Quantcast
Channel: LifeDaily
Viewing all 7148 articles
Browse latest View live

Unusual Love Connection Brings About Change In Corrupt Texas Prison System

0
0

Frances Jalet Story

Fred Cruz sat in the darkness so deep and dreadful that it made his eyes ache. He shrugged the threadbare blanket he’d been given over his shoulders and looked at the hole on the floor that served as his toilet. Taking a bite of his three meager slices of bread, Cruz worried that he’d finally go mad this time around.

Cruz had been in solitary before, but two weeks in the hole was something even his determined attitude could hardly bear. He looked at the scant rays of light under the door, alone with his thoughts, and wondered when they might let him out. He still had a long way to go.

Days in Darkness

Frances Jalet Story
  shutterstock.com

Cruz’s current stretch of solitary took place in the sixth year of his fifteen-year sentence. He had been put in prison for robbery but he’d gone into solitary simply because he didn’t like authority. More than that, he wasn’t a big fan of arbitrary rules; a favorite of the guards in the East Texas prison in which he’d found himself incarcerated. Still, Cruz was tough. He could outlast this stretch like he’d outlasted all the others.

Family Business

Frances Jalet Story
  shutterstock.com

When Cruz was young in the early sixties, his father had abandoned the family. Growing up in the segregated Mexican-American barrios on the west side of San Antonio, Cruz had to learn to be tough. Members of his family sold drugs to survive and many of them, Cruz included, had frequent run-ins with the police. His brother Fred was even shot dead by police. Finally, a sloppy robbery landed Cruz himself in the slammer.

Arbitrary

Frances Jalet Story
  shutterstock.com

Cruz’s most recent stint in solitary was due to him being hauled in and punished for a still-unknown indiscretion that was allegedly against prison policy. Or rather, it was because he chose to question this ambiguous slight instead of just taking the punishment. He insisted he was entitled to a fair hearing; but that was his first mistake, thinking he was entitled to anything but abuse.

Law Studies

Frances Jalet Story
  shutterstock.com

Cruz decided from that moment on to dedicate his time in prison to something greater than himself. He was determined to study law while he was in there. He ignored the siren song of heroin, marijuana, and prison hooch and instead devoured textbook after textbook. He read the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and countless Supreme Court cases. Of course, the higher-ups didn’t like that.

Dim-Witted Criminal

Frances Jalet Story
  shutterstock.com

At this point in his prison tenure, most of Cruz’s record indicated him as little more than an eighth-grade dropout with an IQ of 87. He was considered an “extremely poor prospect” for rehabilitation. Those descriptions were quickly disproved when he began studying law. A subsequent profile by a clinical psychologist indicated that he was intellectually bright, suspicious, prone to be hostile to authority, and possessed leadership potential.

Court Writer

Frances Jalet Story
  shutterstock.com

At first, Cruz focused on appealing his own case on the grounds of inadequate representation, which given the time period, was probably the case. The lower courts, of course, dismissed Cruz’s pleadings, but his fellow inmates soon looked to him as someone who understood the complexities of the legal system. He soon helped them with their own appeals.

Helping Others

Frances Jalet Story
  shutterstock.com

Cruz’s altruism was looked down upon by the prison administrators. Helping other prisoners and keeping legal books or documents in one’s cell were both against the rules. It was forbidden even to talk to another prisoner about the law at that time. Cruz did so anyway, heedless of the eventual time he ended up spending in the hole.

Not Deterred

Frances Jalet Story
  shutterstock.com

Eventually, the days in solitary turned into weeks, then months, and finally years. In the end, he didn’t care. Cruz kept on doing what he could to increase his legal acumen and that of his peers. He soon became the most dangerous man inside the Texas legal system, not dangerous to other prisoners, but to the system itself. And those who punished him for expanding his knowledge would eventually be punished themselves.

Mrs. Jalet

Frances Jalet Story
  Jalet Family / www.texasmonthly.com

First, though, Fred Cruz had to meet Frances Jalet. Born in Boston, on the other side of the country, one would never have imagined that the Columbia Law School graduate would have ever associated with a man like Cruz. Jalet was a rare thing in those days, an educated woman and working mother-of-five. It was a lethal combination and her tenacity in both her marriage and career would set the tone for her extraordinary life.

Mad Husband

Frances Jalet Story
  shutterstock.com

In 1956, Jalet’s husband barely survived a plane crash and came home with a severe brain injury. The injury changed him entirely and he soon fell deep into an alcoholic melancholy. He was unpredictable, angry, and so out of control that he was eventually hauled off in a straitjacket. It was at this point that Jalet decided to take the kids and move to Washington D.C. She needed a new life for herself and her children.

Odd Jobs

Frances Jalet Story
  shutterstock.com

A year or so later, she moved to New York, where she became a staff attorney on the New York Law Revision Commission. This would be the job she held for a further eight years. She began to develop a keen interest in the Civil Rights movement and by the time her children were grown, she dedicated much of her time to helping those in need. An interesting opportunity soon presented itself.

Civil Rights

Frances Jalet Story
  Forty3Zero / shutterstock.com

She applied for and was awarded a Reginald Heber Smith Fellowship, a program generally awarded to attorneys starting their careers. Still, her age made her stand out and before long, she and several others were scattered to poverty-stricken law centers across the country to help those in need. In the summer of 1967, Jalet went to Texas and it was there the 56-year-old met Fred Cruz.

Texas Bound

Frances Jalet Story
  Jalet Family / www.texasmonthly.com

A week into her Texas job, Jalet received a letter from Cruz who was wondering if she could help him with his case. In all her years as an attorney, she’d never handled a criminal complaint, nor had she even set foot in a prison, but something about Cruz’s words struck a chord with her. Cruz was polite and grateful when she arrived but disappointed when she informed him that she couldn’t officially represent him.

Appeals

Frances Jalet Story
  shutterstock.com

Jalet had yet to pass the Texas bar and while she wanted to visit him and help him type up his briefs and rework his case, she couldn’t do much more. Furthermore, she’d only planned to be in Texas until the following June. Cruz graciously accepted any help she could give. Soon, the conversation turned from the law to faith and family. He revealed that he was a Buddhist and she told him that her daughter was studying the “new age” faith. A connection began to form.

Intellectual Connection

Frances Jalet Story
  shutterstock.com

Their talks became more and more frequent. Jalet learned about Cruz’s forbidden efforts to educate himself in prison. She learned about how he read the bible, Jean-Paul Sartre’s Existentialism and Human Emotion, and Martin Heidegger’s German Existentialism. It seemed this convict was more than he appeared.

The Villain

Frances Jalet Story
  The Texas Prison Museum

Meanwhile, George Beto, the director of the entire Texas Department of Corrections, was keeping an eye on this strange connection, albeit not a close one. Beto had happened to be visiting Ellis on the day Jalet first met Cruz and seemed rather jovial when he spoke to her, despite his reservations. He was a tall, barrel-chested minister and a self-aggrandizing proponent of his own “successful” prison system.

Powerful Man

Frances Jalet Story
  shutterstock.com

Beto warned Jalet to be wary of Cruz, calling him a troublemaker who would invariably con her. She dismissed the comment and he dismissed her as a useless, middle-aged female lawyer. Beto was a powerful man, he controlled a veritable empire 14 separate penal facilities, which held more than 12,000 men and women. As far as he was concerned, she could do nothing to threaten him.

A Living Hell

Frances Jalet Story
  shutterstock.com

Even if his charm couldn’t win Jalet over, he could still make Cruz’s life a living hell if she became an issue. He could have him thrown in solitary or remove his lifeline to Jalet. All prisoner’s mail was read and censored, so as soon as their conversations became helpful to Cruz’s cause, Beto cut off their communications. Also, any number of phone calls to his powerful connections would end Jalet’s meddling.

Agitation

Frances Jalet Story
  shutterstock.com

By December, Cruz was back in solitary and when he was released, he began keeping notes about his abuse in a diary. The warden found out and came to him with a warning, if he kept writing people about matters that didn’t pertain to his case, he would be put in solitary indefinitely. They believed he was agitating other prisoners and threatened to cut off any visits from Jalet – something they could do since she wasn’t officially his lawyer.

The Ellis Report

Frances Jalet Story
  shutterstock.com

Jalet was not about to let this abuse go unanswered. She drafted a document called the Ellis Report, a fifteen-page indictment about how the prisoners in the Texas Dept. of Corrections were being “deprived of their constitutional rights and subjected to a pattern of repression, harassment, and even torture that is shocking. Through abusive practices based on brutality and dehumanization, the ‘inmates’ live in constant fear.”

Terrible Abuse

Frances Jalet Story
  shutterstock.com

From her conversations with Cruz, Jalet documented dozens of stories of abuse. She spoke of prisoners being made to stand on a rail, hung from bars in straitjackets, beat with baseball bats, brass knuckles, and blackjacks. There was even an incident involving a prisoner who was made to shell peanuts fore five days straight until he tried to commit suicide by slashing his own wrists.

Show the World

Frances Jalet Story
  Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com

Jalet declared war on the Texas prison system after that. Jalet’s main concerns were the solitary confinement restrictions on prisoners helping one other with legal pleadings were what needed to be challenged in court. The Ellis Report was circulated all over. Jalet made sure it made it into the hands of state agencies and civil rights groups alike even to the NAACP.

Offensive

Frances Jalet Story
  shutterstock.com

In the spring of 1968, Beto went on the offensive, but at the same time, Jalet began officially litigating for prisoners’ rights. Texas penal officials organized to sue her, stating that she was fomenting rebellion and even threatened inmates to recant their stories and drop suits. Nevertheless, the attention she brought eventually led to broader prison reform nationwide.

Love and an Ending

Frances Jalet Story
  shutterstock.com

In 1972, after he was released from prison, Cruz and Jalet were married. The wedding caused a scandal not just because of their positions but because of their age. She was 61, he was only 32. They remained married for six years until he took up heroin again and the two divorced. Jalet died at the age of 84 in 1994.

Unusual Love Connection Brings About Change In Corrupt Texas Prison System is an article from: LifeDaily


Registered Offender Charged With Murder After Church Confession

0
0

In November 2014, a popular bike path in a quiet town became the scene of a murder. But for four years, there was no suspect in sight for the death of a Connecticut jogger and mom.

Then, in September 2018, a registered sex offender went to see his pastor and a chilling confession finally came. Here’s what happened on that cold night in November.

Melissa Millan

  Fox61.com - Simsbury Police

Millan, 54, worked at Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance, where she was a senior vice president. She was a divorced mother of two, and an avid runner who competed in triathlons. On November 20, 2014, a cold night, Millan put on her running gear- leopard print running pants, a bright pink jacket with reflective straps, pink sneakers, and a headlamp.

Avid Runner

  Fox61.com - Simsbury Police

According to a police report, Millan started pounding down a running trail weaving through Simsbury, Connecticut around 7:30 pm. The “Greenway” was a strip of pavement running parallel along Iron Horse Boulevard, and it separated the street by a low wooden fence and was lit at intervals with street lamps, according to The Washington Post.

Iron Horse Boulevard

  wfsb.com

Iron Horse Boulevard was part of the Farmington River Trail, which is part of a larger loop of bike trails spanning 50 miles in Connecticut and connecting to rail trails in Southwick and Westfield. As Millan ran down the empty trail, she covered one mile, then two. But not too long after beginning her run, Millan was found stabbed along the Boulevard, 11 miles northwest of Hartford.

Murder

  Google Maps - St. Francis Hospital

She was pronounced dead at St. Francis Hospital and an autopsy determined that she died of stab wounds to the chest and her death was a homicide. Her murder was a shock to those at MassMutual who knew her and also to the entire community.

Simsbury

  shutterstock.com

Considering that the town of Simsbury was quiet, having only 23,000 residents, police said at the time that the attack appeared to be random. The town’s previous homicide was in 2012 as part of a murder-suicide incident. Before that, there was a death in 2001 that ended in a manslaughter conviction, as reported by Masslive.com.

A Safe Community

  Facebook - Eversource CT

During a news conference, Simsbury Police Chief Peter Ingvertsen said, “This is an isolated act not common at all to this community … Simsburg is a safe community.” Ingvertsen said that more leads and physical evidence had been discovered by the police department, but for four years, there was no suspect in sight for the death of Melissa Millan.

Memorial

  Google Maps

After her murder, more than 100 coworkers attended a private memorial ceremony for Millan at her company’s Enfield location. A statement issued by the company expressed condolences to her family and friends, and noted: “Melissa’s tremendous leadership qualities, business acumen, and deeply caring nature will be missed by those who had the opportunity to work with her.”

Reward

  wfsb.com

Eight months after the murder, an anonymous donor offered a $4,000 reward to anyone who could provide information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. The case went quiet, until Wednesday, September 19, 2018, when a man walked into Simsbury Police Headquarters to confess to the murder of Millan.

Connecticut Church

  Fox61.com - Simsbury Police

William Leverett, 27, of Windsor Locks, reportedly barged into a Connecticut church and confessed to worshipers that he was the man who killed a Hartford jogger four years ago. Michael Trazinski, the pastor at Open Gate Ministries in East Granby, told ABC News that he and handful of parishioners with him knew what they had to do after Leverett told him that he stabbed Millan.

Justice

  opengateministries.org

“Justice needed to be done,” Tranzinski said. So, the pastor and two other people took Leverett to the Simsbury police department to turn himself in. “I’m here to turn myself in for the murder on Iron Horse Boulevard almost four years ago,” he told police. Leverett explained to cops that he went to the running trail the night of November 20, 2014, looking for some “human contact.”

Confession

  shutterstock.com

As he walked into the police station accompanied by several church leaders, Leverett said that same night, he arrived home to an empty house and felt quite lonely. Compelled to talk to just about anyone, Leverett decided to go for a walk on the Greenway, hoping to find a stranger to chat with.

That Night

  Google Maps

He allegedly had a lot on his mind and he drove to the Greenway, parked, and walked the trail. No one was out and it was cold, so Leverett got back in his car and was about to pull onto Iron Horse Boulevard when a woman in a pink top crossed into his headlights. Leverett was “immediately attracted to her,” investigators wrote in their report.

Mentally Aroused

  Fox61.com

He told police he was “getting mentally aroused,” so Leverett swung his car onto the road. His plan was to park ahead and hopefully cross paths with the jogger, but his thoughts turned sour on the quick drive. “I can’t have her,” he thought to himself. “She’s way out of my league.”

Anger

  shutterstock.com

Leverett became angry and his anger “escalated rapidly” as he went into a frenzy. He had a knife in his car and he decided to attack her. As he jogged down the dark trail, Millan stopped when she came across the tall young man blocking her way. Leverett then thrust the knife blade into her chest, puncturing her lung and touching her heart.

The Attack

  Fox61.com

Millan reportedly pushed him, freeing the knife from her body but then forcing herself back over the trail’s low fence. She collapsed into the street. “Oh my God, what have I done?” Leverett thought to himself, recalling his mindset to police. But, despite his confession, it wasn’t enough.

The Crime

  Simsbury Police Dept.

As the police report noted, Leverett did recall details on the crime only the perpetrator would know, but physical evidence was an issue. An investigator asked Leverett “Where was the knife?” He told investigators that he washed his pants and his shirt on the night of the stabbing, then dropped them off at a Goodwill donation box.

Physical Evidence

  shutterstock.com

Leverett said he had been wearing gloves when he killed Millan, although, at first, he told police he tossed them as well. Then, he remembered that he threw the gloves up into the rafters of a barn on his family’s property. They were bloody, but he wanted to keep them out of sight. But when one of the gloves flopped back down, he put it in the trash.

Finding The Evidence

  shutterstock.com

The other glove “fell into a crevasse behind a cabinet that he could not reach.” By this time, the house had new owners, but the glove was still there. The barn was also standing when police went looking with the new property’s owner’s permission on September 20. They spotted the glove stuck between two walls and Leverett identified it as the one he was wearing in 2014.

DNA Evidence

  icrimewatch.net

The blood on the item also matched Millan’s DNA, giving police the link they needed. Leverett was formally charged with the homicide of Millan’s murder and he is being held on a $2 million bail at Hartford. After confessing to Millan’s murder, police announced that Leverett is also a convicted sex offender and is listed in the Connecticut Sex Offender Registry. He is not listed for any offenses that occurred in Connecticut, but only in the state of Colorado.

Charges

  shutterstock.com

The website Heavy reported that Leverett lived for a time with his grandparents in Simsbury. Their home on Goodrich Road is a mile away from the murder scene. After Leverett was charged with the murder, Millan’s brother released a statement on behalf of the family saying the arrest “brings renewed grief, heartache and the knowledge that justice can never be served for the senseless act that robbed us of Melissa’s beautiful presence.”

Registered Offender Charged With Murder After Church Confession is an article from: LifeDaily

Canadian Police Sergeant Accused Of Obstructing Justice Is Sued For $4.5 Million

0
0

The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) is the municipal police force for the City of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. A sergeant with the EPS who had over 24 years of experience, faced charges that included obstruction of justice.

It’s alleged that the sergeant was at an Emergency Protection Order hearing and misrepresented the status of a police investigation. The severity of this case caused the alleged victim to sue the police department for $4.5 million.

Emergency Protection Order

  shutterstock.com

A man who only goes by the initials “MJ,” claimed in a statement filed with the Court of Queen’s Bench in June 2018 that an emergency protection order was unfairly imposed against him. He consequently faced unfounded allegations of having abused his own child in 2016.

Child Abuse

  shutterstock.com

The Edmonton Journal wrote that according to the statement of the claim, the mother of the child made numerous allegations of child abuse against the man. MJ claims that he was then questioned by Edmonton police and the Department of Child and Family. 

