.
47 If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell,
48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.
49 For everyone will be salted with fire.
50 Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you 1make it salty again?Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

Derrion Albert was murdered and we need not ask how because a video tape captured the beating. 19-year-old Silvanus Shannon admitted that he participated in the fatal beating even though the victim, Derrion Albert, never struck him. Also arrested were Eric Carson, 16, and Eugene Riley, 18. Carson and Riley were also seen on the videotape attacking Albert. All three are charged with first degree murder and held without bail. 17-year-old Eugene Bailey has also been charged with murder.

A Chicago street fight apparently escalated from a dispute between two factions at Albert's high school, Christian Fenger Academy High School. Albert was affiliated with neither faction but nonetheless was beaten to death. Apparently after school let out at 2:50 p.m. on Thursday, Albert was on his way to the bus stop when two groups of students asssemble on the street.The two factions began fighting. (Earlier that day, a gang related shooting had allegedly taken place.)

16-year-old Eric Carson and another unknown person associated with "the Ville" faction approached Albert. Carson struck Albert in the head with a long wooden railroad tie. The second person punched him in the face. Albert apparently lost consciousness for a short period of time. After he tried to get up and move away from the action he was apparently attacked by a second group of four or five members from the opposing faction. Albert was struck again in the head. While Albert laid helplessly on the ground, Shannon apparently stomped on his head several times. Watch Video of Attack »

Albert was taken to Roseland Community Hospital and then to Advocate Christ Hospital where he was pronounced dead. While Legal Pub forces me to say that all suspects are innocent until proven guilty, I can not ignore the fact that the youth of this country are in need of serious reform. Bless Albert and the accused and may God help our youth.

~J.J.

Should Roman Polanski Do The Time For His 1977 Crime?

Roman Polanski apparently had sex with a 13 year old girl back in the 70's. Despite a conviction, he never served time in jail. Some say now he should pay the consequences of his actions with jail time. Yet, some think he should be treated otherwise. Clearly, Roman Polanski has friends in high places. For instance, France and Poland are pressuring Switzerland to free the 76-year-old director despite an international warrant issued for having sex with a 13 year old back in 1977. Pressure is even being put on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton free Polanski. Currently, Polanski remains detained by Swiss police on an international warrant.

So after all of these years, how did Polanski get caught? Polanski had appeared to receive a lifetime achievement award from a film festival. Many countries had looked the other way when he visited. This time, officials were waiting for him. Now the U.S. is seeking Polanski's extradition. Something about fleeing on bail after a conviction for having sex with a 13-year-old is just not easy to forgive in the U.S. Polansky fled post conviction to France where he has enjoyed protection. What makes him so special? Polanski directed "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby." Why should he be jailed? Despite being a fine director, he has apparently misdirected his own life.

Why might he never serve any jail time? French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner wants Polanski freed by the Swiss. Both Kouchner and Radek Sikorski (Poland) apparently wrote to Hillary Clinton requesting leniency. The U.S. has 60 days to submit a formal request for Polanski's transfer. Any U.S. request for transfer must first be examined by the Swiss Justice Ministry. An affirmative response by the Swiss is still subject to appeal.

The U.S. warrant on Polanski was issued in 1978. However, according to the Swiss, the U.S. has only actively pursued his arrest since 2005. Polanski previously requested a U.S. appeals court in California to overturn the trial courts conviction on the basis of misconduct by the now-deceased judge who had arranged a plea bargain and then reneged on it. Samantha Geimer, the victim, has joined in Polanski's bid for dismissal. (She reached a monetary settlement with Polanski.) Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza dismissed Polanski's request to overturn the conviction because the director failed to appear in court. While there may be some problems with the original conviction, flight is not the proper remedy.

Polanski is married to French actress Emanuelle Seigner. He has avoided countries likely to extradite him. Perhaps a trip to the U.S. is now unavoidable and there will be legal resolution one way or the other.