No Charges Filed

  shutterstock.com

But police told him in August 2016 that the investigation was closed and no charges would be filed. The Edmonton police even confirmed by email with the Journal that no charges were filed against the man in relation to this case.

Hearing

  cbc.ca

But in September 2016, MJ alleged that a hearing was held that resulted in an emergency protection order being put in place against him. The lawsuit claimed Edmonton police Sergeant Kevin Fald, a Child and Family Services employee and the child’s mother all “deliberately provided false information to a court of law.”

Allegations

  shutterstock.com

MJ alleged that Fald, who was not an investigator on the case, told the court that he was one and that charges were pending. He also alleged that a Child and Family Services worker provided a letter to the court stating the investigation was ongoing.

Charges

  shutterstock.com

The statement claimed the defendants “knew very well that he was innocent and had gone to great lengths with the help of others to have him consent to the (order).” According to the documents in the court file, the case relates to an Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) investigation that resulted in Fald being charged with two counts of obstruction of justice and two counts of unauthorized use of a computer.

Misrepresentation

  ASIRT

When the charges were made public, ASIRT alleged that Fald misrepresented the status of a police investigation during a family court hearing. This led to the imposition of a protection order against one of the parties (MJ). ASIRT said that Fald was not involved in the police investigation in any official capacity.

Offenses

  shutterstock.com

ASIRT added that Fald also allegedly tried to obstruct an EPS professional standards investigation into his conduct and improperly accessed two police information databases “in the course of committing these offenses.”

Quasi-Criminal

  globalnews.ca

ASIRT executive director Susan Hughson told Global News that she couldn’t expand on what the court case surrounded but she did call it a “quasi-criminal family matter.” “We have to remember that there is a family at the center of this with a child involved, so I’m not going to get into any of the circumstances,” she said.

Professional Standards Investigation

  twitter.com/@edmontonpolice

The investigation led ASIRT to allege the officer attempted to block an EPS professional standards investigation into the incident and that he accessed two police databases in the course of committing the offenses. While the EPS said no comment would be provided to the media, they did issue a short statement.

“Completely Unacceptable”

  cbc.ca

The police service said after it became aware of Fald’s alleged involvement in the September 2016 family court hearing, it “immediately” initiated an internal investigation. “The EPS and our community rightfully hold our police officers to the highest standards,” police Chief Rod Knecht said in a statement obtained by CBC. “Any violation of these standards is completely unacceptable.”

Obstruction Of Justice

  shutterstock.com

Sergeant Kevin Fald is facing two counts each of obstruction of justice and unauthorized use of a computer. A statement from the EPS says that he has been removed from duty without pay, pending the outcome of the criminal charges and proceedings.

Uncommon

  globalnews.ca

While ASIRT was called in to investigate an incident involving law enforcement when someone is killed or injured, or when a criminal offense may have been committed, charging an officer is “more exceptional” than common. “It’s very uncommon,” Hughson said.

Isolated Case

  globalnews.ca

“In the majority of the cases we can conclusively clear officers and demonstrate that they were acting lawfully and properly in the course of their duties. That’s the vast majority of the cases that we do,” she added.

Uncooperative Witness

  shutterstock.com

Hughson also said the investigation took longer than expected because they needed to make sure they could get all possible evidence and they had some “difficulty” with a particular witness. “It took some additional time that we would have otherwise not chosen to take,” Hughson said.

Criminal Investigation

  cbc.ca

The EPS notified Alberta Justice on February 16, 2017, and the next day, the ASIRT took over the criminal investigation. When that independent investigation was completed, the file was forwarded to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service.

Editor’s note: This case remains ongoing and LifeDaily will update as information is released.

Project Watch

  globalnews.ca

Before this incident, Fald previously worked on Project Watch, as well as the Internet Child Exploitation Unit with the Global News. Project Watch is a police program to clean up housing conditions in Edmonton’s motels and apartments.

Police Program

  globalnews.ca

“We’ve seen mice infestations, cockroaches, raw sewage backing up from crumbling infrastructure,” Fald said in a statement in 2016. “The biggest thing is we want to make sure that we want to provide safe housing, safe accommodations for these families and vulnerable persons, and we want to keep them that way.”

Canadian Issue

  shutterstock.com

“What we’re finding out is this isn’t just an Edmonton issue, this is a provincial issue, it’s actually a Canadian issue, a national issue,” Fald said. Prior to this work in 2016, as a detective, Fald also cracked down on child pornography and Internet luring.

Released

  calgary.ca

Then, in 2003, he participated in an Edmonton police mounted unit pilot project, riding a horse down Whyte Avenue and along trials. Fald has since been released from prison on a promise to appear back in Edmonton Provincial Court.

Canadian Police Sergeant Accused Of Obstructing Justice Is Sued For $4.5 Million is an article from: LifeDaily

Homeless ‘Trolley Man’ Dubbed A Hero After Facing Off With Melbourne Terrorist

0
0

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story

Despite living a life of crime, homeless on the streets of Melbourne, Australia, when push came to shove Michael Rogers felt compelled to “do the right thing” and help to stop an ISIS terrorist from stabbing police officers.

Rogers, who has been called “trolley man” for ramming his shopping cart into the knife-wielding terrorist, has also been dubbed a hero by many for his brave actions. He also has a great opportunity to turn his life around for the better as a result of his courage.

Australian Hero

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  windix / Twitter

Rogers sent social media into a virtual meltdown after footage was posted of him ramming terrorist Hassan Khalif Shire Ali with his shopping cart. While his actions were brave and a little reckless, many feel that Rogers did exactly the right thing in the face of a terror attack and should be commended for it. His actions could have stopped police officers from getting stabbed.

Homeless Collective

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  www.gofundme.com/thankyou-trolleyman

Soon after Australia’s National Homeless Collective saw the footage, they made contact with Rogers, wanting to reimburse him for his mobile phone that was smashed during the attack. They launched a campaign to “get [him] back on his feet,” and have raised more than $100,000 for the homeless man. But not everyone is so thrilled with Rogers, as some claim his actions could have led to potentially dangerous consequences.

Acting Instinctively

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  windix / Twitter

While Rogers deserves the title of hero for his actions, Victorian Police’s commissioner Graham Ashton, said that things could have been a lot worse. “I don’t like to criticize people in that situation, he’s acting instinctively about what he’s looking at in front of him,” Ashton said according to a 3AW report. But that trolley could have hit a cop, and that would have been devastating, according to Ashton.

Giving Thanks

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  windix / Twitter

Despite his criticism, Ashton feels that Rogers was brave to tackle the terrorist. “But if a trolley had hit a police member and knocked him over and then this offender got on top of him, we could have had a tragic consequence,” he noted. “I think he was trying to support the police in his own way, so I haven’t been jumping on him over the weekend,” he said.

Very Stupid

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  windix / Twitter

One commenter on Rogers’ GoFundMe page that was set up after the terrorist incident recognized his braveness but also considered his move to be a “stupid” one. “I think that this guy was incredibly stupid. Brave maybe … but basically very stupid, and could have caused more harm by getting in the way,” wrote the cynic. Another person also posted a comment about incidents like these that end up raising huge sums for random people from fundraising websites.

Well in Excess

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  shutterstock.com

“I hate these things that raise money for a single individual well in excess of what is needed because it always comes at the expense of people giving generously elsewhere to address systemic problems that lead to the situations he was in the first place,” wrote one person. “You don’t fix homelessness (or this man’s life actually) by throwing $50k at him personally,” they added.

Good Thing

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  law.anu.edu.au

Then again, many people think that Rogers did exactly the right thing when he tackled the terrorist head on. Professor Clive Williams, a terrorism expert and visiting professor at the Australian National University, told reporters “If somebody can help a police officer, then it’s a good thing,” he said. “The police are part of our community, and I feel sorry for them because in a lot of environments they are seen as the enemy, and it shouldn’t be that way.”

Lack of Training

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  shutterstock.com

Williams pointed out that while Rogers may have had his intentions in place on that day, his actions could have threatened his own life as well as the lives of the officers on duty. “They are only young people (the police who tackled Ali), and they’re put in difficult situations sometimes. The danger is that, if somebody’s not trained and doesn’t know what they’re doing, they could become a casualty themselves – but I wouldn’t want to deter people from helping the police if they possibly can,” he said.

Selfless Actions

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  windix / Twitter

Another person weighed in to praise Rogers for his actions. Donna Salzberg, National Homeless Collective CEO, told The Australian: “He got up to protect two police officers … we don’t see that much; he just jumped up without any thought of concern himself,” she said. She also noted that dozens of bystanders watched on as the terror attack played out and Rogers was the only one to do something about it.

Life at Risk

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  windix / Twitter

It’s noteworthy that despite his very checkered past, Rogers had no regard for his safety when tackling the terrorist. “There were dozens of people standing around, and he was the only one who jumped in there and put his life at risk for strangers … he is the epitome of being a hero,” said Salzberg. But he had reasons for doing what he did on that day, apart from his instincts.

First Time

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  news.sky.com

Whatever one can say about Rogers’ attributes, high self-esteem is not one of them. Having been homeless for many years, turning to petty crime and shoplifting just to eat on some occasions, Rogers recognizes that he just wanted to do the right thing for once. “I just wanted to help and do something right for the first time in my life,” he said.

Sordid History

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  shutterstock.com

Having been in prison for burglary, Rogers also had a long history of drug abuse and addiction. Despite having a public housing apartment to live in, Rogers chose to live on the streets. For that reason, Salzberg said, she is working closely to ensure that the money raised for Rogers is spent properly and not on drugs.

Helping Hand

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  shutterstock.com

Salzberg noted on the organization’s website: “All funds donated to this campaign will go directly to Mr. Rogers to help get him back on his feet.” He is considered to be a hero by so many that the money is deserved, according to Salzberg. “He’s a hero in our eyes, and he can do what he feels best with any funds he receives. He risked his own life that day for nothing in return, and you can’t put a price on that.”

Blown Away

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  shutterstock.com

The charity has been overwhelmed with support for Rogers. They expressed that they have been “blown away” from all the donations which have come pouring in to help “trolley man get back on his feet.” The charity has seen such unprecedented support that they have removed any targets from their fundraiser, claiming that the “sky’s the limit” for Rogers.

Incredible Generosity

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  shutterstock.com

The charity also noted: “We don’t actually have a set target to reach, but due to the incredible generosity we’ve seen so far we’ll keep increasing the total accordingly,” they wrote.”We’ve far surpassed our original goal. Let’s aim for the sky. Our hero absolutely deserves it.” And the help for Rogers is making a massive difference as he attempted to turn his life around for the first time in years.

Old Days

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  shutterstock.com

Having been involved in shoplifting on occasion when he needed to eat, Rogers was put in jail for stealing a bike from the street as well as for aggravated burglary. But thousands of adoring fans have sent him more than $136,000 in donations. That amount of cash helped Rogers to get back on his feet.

Spending Money

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  shutterstock.com

While Rogers’ lifestyle cannot be considered decadent, he did spend $500 that was handed to him by the charity who are helping him. With that money, Rogers decided to buy a mobile phone to replace the one that was smashed when he accosted the terrorist. He also binged out on a feast of spaghetti marinara and pizza from his favorite restaurant – La Porchetta.

Managing Money

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  shutterstock.com

Despite handing Rogers $500 in cash, Salzberg from MHA told reporters that she would be putting the rest of the money into a trust for the hero. This is to ensure he doesn’t blow the cash on drugs or on things he doesn’t need, having been homeless for so many years. For his part, Rogers wants to do more good and to donate some of his money to charity.

Share the Wealth

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  shutterstock.com

Having realized that the donations coming in well exceeded what he even needs to live, Rogers told the Daily Mail that once the dust has settled, he intends to donate $15,000 to charity to “share the wealth.” “I want to be a good guy,” he told the publication. “I’m going to try anything to do the right thing because I just wanna get a place to settle in that I like, and set it up the way I want it,” he said.

Facing Charges

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  shutterstock.com

Despite all the good news for Rogers, there is also some bad news too. Rogers was in court for a spate of burglaries he took part in, as well as for breaching his bail conditions. Having handed himself into the police, it’s expected that his bail application will be opposed due to the circumstances. The police even released an official statement about Rogers.

Seeking Rogers

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  ChameleonsEye / shutterstock.com

Before he handed himself in, Melbourne police released the following statement on their website. “Police are seeking the whereabouts of a 46-year-old man of no fixed address in relation to a number of recent burglaries in the Melbourne CBD and St Kilda areas and breach of bail conditions,” they wrote. Rogers handed himself in the very next day.

Numerous Charges

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  shutterstock.com

Despite being Australia’s most recent unsung hero, Rogers must face magistrates for the crimes he committed in the past. He faced charges for two counts of burglary, two counts of theft, and committing an indictable offense while on bail.

Thanking Granny

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  shutterstock.com

Rogers spoke to reporters about his deceased grandmother who he said he “loved dearly” but who he disappointed constantly. She died while Rogers was serving a five-year jail term for aggravated burglary. “She would have been exceptionally proud,” Rogers said about his grandma. “God bless her, she lived to 92,” he added.

Future Hopes

Michael Rogers Melbourne Story
  news.sky.com

For his part, Rogers said that he wants to put his life of crime behind him and make something of himself. When he was asked what he would do with all the donations he has received, Rogers said, “To be honest, I don’t know what I am going to do,” adding, “I’m 46 mate. I’ve got to get my act together.”

Homeless ‘Trolley Man’ Dubbed A Hero After Facing Off With Melbourne Terrorist is an article from: LifeDaily

Boy Sends Box Of Toys To Philippines, Receives Life-Changing Letter Years Later

0
0

Tyrel Wolfe of Idaho was just a normal 18-year-old. His life up until this point had been normal – some would say stiflingly so – at least by comparison of what was to come. One day he logged into his Facebook account to find a strange friend request. It was from someone in the Philippines, someone that he had never met.

This isn’t unusual of course. Spam friend requests like this happen all the time on Facebook. Tyrel just deleted the friend request and got on with his life. He had no idea that this particular “spam-bot” would prove to be rather persistent.

Random Lady

  shutterstock.com

Little did he know that the random “spam-bot” who’d sent him that request, was actually a real Filipino woman named Joana Marchan. Of course, Tyrel had never been to the Philippines, so if she was real, he certainly hadn’t met her. Unless she’d been to the U.S. at some point. He put the whole situation from his mind and decided that she was some kind of scammer.

Two Years

  shutterstock.com

Nevertheless, something about the brief message stuck in his mind. Time passed and finally, Joana reached out once again. Tyrel was intrigued. After all, it’s rare for a scammer to try and scam the same person twice. He examined Joana’s profile. They had no friends in common. Why was this person so interested in reaching him? Finally, he accepted the friend request.

Courage

  Fox 9

Tyrel had finally mustered enough courage to send a message of his own back to Joana. He kept it simple; “How do you know me?” it read. She responded quickly and her response raised even more questions in Tyrel’s mind. Joana asked Tyrel if he was familiar with something called the Samaritan’s Purse. It was a term he hadn’t heard in decades.

Decades Before

  www.wbfj.fm

Tryel recalled a Christmas many years ago. He was seven at the time and his parents had told him that an organization called Samaritan’s Purse had started a program called “Operation Christmas Child.” It involved them sending Christmas-themed shoeboxes full of gifts for less fortunate children around the world. Seven-year-old Tyrel had sent out one such shoebox.

Shoeboxes

  www.samaritanspurse.org

Like most of the people that had participated, Tyrel had packed his shoebox full of small toys, toiletries, and school supplies. All of these were things that Joana had been very happy to receive on that Christmas 11 years prior. He was shocked, how had this little girl remembered his name after all this time? His friends and family were equally shocked by the news, and a bit dismayed.

Internet Predator

  shutterstock.com

Tyrel’s parents were especially worried that this Joana was some sort of golddigger, preying upon their son’s inherent kindness and naivete. They weren’t even sure that Joana was her real name. Tyrel wasn’t foolish, he wanted to test the truth himself. So he asked her about the contents of the aforementioned shoebox. Joana couldn’t remember every item, but she did remember one particularly important one.

Correct Recollection

Frankly, Tyrel didn’t remember all the items himself, but all of the things Joana mentioned did seem correct. The one item of note that she did recall, however, gave Tyrel pause. It was a picture of himself that he’d placed inside the shoebox; one that she described in complete detail. She knew it well, she’d come back to it many times over the years.

Other Intentions

There was no doubt in Tyrel’s mind that Joana was the girl he’d sent the box to all those years ago. Still, a question nagged at the back of his mind, one he had to try and put into words. Did Joana have any other, less-than-savory intentions or was she just trying to thank him? As it happened, she did want to thank him, and her only other intention was getting to know him a little better.

Daily Conversations

  icepop.com

Joana and Tyrel did indeed get to know each other better. Before long they were chatting to one another on a daily basis. They soon found that they had quite a lot in common, including a shared love of Christian music. A year later and the two had plans to finally meet. Tyrel planned on taking his senior trip to the Philippines.

Saving Up

  shutterstock.com

It was going to be an expensive undertaking, but Tyrel had decided early on that he wanted to meet Joana, but he knew that she’d never be able to afford to come out to him in Idaho. So he had saved up every penny he could towards their eventual meeting and worked countless hours of overtime. When he told her the good news, Joana was ecstatic.

Hours and Hours

  shutterstock.com

Tyrel was gearing up for the trip of a lifetime. Finally, he hopped on a plane and headed the nearly 15-hour flight from Idaho to Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It was his first time traveling alone, let alone to a foreign country, but Tyrel had a good feeling about the long-awaited meeting.

Arrival

  Fox 9

When he arrived, Joana was at the airport waiting to greet him when he got off the plane. She and her family went above and beyond welcoming him into their home. Almost from the get-go, it felt as though Tyrel was already a part of their family. Their bond was apparent with everyone with eyes to see. Something special was happening.

Brief Stay

  facebook.com - Joana Wolfe

Tyrel wanted to stay in the Philippines as long as possible and before either of them knew it, a month had passed. They were more than just friends at this point. Love had begun to blossom between them. Unfortunately, his time was running short. To Tyrel and Joana, it felt like no sooner had his trip begun and it was time for him to return to the U.S.

Separation Anxiety

  Fox 9

It was finally time for both of them to go their separate ways. They promised one another that this would not be the last time they met and agreed to find anyway they could to be together. Long-distance relationships are difficult at the best of times, but maintaining a relationship over thousands of miles and a whole ocean was bound to be impossible.

Increased Savings

  shutterstock.com

Tyrel arrived back in his hometown and began saving again. He was determined to do everything he could to return to the Philippines, if only for another short span. Before long, he’d saved enough to return. Their second trip was even better. Tyrel had fallen in love with Joana and after he returned home, he resolved to ask her an important question on the third trip.

Third Trip

  facebook.com - Ty Wolfe

Tyrel prepared for his third trip by learning to speak fairly fluent Tagalog, the native Filipino language. He learned enough to speak to Joana’s father about his intentions with his daughter. He wanted to ask for her hand in marriage. Surprisingly, Joana’s father wholeheartedly consented to the agreement, though not everyone was of the same sentiment.

Naysayers

  facebook.com - Rocel Marchan

Even though Joana’s father had consented to the match, her mother wasn’t so on-board with the whole crazy scheme. She had always believed that their relationship had been moving far too quickly. She wanted them to slow down and get to know one another better. These reservations lay partially in the fact that Tyrel was still a foreigner.

Reinforcements

  facebook.com - Ty Wolfe

Tyrel’s plan to convince Joana’s mother was to invite one of his own family members to come and meet the family. He was able to convince his father to visit the Philippines and speak to Joana’s family. He could see how much his son loved Joana and explained that his intentions were completely pure. He added that he knew his son wanted to do the right thing.

In Agreement

  facebook.com - Ty Wolfe

Meeting Tyrel’s father convinced Joana’s mother and she gave her blessing. Wedding plans moved quickly after that. After all, Tyrel and Joana had waited for too long already. Five months later, in October 2014, the two were wed at Tyrel’s parent’s ranch. It was a small ceremony but it respected both cultures.

Simple Wedding

Joana’s simple but gorgeous wedding gown had been purchased at a thrift store for $5. Tyrel wore a barong, a traditional Filipino wedding garment. Their nontraditional love story and nontraditional wedding also came with a rather unusual request for their guests. They weren’t fancy people and didn’t want any sort of pretentious, traditional wedding gifts. They wanted something special.

Brought Together

  faihit.com

Joana and Tyrel thought about the shoebox that brought them together; the one, beautiful moment of charity that allowed them to finally meet. The happy couple wanted to pay it forward, so they had the guests bring shoeboxes of small gifts to be donated to Operation Christmas Child later that year. They also wanted the wedding guests to slip an addition something into the boxes.

Special Notes

Each wedding guest was asked to put a special note into the shoebox. These notes were intended to reflect what Tyrel had done for Joana and to inspire others towards doing good deeds for others. Tyrel and Joana then spent their honeymoon driving the boxes from Idaho to South Carolina. They continued the tradition every Christmas afterward.

Moving In and Moving On

  facebook.com - Joana Wolfe

Despite the fact that it was very far from her family, Joana decided to move to the U.S. to start a life with her new husband. Tyrel’s job requires him to travel, so together, the two have seen a great deal of this country. Three years later, they welcomed a baby boy into their budding family. They named him Harlan Jun Wolfe.

Small Miracles

  facebook.com - Ty Wolfe

One seemingly-innocuous act of kindness brought two people from opposite ends of the world together. Not many people get the chance to have a love story like that of Tyrel and Joana. It just goes to show the effect that one act of kindness can have on the lives of others, and on our own futures.

Boy Sends Box Of Toys To Philippines, Receives Life-Changing Letter Years Later is an article from: LifeDaily

Gamer Faces Federal Charges After Swatting Prank Ends In Fatal Shooting

0
0

Tyler Barriss Story

When 25-year-old Tyler Barriss called the cops to falsely report a violent crime in progress, he made that call over a $1.50 bet on the Call of Duty video game which had been made between two gamers and resulted in the death of 28-year-old Andrew Finch. At the time, Barriss had no idea just how illegal and problematic that call was, and he needed to face justice for it.

When Barriss told the 911 dispatcher that he had shot and killed his father and was holding his mother and brother hostage, planning to set fire to the house, the story sounded legitimate enough to the person on the other end of the phone. What transpired was a shock for everyone concerned.

Swatting Event

Tyler Barriss Story
  shutterstock.com

Swatting in this context is defined as a harassment tactic carried out by deceiving emergency services into sending cops or an emergency response team of some description to another person’s house. The practice is both dangerous for obvious reasons and highly illegal, but when Barriss was asked to make a call over a $1.50 video game bet, that’s exactly what he did.

Criminal Record

Tyler Barriss Story
  shutterstock.com

This wasn’t the first time Barriss found himself involved with the police and for all the wrong reasons. Barriss, who goes by the screen name “SWAuTistic” was homeless and living on the streets of Los Angeles. He had a criminal record for domestic violence and had already served 16 months in an L.A. County Jail for making false bomb threats against an elementary school and a middle school in Granada Hills.

Wanted Man

Tyler Barriss Story
  www.krebsonsecurity.com

Barriss was also wanted by police in Panama City, Florida, for making 30 other hoax bomb threat calls, including one to a high school. He was also sought by Canadian police for harassing a woman in Calgary and for fraud charges. When he made hoax bomb calls to the Federal Communications Commission and of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Barriss became even more wanted by law enforcement.

Online Tournaments

Tyler Barriss Story
  www.umggaming.com

The whole argument started on a website called UMG Gaming which operates online tournaments for games like Call of Duty. Two men, Casey Viner (known as Baperizer) and Shane Gaskill (known as Miruhcle), fought over friendly fire in a Call of Duty: WWII match. Having lost thier $1.50 wagers the two men took to Twitter to argue about the loss. Viner threatened to swat Gaskill over the buck and a half and then contacted Barriss and gave him Gaskill’s address.

Mistaken Identity

Tyler Barriss Story
  shutterstock.com

To make matters even more tragic, Barriss made an error when it came to Gaskill’s address, instead, sending police to Andrew Finch’s home by accident. Using voice over IP through free wifi, Barriss called the Wichita police department with his hoax story. Calling himself Brian, Barriss claimed he was at a home on West McCormick Street, where he had shot his father and was about to set the house on fire.

Wrong Address

Tyler Barriss Story
  shutterstock.com

Barriss had the address wrong, and police were soon sent to the address he had given the dispatcher. They surrounded Finch’s home and as Andrew had heard a commotion outside he opened the door “because he heard something,” according to a Wichita Eagle report. It was at that point that attending officers shot and killed Finch at his front door, assuming that he was reaching for a weapon in his waistband.

Community Outrage

Tyler Barriss Story
  shutterstock.com

Neighbors, as well as people from the local community, were understandably shocked by the incident. That a person could make up a story to a 911 dispatcher and that an innocent man could be shot to death on his doorstep was just one step too far for many people. Residents even attended a City Council meeting soon after the shooting to express their outrage over the matter.

Wanting Closure

Tyler Barriss Story
  Google Maps

As the police department tried to explain away the shooting of Andrew Finch in cold blood, council members assured residents that new measure would be put in place to avoid such incidents in the future. A week after the shooting and Lisa Finch, the dead man’s mother, wrote to the Wichita mayor and police chief stating that she doesn’t know where they’re keeping her son’s body and she wants to give him a “proper funeral service and burial.”

Seeing Andrew

Tyler Barriss Story
  shutterstock.com

In the letter, the bereaved mother implored the mayor, asking him, “Please let me see my son’s lifeless body.” In the same letter, she also asked why the cop who killed her son hadn’t been identified and also wanted to know when her son’s belongings would be returned to her. The family’s attorney, Andrew M. Stroth, also called on the city and the police to be held liable “for the unjustified shooting of Andrew Finch.”

Arrest Made

Tyler Barriss Story
  www.kwch.com

It didn’t take long for law enforcement to arrest Barriss on a host of charges. He was charged with a felony known as “false alarm” soon after he was arrested and taken into custody. Earlier this year, Barriss was extradited to Kansas where he was charged with involuntary manslaughter. He is still being held at the Sedgwick County Jail pending his court case.

Other’s Charged

Tyler Barriss Story
  www.kwch.com

For their part in the debacle, both Viner and Gaskill were also arraigned on multiple charges. Viner is charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to make false/hoax reports, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. While Gaskill is charged with obstruction of justice, wire fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Barriss is also facing charges for hoaxes, cyberstalking resulting in death, making threats of death or damage to property by fire, interstate threats, conspiracy to make false reports, and wire fraud.

Federal Charges

Tyler Barriss Story
  shutterstock.com

The cops threw the book at Barriss and for good reason. He pleaded guilty to almost all of the 51 federal charges against him while U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister will recommend a sentence of 20 years’ incarceration for the crimes. As part of a plea agreement, Barriss will also need to formally apologize to the Finch family and pay them $10,100 in fines and restitution. The House of Representatives even enacted a bill called the Andrew T. Finch Memorial Act of 2018, introduced by Rep. Ron Estes.

Stiffer Punishment

Tyler Barriss Story
  shutterstock.com

To try and stop this kind of incident from occurring in the future, the bill which is also known as the Preventing Swatting and Protecting Our Communities Act of 2018, stiffens the punishment for people involved in Swatting. They would see 5 to 20 years behind bars for that crime, and life in prison if their actions result in a fatality.

Strong Deal

Tyler Barriss Story
  www.kansas.com

U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister spoke to reporters outside the federal courthouse in downtown Wichita. He said that he believes his office had secured a “strong deal” with Barriss in exchange for his guilty pleas. Those pleas will see him behind bars for “a significant amount of time” and bring some closure for the Finch family.

Accepting Responsibility

Tyler Barriss Story
  www.kwch.com

While Barriss’ attorney, Rich Federico, didn’t offer an official statement to reporters he did note that his client “is accepting full responsibility for his conduct.” At the same time, according to McAllister, “We are comfortable with the end result,” noting that he will be recommending that Barriss be put in jail for at least 20 years. But that all depends on Barriss writing apology letters expressing his remorse to the Finch family and the police.

Serving Time

Tyler Barriss Story
  shutterstock.com

If for whatever reason, Barriss refuses to write those letters, he will be incarcerated for a longer period according to the plea deal. Prosecutors are going for between 20 and 25 years for the suspect, bearing in mind his checkered criminal past and history of making fake calls for bomb threats. The plea agreement also makes provisions for Barriss to be supervised for five years after he leaves prison.

In Court

Tyler Barriss Story
  shutterstock.com

While the suspect appeared calm throughout the court proceedings, he wore an orange jumpsuit with the words “Harvey County Jail” stamped in black on the back. He sat alone at a table in the courtroom before the trial, chatting afterward with his lawyer as he glanced through court documents. When asked to confirm that he was Tyler R. Barriss, he replied, “Yes, I am.”

Guilty Plea

Tyler Barriss Story
  shutterstock.com

After confirming his age and some other details, Barriss told the court that he had been treating his anxiety and depression with prescription drugs but confirmed that the medication did not affect his ability to understand and take part in the court proceedings. He told the judge that he had suffered from attention deficit disorder since his teens and had taken a drug called Adderall XR to treat it. When he was asked by Judge Melgren whether he was pleading guilty or not guilty he said “guilty.”

Three States

Tyler Barriss Story
  shutterstock.com

Barriss’ case is a complicated one, mainly because he is facing charges across three separate federal jurisdictions; Kansas, California and Washington D.C. He also faces charges for Finch’s death in state court, including a charge of involuntary manslaughter. He also admitted to 46 counts of swattings that he had committed while living in Los Angeles County.

Not Going Away

Tyler Barriss Story
  www.kansas.com

A few months after the shooting of Andrew Finch, his mother Lisa spoke at an additional City Council meeting where she criticized the police response which led to the killing of her son. “The issue of my innocent son being shot through the screen door is not going away any time soon,” Finch said during a five-minute speech she made. She requested a completely independent investigation into the event that claimed her son’s life, confirming she is considering filing criminal charges against the officer who shot her son.

No Justice

Tyler Barriss Story
  www.kmuw.org

“How is it remotely justice when the wrongdoers are investigating themselves?” Finch asked. “If this were an actual investigation, why hasn’t anyone come to talk to us (family witnesses)? How is it justice when no city official or politician is willing to hold (the officer who fired the shot) accountable?” She asked. She also tied her statements to the council’s weekly ritual of pledging allegiance to the flag.

Explain Yourselves!

Tyler Barriss Story
  www.kake.com

Finch mentioned the Pledge of Allegiance, asking council members to explain their purpose for reciting it. “You guys have the audacity to recite the Pledge of Allegiance,” she said. “Could you explain the purpose of this? God is one of the words of the pledge. How can you pledge to do anything about God at all if you’re not willing to come forward and do the right thing?”

Justice for All

Tyler Barriss Story
  shutterstock.com

After Finch lambasted some council members for paying more attention to their phones than to her during her speech, she raised a point about justice not being served properly in this case. “Another few words at the end of the Pledge of Allegiance are ‘justice for all,'” she said. “Does that mean only those on your side are allowed justice? She asked.

The Right Thing

Tyler Barriss Story
  www.kake.com

Lisa Finch went on to encourage the council members to “do the right thing” by her and her dead son, claiming that all she wants is to see some justice for Andrew. “I have in no way seen justice for my son Andrew Finch. One way or another, you will eventually have to deal with this. Why not do the right thing and give justice to my son?” She said. The case continues pending sentencing.

Gamer Faces Federal Charges After Swatting Prank Ends In Fatal Shooting is an article from: LifeDaily

Six-Year-Old Lost Boy Treks 20 Miles Through Oregon Wilderness Before Being Rescued

0
0

The wilderness of the Pacific Northwest has never been what one might consider a hospitable locale. At times, the freezing, untamed wilds of Oregon are more like a primordial forest than a weekend camping destination. This is especially true if you happen to be a six-year-old boy, lost and alone in that untamed place.

Cody Sheehy is one of the few people to have traversed this sometimes inhospitable wilderness on his own. Despite 18 hours of bone-breaking walking and cold, Cody made it out alive and lived to tell his tale. After 32 years, he’s going back to retrace his steps and discuss how this amazing survival experience really did change his life.

Towering Pines

When Cody Sheehy wandered away from his family, he found himself standing among the pine trees. The towering evergreens stood tall in the darkening sky, obscuring the setting sun. Cody had been used to living outdoors, his family were ranchers and he spent most of his time outside; but not in this type of rugged, untamed wilderness.

Little and Lost

Cody was only six years old. He was three and a half feet tall, he weighed a little under 40 pounds. The primeval world around him was as daunting as anything he’d ever experienced in his entire life. As he stood there, frozen with uncertainty, he wondered how it had come to that. He and his older sister Carrie had been playing while the family picnicked, but somewhere along the way, he’d gotten separated.

Explorers

Carrie and Cody had been playing a game called explorers. Though this particular game would only prove ironic to them after Cody found himself lost in the unfamiliar woods, of course. They’d go off in opposite directions, find interesting things to show one another, then return to share their findings. On one of the subsequent trips, however, Cody didn’t come back.

Finding Cody

At first, Carrie was merely annoyed that Cody had failed to return, but in time, the whole family became embroiled in the search for the now missing boy. As for Cody, he’d gotten turned around whilst heading back to the tree they’d marked as “base” and wandered into an unfamiliar meadow. By the time he’d headed back into the treeline, everything seemed wholly unfamiliar.

Back to Base

From there, Cody circled for a while. He left small footprints in the earth, but they went every which way. Even a talented tracker would have been hard-pressed to find out which way he went. A search party soon sprung up at “base.” Riders on horseback crisscrossed the Blue Mountains to find the boy, but came back to base unsuccessful as the temperature plummeted to just above freezing.

Well-Dressed

It wasn’t quite snowing in the Blue Mountains, but there were patches of snow dotted about the lower parts of the countryside. When he’d first gone missing, in his sweatpants, gloves, sneakers, and puffy, hooded coat, Cody thought that he’d be plenty warm to combat the setting sun. He was about to find out how wrong he was.

Mountain Lad

Before he went and got himself lost in the woods, Cody was the type of kid who spent his free time outside, away from the prying eyes of adults. His family were cattle ranchers and so Cody spent many days out hunting crayfish, hiking with his parents, or simply walking along the far-flung edges of the Sheehy property.

Not so Helpless

Cody was confident and well-versed in the ways of the wilderness. He had even hiked with his father in Inner Mongolia when Dennis Sheehy had worked for the International Fund for Agricultural Development. Thus it was that Cody picked up his feet and began the long trek back to his family. If they couldn’t find him, he’d find them.

Toughest Guy Ever

It is no surprise that Cody went right into survival mode, even at six years old. He learned from the best. His father Dennis was a Marine Corps vet who had crawled through a rice paddy to rejoin his own lost comrades during the Vietnam war. All this while bleeding from a gunshot wound. He was a rough, tough, cowboy and he never quit. How could Cody do any less?