Hosam Maher Husein Smadi and Michael Finton aka Talib Islam Seeking Employment in the Destruction Business?

Terrorism is a growing problem. The hardest thing to understand about terrorism is the "why?" The "how" is easy to understand as the common element is death and destruction. Our country's new administration needs to take the threat of terrorism both domestically and on foreign shores seriously or tragedy is inevitable. Recently, Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, a 19 year old Jordanian, was arrested and accused of plotting the bombing of a skyscraper in Dallas, Texas. He was caught after posting violent messages on an extremist chat site. The 19 year old was supposedly targeting the Fountain Place skyscraper in Dallas.

Hosam Maher Husein Smadi apparently entered the United States illegally. He lived in Texas. He was arrested after trying to detonate an explosive attached to a vehicle located next to the 60-story Fountain Place tower. Prior to the failed attempt, authorities were tracking his posts on the extremist chat site. Smadi's posts were apparently even more violent than other posters who advocated ill will towards the United States. For more information visit the following links:

Recent arrests of terror suspects »
Dallas office tower
Arrest in Illinois truck bomb plot
Smadi actually tried to act on his evil thoughts. He obtained what he believed to be an explosive from an undercover agent. He then drove a car with the fake bomb into a parking garage under the skyscraper. He tried to detonate the bomb by dialing on his cell phone. A similar apparently unrelated terrorism arrest occurred on Wednesday in Springfield, Illinois. There, the suspect ( Michael Finton, aka Talib Islam) allegedly plotted to blow up the federal building in Springfield. Finton, 29, apparently idolized American-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh was arrested after attempting to detonate a bomb inside a van outside a federal courthouse in Springfield, Illinois. Fortunately, the bomb was fake courtesy of an undercover agent.

Smadi is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. The possible penalty is life in prison, and a $250,000 fine.

Again, the scary part is the "why?" In neither case can authorities confirm any known ties to a specific terrorist group. Furthermore, there is no evidence that either of these plots were related to the alleged terroris plotting in New York and Denver. Simply, it appears that terrorism is spawning unrelated terrorism. Does any one else think that the penalty for plotting an act of terrorism ought to be death?

As always, all suspects are to be considered innocent unless otherwise proven in a court of law.

Did Tarino Lightbourne And Pleasant Bridgewater Try To Scam John Travolta After Jett's Death? ~by Blond Bombshell

Some times it is not so great to be rich and famous. After all, everyone knows your business and that can have has some serious disadvantages. Besides not being able to eat at common restaurants or "being seen" at Walmart, there are even more serious pitfalls to being rich. In fact, it some times is hard to do almost anything without someone trying to get their hand in your pants pockets. While John Travolta may not get hit on just going to the local market, he is none the less a potential target of cons. Recently, John Travolta spoke publicly about his efforts to save his teenage son's life at the family's vacation home in the Bahamas. John and his wife, Kelly Preston, are witnesses in a criminal trial of a paramedic (Tarino Lightbourne) and former Bahamian senator (Pleasant Bridgewater) who allegedly tried to extort $25 million from Travolta.

16-year-old Jett Travolta died after suffering a seizure. He was discovered unresponsive by a nanny at the Grand Bahamas island home of Travolta. Travolta and a family friend tried to revive Jett. "We continued CPR and my wife was holding his head," testified Travolta. Travolta initially told the ambulance driver to rush them to an airport where his private jet could fly his son to a West Palm Beach hospital instead of driving him to the hospital in Freeport. The paramedic allegedly asked Travolta to sign a statement releasing the ambulance company from any liability. Travolta signed the statement without reading it. Extortion trial

While in the ambulance with their son, Travolta and his wife decided to go to the hospital.
At the hospital, Travolta was told his son "wasn't alive." Now the bazaar part. The defendants, Lightbourne and Bridgewater, allegedly tried to get Travolta to pay them $25 million to keep quiet about a medical document concerning Jett's death. If true, the allegations are disgusting. How low must one be to take advantage of another at a time of such a tragedy?