Miles Away

Even standing in that unfamiliar meadow, Cody knew what to look for. He saw a dirt road leading away from the area and knew that it had to go somewhere. His assumption was that if he picked a direction and headed down the road, he’d end up somewhere – perhaps even somewhere settled. He ended up miles away from the area where the search party had begun.

Sit and Wait

Some argue that Cody should have just stayed where he was and waited for rescuers to show, but it was far too late for that. In this way, rescue parties can comb closest to where you were instead of trying to figure out which direction you headed off in. Instead, Cody followed his gut and marched down the road.

Wild and Running

Over the next 18 grueling hours, Cody walked approximately 14 to 20 miles. Luckily for him, he had picked the right direction. Instead of going deeper into the mountains, he had headed into the sparsely populated Wallowa Valley. His trip down into the valley would see him falling into a river, climbing a tree to escape coyotes, and risking hypothermia.

News Across the Sea

At the time, Dennis Sheehy was in Inner Mongolia, helping agriculturalists and farmers to take advantage of better soil. He hadn’t known at all that his son was even missing. If he had, he might not have worried. After all, he’d taught his children well. Though Cody’s mother, Marcie was more than nervous enough for the two of them. Though not entirely so.

Not Her Fault

If this story had happened now instead of in 1981, she’d have been chastised for her “negligence” all over social media. For her part, Marcie didn’t feel as though she was a bad mom. How could she? Cody and Carrie were both capable kids, and a picnic in the deep Oregonian woods was as normal for them as a walk through the cattle fields.

Saving Cody

While Marcie was heading up the search, Cody was doing his best to survive. At one point, his primitive “reptile brain” took over and the cold, exhausted, starving young man had to hide in the bushes from a passing car. As he knelt down, he felt his ankles beginning to weaken. He didn’t know it yet, but he’d developed acute tendonitis in his ankles.

Escaping Coyotes

As he walked, slowing with exhaustion, Cody heard the frantic panting of the coyotes in his wake. Knowing the two canines were incapable of climbing trees, he dashed up the nearest one as fast as he could. He barely made it that time. But it wasn’t the coyotes that posed the most danger, it was the cold.

National News

Cody was finally found. He was cold, tired, hungry, and the tendonitis put him on crutches for the better part of the following weeks, but he was alive and safe. Before long, the miraculous tale made headlines across the country. His grandfather, a cowboy poet, even wrote a ballad about his amazing journey. People from all over sent Cody letters of congratulation, money, and believe it or not, bibles.

Retrace Steps

Recently, Cody decided to return to the place where he had lost himself so many years ago. He wanted to retrace his steps and see what it was like. The original journey had been a transformative one, an experience that ultimately changed the way he was living his life. And who better to go along the route with than Everett Roberts, a member of the original search party.

Pushing Through

Cody’s belief about the experiences is that getting lost truly pushed him to fight. It was a mentality he took with him wherever he went. “Over the course of your life, you push through a lot of physical barriers,” he explained to Outsideonline.com. “As a little kid, I had this opportunity to be tested and learn that there really aren’t any barriers.”

Fate

  credit

Cody concluded with, “I think a lot of people figure that out. They just might not figure it out at six.” As for Mr. Roberts, who is himself a Marine Corps veteran like Cody’s late father, he believes that it was fate that Cody should survive the ordeal. “His dad, Dennis, survived Vietnam. Maybe it’s just fate,” he explained.

Six-Year-Old Lost Boy Treks 20 Miles Through Oregon Wilderness Before Being Rescued is an article from: LifeDaily

Paralyzed Man Walks Again Thanks To Groundbreaking Electrical Implants

0
0

Jered Chinnock Story

When Jered Chinnock from Wisconsin got into snowboarding, he found it to be the most exciting and exhilarating hobby he had ever taken up. He was no pro, but Chinnock loved nothing more than venturing out on the slopes with his friends.

However, one fateful day and Chinnock would be paralyzed from an accident he had on his snowboard. He lost all movement and sensation below his mid-back and despite weeks of physical therapy, his condition didn’t improve. But, groundbreaking medical technology was about to change his life forever and make medical history.

Making Headlines

Jered Chinnock Story
  Mayo Clinic / YouTube

29-year-old Jered Chinnock was in the headlines for taking his first steps in five years after being paralyzed from the accident. The moment he walked made medical history when he was able to do so with the aid of nothing but a wheeled walking frame. This was thanks to some pioneering treatment called epidural stimulation, which is the “application of continuous electrical current to the lower spinal cord,” according to Wingsforlife.com.

Reconnecting Nerves

Jered Chinnock Story
  shutterstock.com

The whole point of the treatment is to reconnect broken nerve cells between the brain and spinal cord, essentially to retrain the brain to go back to its state before an injury. Intense rehabilitation exercises were also required to reactivate nerves and muscles, but when Chinnock now initiates movement, it happens for the most part.

Superman’s Son

Jered Chinnock Story
  s_bukley / shutterstock.com

When Christopher Reeve fell off his horse when he was out riding one day, the man who played Superman was paralyzed from the neck down. Reeve and his family were understandably devastated by the accident, and he spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair. His son Matthew who now lives in Sweden took particular interest in the story of Jered Chinnock.

No Hope

Jered Chinnock Story
  Featureflash Photo Agency / shutterstock.com

Matthew recalls that his father, who had the accident at the age of 42, was told by doctors at the time, “This is your wheelchair. Get used to it. You will not recover any mobility.” He said that if his father were still alive, he would be “ecstatic” about this amazing medical breakthrough as he was left with no hope of ever walking again. As Matthew said, according to a Mail Online report, “Nobody who is injured today should be told that because it’s not true.”

Strong Connection

Jered Chinnock Story
  www.christopherreeve.org

The fact is that Reeve is partially responsible for the medical breakthrough thanks to the work of the organization he set up offering funding into curing spinal cord injury and improving the quality of life of people living with paralysis. The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation also funded the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota where Chinnock received his treatment.

Helping Others

Jered Chinnock Story
  lev radin / shutterstock.com

Even though the technology came too late for his father, Reeve explained how he and his two siblings had been an integral part of the new process through their work at the Foundation. “A couple of years ago we made an announcement about our first four guys who were able to stand up,” said Matthew, who is currently the vice-chairman of the Foundation.

Watershed Moment

Jered Chinnock Story
  s_bukley / shutterstock.com

Reeve is proud of the work he has done in honor of his father. “This year, other patients of ours have been able to take steps, which is a truly remarkable watershed moment,” he told reporters. “It’s difficult for me not to get emotional when I see or hear about patients standing up out of their wheelchairs and taking steps. One of the earliest guys to receive epidural stimulation stood up to get married,” he added.

Matter of Time

Jered Chinnock Story
  shutterstock.com

Reeve also told reporters from Stockholm, where he lives with his wife and daughter, that it’s only a matter of time before this procedure becomes common practice. “I believe it is only a matter of years before innovative, technology-based therapies like epidural stimulation will become standard practice in the treatment and recovery from spinal cord injuries – and that patients like my father will walk again,” he said.

Walking Far

Jered Chinnock Story
  Mayo Clinic / YouTube

Amazingly, during one of Chinnock’s many physical therapy session at the Mayo Clinic, the patient was able to walk the equivalent of the length of a football field. Chinnock told the AP: “The walking side of it isn’t something where I just leave my wheelchair behind, and away I go,” he said. But he added, “there is the hopeful side of, maybe I’ll gain that – where I can leave the wheelchair behind, even if it is to walk to the refrigerator.”

Really Excited

Jered Chinnock Story
  Johns Hopkins Medicine / YouTube

Medical experts are very excited about this breakthrough in their quest to help people who have suffered from spinal cord injuries. As Dr. Cristina Sadowsky from the Johns Hopkins University said, “I’m really excited about this.” However, she cautioned that while the procedure tapped into “residual connections that are not being used,” she added that, “not everybody who has a similar injury will respond the same.”

New Approach

Jered Chinnock Story
  Mayo Clinic / YouTube

While numerous approaches have been tried in the past with little success, this new procedure has seen at least three patients up and walking, using their own brain power. Due to circuits of nerves below the injury site being dormant, they are still technically alive. When electrical current is applied to them, in customized patterns, those circuits can be “awoken.” Along with intense rehabilitation, the rusty connections can work once again in some cases.

Reteaching the Spine

Jered Chinnock Story
  Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation / YouTube

As Professor Susan Harkema from the University of Louisville, who co-authored a study in the New England Journal explained, “Recovery can happen if you have the right circumstances,” she said. Noting that the spinal cord “relearns to do things, not as well as it did before, but it can function.” Other people also feel the study offers hope for people faced with paralysis.

Success Story

Jered Chinnock Story
  Mayo Clinic / YouTube

Chinnock and the team who treated him had no idea how well he would react to the new procedure. After 43 weeks of intense physical therapy and stimulator adjustments, his knees and hips were positioned to help him stand on a treadmill. But eventually, by watching in a mirror, Chinnock learned to move his legs and propel himself forward with a walker. “It’s very much a thoughtful, intentional movement,” he said.

Other Patients

Jered Chinnock Story
  University of Louisville / www.louisville.edu

Chinnock isn’t the only patient to be helped by this new procedure. Jeff Marquis from Louisville was also able to walk again as a result of the special implant. Another patient, 23-year-old Kelly Thomas from Florida was another success story, who was able to walk of her own accord thanks to the treatment she received.

Changing Lives

Jered Chinnock Story
  University of Louisville / www.louisville.edu

Medical experts and patients alike are so excited and hopeful about this new procedure as it’s the first time many people have been offered the hope of walking again. As Thomas explained about her situation: “One day we were walking and they were helping me as usual, and then they stopped helping me and I took maybe three or four steps in sequence,” she said. “My eyes got teary and I was like, ‘Oh my god, that just happened, I just took steps.'”

Early Stages

Jered Chinnock Story
  Mayo Clinic / YouTube

Neurosurgeon Dr. Kendall Lee, who co-led the team from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, explained that while the research is certainly exciting, it is in the early stages at this time. “It’s very exciting, but still very early in the research stage,” he said. Lee also explained the importance of teaching patients to stand on their own two feet without the assistance of doctors the whole time.

Patient’s Mind

Jered Chinnock Story
  shutterstock.com

As the patient needs to relearn and train their brain to walk once again, it’s vital that they have plenty of mental determination as well as physical. “The reason why this is important is because the patient’s own mind, thought, was able to drive movement in his legs. Just as important is that we were able to get him to stand independently and take his own steps,” Lee said.

Way to Go

Jered Chinnock Story
  Mayo Clinic / YouTube

While it’s great news for Chinnock, he was open about the fact that he still has a long way to go when it comes to walking completely independently. He explained how hard he has worked to reconnect his brain to his spine and how he has enjoyed a lot of success in his endeavors. But doctors are still erring on the side of caution when it comes to offering the treatment to patients, and for good reason.

Establishing Connection

Jered Chinnock Story
  www.mayo.edu

While doctors are excited about the breakthrough, they are still very cautious. The Mayo Clinic team believes that the key to success may lie in residual nerve fibers keeping an open channel of communication with the brain. As co-principal investigator, Dr. Kristin Zhao, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Assistive and Restorative Technology Laboratory said, “Now I think the real challenge starts, and that’s understanding how this happened, why it happened, and which patients will respond.”

Showing Promise

Jered Chinnock Story
  Mayo Clinic / YouTube

Just around 25 weeks after the operation, Chinnock no longer needed a harness to walk and was showing real promise. Over the course of a year, he achieved some amazing milestones including a 102-meter walk as well as walking continuously for 16 minutes. He can stand and walk whenever he wants although he still requires the use of a wheeled walking frame for extra support.

Paralyzed Man Walks Again Thanks To Groundbreaking Electrical Implants is an article from: LifeDaily


TV Star Admits Having A Baby At 49 Years Old Is More Science Than Miracle

0
0

Anyone who has ever had difficulty having a baby knows how painful and upsetting it can be to try everything possible to become a parent. So when a lucky couple does manage to conceive after years of pain, it can feel like a miracle.

When an Australian news presenter announced she was finally pregnant at the age of 48 years old, everyone congratulated her on her miracle baby. In the wake of the exciting news, however, she came out with the real truth about how her baby was conceived and claimed nothing about it was miraculous.

Fertility Issues

  shutterstock.com

To avoid fertility issues, doctors often encourage women and couples to start thinking about having children and trying to get pregnant earlier rather than later. The reason is that a woman’s fertility starts to dramatically decrease by her mid-30s, which makes having a child naturally much harder.

Not Ready For Parenthood

  shutterstock.com

However, for a variety of reasons, not all women who dream of becoming mothers are ready to have a child in their 20s or early 30s. Some of those reasons include not being with the right partner to have a baby with or wanting to focus on their career.

Dreams Of Motherhood

  instagram.com/soniakruger

For Sonia Kruger, a 53-year-old Australian television presenter and media personality, the reason she never had a child earlier in life had a little bit to do with both of those reasons. While she wanted to become a mother one day, she had devoted herself to her career.

No Time For A Baby

  instagram.com/soniakruger

Throughout her career, Kruger has worked as an entertainment reporter and was the host of Australia’s Dancing with the Stars, Big Brother Australia, and The Voice Australia. Now, Kruger is the co-host of a daytime talk show, Today Extra, alongside Australian singer and actor David Campbell.

A Marriage Breakdown

  shutterstock.com

To keep up with the demanding work schedule, Kruger didn’t have time to even think about having a baby. And after her marriage to James Davies, a British banker, fell apart in 2008, she wasn’t in the right place in her life to consider motherhood.

The Right Time

  www.ntnews.com.au

The following year, however, Kruger began dating her current partner, Craig McPherson. By that point, McPherson already had six children from a previous relationship. Yet the pair decided they wanted a child of their own and started trying to get pregnant.

Trying To Conceive Naturally

  shutterstock.com

Over the following few years, Kruger and McPherson tried to get pregnant but failed to conceive naturally. And the few times she did get pregnant, she would suffer a miscarriage. By the time Kruger was 45 years old, she decided it was time to go see a specialist.

The Proof

  shutterstock.com

Kruger had heard of plenty of women, especially famous women, who had gotten pregnant and given birth to healthy babies while they were in their late 40s and even early 50s. She knew that it might be difficult for her to get pregnant but assumed that it was definitely possible.

A Crushing Discovery

  shutterstock.com

So when the 45-year-old went to a doctor to see about IVF, she was crushed when the doctor told her that her chance of getting pregnant and giving birth to a baby was zero. “You start to view yourself as a failure,” Kruger told the Herald Sun about the experience.

Staying Hopeful

  instagram.com/soniakruger

Despite the odds, Kruger decided to go ahead with IVF, as she refused to give up hope that it was too late to become a mother. She had heard countless stories of mothers who refused to give up and had their miracle babies and believed she could have her miracle too.

A Miraculous Announcement

  instagram.com/soniakruger

Then in August of 2014, it appeared the television presenter had, in fact, gotten pregnant with her own miracle baby. At 48 years old, Kruger announced that she was pregnant and that she and McPherson managed to conceive via in-vitro fertilization.

Determined To Be A Mom

  facebook.com

“Her strength of character and determination kept her going to have this baby,” Dr. Lynn Burmeister, the clinical director at Monash IVF where Kruger underwent treatment, told the Herald Sun. “Many women give up at some point in time. I think she even said, ‘I have never given up hope.’”

The Miracle Baby

  instagram.com/soniakruger

In the wake of the pregnancy announcement and Kruger’s announcement in January 2015 that she had given birth to a healthy baby girl at 49 years old, headlines across the country announced that Kruger had become a mother to a miracle baby.

Not A Miracle

  instagram.com/soniakruger

Considering the chances of a live birth from IVF is just 18 percent for women over 40, and the fact that those chances drop to just 1.1 percent if the mother is over 54 years old, it really did seem like a miracle. However, Kruger came out and revealed a miracle had nothing to do with her becoming a mother.

Admitting The Truth

  shutterstock.com

In the wake of the exciting news, Kruger came out and announced that science, not a miracle, was the reason she had finally managed to become a mother. According to Kruger, Dr. Burmeister, science, and a generous friend who donated an egg allowed her to give birth to her daughter, Maggie.

A Donor Egg

  instagram.com/soniakruger

“I have a very good friend who gave me an egg, and that’s how this pregnancy came about,” Kruger said in an announcement after Maggie’s birth. “I’m thrilled to bits. I feel incredibly appreciative for what she did for me and the fact that it worked, because for a long time I didn’t think it would.”

Accepting Reality

  shutterstock.com

Kruger also explained that in order to have Maggie, she had to accept the fact that her own eggs were no longer viable and that she would need an egg donor if she was going to be a mother. “When I went into that first round of IVF (around 45) I learned that my chances of success were zero,” Kruger said.

Learning The Truth

  instagram.com/soniakruger

“I was surprised by that information because, like a lot of women, I’d seen high-profile women fall pregnant in their late 40s and thought, ‘Well, it’s possible.’ But I didn’t know the details until the doctors said, ‘Make no mistake; these women will have used egg donors,’” Kruger explained.

An Eye-Opener

  facebook.com

“It was a real eye-opener for me. I just felt it was really important not to misrepresent (how she got pregnant, or the chances of falling pregnant naturally in your late 40s) to other women out there. I knew there were a lot of women in my age bracket who will be wondering how it happened,” she added. “Sonia always said to me she was not going to lie and pretend it happened naturally,” Dr. Burmeister said. “She wanted the word out there, she wants women to think about it and start planning their families earlier.”

An Important Message

  ajfn.org.au

“I think Sonia Kruger has to be congratulated for being so open about her own situation and saying there’s ‘no miracle involved here,’” Your Fertility national education project spokesperson Louise Johnson told the Herald Sun. “To Sonia Kruger’s great credit, she actually came out and said it,” Fertility Society of Australia president Dr. Mark Bowman added. “Almost everybody, particularly famous everybodies, that use donor eggs never admit to it. It’s incredibly unfair to send a message to the wider female fraternity that ‘I took herbs and got fit and got pregnant.’”

TV Star Admits Having A Baby At 49 Years Old Is More Science Than Miracle is an article from: LifeDaily

Congresswoman Recounts Harrowing Moment She Was Shot 5 Times Saving Jonestown Cult Members

0
0

Jackie Speier Story

While adversity, failure, and trauma can be incredibly painful, those experiences often make us stronger and propel us forward on a path we never could have imagined otherwise.

According to one Congresswoman, her road to holding a seat in Congress was incredibly traumatic and nearly killed her. However, she credits the experience with giving her the strength to live a life of service and speak out for those who don’t have a voice.

An Early Passion

Jackie Speier Story
  shutterstock.com

Jackie Speier was born in 1950 in San Francisco. She was raised in the California city by her Armenian mother and immigrant father from Germany. As a teenager, Speier became passionate about politics and started volunteering for Congressman Leo Ryan.

A Teenage Volunteer

Jackie Speier Story
  United States House of Representatives / Wikipedia

Ryan was a former teacher and a young politician. In the 1960s, Ryan had served as a local mayor and as a city councilman in Speier’s south San Francisco neighborhood. During that time, the high schooler identified with Ryan’s political views and volunteered on his campaign while she was a student at Mercy High School in Burlingame. After that volunteering position, Speier continued to work for Ryan and help out whenever she could. Speier later graduated from the University of California, Davis, and earned a J.D. degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law.

Investigating The Peoples Temple

Jackie Speier Story
  Indytnt / Wikipedia

After graduating, Speier took a job with Ryan, who was then a member of Congress, as his legislative council in Washington, D.C. According to Speier, Ryan had started looking into The Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ, which was led by Jim Jones, around the time she started working for him full time.

An Alarming Article

Jackie Speier Story
  shutterstock.com

“Congressman Ryan and I were walking down a hallway as he was about to go to the floor for a vote,” Speier explained in her memoir, Undaunted: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back. “He was opening a reading file, and the first document he read was an article from the San Francisco Chronicle from June 15, 1978.”

The Defector

Jackie Speier Story
  shutterstock.com

“It was about Debbie Blakey, who had just escaped from the Guyana Peoples Temple. She was one of the first to escape and the first individual who spelled out the true nature of the experience in Guyana,” Speier explained. By that point in time, Jones’ cult, which was being touted as a religious movement and church, had set up centers throughout California and a ‘socialist paradise’ community called Jonestown on rented land in Guyana.

Growing Concern

Jackie Speier Story
  California Historical Society / oac.cdlib.org

Because the compound was in South America, it was hard to know what was really going on there. However, Ryan was worried about the more than 900 people that had followed Jones to the ‘agricultural cooperative’ because of alarming stories from those who managed to escape the cult and a group called Concerned Relatives. The group was made up of relatives of people who had followed Jones to Guyana.

An Obligation

Jackie Speier Story
  United States Congress / Wikipedia

According to Speier, she and Ryan met with Blakey, who told them about the threatened mass suicides, sexual assaults, and other forms of abuse within the community. Because most of the people who had followed Jones happened to be his constituents, Ryan felt obligated to investigate the group and make sure everyone was safe.

The Trip To Jonestown

Jackie Speier Story
  United States Congress / Wikipedia

After Ryan planned a trip to Jonestown, he invited Speier and one other staffer to join him. While Ryan was confident the trip would be perfectly safe, Speier had a bad feeling about it from the beginning. She was particularly worried about Jones, who had been described as volatile. “There was no telling what he’d do if confronted and challenged,” she explained.

Arriving At The Compound

Jackie Speier Story
  California Historical Society / oac.cdlib.org

Despite her apprehension, the 28-year-old agreed to go on the trip. However, shortly after arriving at Jonestown, or the ‘Peoples Temple Agriculture Project’, Speier’s instincts proved to be correct. While Jones hadn’t officially invited them, Ryan managed to get their group, which included journalists, into the remote compound on November 17, 1978.

A Crumbling Facade

Jackie Speier Story
  California Historical Society / oac.cdlib.org

According to Speier, the group was met with performances and food, but it seemed like a charade. That charade quickly crumbled as members of the compound started slipping secret notes to the group begging them to save them and help them escape. Before long, a few dozen members had expressed interest in escaping. 

The Volatile Cult Leader

Jackie Speier Story
  Nancy Wong / Wikipedia

When Ryan agreed to take them back to the United States, Jones started to become unhinged. “Jones, easy to spot in his bright-red short-sleeved button-down shirt, was doing his best to keep his cool, but beads of sweat were running down his face as he licked his lips and watched over his congregation,” Speier said.

The Cracks Start To Show

Jackie Speier Story
  California Historical Society / oac.cdlib.org

“He was still rational – things hadn’t gone completely sideways yet – but his anxiety was clearly growing,” Speier said. ”I was feet away from Jones, close enough to hear him trying to convince people to change their minds. When cameras were rolling, he spoke of how he loved them and how there would always be a place for them – but those declarations would be followed by thinly veiled mutters about treason and liars. He was cracking, and all I wanted to do was get out of there.”

Escaping Jonestown

Jackie Speier Story
  shutterstock.com

While preparing to leave, however, Ryan was attacked by members of the compound who were becoming violent and uncontrollable. “So we loaded up as many people as possible in the first truck, including Ryan. Once we were pushed out of the mud and the truck sputtered to life, we slowly drove away from Jonestown. The long and jerky ride back to Port Kaituma was grim. There were around two dozen of us crammed in the bed of the muddy truck, with at least forty would-be defectors left behind, belongings packed, waiting to escape,” Speier said.

The Attack

Jackie Speier Story
  shutterstock.com

Once back on the airstrip, Speier and the group started boarding the plane when a red tractor-trailer drove onto the airstrip. At that point, Jones’ loyal guards opened fire at the group. “I couldn’t immediately identify the deafening sound that filled the air. Everybody bolted in different directions,” Speier explained. “I saw the congressman and Don Harris dash under the airplane. I followed suit and attempted to get behind the wheel of the aircraft. As I was moving toward that wheel I watched as Congressman Ryan was shot. Blood gushed from his neck. As I tried to move toward him to stem the flow of blood, he was shot a second time and fell to the ground.”

Shot At Point-Blank Range

Jackie Speier Story
  shutterstock.com

Ryan ended up being shot 43 more times after about six men jumped from the trailer and started shooting the crowd and the plane. ”The thunderous refrain was overwhelming, punctuated by the smell of burning gunpowder. I was lying on my side with my head down, feigning death, while the men were walking around shooting people at point-blank range. My body was suddenly crushed by a shocking blow to my side. It felt like a Mack truck had just sped over me,” Speier explained.

Pretending To Be Dead

Jackie Speier Story
  Cambodia Phnom Penh / Fickr

Speier was shot five times in the arm, leg, and back. Despite the excruciating pain and shock, Speier managed to lay still and pretended to be dead. The 28-year-old waited for what felt like an eternity after the gunfire stopped to move her head and look around. When she did, she saw dead bodies littered everywhere around her. The moment Speier looked down at her own body and saw pieces of flesh, muscle, and bone, hanging off her was the moment she realized how dire her situation was.

The Body Of A Dead Woman

Jackie Speier Story
  shutterstock.com

“That body – my body – was the body of a dead woman,” Speier said. “I had no idea what to do. That was the moment I said the Act of Contrition. That was the moment I resigned myself to the inevitable darkness that was waiting for me.” After a while, Speier dragged herself to the cargo hold of the plane where a few survivors were hiding. Because the plane was too damaged to fly, the remaining survivors fled into the jungle. According to Speier, a few kind Guyanese men carried her to a patch of grass on the side of the airstrip.

The Mass Poisoning At Jamestown

Jackie Speier Story
  shutterstock.com

Speier was in the worst shape out of all the survivors and was sure she was going to die. However, she managed to stay alive the 22 agonizing hours waiting for help to arrive. At some point during that time, the survivors learned of a mass poisoning at Jonestown after Jones ordered his hundreds of followers to drink a cyanide-laced grape-flavored Flavor Aid. “When people refer to the Jonestown massacre as a ‘mass suicide,’ I am enraged,” Speier explained. “It was nothing of the kind. Although some of Jones’s most zealous followers may have drunk the poison voluntarily, the vast majority of those people were murdered outright and against their will.”

A Deathbed Vow

Jackie Speier Story
  United States Congress / Wikipedia

“I vowed that if I got out of there alive, I would make every day count, I would live as fully as possible, and I would devote my life to public service,” said Speier, who did just that after returning to the United States and recovering.  Speier vowed to run for office and fill Ryan’s place. While she didn’t win that first election, she was elected to Ryan’s seat 40 years later and continues to hold it. “With the hindsight of forty years, I see that my baptism by gunfire guided me into the life I was meant to live: one of public service, one that would ignite the courage to make my voice heard, and one that would carry with it a visceral appreciation for each new day.”

A Formative Moment

Jackie Speier Story
  RepSpeier / Twitter

“We don’t get to choose or formative moments. Very often, adversity and failure shape us more permanently than fortune and success. That has certainly been the case in my life,” Speier said. “The major setbacks I’ve endured – and there have been many – have actually propelled me onward, each one reminding me how important it is to stand up again, as difficult as it may be, stronger and more steadfast. Pain yields action; it can introduce a fervor to speak out for those whose voices are not heard. Surviving Jonestown crystallized where I needed to focus my energy. It convinced me that I had a purpose.”

Congresswoman Recounts Harrowing Moment She Was Shot 5 Times Saving Jonestown Cult Members is an article from: LifeDaily

6 Face Justice For Multiple Crimes In ‘Longest And Most Complex’ Case In Ohio’s History

0
0

George Wagner III Story

When a family of eight was found murdered in their homes in Pike County, Ohio, an intense investigation began. After the murders, there were rumors of potential motives, as police undertook one of the largest investigations in Ohio’s history.

Many wondered if the suspects responsible would ever be apprehended but years later, there are finally answers.

Pike County, Ohio

George Wagner III Story
  shutterstock.com

On April 22, 2016, a 911 call came in from a home on Union Hill Road, a village in Pike County, Ohio. Just as deputies were traveling to the house, where two male victims were possibly deceased, they were flagged down and given additional information on reports of bodies.

911 Call

George Wagner III Story
  shutterstock.com

In a recording released after the killings, a woman was heard telling a 911 dispatcher that she found her brother-in-law and cousin inside a trailer without signs of life. “There’s blood all over,” the woman, later identified as Bobby Manley, told the dispatcher, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Trailers

George Wagner III Story
  shutterstock.com

Asked if she thought they were dead, Manley said “yes,” adding, “it looks like someone has beat the hell out of them.” Manley cried over the phone as she waited for help to arrive. Soon, deputies learned that seven of the victims’ bodies were found among three different trailer homes, all within walking distance of one another.

Beds

George Wagner III Story
  shutterstock.com

Many of the bodies were still lying in bed, according to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. An eighth body was found at a fourth location that was a short 10-minute drive away. Those who were killed were identified as Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40, his ex-wife Dana Manley Rhoden, 37, and their three children, Hanna May Rhoden, 19, Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16, and Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 20.

Sophisticated Murders

George Wagner III Story
  shutterstock.com

Frankie Rhoden’s fiance, Hannah “Hazel” Gilley, 20, as well as Christopher Rhoden Sr.’s brother Kenneth Rhoden, 44, and cousin Gary Rhoden, 38, were also fatally shot. At the time of the killings, DeWine said that they appeared to be “pre-planned” and “sophisticated.”

Autopsies

George Wagner III Story
  Donald Stone / dailymail.co.uk

Autopsy reports suggested that the murders were calculated and brutal, with the coroner saying that all but one of the victims were shot more than once. Christopher Rhoden Sr. is the only victim who was believed to have been awake when his entire family was shot. He sustained nine gunshot wounds all over his body.

Gunshots

George Wagner III Story
  shutterstock.com

Gary was shot twice in the head and a third time in the face and his autopsy report says a muzzle stain was left on his head. Dana Rhoden was carefully shot four times around her head and a fifth time from under her chin. She was sharing a trailer with Christopher Jr. and Hanna, who were both shot in the head multiple times.

Infant

George Wagner III Story
  shutterstock.com

Hanna Rhoden’s newborn was found alive near her mother’s body and Hannah Gilley’s 6-month-old and another small child were also unharmed, according to the Associated Press. Hannah was shot five times in total, with one shot hitting her left eye, all while her baby sat awake. Investigators scrambled to determine who targeted the Rhoden family and went on a massive search to find out.

Investigation

George Wagner III Story
  CBS This Morning / YouTube

They conducted over 130 interviews and processed over 100 pieces of evidence and 500 tips while getting assistance from more than 20 law enforcement agencies. Investigators moved the four trailers the families were murdered in, to a barn at the county sheriff’s impound lot. The 12,000 square foot barn was built by the sheriff’s department for around $100,000 to protect the trailers, which serve as evidence in the case.

Child Custody

George Wagner III Story
  shutterstock.com

DeWine believed that issues over custody of a young child played a role in the crime. “There was an obsession with custody, obsession with control of the children,” DeWine said, according to The Washington Post. “This is the most bizarre story I have ever seen, being involved with law enforcement.”

Suspects

George Wagner III Story
  shutterstock.com

This is where the Wagner family came in. DeWine announced that he was “laser focused” on members of the Wagner family, who formerly lived near the Rhodens in Ohio. Since the murders, they have moved to Kenai, Alaska.

Announcement

George Wagner III Story
  shutterstock.com

Edward Jacob “Jake” Wagner, 25, fathered a daughter with Hannah Rhoden, one of the victims, but in 2017, DeWine did not name him, as well as three other family members, as suspects. But in November 2018, DeWine made a crucial announcement regarding the case.

Massacres

George Wagner III Story
  shutterstock.com

“We promised the day would come when the arrests would be made in the Pike County massacres,” DeWine told a crowd of reporters. “Today is that day.” George “Billy” Wagner III, 47, Angela Wagner, 48, George Wagner IV, 27, and Edward “Jake” Wagner, 26, were each charged in the murders.

Killings

George Wagner III Story
  shutterstock.com

Their charges included with eight counts of aggravated murder with death penalty specifications, among other related charges in connection with planning and carrying out the killings. Rita Newcomb, 65, and Fredericka Wagner, 76, the mothers of Angela and Billy Wagner, were also charged and accused of attempting to cover up the crime to mislead authorities.

Arrests

George Wagner III Story
  shutterstock.com

All of the suspects were arrested without incident and Dewitt was right about his suspicions of obsessions over child custody. He explained that the eight victims were “brutally and viciously” executed.

Planning The Crimes

George Wagner III Story
  shutterstock.com

Evidence suggested that the Wagners spent months meticulously planning the crimes by studying the Rhoden family’s habits and routines. Dewitt even alleged the four suspects knew the layouts of the victims’ homes and where they slept, and that after killing them, the Wagners tampered with phones, a silencer, shell casings, and surveillance cameras in an attempt to hide evidence.

Charges

George Wagner III Story
  www.wcpo.com

Each of the Wagners were also charged with conspiracy, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice, as well as several other charges. DeWine called it one of the “longest and most complex” investigations in the state’s history.

Complex Puzzle

George Wagner III Story
  shutterstock.com

Over two and a half years, ten of thousands of hours went into the investigation, including time spent in Alaska, where the Wagner family moved briefly before returning to Pike County. DeWine described the case as a complex puzzle with hundreds of pieces.

Police Work

George Wagner III Story
  shutterstock.com

“What solved this case was just hard, tough police work, day after day after day,” DeWine said. “These men and women just never gave up.” He explained that the families of the victims are still coping with the deaths of their loved ones and that suspects’ alleged actions left a strain on the county.

Pike County

George Wagner III Story
  www.abc6onyourside.com

Sheriff Charles S. Reader said the Wagner family acted “quickly, coldly, calmly and very carefully” to cover their tracks. “But not carefully enough. … Pike County is a resilient community,” he said, adding that it should be known for more than being a place where eight people were murdered. “We’re a place that finds justice for victims, and today is a big step on that path.”

6 Face Justice For Multiple Crimes In ‘Longest And Most Complex’ Case In Ohio’s History is an article from: LifeDaily

Man Alleged of Killing Brother’s Family, Setting Houses Ablaze Awaits Trial

0
0

Paul Caneiro Story

The concept of envy is one that nearly everyone can understand implicitly, especially today, thanks to social media. People highlight their newest purchases, recent meals, wedding days, and their personal and professional accomplishments all the time. Whatever the case may be, most of us tend to be on one side of envy or the other…

Most of the time, this fleeting sense of envy is innocuous. In the end, we all have what we have and we must learn to be content and happy with our piece in life. But what happens when our sense of envy eclipses everything, including our own safety or the safety of those we love?

A Blazing Home

Paul Caneiro Story
  www.nbc.com

It was 5:01 am and a house was ablaze in the sleepy suburb of Ocean Township, New Jersey. The house, a $670,000, four-bedroom Goliath, had stuck out like something of a sore thumb in the pervasively normal neighborhood. It’s owner, 51-year-old Paul Caneiro, lived there with his wife Susan and two adult daughters.