As always, Legal Pub reminds all of us that all suspects and defendants are to be presumed to be innocent unless otherwise proven in a court of law. Oh how nice if that standard also applied to every day opinions...

~Shell

Is Andrew Young A Good Writer of Fiction Or Is Senator Edwards In Big Trouble? Perhaps Mostly Fiction... 5-31-12

How could anyone deny their offspring? Scandal or no scandal, blood is thicker than any political aspirations or at least it should be. Take John Edwards. Seriously, take him. We don't want the former presidential candidate after learning that he supposedly talked a campaign aide into claiming he fathered a child born to Edwards' former mistress. And while we are at it, shame on
Andrew Young, the former Sen. John Edwards aide, who is now trying to cash in on Edward's deception.

To his credit, Edwards eventually admitted to his affair with Rielle Hunter in August 2008. But the admission came only after months of denials. Despite the admission, he continued to claim that he could not have been the father of Hunter's daughter. Andrew Young originally fell on the sword and claimed that he was the girl's father. Young later admitted that the child was not his. The sad fact is that Young was married with children when he claimed to have fathered Hunter's child. Young recanted his story after Edwards dropped Young from his inner circle.

Now a grand jury in North Carolina is investigating payments made to Hunter. Hunter had been hired as a campaign videographer by the Edwards campaign and supporters. Edwards apparently paid Hunter's production company $114,000 for a series of videos featuring him before and during his 2008 campaign. Edwards said in May that he believed "that no funds from my campaign were used improperly." Perhaps Edwards is right. But does it matter after Young's family, Edwards wife and this young child have been so wronged?

If Edwards willfully failed to report payments to his mistress, he could face felony charges that carry prison terms of up to five years. More likely, he will face civil penalties ranging from $5,000 to $50,000. This is a drop in the bucket to a man of Edwards means. Edwards was a successful trial lawyer before he served one term in the Senate and ran for president in 2004. He was Democratic nominee John Kerry's running mate in 2004. His 2008 campaign was largely unsuccessful. Young has apparently submitted a book proposal in which he alleges that Edwards knew all along that he was the father of Hunter's child. Young goes so far as to allege that Edwards promised to marry Hunter after his Elizabeth, Edward's terminally ill wife, dies.

Keep in mind, Edwards is presumed innocent unless otherwise proven in a court of law. But in the mean time, a child has been deprived of her father, whoever he may be.

Update 6-3-11: Edwards is about to see the hammer fall. Expect criminal charges to be filed today concerning misuse of campaign funds.

Update 4-25-12:  John Edwards' trial is underway. His former handyman and stand-in baby daddy (Andrew Young) testified as to numerous lies he’d told on behalf of the former U.S. Senator. Trial is taking place in the federal court house in Greensboro, North Carolina.  Edwards, 58, is accused of soliciting $900,000 in illegal campaign funds from two wealthy donors to hide his pregnant mistress during the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. Young testified how Edwards persuaded him to claim paternity for the child Edwards had fathered with Rielle Hunter.  He also testified that his motivation for agreeing to do such a thing was because he wanted his friend to become president because a lot of benefits go along with such a position.


Prosecutors claim Edwards knowingly broke the law by using illegal campaign donations to keep his mistress quiet.  Edwards denies all allegations of wrongdoing. 

Update 5-14-12: Rielle Hunter's employment not only cost Senator Edwards the Vice Presidential candidacy, he is now on trial with a possibility of serving jail time. How could this all come to pass? Well, despite Hunter's lack of film making experience, she secured a $250,000 contract to make a series of behind-the-scenes documentaries from the campaign trail. While Edwards' aides criticized her work as unprofessional, the job gave Hunter a reason to travel with the candidate while his wife was home in North Carolina fighting breast cancer. When Elizabeth Edwards learned of the affair, Hunter lost her job. But Edwards and his mistress continued to meet on the campaign trail. In the summer of 2007, Rielle became pregnant.