Escaping the Blaze

Paul Caneiro Story
  shutterstock.com

Regardless of who made the 911 call, however, it was lucky that they did. The blaze was put out pretty quickly and only a small portion of it was damaged. No one had been hurt either, Paul, Susan, and the girls managed to escape relatively unscathed and were waiting in their car when emergency crews arrived. Still, something seemed off about the whole thing.

Nervous and Shaking

Paul Caneiro Story
  shutterstock.com

Paul seemed visibly shaken, as were his wife and the girls. It made sense, they had all been forced to run for their lives in the early hours of the morning, leaving all their treasured belongings to burn. In reality, Paul’s fear and nervousness had little to do with the after-effects of the fire, but what he himself had done to cause it in the first place.

Miles Away

Paul Caneiro Story
  Keith Caneiro / Facebook

Miles away from Paul’s house, another crime had also been committed. Though it was unbeknownst to the police at the time. Keith Caneiro, Paul’s brother and business partner, had been murdered inside his Colts Neck home. His wife, Jennifer, and his two children, Jesse and Sophia, had also been killed.

A Whole Family

Paul Caneiro Story
  shutterstock.com

Seven hours later, Keith’s neighbors would be called from their homes with the news that his mansion was also on fire. Keith was already dead inside, he had been shot. His wife and two children were also dead, stabbed to death by some unknown assailant. The fire had been little more than a distraction to potentially obfuscate their deaths.

Homicidal Violence

Paul Caneiro Story
  shutterstock.com

It took fire crews several hours to put out the blaze and though the four bodies of the family were badly burned by the time they were autopsied, it was clear that foul play had been involved. They had been the victims of what the police called “homicidal violence” and Paul Caneiro allegedly knew all about it; though police weren’t aware of that at the time.

Colts Neck

Paul Caneiro Story
  shutterstock.com

Keith Caneiro lived in Colts Neck, a much more affluent neighborhood. Buying land there, let alone a mansion, was no small feat. It seemed that though the two brothers worked in the same business, Keith had done much better for himself than Paul. It was that distinctive disparity that should have clued police in from the start.

Inseparable Brothers

Paul Caneiro Story
  shutterstock.com

The Caneiro brothers had grown up in Brooklyn with their youngest brother, Corey. When they got older, Paul and Keith built up their own business and ended up partners in a tech consulting firm. Keith was the CEO and Paul was the vice president, a fact which always seemed to bother Paul.

Many Similarities

Paul Caneiro Story
  shutterstock.com

In truth, both brothers were very similar. They both married women from Staten Island and Keith was Paul’s best man at his wedding. They had similar mindsets and that helped them parlay their skills into a successful business. Yet it seemed something always lurked between them, an envy that Paul could never seem to let go.

The Pay Off

Paul Caneiro Story
  shutterstock.com

Keith’s mansion had been totally paid off. Their nine acres of land had been completely their own for two years prior to the blaze. Afterward, the burned-out building sat partially inaccessible to law enforcement officials for a long while. As such, any evidence of who had started the blaze or killed the family had to wait to be uncovered, though police had some suspicions as to Paul’s involvement.

Nagging Doubts

Paul Caneiro Story
  shutterstock.com

The two were also partners in a pest control company which they also operated out of their tech firm’s office. Their relationship was publicly competitive, at least on Paul’s part. Indeed, many of his neighbors seemed to think that the “lesser” Caneiro was obsessed with the concept of wealth, especially when comparing his own to that of other people.

Enamored With Money

Paul Caneiro Story
  shutterstock.com

Yet was Paul so obsessed that he would set not only his brother’s house on fire but his own, in order to cover up what the police believed he had done? One of Paul’s neighbors didn’t think so. That unnamed neighbor even remarked that Paul was so enamored with money that he would be very unlikely to want to set his own house on fire. Especially not after all the work he’d done on it.

Over-the-Top

Paul Caneiro Story
  Facebook

That same neighbor did admit that Paul’s efforts to show-off his own prodigious wealth had been a bit “over-the-top” as of late. His overlarge home was loaded with surveillance cameras, with infrared scanners on both floors. He even spent a massive $140,000 building his deck. He couldn’t believe that anyone might presume Paul was the arsonist, let alone a murderer.

Jealousy

Paul Caneiro Story
  tishomir / shutterstock.com

The same talkative neighbor did, however, remark on Paul’s ambition and his bitterness at not reaching the same level as his brother. He was showy, trying his hardest to indicate how successful he was. “He liked the good stuff,” the man said. “He’s got his girls Porches for their first cars. That doesn’t fit the profile of a person who lives in this neighborhood.”

Big Shot

Paul Caneiro Story
  shutterstock.com

Paul was, by all accounts, a “big shot” in the upper-middle-class neighborhood, or at least he behaved as such. His personality notwithstanding, the police couldn’t simply indict him on the assumption that he’d killed his brother and his family; even if he stood the best chance to inherit the CEO position in their shared business.

Hard to Charge

Paul Caneiro Story
  shutterstock.com

Without evidence, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni and his ilk could not possibly levy charges against him. What they could charge Paul with was arson of his own house. No matter how proud he was of the home or how many crocodile tears he shed over his loss, all signs still pointed to him.

Arsonist

Paul Caneiro Story
  www.dailymail.co.uk

A few days after the fire, Paul Caneiro was charged with aggravated arson. The fire investigators alleged that he’d doused part of the home with gasoline cans before setting it ablaze. As if that weren’t enough, they also alleged that he did so without warning his wife and children first.

No Official Link

Paul Caneiro Story
  Facebook

As of this writing, Paul had not been charged with the murders of his younger brother, his wife Jennifer, or their children Jesse and Sophia, though his involvement in the fire and their death’s is alleged. CNN reported that “Paul Caneiro’s attorneys, Robert Honecker and Mitchell Ansell, said their client was wrongfully accused and that he ‘had absolutely nothing to do with these horrific crimes.'”

No Other Suspects

Paul Caneiro Story
  shutterstock.com

As of yet, there are no other suspects in the murders aside from Paul. The current theory is that the family was targeted and that there is a distinct possibility it is wholly unrelated to Paul’s arson crime. They are still investigating the whole case, but the burned-out buildings have made forensic evidence difficult to cultivate.

Court Days to Come

Paul Caneiro Story
  shutterstock.com

Paul’s arson charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years, but before it can go to court, investigators are trying to piece it all together. Many questions remain. Why would he risk his family and his home to light the fire, not to mention his freedom? And if he wasn’t responsible for Keith and his family, then who was?

Man Alleged of Killing Brother’s Family, Setting Houses Ablaze Awaits Trial is an article from: LifeDaily

Charleston Teacher Charged After Blackmailing Student Into Sleeping With Her

0
0

Throughout one’s long career through grade school, one is bound to meet one or two teachers that they don’t exactly see eye-to-eye with. It’s pure statistics, really. Throughout those 12 or so years in school, students are faced with a parade of differing personalities and teaching styles.

Some of these may help us to decide upon our futures or positively affect us in a number of ways. Yet there are also other teachers that have a profoundly negative, often traumatizing effect on our growing minds. Especially when they abuse their power in darker, selfish, and sinister ways.

A Competent Teacher

28-year-old math teacher, Jennifer Olajire-Aro was not what you might consider anyone’s “favorite” teacher. This had little to do with her teaching style. By all accounts, Aro was a competent teacher. She had a clean disciplinary record with her school and even received several teaching awards. But the married mother-of-one had a dark secret.

Math Student

Aro taught pre-calculus and algebra, not easy subjects for most students. One student, in particular, who’ll be referred to as John, was always a bit nervous going into her classroom. This had little to do with the fact that the 17-year-old high school senior struggled with the subject. In fact, John was quite good at math. The problem lay in Mrs. Aro’s behavior towards him.

Determined

John’s math teacher was attracted to him. It was not just a fleeting desire to admire him, however. Ms. Aro was sexually attracted to her student. Despite the fact that she was married, she seemed hellbent on the two of them entering into some sort of sexual relationship. In time, her minor flirtations became less ambiguous and more overt and for John, uncomfortable.

The Talk

The teacher would pull him aside and talk to him about sex before class. During class, she’d make sexual advances at him. When class ended, she picked the conversation right back up where they’d left off. John was no fool. This was math class after all, and he could put two and two together. But what was he supposed to do about it?

Successful Coercion

  facebook.com

Eventually, Aro’s constant flirting became too much for the hormonal student to resist. By November, she had managed to coerce him into having sex with her. Then again in December. They continued to do it several more times in different places. They did it in the school, in her car, and even at her home, with the teacher’s 10-month-old baby asleep nearby.

Stern Refusal

John soon had enough of the tryst. Despite what his body seemed to want, he felt exceptionally uncomfortable with their random encounters. Unfortunately for him, Aro was not about to lose out on her side-piece of a student. Finally, John put his foot down. He told her that he wasn’t going to do that sort of thing anymore. She didn’t like that, not one bit.

Threats

When John resisted, Aro turned to blackmail. She reminded him that he was a senior and was going off to college the following year. She also reminded him that she alone controlled his math grade. If she wanted to, she could ensure that at least that subject would put his college career in jeopardy. John was in a bind.

Public Knowledge

Part of what soured John on the whole thing, besides the guilt, of course, was the fact that Aro’s sexual advances had become so direct, so public, and so obvious, that everyone seemed to know about them. Even his classmates seemed to know that he was her personal “boy toy.” Worse yet, it seemed as though his other teachers knew about the affair as well.

Close-Knit

Burke High School had a close-knit community of teachers and administrators. There was no way that school officials didn’t know what was going on, especially if the other teachers knew. The fact that it was in plain view and that people knew and didn’t say anything or report it, made John’s predicament doubly traumatic.

Teasing and Control

High school is a place of whispers and rumors. It always has been. There was no way that Aro could have kept her bad behavior under wraps. Frankly, she wasn’t the type to do such a thing anyway. She seemed to flaunt her control over John and as a result, John’s classmates teased him for being a “teacher’s pet.” It was time for John to make a decision.

Enough is Enough

John hadn’t even told his mother about what was going on. He was afraid her involvement would ensure that Aro lowered his grades just as she’d threatened. She had all the control. Finally, John could take it no longer. He refused her again, this time telling her that he wasn’t doing it anymore. “You do what you got to do,” he told the teacher.

Denial and Consequences

Incensed by his presumptuousness and his refusal to satiate her rampant sexual appetites, Aro did just as she said she would. She lowered John’s grade from an A to a B. It was a power move, but it only served to ensure that the now liberated student would take action against her.

Separate Allegations

This was because the South Carolina district had been facing some serious public criticism for its handling of another sexual allegation case against a former employee of one of their other schools. This involved Marvin Gethers, a teacher who had strangely been promoted in 2014 after an IT specialist found child pornography on his school laptop.

Molestation

  credit

Gethers was also made “Employee of the Year” in 2015 after the pornography was found. He was arrested in 2016, but only after two children came forward saying that he had molested them. He was charged with sexual exploitation of a minor and several counts of criminal sexual misconduct. He never served any time though, as he died in July 2017 of heart failure.

New Guard

The district had behaved in much the same way then as they had with Aro. They fired him as soon as they learned the allegations against him, though not after finding the pornography. This oversight was remedied by a change of the guard. Most of the administrators in place in 2014 were replaced. Unfortunately, the new ones were making the same mistakes all over again.

Avoidance

At the time of Gethers’ lawsuit, the district wisely sought outside counsel in order to investigate the allegations. At the same time, the hired hands would help manage how the district handled the situation. Their goal was to advise on ways to avoid a situation like that from happening again. They obviously failed.

On Notice

Mark Peper, who is currently representing John and his mother in their own lawsuit, spoke out about the district’s willful ignorance about what was happening right under their noses. “They’d known about the propensity of their employees to have some type of sexual exploitations, and therefore they were all on notice,” he said.

Lawsuit

“It’s just clear to me that they just didn’t care,” Peper added. “It’s just a complete lack of oversight and supervision from the district itself. It’s a pattern.” Despite everything that had happened before and everyone who witnessed what was going on, the administration failed to act, and that is inexcusable.

No Comment

As expected, a school spokeswoman for the Charleston County School District has offered no comment on the pending litigation or official charges against Jennifer Olajire-Aro. The former teacher was placed on administrative leave and has since been fired from the district. She is being charged with sexual battery of a student.

Plaintiff’s Attorney

John’s attorney, Mark A. Peper, made the following statement about the case, according to Post and Courier: “Where the safety, protection, and well-being of our students is paramount, acts such as these and others by employees under the direct supervision of the CCSD are outrageous, and must be regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable. If the district won’t fix the problem, the courts will.”

Charleston Teacher Charged After Blackmailing Student Into Sleeping With Her is an article from: LifeDaily

Family Receives Very Generous Donation After Parents Are Killed In Motorcycle Crash

0
0

The Keryluke Family Story

There is significance in passing down things from one generation to another. It can be something materialistic like watches and cars, or something more sentimental like letters and photographs. Most families have heirlooms of some sort that are meaningful and special to them.

The family in the following story had a family heirloom that they hoped would be passed down for years to come. But when the parents were involved in a horrible car crash, everything changed.

Keryluke Family

The Keryluke Family Story
  Brent Keryluke / Facebook

The Keryluke Family was a happy family who lived together in Red Deer, a city in Alberta, Canada. But on May 5, 2018, their family fell apart when parents Brent and Nicole were killed in a motorcycle accident.

Motorcycle Ride

The Keryluke Family Story
  Orientaly / shutterstock.com

Brent, 35, and Nicole, 24, were spending some quality time together and as they were riding their motorcycle, a truck collided with them, killing them instantly. They left behind their two young children, Liam, 3, and Arielle, 6.

Hearing Impairments

The Keryluke Family Story
  www.gofundme.com/arielleampliam

This tragic accident happened three days after Liam’s third birthday and the day before Brent’s thirty-sixth. According to a GoFundMe account set up for the children, Arielle and Liam, who both have severe hearing impairments, were left orphans and extended family members came together to help.

Arielle

The Keryluke Family Story
  www.gofundme.com/arielleampliam

The family worried what the fate of these children would be, but it seemed Arielle was wise beyond her years. After being told of her parents’ death, Arielle held her hand on her heart saying “my parents are right here, with me now and my brother doesn’t understand this right now but I am here to hug him.”

Living With Grandparents

The Keryluke Family Story
  Brent Keryluke / Facebook

Nicole’s sister and brother-in-law opened up their hearts and home to the two children in transition to living with their grandparents. “It takes a village,” Anita Bakker wrote on the family’s GoFundMe.

New Normal

The Keryluke Family Story
  Brent Keryluke / Facebook

“The new normal brings tender, loving moments, full days, exhaustion, deep sadness along with laughter and joy of these children that are reminders of the beautiful parents they shared,” the page said. The children will live with their grandparents most of the time, and Brent’s father Ben told Global News, “When you start out happy in the morning, it helps out a lot.”

1973 Pontiac Parisienne

The Keryluke Family Story
  www.facebook.com/egauctions/

“They get up in the morning and both of them are smiling and laughing,” Ben said. On the weekend, Ben and his wife Marilyn took a 1973 Pontiac Parisienne their son had been working on, to Electric Garage Auctions to sell.

Electric Garage Auctions

The Keryluke Family Story
  www.facebook.com/egauctions/

The family didn’t want to part with the vehicle, however, they didn’t really have a choice. Ben explained that due to both of the children’s hearing impairments, additional medical costs could be expected now and in the future.

Classic Car

The Keryluke Family Story
  www.facebook.com/egauctions/

The special auction for Brent’s classic car lasted about 10 minutes and it was captured on video. The crowd was whistling and clapping throughout the emotional auction, and once they heard the family’s story, they were in tears.

Tears

The Keryluke Family Story
  www.facebook.com/egauctions/

Rod Burnett captured the auction on video and posted it to Facebook writing, “The entire customer base and EG AUCTION staff got together and had an emotional 10 mins auction selling this car for the family – it’s amazing what happens … there was not a dry eye in the place.”

Their Story

The Keryluke Family Story
  www.facebook.com/egauctions/

The announcer explained to the audience that the grandparents on stage lost their son and daughter-in-law and that they are now the guardians of the two young grandchildren. “The 2 young grandkids who by the way are hearing impaired and have extra costs to go with their growing up,” Burnett added.

Stopping The Auction

The Keryluke Family Story
  www.facebook.com/egauctions/

“They basically stopped the auction, let everybody know what was happening, where the money was going to go, and we were shocked what happened after that,” Ben told Global News. The car wound up being sold for $29,000 and then was donated back.

Donations

The Keryluke Family Story
  www.facebook.com/egauctions/

After that, it was sold for $30,000 and donated back. Then it went for $20,000 and was donated back again. During the auction, the crowd was whistling and clapping and other people pledged individual donations to add to the total.

Cheering

The Keryluke Family Story
  www.facebook.com/egauctions/

“People were overwhelmed with just the generosity of people of central Alberta and the support that this family has,” explained Lyndsay Payne, co-owner of EG Auctions. “It was incredible. People were cheering, I was crying.”

Auctioneer

The Keryluke Family Story
  www.facebook.com/egauctions/

Payne even explained that their auctioneer Rod had a hard time getting through the auction because he was crying. “It was unreal. I’ve never been a part of anything like that before in my life,” Payne said.