As Hunter's belly grew, so did the maliciousness of the tabloid reporters. Hunter tried to hide in North Carolina by moving in with one of Edwards' most loyal aides, Andrew Young. Within weeks, the Youngs set up Hunter in a $2,700-a-month rental home not far from the Edwards estate. As Edward's child became a reality so did charges for improper use of campaign funds. Now, Edwards is involved in the trial of the century.

Update 5-31-2012:   John Edwards has been found not guilty on count 3 in the trial on whether the 2008 presidential candidate violated campaign finance laws. The judge has declared a mistrial on the remaining five counts. This means Edwards was found not guilty on the charge involving the contributions from Mellon.

Hoax At Hofstra Leads To Wrongful Charges Against Four Men?

Just what the heck is going on at Hofstra? Was the gang rape just made up and thus properly recanted? Is it possible that this "alleged victim" was pressured into dropping charges or is she a fabricator? We may never know the whole story. But under the circumstances, charges have been rightfully dropped against four men accused of raping a 18-year-old student at Hofstra University.

Originally, the girl claimed that she was lured to a dorm bathroom, bound and then sexually assaulted in a bathroom stall. She originally reported the crime to the university public safety office which then forwarded the complaint to the local police. Upon further questioning, she recanted her story and therefore, Jesus Ortiz, 19; Stalin Felipe, 19; Kevin Taveras, 20; and Rondell Bedward, 21; all of the New York are all free according to New York, District Attorney Kathleen Rice. The men had been previously arraigned and jailed subject to $500,000 bail. Each had apparently wrongfully been charged with five counts of first-degree rape. Making false rape accusations can be serious leading to both criminal and civil liability.

Hofstra is a private, nonsectarian institution of higher learning. It is located in the Village of Hempstead, New York. It has enjoyed an excellent reputation in academia since it started in 1935. Such scandals are not typical in this community of higher learning nor are they tolerated. ( Although Bernard Lawrence "Bernie" Madoff, former financier and Chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange is an alumni!)

All are presumed to be innocent, including the alleged victim. But one must wonder what is going on at Hofstra University. What student of Hofstra agrees to have sex with multiple partners at the same time? What type of supervision exists in the dorm bathrooms? What safety patrols are on campus to prevent such occurrences, whether consensual or otherwise? Why didn't someone in the dorm tell all involved to stop? Even if this was consensual sex, a reasonable person would most likely realize that it was not a good idea. Not there. Not like that. If the youth are our future, than the future may be dark without a return to common sense and decency.

Can Mothers Contractually Agree To Allow A 19 Year Old To Date A 13 Year Old?

Some matters are just not proper subjects of contractual agreements. Similarly, love can not circumvent the law. Two New York mothers have apparently found that out the hard way. The two mothers allegedly signed an agreement allowing one mom's 13-year-old daughter to date the other's 19-year-old son. The contractual agreement did not prevent the police from getting involved. Now, Shawn German, 19, is allegedly in trouble for dating his 13-year-old girl friend despite having the written permission of the girl's mother. German's mother, Tracy Lisi, 38, signed the agreement in hopes of avoiding any legal problems. The 13 year old girls mother apparently did the same. But both mothers were arrested in September. Because of the girls age, Shawn German has been charged with second-degree rape. The mothers face charges of child endangerment according to a Times Union report.

For more details see the Times Union. Also keep in mind that these are just allegations and that all suspects are innocent unless otherwise proven in a court of law.

Did Michelle Belliveau, Wendy Sewell, Therese Ziemann and Tracy Hood-Davis Take Justice Into Their Own Hands?

A women can't just do anything to punish a man. This is generally true no matter how despicable the male conduct may be. In Wisconsin, four women, Michelle Belliveau, Wendy Sewell,Therese Ziemann and Tracy Hood-Davis, the man's wife, will all stand trial for their alleged roles in a staged motel incident that ended with a man tied to a bed and his penis super-glued to his stomach. Prosecutors allege the incident was retaliation for the victim's infidelity. (The victim is married to Hood-Davis and was allegedly romantically involved with Ziemann and Sewell.)

Wisconsin Calumet County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Van Akkeren issued the ruling Tuesday. The 37 year old victim allegedly provided details of the incident. Ironically, he is in jail on charges arising out of an unrelated case. The man's wife and two of his girlfriends allegedly lured him to a Stockbridge motel on July 30 after learning that he was having "sexual relations" with more than one of them. (The man had apparently had sex with Sewell and Ziemann during his marriage.) The four women are accused of felony false imprisonment. If convicted, they could serve up to six years in prison. Ziemann also faces charges of misdemeanor sexual assault and battery.

Belliveau has plead not guilty and the others are expected to do the same or file motions to dismiss. (Belliveau is Ziemann's sister. She apparently had not been romantically involved with the victim.) The victim allegedly went to a hotel on July 30 to meet Ziemann. Ziemann allegedly met him on Craigslist. She apparently fell in love with him. She paid for their hotel rooms and apparently lent him $3,000. At the hotel, Ziemann allegedly told the victim that she wanted to "tie him up and give him a rub down," according to the complaint. She allegedly tied him with sheets, blindfolded him with a pillowcase, and cut off his underwear. Then she texted the other women to let them know of his confinement.

After the others arrived, they interrogated him as to who he loved more. Ziemann allegedly slapped her lover/victim and asked "can you handle that?" Then she allegedly used Krazy Glue to secure his penis to his stomach. The women then allegedly took his wallet, cell phone and car and left. After the man freed himself, he apparently reported the incident to police.

The victim apparently has some kind of criminal record. He is currently in custody on unrelated charges of child abuse, theft and harassment. The victim will appear in court for the unrelated charges on Thursday, September 17. Sewell's attorney, Nila Robinson, will seek to have the charge against her client dismissed because of a lack of evidence. "The inference that she was a participant in restraining (the man) is not justified. Just standing around is not enough," Robinson told the press.

Keep in mind, all defendants are innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law. Just because a criminal complaint lists allegations, it does not make the allegations true. Furthermore, with the right jury, justice may look the other way on this one.

Annie Le, Yale Grad Student, Disappears Less That A Week Before Her Wedding 9-16 Raymond Clark Update

Mysteriously a Yale graduate student disappears and no one knows what happened? Something is fishy. Annie Le, 24, is missing. There is no reported sign of struggle. There is no video evidence of an attack. The Yale University Police Department is asking for the public's help but one wonders why the med school was not more involved in the initial search? (The school has its own security and surveillance system.)Annie Le, 24, has not been seen since September 8, 2009. She is a 4'11" Asian-female with brown, shoulder length hair, brown eyes and weighs in at 90 lbs. She was last seen wearing a brown skirt, a bright green short-sleeved t-shirt, brown shoes and a brown necklace. A surveillance photo is apparently the last time anybody has seen Le. Le swiped a security card to get into the building on the day she disappeared. She never swiped a card to leave the building.

Le is a pharmacology student at Yale and was on her way to the lab on Amistad Street in New Haven. (If surveillance tape never shows her exiting the building, than they should look harder in the building. If surveillance tape shows her outside of the building as has been leaked, than the initial focus should have immediately included the FBI and forensic units.) To be missing in a building and not be initially found is not a novel idea. Leah Hickman a student at Marshall University who went missing in December of 2007 and Eridania Rodriguez, who went missing at a Manhattan office building last July are both examples of victims hidden in buildings. The focus of law enforcement and of the public ought to be educated. Surveillance tapes are not that complicated. Publish what they show and direct the focus accordingly.