Winning Bids

The Keryluke Family Story
  Google Maps

The first winning bid was from Rod McWilliams from Red Deer Motors, then Danny Fayad from Edmonton won the second round and Bob Bevins from Bulldog Metals won the third, before giving back to the car to the Keryluke family.

Tearful Auction

The Keryluke Family Story
  shutterstock.com

“He didn’t want to be recognized for it,” Payne recalled. “He just went up to Ben personally after the auction and said, ‘You know what? I want your family to have that car so I’m giving it back to you.’”

Standing Ovation

The Keryluke Family Story
  shutterstock.com

When the auctioneer Rod announced that, the place went wild. “There was a standing ovation, people were cheering, whistling. It was wonderful,” Payne said. When Brent bought the car, he hoped to pass it on to his children when they were older.

Sentimental Value

The Keryluke Family Story
  www.globalnews.ca

But for Bevins, that made the decision a simple one. “It had way more sentimental value to that family than me owning another classic car, so I thought maybe someday, that young man will be able to drive his father’s car.”

Generosity

The Keryluke Family Story
  The Keryluke Family

It was an incredible moment for the Keryluke family, one that they will treasure forever. “It’s been just incredible to see the generosity of people to help a family to be able to raise the children,” Ben said. “How do you thank people for something so huge?” Our only guess is, to pay it forward to someone in the future.

Family Receives Very Generous Donation After Parents Are Killed In Motorcycle Crash is an article from: LifeDaily

Man Finds Staggering Fortune Hidden Inside Abandoned Storage Container Purchased For $500

0
0

They say that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, which is why people around the country buy abandoned storage containers. While they have no idea what they are buying, these modern-day treasure hunters are hoping that the items will be worth the gamble.

In 2018, a lucky man purchased a storage container without looking in it for $500. It wasn’t until he got inside, however, that he discovered he had accidentally hit the jackpot. Yet after discovering the treasure, the man was faced with an impossible decision.

A Charity Auction

  facebook.com

On November 1, 2018, Dan Dotson, who owns and operates his own auction house and stars in the A&E reality show, Storage Wars, attended a charity event with his wife, Laura. According to Dotson, money was being raised by an auction hosted by Cars, Stars and Rock N’ Roll.

Spotted By A Fan

  ibid4storage.com / AE

According to Dotson, he couldn’t help but notice a woman had been staring at him while at the charity auction event in Indio, California. At first, Dotson figured it was just someone who had recognized him from the reality TV show where he auctions off abandoned storage containers or lockers.

Modern-Day Treasure Hunting

  shutterstock.com

In the state of California, any storage container can be auctioned off or sold if the owner fails to pay rent for the container for three months. After three months, ownership is then forfeited. In the show, modern-day treasure hunters bid on storage containers that are being sold at the cash-only auction.

A Reality TV Star

  youtube.com

Because of his role on the television show, Dotson sometimes gets recognized by fans in real life. So when he saw the older woman staring at him, he assumed she was just a typical fan trying to work up the nerve to go over and introduce herself.

Ignoring The Attention

  shutterstock.com

“An older Asian woman at the table next to me kept looking at me like she wanted to tell me something,” Dotson told The Blast in the days after the charity auction event. Dotson didn’t pay too much attention to the woman and just went on with his business.

An Incredible Story

  shutterstock.com

However, as the night went on, Dotson noticed the woman still looking at him and appearing to want to tell him something. “Eventually she walked up and told me her husband works with a guy who bought a unit from me,” Dodson said about the interaction.

An Ordinary Purchase

  shutterstock.com

“It was an amazing story,” Dotson told The Desert Sun about the exchange with the stranger at the charity auction event. “She said, ‘I just gotta tell you this story, my husband works for a guy that bought a unit from you and there was a safe in there.’”

Hoping For A Treasure

  shutterstock.com

The woman told Dotson that the man she knew had paid him $500 for the container, which was up for sale after the original owner failed to pay rent on the storage locker. He had no idea what to expect with the purchase but hoped he was walking away with some kind of treasure.

The Safe

  shutterstock.com

Once he bought the container, the woman explained that her husband’s colleague opened it up to finally see what he had just paid several hundred dollars for. When the man laid eyes on a safe, he was hopeful that something valuable was being kept inside.

Opening The Safe

  shutterstock.com

Typically, there’s not much left inside of safes when they are found inside abandoned storage lockers, so the man tried not to get his hopes up before opening it up. However, getting the safe open turned out to be more difficult than he had originally anticipated.

An Unexpected Challenge

  facebook.com

According to the woman, the man tried calling a safe expert. When the person showed up, however, they wouldn’t help them open it. “The first person that they called to open the safe couldn’t, or didn’t,” Dotson said in a video he and his wife made to share the incredible story.

Full To The Brim

  shutterstock.com

The man refused to give up on the safe and decided to call another expert who they hoped would be able to unlock the safe. “They called a second person and when that person opened it up … inside the safe they’re normally empty, but this time it wasn’t empty,” Dotson said.

Stacks Of Cash

  twitter.com/@auctionguydan

When the man looked inside, he discovered piles and piles of cash. He truly couldn’t believe what he was looking at and started counting the money and piling it up as he counted it. In the end, the man discovered he had somehow blindly purchased a large fortune.

A Large Fortune

  facebook.com

Ultimately, the man discovered the safe had been holding $7.5 million inside all in stacks of cash. According to Dotson, he was completely stunned by the staggering figure. “I say ‘$7.5 million?’ and she says, ‘Cash.’,” Dodson said about his immediate reaction to the story.

Things Get Complicated

  shutterstock.com

However, the woman went on to explain that things got a bit complicated soon after the discovery was made. Somehow, word got out about the life-changing find and the original owners discovered that their storage container and all of their money had been sold.

A Common Occurance

  shutterstock.com

Dotson’s wife, Laura, explained that storage units become abandoned all the time for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, the owner moves away and forgets about their property, or simply forgets or refuses to pay the rent. Other times, people end up in jail or pass away.

The Old Owners

  shutterstock.com

While it’s not entirely clear how the owners could have possibly forgotten about their storage unit, which held millions of dollars in cash, they forgot to pay the storage rental fees. Despite losing the rights to their unit, the original owners had their lawyers contact the man who bought their fortune for just a few hundred dollars.

The Reward

  shutterstock.com

The attorney explained the original owners wanted their money back and were willing to offer a $600,000 reward for returning it to them. The original owners thought it was a fair offer, but the new owner declined the offer. Eventually, however, they were able to reach a settlement.

The Settlement

  twitter.com/@auctionguydan

In the end, the new owner accepted an offer to keep $1.2 million for returning the other $6.3 million. While many were stunned that the new owner was willing to give any of the money back, Dotson and his wife agreed they would have done the same thing.

A Smart Decision

  twitter.com/@auctionguydan

The hosts of Storage Wars seemed to have different opinions about whether they’d return the money or not. “If you find money like that, there’s probably a reason it isn’t in the bank,” Rene Nezhoda, Dotson’s co-star on Storage Wars, told The Blast. Dotson said, “I wouldn’t ask a damn thing.”

Man Finds Staggering Fortune Hidden Inside Abandoned Storage Container Purchased For $500 is an article from: LifeDaily


Syrian Refugee Living In Airport For Months Finally Granted Asylum in Canada

0
0

When Hassan Al Kontar made the decision not to join the Syrian military, he knew that decision would have consequences for him for years to come. He fled the raging war in Syria in hopes of making a better life elsewhere. But due to a bunch of red tape and procedure, Kontar found himself living at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport – a bit like Tom Hanks’ character in the film, The Terminal.

The fact that many countries simply won’t accept Syrian nationals as a rule, whether they are legitimate asylum seekers or not, meant that Kontar knew the next few months were going to be tricky. He started his new life in the United Arab Emirates until his work permit ran out; then he got stuck at the Kuala Lumpur airport for months with no idea about what the future would hold for him.

Troubled Times

Back in 2006, Kontar, who could see the writing on the wall in his home country of Syria, fled to the United Arab Emirates to work as an insurance marketing agent. A brutal civil war was raging in Syria, and Kontar didn’t want to join the army nor have any part in the conflict. He remained illegally in the UAE for years for fear of being drafted if he returned home.

Getting Deported

When his work permit expired in 2011, and the Syrian embassy refused to renew his passport, Kontar was arrested and deported to Malaysia. Malaysia is one country where Syrians are granted visa-free entry more or less without question. But Kontar didn’t want to go and live in Malaysia, and that’s when he attempted to fly to Ecuador.

Being Refused

For reasons which are still unknown, Kontar was not allowed to board that flight to Ecuador despite the fact he had paid for the ticket. Turkish Airlines staff denied him boarding on that flight and refused to refund his ticket. So he tried to go to Cambodia, but was also denied entry. Having returned to Kuala Lumpur, with his Malaysian visa having expired, Kontar was not allowed to enter the country and found himself stranded at the airport.

Legal Limbo

Just like Tom Hanks in the movie The Terminal, Kontar was stranded at the airport with nowhere to go. The Malaysian government discussed offering him re-entry but when that offer was not forthcoming, Kontar found himself still stranded. That’s when Kontar made the airport his home, as he had no other choice.

Daily Living

While Kontar tried to keep a low profile in order not to be flagged, he slept in chairs at the airport and under a secluded stairwell. Staff from AirAsia bought him meals on a regular basis although his savings soon dwindled and he was left penniless. One kind woman even initiated a fundraiser for him.

Raising Funds

While some kind strangers offered him money for food at the airport, one woman from British Colombia started a fundraiser to try and get Kontar to Canada and to have enough money to live for a year. As he already has family in Canada, Kontar felt that this country was a great option for him.

Forbidden Area

Having lived at the airport for a while, Kontar was apprehended and taken into custody by police for being in a “forbidden area.” There was talk at that stage of Kontar being deported back to Syria, but that never came to pass. Kontar had been living rough at the airport for seven months, and it was starting to take its toll.

Fearing Death

The main reason Kontar didn’t want to return to Syria was that he feared he would be put in jail and possibly even killed for refusing to serve in the army. According to BBC, Kontar said, “I’m not a killing machine, and I don’t want any part in destroying Syria. … I don’t want blood on my hands.”

Sense of Humor

While Kontar missed flights to Honolulu, Australia, the Maldives, and Myanmar his sense of humor about his situation came to the forefront. He took to social media, posting pictures of him tending to his garden – a single potted plant- and walking his pet, a stuffed animal on a leash, around the airport terminal.

Losing Weight

Due to a lack of money and therefore food, Kontar was starting to lose a lot of weight. Despite that, he stayed in shape by using the moving walkways at the airport as treadmills for exercise. He trimmed his unruly beard with a pair of tiny scissors but with little success. The situation for this man was dire and getting worse.

Joining NASA

It’s remarkable that Kontar kept his sense of humor intact despite the adversity he was faced with. At one point, he even took to social media, posting a screenshot of an email he’d sent to NASA asking if he could join their next mission to Mars. He used that screenshot as a tongue-in-cheek ploy to spread the message that he had no place on this Earth.

No Place

The screenshot, which garnered a bunch of likes and shares asked NASA if they would accept Kontar on their next mission to Mars. “It’s very clear by now that there is no place for me on this earth as no country is allowing me in,” he wrote, adding that he had seen “a lot of space movies.” Suffice it to say, Kontar never made it to NASA’s space program.

Human Rights

Kontar fluctuated between lightheartedness and despair as the time at the airport began to take its toll on him. On the one hand, he noted a recent ISIS massacre in Syria, claiming that world leaders were violating his “human rights” but not granting him asylum anywhere. But in another post just a few days later, Kontar was seen dancing atop a baggage cart to Drake’s “In My Feelings” as part of the viral Keke Challenge.

Small Pleasures

Being unable to leave Terminal 2 at the airport, Kontar reportedly derived some happiness from small pleasures. Things like Starbucks instant coffee and other snacks kept his morale up during his ordeal. And on one occasion a janitor opened a door leading to the runway, and Kontar was able to breathe fresh air for the first time in months.

Great Day

When you’re stuck inside a stuffy airport terminal for months, the small pleasures in life suddenly become huge. On the day when the janitor opened the door for Kontar, he posted an image of the sun on Twitter, along with the caption: “This is what I call a great day.” But his video diaries garnered even more international attention than his Tweets.

Daily Updates

  cbc.ca

Many people around the world followed Kontar’s regular video diaries which he posted online. One follower, Laurie Cooper from Whistler in British Colombia, petitioned the Canadian government along with some friends to admit Kontar to the country as a refugee. Laurie set up a crowdfunding campaign which was a lot more successful than anticipated.

Raising Funds

Having petitioned Canada’s immigration minister, Ahmad Hussen, Laurie and her friends managed to raise a staggering £13,600 to help Kontar. That’s around the amount required for citizens to privately sponsor a refugee for resettlement. Suddenly, Kontar’s video updates stopped, and people were left wondering what his fate was.

Hearing Rumors

While Malaysian officials claimed that Kontar had been arrested at the airport for being in a restricted area without a boarding pass, Kontar’s sponsors and followers put pressure on Canadian officials to expedite his asylum application. They feared that he was imminently about to be deported back to Syria; a move that could cost him his life.

Application Approved

  cbc.ca

Having raised the cash as well as the pressure, Laurie and her friends were successful in their plight to get asylum for Kontar in Canada. When Laurie checked her Twitter feed to a new video from Kontar, she was initially disappointed to see he was still at the airport. However, this time, and after many months a lot of hard work, Kontar had a destination, a flight ticket, and even a boarding pass.

New Life

  cbc.ca

Having been through the mill and then some, Kontar arrived in Vancouver late one Monday evening. While he spoke to reporters about his joy that his application to Canada had been approved, he confirmed that he was done with airports for the time being. “I’ve done my time in airports, no more airports,” reported the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. “I’d rather use a horse if there’s no car,” he said.

Syrian Refugee Living In Airport For Months Finally Granted Asylum in Canada is an article from: LifeDaily

‘Operation Car Wash’: Brazil’s Massive Political Scandal Causes Biggest Investigation In World History

0
0

Operation Car Wash Story

What was once only the biggest corruption scandal in the history of Brazil, turned out to be the biggest in the world. This bribery and money laundering scheme spread throughout Latin America, with its epicenter in Brazil.

It cost the country millions of dollars and it’s no surprise that the scandal was turned into a Netflix series, The Mechanism. Here’s what happened in Operation Car Wash.

The Arrest

Operation Car Wash Story
  motive56 / shutterstock.com

January 2015, police agent Newton Ishii waited in Rio de Janeiro’s Galeao airport to meet the midnight flight from London. He sought to arrest Nestor Cervero, a former executive of Brazil’s national oil company, Petrobras. Ishii was to arrest him after he set foot in Brazil and take him for questioning by detectives. After his arrest, Cervero called his brother and his attorney, expecting to be free by morning.

Petrobras

Operation Car Wash Story
  Orlando Neto / shutterstock.com

But the investigation that led to Cervero’s arrest was about to uncover “an unprecedented web of corruption,” as reported by The Guardian, known as “Lava Jato,” or Operation Car Wash. The oil company Petrobras, accounted for more than an eighth of all investments in Brazil, providing hundreds of thousands of jobs in construction firms, shipyards, and refineries. They even formed business ties with international suppliers including Samsung Heavy Industries and Rolls-Royce.

Curitiba

Operation Car Wash Story
  Alf Ribeiro / shutterstock.com

In Curitiba, the capital of the southern state of Parana, lied the heart of the Car Wash investigation. Curitiba is often known as the “London of Brazil” since its people are inclined to be sticklers for the rules. Thanks to Operation Car Wash, it’s best known for its judges, prosecutors, and police.

Dilma Rousseff

Operation Car Wash Story
  Palu00e1cio do Planalto / Wikipedia

Dilma Rousseff, the President of Brazil at the time, took over as the leader of the Workers’ Party and became president of a coalition government. Rousseff introduced new measures for plea bargaining, which meant prosecutors could make deals with suspects, reducing their sentences in return for information that could lead to the arrest of more important figures.

Sergio Moro

Operation Car Wash Story
  PT - Partido dos Trabalhadores Follow / Flickr

Sergio Moro, an ambitious young judge, was overseeing Operation Car Wash. He became known for denying bail to the rich in order to stop them from using economic or political influence to escape charges against them. With him overseeing the case, the pressure was on the Car Wash suspects to make a deal or rot in jail.

VIP Car Wash Suspects

Operation Car Wash Story
  shutterstock.com

Besides Cervero, many other VIP Car Wash Suspects, including wealthy entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and powerful politicians, spent months inside the Curitiba detention center. They had to be kept separate from other inmates for their own safety. Most of these men were used to living in luxury, and their new reality came as a shock. “One guy did not know how to shave because he had always had it done for him,” a guard told The Guardian.

Caving

Operation Car Wash Story
  shutterstock.com

“Many suspects made deals after a visit from their loved ones,” said the guard. “I think it was because they smelled the perfume and soap of the lives they had left behind.” Some of them resisted for months, but for others, it only took days. The majority caved in the end. The public seemed to be delighted that the age-old problem of corruption was finally being exposed.

Details

Operation Car Wash Story
  Alf Ribeiro / shutterstock.com

Every day new details came out, like how more than $2 billion was siphoned off Petrobras in bribes and secret payments for contract work. $3.3 billion was paid in bribes by the construction firm Odebrecht and more than 1,000 politicians were involved, with 16 companies implicated, 50 congressmen accused, and four former presidents were also under investigation.

How Did They Do It?

Operation Car Wash Story
  shutterstock.com

Judge Moro told Bloomberg in an interview, “To be honest, the investigation started very small. It was an investigation about professional money launderers. But following the money, the investigation grew, and for all of us, police officers, prosecutors, judges, it was a huge surprise.”