This does not sound like a planned disappearance. Le left behind all her belongs, including her pocketbook and cell phone in the lab. She has not been home nor has she called her fiance. She was to be married on Sunday. By all accounts, her fiance is a good guy and is helping with the search. He is not a suspect.

If you have any information on Annie Le's whereabouts, please contact the Yale Police Department at (203) 432-4400 or Legalpub@legalpub.net.


Update 9-10-09: More details have surfaced. The Connecticut State Police and the FBI have joined the hunt for Annie. Annie is engaged to Jonathan Widawsky. Widawsky is a graduate student at Columbia University. He has fully cooperated in the search for Annie. Annie is originally from Placerville, California. She is a doctorate student in pharmacology at Yale's Med School. She graduated from University of Rochester in 2007. She was apparently working on a project in the Yale lab when she went missing. She used her Yale ID to enter the lab at 10:00 a.m. A fire alarm was pulled at the building at 1 p.m. Video is being searched to see if Le left when the building was evacuated. (One source has leaked that there was a photo of Le outside the building, but it has not confirmed.)

Update 9-11-09: Despite a search of the area and dumpsters around the lab, there has been no evidence discovered of a struggle. Dogs apparently were unable to provide any help. Le's apartment was also searched. No information has been shared to confirm any evidence of violence as of this date.
Update 9-14-09: Sunday evening, a body was found inside a wall at 10 Amistad Street, according to Peter Reichard, New Haven, Connecticut, assistant police chief. While the body was not identified yet as Annie Le, there is little doubt that it is in fact Annie. Bloody clothing was also found BUT NOT the clothing that Annie was wearing. The trash bin is being searched for further evidence.
Update 9-15-09: Expect an arrest real soon. While police deny it, several news outlets have reported that police have interviewed a possible suspect who allegedly failed a polygraph test. The person of interest apparently also has some defensive wounds. ABC News, WNBC-TV, The New Haven Register and the New Haven Independent are relying on "anonymous sources." The possible suspect is believed to be a lab technician. Police are merely saying that the investigation is ongoing and that there is a "large amount" of physical evidence.

Update 9-16-09: Police have taken Raymond Clark III into custody (but not yet officially under arrest) and searched his apartment. Clark has apparently lived with a girl friend in the apartment for the last six months. (Police executed two warrants concerning Raymond Clark III, an animal research technician at Yale.) Clark was handcuffed and brought to the police station in a silver car. (He then was apparently allowed to stay at a local motel under heavy police guard.) Mr Clark is believed to have known Le. However, he has not been charged with any crime. DNA results are still pending. He is to be presumed innocent until otherwise proven in a court of law.

Update 9-16-09: Connecticut's state medical examiner says a Yale University grad student died of traumatic asphyxiation. (Strangulation.) Currently, Clark is only a person of interest.

Update 9-17-09: Clark is represented by attorney David Dworski of Fairfield. Meanwhile, the Hartford Courant has reported that computer records show Clark was the last person to see Le alive. Le’s and Clark’s movements were apparently traced through their computerized swipe cards. Clark apparently entered the same basement room in the lab a short time after Le had entered. Le was never seen again. Le's card was never used again. According to ABC, the suspect may have defensive wounds (circumstantial evidence.) In addition, the suspect may have failed a lie detector test (this has yet to be verified and if true, was probably given before the involvement of counsel.)Bloody clothing removed from the lab may or may not be linked to the crime. Final DNA results should be available soon. Clark pictured above from MySpace..

Update June -6-2011:  Clark, 26, received a 44-year prison sentence that will likely keep him jailed until September 2053. "Assuming he survives his incarceration,"who will be there waiting for him? Most, if not all, of his family will be gone. He will have no real future." explained Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney John Waddock to the press.

Does It Make Sense That Guy Heinze Jr. Single Handedly Beat His Whole Family To Death?

With litigation, sometimes even if you win you lose. The latest example may be Guy Heinze Sr. He was one of eight people killed in a southeast Georgia mobile home last month. Prior to the killing, he had been awarded $25,000 in a civil lawsuit. He died before he collected a single penny. The 46 year old Heinze had been awarded the sum by the McIntosh County Magistrate in a suit concerning a mobile home. The award was under appeal at the time of his murder. All eight of the victims died from "blunt force" trauma.

Guy Heinze Jr., 22, faces eight counts of first-degree murder associated with the killings. He appeared at his initial court appearance via television from the Glynn County Detention Center. He is represented by attorney Ron Harrison. The preliminary hearing will be next week. Whether the lawsuit is related to a possible motive in the slayings is unknown. Possible motive? The younger Heinze is the one who called 911. 911 caller arrested.
Guy Heinze Jr. "continues to deny any involvement in the murders and urges anyone with information to contact authorities," according to his lawyer.

Heinze Jr. is accused of making false statements and tampering with evidence. 911 call .
An arrest warrant claims he provided police "with false and misleading information about his whereabouts and involvement in the circumstances leading to him calling 911 to report the deaths of his family members." He also allegedly removed a shotgun from the mobile home and put it in his car. He was initially released and then arrested on the murder charges.

Dead are Guy Heinze Sr. 46, Brenda Gail Falagan, 49; Russell D. Toler Sr., 44; Russell D. Toler Jr., 20; Chrissy Toler, 22; Michael Toler, 19; and Michelle Toler, 15. The funeral for the eighth victim, Joseph L. West, 30, is to be held mid-month.
A ninth victim, a 3-year-old, was on life support at a Savannah, Georgia, hospital.
Guy Heinze Sr.'s father, William Heinze, told WJXT-TV in Jacksonville that he doubted his grandson was responsible for the deaths. Intuitively, it does seem hard to believe that one guy could beat all of these victims to death at the same time. The whole story remains elusive.


Guy Heinze Jr. is to be considered innocent until proven otherwise in a court of law.

Walter E. Ellis Brought Down By DNA and Shoe Leather?

There are different ways to fall. One is to literally stumble. Another is to get caught and brought down by the police. An example of the latter is the arrest of 49 year-old Walter E. Ellis. Using "shoe leather" and DNA, police in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, have arrested a suspect they believe is responsible for serial killings of nine women over 21 years.

Police claim they have matched Walter E. Ellis with DNA found on the bodies of nine women killed from 1986 to 2007. According to Police Chief Edward A. Flynn, "continuing advances in DNA technology have enabled us to link these homicide cases, and it was good work pursuing numerous leads that led to the arrest of the suspect."
Police searched the state DNA data bank of 125,000 people and a national data bank of 6 million people. Cops Get DNA . After executing a search warrant on Ellis home, he is charged with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide according to Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm. More charges are likely to follow. Eight of the women were apparently prostitutes. One was a runaway allegedly "involved in the drug trade."

Of course, Walter E. Ellis is to be considered innocent unless otherwise proven in a court of law. However, contrast his fall to that of a female hiker who was hiking the romantic Billy Goat Trail along the Potomac River. "And the story is he proposed to her just prior to her falling," said Captain Walker. (After she said yes, she lost her footing and fell onto a large, jagged rock.) Fortunately, the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue and a U.S. Park Police Helicopter rescued the woman, according to Sgt. Ken Burchell, a U.S. Park Police pilot. Like Ellis, the young lady is presumed to be innocent until after her honeymoon.

Kaleb Eulls, A Real American Hero

Too often the news emphasizes the negative. Legal Pub could choose to do a story on the 14 year old teen age girl who pulled a gun on the school bus. However, Legal Pub would rather publish a positive spin on a story and not glorify the 14 year old girl. Kaleb Eulls an 18 year old Mississippi high school football player is the real hero. He saved the school bus full of elementary and high school students by wrestling the gun away from the deranged girl. Kaleb Eulls acted because he "couldn't let anything happen" to the children on the bus. THIS IS THE KIND OF ROLE MODEL THIS COUNTRY NEEDS!

Those interested can watch the surveillance camera footage. http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/09/03/mississippi.bus.hero/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

The girl was threatening the other students with a .380 caliber semi-automatic handgun. Let's face it, he saved a lot of tears. Twenty-two children ages 5 to 18 were on the bus. Eulls is 6-foot-4 and weighs 255-pounds. He is a high school senior who has verbally committed to play football for Mississippi State next year. In high school he has played both defensive end and quarterback. In a day and age filled with poor role models, it is refreshing to hear about a good kid like Kaleb Eulls!

Did Roger Stephens Loose His Cool And Try To Discipline A Crying Brat?

Why are some men so angry? Roger Stephens, 61, fits the description of an angry man if the allegations against him are true. Stephens was arrested Monday and charged with first-degree cruelty to children as a result of an incident at Walmart. Allegedly, Stephens tried to discipline a crying brat in the store. In the mean time, police in Gwinnett County are still trying to figure out the circumstances surrounding Stephens allegedly slapping a 2-year-old stranger.

The confrontation allegedly occurred at the Walmart in Stone Mountain, a suburb of Atlanta. It is a situation that almost everyone has experienced. Crying complaining child in the store. Other patrons stair and mutter under their breath, "that child needs to straighten up." But in the normal situation, that is as far as the matter goes. But in this case, according to the child's mother, Stephens allegedly approached her and her two year old daughter and said, "If you don't shut the baby up, I will shut her up for you." Stranger A few minutes later, Stephens allegedly grabbed the crying girl and slapped her across the face perhaps as many as four or five times.

"See, I told you I would shut her up," the Stephens allegedly said. The toddler was apparently not hurt and she did "shut up." But obviously it is socially unacceptable behavior to discipline another's child let alone administer "corporal punishment." Before Stephens was arrested, he apparently apologized to the mother. Nevertheless, Stephens is being held by the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department. It is not clear whether Stephens was having a bad day or if he truly believed that the child was in need of discipline. Either way, if guilty, perhaps anger management is appropriate. However anyone having raised children would have trouble denying the possible future benefit to the child's mom of being able to threaten a visit by "the man with the heavy hand" should the child ever act up in public again.

Dr. Jorge Mario Gonzalez Senseless Murder Brings A Touch of Urban Reality to Rural Bellville

Dr. Jorge Mario Gonzalez was murdered near Houston, Texas. But in Texas, most murders do not go unpunished. The Texas Rangers have arrested Misael Sotollo, 18, and brothers Cristobal Galvan Cerna, 23, and Moises Galvan Cerna, 18 in connection with the murder. Dr. Jorge Mario Gonzalez was chief of the critical care section at Houston’s Methodist Hospital and a leader in his field. He was shot on August 22. Deputies responded to a 911 call of a burglary in progress at his weekend ranch, near Bellville, Texas.

Dr. Gonazez's ranch was a hobby. His wife of nine months, Charleen Gonzlez, was also present at the time of the shooting. At the ranch, Gonzalez raised cattle and drove a tractor with his son on his lap. Gonzalez apparently grew up in Guatemala. His dad was the chief of external affairs for United Fruit Co. Dr. Gonzalez graduated with from the Universidad de San Carlos in Guatemala City and the medical school at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
Noel Galvan Cerna, a ranch hand, was also wounded in the shooting. Two of the men charged with murdering Dr. Gonzalez were brothers. The third suspect, Sotollo, is the cousin of the Cerna brothers. The three supects are held without bond.

Keep in mind, all suspects are to be considered innocent unless otherwise proven in a court of law.

Update October 14, 2009: Four relatives accused of being involved in the killing of the doctor pleaded not guilty to capital murder charges in an Austin County courtroom on 10-13-09.