“We Followed The Money”

Operation Car Wash Story
  Agu00eancia Senado / Wikipedia

It all began in a gas station that once housed a car wash. The police tapped the phone of a money business house there and in 2012, they heard the voice of Alberto Youssef, an infamous money launderer, as reported by The New York Times. Anyone linked to him immediately came under suspicion. In 2014, police arrested Youssef and Paolo Roberto Costa after learning that Youssef gifted Paolo a Range Rover.

Criminal Activity

Operation Car Wash Story
  shutterstock.com

Judge Moro said, “These both criminals, they decided to cooperate with the prosecutors.” In the end, the investigation uncovered a cartel of at least 16 Brazilian companies that rigged the bidding on Petrobras contracts. They created the illusion of competition but decided between themselves who got the contracts, which were inflated in price. Petrobras officials received a cut of those contracts, much of the money was then diverted to politicians and political parties.

Robbed Of Billions

Operation Car Wash Story
  shutterstock.com

These operations robbed the public of billions of dollars. Moro said, “We have these high politicians, very powerful politicians, very powerful businessmen, who unfortunately committed bribery crimes and money laundering and there is no excuse for that. And they have to pay the price for their wrongdoing.”

Sting Operation

Operation Car Wash Story
  shutterstock.com

With Cervero in jail, prosecutors planned a sting operation, using him as bait. Senator Delcidio do Amaral, the Workers’ Party leader in the upper house, was an old associate of Cervero. While working together at Petrobras between 2000 and 2001, Cervero became Amaral’s faithful servant, and he raised illegal contributions for whichever party the senator was aligned with.

Secret Recording

Operation Car Wash Story
  Agu00eancia Senado / Wikipedia

Amaral was desperate to keep Cervero from talking, so he arranged to meet Cervero’s son, Bernardo. Unaware that Bernardo was secretly recording the conversation, the senator made numerous incriminating statements, which were later leaked to the press. Amaral offered to pay $1 million upfront, plus $13,000 a month in exchange for Cervero’s silence.

Cooperating

Operation Car Wash Story
  Senado Federal / Flickr

When this was refused, he even said he could arrange Bernardo’s father’s escape from prison. When Bernardo asked how Amaral explained how he would do it. He said he would use his influence on a particular judge to arrange for Cervero to be moved from his prison cell and placed under house arrest. Then, he could have Cervero’s electronic tag deactivated, so he could flee undetected. Cervero could then charter a private plane to neighboring Paraguay and Amaral would arrange the whole thing.

Exposing The Truth

Operation Car Wash Story
  shutterstock.com

As soon as the judges heard the recording, Amaral was detained on charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice. When Amaral was taken into custody in November 2015, he immediately agreed to cooperate with investigators. He told them everything he knew about the illegal activities of fellow politicians, including the then president Rousseff. He also singled out former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as the mastermind of the corruption scheme.

Mastermind Of The Corruption Scheme

Operation Car Wash Story
  Dantadd / Wikipedia

Lula and Rousseff denied the allegations and accused Amaral of lying to save himself. But, thanks to his cooperation, Amaral was put under house arrest in his brother’s luxurious mansion in Sao Paulo. This was shocking for the country and the world since Lula was a man President Obama once called, “The most popular politician in the world.”

Dozens Of Foreign Suppliers

Operation Car Wash Story
  shutterstock.com

In 2017, Judge Moro convicted Lula of corruption in one of several cases against him. Lula wound up surrendering to serve his 20-year sentence. During the investigation, Moro became a hero. This web of corruption didn’t only affect Brazil, but dozens of foreign corporate suppliers also faced regulatory and shareholder inquires about the bribes paid to secure contracts with Petrobras. Rolls-Royce is among them, with The World Cup, and the Olympics, being sucked in with fraud investigations and now having six out of the 12 stadiums used in 2014 and 2016 investigated.

Brazil

Operation Car Wash Story
  Edmundo Soares / Wikipedia

Ishii wound up being suspended from the Car Wash investigation after he lost an appeal against an old bribery charge. It toppled the president of Peru, landed Ecuador’s vice president in jail, and led to the impeachment of Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff. Charges were also placed on the sitting President of Brazil, Michel Temer, but he has evaded trial.

Great Achievement

Operation Car Wash Story
  shutterstock.com

Moro’s critics say this investigation was bad for Brazil as it led to tens of thousands of lost jobs from abandoned Petrobras contracts. And also that it hurt Brazil’s name and set the country up for years of economic uncertainty. But Moro doesn’t see it that way. In his interview with Bloomberg, he said, “By one side, you can say that all these cases of corruption, they are shameful, but there is nothing shameful about the enforcement of the law. So Brazil is doing what is necessary to be done. It’s a great achievement for Brazilian democracy.”

‘Operation Car Wash’: Brazil’s Massive Political Scandal Causes Biggest Investigation In World History is an article from: LifeDaily

First-Time Mom Gives Birth On Interstate After Fiancé Leads Police On High-Speed Chase

0
0

Carl Alewine Story

The love a parent has for their child is so strong that most parents would be willing to sacrifice their own life or break any law in order to keep them safe.

So when one first-time father discovered his fiancée was in labor and the baby’s life was in danger, he resorted to drastic measures to try and get them to the hospital in time.

On Patrol

Lituya Bay Story
  www.drgeorgepc.com

Shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve, a South Carolina police officer was on patrol in downtown Charleston. While the officer was patrolling the street, he was looking out for drunk drivers and making sure everyone was safely celebrating the final few hours of 2017.

 

Reckless Driving

Carl Alewine Story
  www.counton2.com

For New Year’s Eve, the night had been pretty calm, but the officer jumped to action when a car going between 90 and 95 miles per hour flew by on the interstate. The officer assumed that the reckless driving was a result of the driver being under the influence…

 

The Call

Carl Alewine Story
  www.simplemost.com

However, that was the farthest thing from the truth. The driver, Carl Alewine, had not ingested any alcohol or done any drugs all night. Just a few hours earlier, Carl was at work with a friend but rushed home when he got a frantic call from his fiancée, Tiffani Von Glahn.

 

Heading To The Hospital

Carl Alewine Story
  www.dailymail.co.uk

Tiffani was pregnant with their first child, and when she started going into labor, she called Carl to let him know. After hearing how strong Tiffani’s contractions already were, Carl immediately left work to go pick her up and drive her straight to the hospital…

 

Labor Pains

Carl Alewine Story
  www.littlethings.com

The Medical University of South Carolina was about an hour away from their home in St. George, South Carolina. So when Carl got home and saw how far Tiffani’s labor had already progressed, he knew he would have to break the speed limit to get her there.

The Pressure Is On

Carl Alewine Story
  www.patch.com

“Right when I get on the on the ramp of the interstate, I hear a loud splash and hear her scream that her water broke, and my foot just hit the gas,” said the 27-year-old first-time father, who was terrified of what would happen if he didn’t get to the hospital in time…

High-Risk

Carl Alewine Story
  www.people.com

Doctors had told the couple that Tiffani was considered a high-risk pregnancy because of her tiny frame, her tilted cervix, and the baby’s  dangerous position. For all of those reasons, doctors had always planned to perform a C-section to deliver the baby.

 

Life Or Death

Carl Alewine Story
  www.wewantanycar.com

The couple had been warned that a natural birth was out of the question since it would put Tiffani and the baby’s life in danger. “That’s what really made me go—I was very nervous. I was on the phone with the hospital with her screaming in the background, and I was hauling ass…”

 

Flashing Lights

Carl Alewine Story
  Shutterstock

Carl was driving about 90 miles per hour and was about half an hour away from the hospital. By that point, however, he had also caught the attention of a police officer, who had started following him and was flashing his lights to try and pull him over.

 

Too Much At Stake

Carl Alewine Story
  www.abcnews4.com

In any other situation, Carl would have pulled over, but he didn’t have the time to deal with the police with so much at stake. “I looked at Tiffani, I looked at the cops, and she’s screaming,” Carl said about the stressful moment he decided not to pull over…

 

No Choice

Carl Alewine Story
  www.littlethings.com

“She says, ‘Babe, please don’t stop!’ So, what are you going to do, you know? I’m thinking, ‘I’m going to go to jail tonight.’” While Carl had a good reason to be speeding, the cop had no idea if the driver of the speeding car was drunk, high, or fleeing the scene of a crime.

 

The Chase

Carl Alewine Story
  www.houstonpublicmedia.org

So when Carl refused to pull over, the officer called in reinforcements to help safely put an end to the dangerous high-speed chase. Carl put his emergency flashers on and tried to call highway patrol to explain the situation, but no one answered…

 

No Time To Lose

Carl Alewine Story
  www.littlethings.com

“The hospital told me I could pull over and wait for an ambulance, but I knew if we waited, Tiffani could get hurt, or the baby could get hurt,” the protective father-to-be said about his decision. “Pulling over just wasn’t an option, I would have taken going to jail.”

 

Reinforcements Arrive

Carl Alewine Story
  www.dailymail.co.uk

After speaking with the hospital, Carl thought they might have notified the police that they were headed for the hospital and the police were just giving him an escort. But as he drove around a bend in the interstate, he saw 20 more police cars behind him…

 

The Chase Is Over

Carl Alewine Story
  www.dailymail.co.uk

When Carl noticed police cars were blocking the exit ramps that he was driving by, he realized they had closed the entire interstate because of him. “Eventually it got to where they had to box us in to stop us,” Carl said about the moment the high-speed chase came to an end.

The Arrest

Carl Alewine Story
  www.standard.co.uk

The chase had lasted 15 minutes, and as Carl slowed to a stop, he opened the window and tried to tell the police what was going on. However, the nearest cop had his gun drawn, and ordered Carl to step outside of the 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee…

The Truth Is Revealed

Carl Alewine Story
  www.standard.co.uk

Officer immediately put Carl in handcuffs, and then realized that there really was a pregnant woman in labor in the passenger seat. Luckily, a police officer’s father who was a former EMT firefighter had been along for the ride and jumped into action.

 

The Birth

Carl Alewine Story
  www.gofundme.com/hvv4r-paying-it-forward

“I asked the mom how many weeks she was, sat there and told her I need to take a peek, saw a head full of hair and then caught it,” said Goose Creek firefighter Neal Arrington about the moment he helped deliver baby Anastasia. Despite giving birth on the hood of a car in the middle of an interstate, the natural delivery went perfectly.

 

A Miracle

Carl Alewine Story
  www.standard.co.uk

Miraculously, both Tiffani and baby Anastasia, who weighed 6 pounds and 2 ounces, had no complications. “I’ve seen a lot of things in my life you guys… but watching my daughter be born on a New Years midnight in the middle of the interstate through tear soaked eyes, in handcuffs, from the hood of my jeep, in the reverie of 100 blue patrol lights as fireworks burst all around us,” Carl said.

The Handcuffs Come Off

Carl Alewine Story
  www.foxnews.com

“And seeing so many of the low country’s finest clap as they took the handcuffs off … I’ve never seen or felt something so human and compassionate in my life,” Carl added. “The arresting officer walked up to me, took the cuffs off, and said ‘it’s a girl. Go see your wife and kid, man.'”

First-Time Mom Gives Birth On Interstate After Fiancé Leads Police On High-Speed Chase is an article from: LifeDaily

Former Cult Members Rebuild Utah Town After Abusive Leader’s Conviction

0
0

Warren Jeffs Story

After experiencing unimaginable trauma and pain, some survivors do whatever they can to avoid triggers that might remind them of what they were forced to endure.

For years, the women of Short Creek suffered under the reign of a controlling and cruel predator prophet. Despite enduring assault, manipulation, and crippling isolation, those very women have decided to return in spite of the pain it causes them in order to rebuild their home.

Living In The Fringes

Warren Jeffs Story
  Ricardo630 / Wikipedia

For decades, Hildale, Utah has been the home to members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints, or FLDS. The group is an extremist polygamous sect within the Mormon religion. Almost all the residents in Hilldale and Short Creek belonged to FLDS. As a result, the community lived on the fringes of society since polygamous Mormons took control of the area in the 1930s. For those who lived and raised families within the community, men were taught to take multiple wives in the extreme patriarchal society.

A Woman’s Only Purpose

Warren Jeffs Story
  shutterstock.com

Women, on the other hand, were taught they were inferior to men in every way. Almost every family in Short Creek taught their daughters that they had only two missions in life. Those missions included just caring for their husbands and bearing as many children as possible.

A Happy Existence

Warren Jeffs Story
  shutterstock.com

Despite the unusual and extreme culture that persist within the extremist sect, many residents, including the women, claim that they lived mostly happy lives there for a long time. According to Leona Bateman, a mother of 12 in her 50s who had been born into a polygamist family, she remembers her childhood with fondness.

Rampant Domestic Abuse

Warren Jeffs Story
  Richard L. Bowman / shutterstock.com

While Short Creek has always been an extremely religious and conservative area, Bateman explained that when she was growing up with her 31 siblings, there was a real sense of community. Everyone knew and cared for everyone within the town. According to Bateman, people socialized all the time and were supportive of each other during hard times. However, not everything about the FLDS was so idyllic and wholesome. As many remember, domestic abuse was rampant in the rural community.

A Shift In The Community

Warren Jeffs Story
  shutterstock.com

“It was common for the women to get beat,” Leona told the New Statesman. “It was common for the kids to get beat.” For decades, it was considered normal and acceptable for men to beat their wives and kids if they were disobedient or did something that was considered sinful. In 2002, however, things started to change within the community and attitudes toward domestic abuse started to gradually shift. That shift came from Warren Jeffs, whose father, Rulon, was previously the prophet and leader of the Short Creek FLDS community.

A New Profit

Warren Jeffs Story
  Rachel Jeffs

In 2002, Rulon passed away and Jeffs slowly started taking control of the Short Creek FLDS cult. According to Bateman, many of the wives welcomed the change in leadership because Jeffs condemned domestic abuse. However, they didn’t realize Jeffs was initiating a much more traumatizing way of life.

A Welcomed Change

Warren Jeffs Story
  lev radin / shutterstock.com

“When he came, he banned that, and he said if anyone hits their families again, they’re going to get kicked out. For the first time ever, women had a little tiny bit of power over their husbands.” Bateman explained. Because of this new policy, Jeffs quickly won favor from the community.

A New Form Of Punishment

Warren Jeffs Story
  BetacommandBot / Wikipedia

According to Leona, the women in the town quickly realized that there were worse things than being beaten by your husband. For the wives, Jeff’s form of punishment to keep women in line was even more brutal. Instead of physical punishment for disobedience, Jeff’s suggested a punishment that hit mothers where it hurt most.

Worse Than Being Beaten

Warren Jeffs Story
  shutterstock.com

“After a while, if you didn’t obey your husband, then he would go tell Warren Jeffs,” Bateman said. “Warren would say, ‘take her kids from her, and move her to the trailer court, or put her in complete isolation from the family. Ban her from the church.’”

In Complete Control

Warren Jeffs Story
  www.news.com.au

“What they would do is mind manipulation, which is far worse than a spanking or a beating,” Bateman added about the cruel and unusual punishment Jeffs instigated. “I know many women who got their babies taken from them… just by applying social pressure, he got complete control.”

A Controlling Tyrant

Warren Jeffs Story
  shutterstock.com

Through a process of manipulation, isolation, and mind control, Jeffs ended up gaining complete control of the town. During his tyrannical rule, Jeffs set up security cameras inside almost every single home in Short Creek. The footage went to a control room full of monitors in Jeffs compound so he could carefully monitor the behavior and lives of every FLDS member and make sure they weren’t disobeying him in any way.

Jeffs’ Extreme Rules

Warren Jeffs Story
  shutterstock.com

Jeffs banned the word ‘fun’, forbid FLDA members from even talking to outsiders, and even forbid members from socializing with each other. Jeffs would expel any member of the community for breaking any of his laws. Nearly all the money that anyone earned within the community was also required to be given to Jeffs, who would then distribute the fortune as he seemed fit.

A Reign Of Terror

Warren Jeffs Story
  Showtime / YouTube

During his rule as the prophet, Jeffs took 80 wives. He had about 10 children on average with each of those wives. He also began a gathering called a ‘Witnessing’, which involved inviting followers to watch him rape girls as young as 12 years old in a large domed structure built specifically for the assault.

The Conviction

Warren Jeffs Story
  Inside Edition / YouTube

However, Jeffs reign of terror came to an end in August of 2006 after being on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. 2011 when he was convicted of sexually assaulting countless women and minors. For his crimes, he was sentenced to life in prison. He is currently serving that sentence in Texas. In the wake of Jeffs’ arrest and conviction, however, his followers, even some of his victims, were so brainwashed that they truly believed he was innocent.

A Difficult Process

Warren Jeffs Story
  Gordon Shumway / YouTube

In the months and years after Jeffs was convicted, members of the FLDS have slowly gone through what they call ‘process’. That involves realizing what Jeffs did to them, officially leaving FLDS, and joining modern society, which they refer to as going out into ‘The World’. While some families still maintain Jeffs is God’s incarnation on Earth, many others have left both FLDS and Short Creek.

Rebuilding The Town

Warren Jeffs Story
  Inside Edition / YouTube

Many families and expelled members, however, have returned to Short Creek to rebuild and modernize the town while also healing from the traumas they experienced their entire lives. The Batemans are one of those families, and Leona Bateman had made it her job to help women cope and adjust with their new lives.

A Vital Job

Warren Jeffs Story
  shutterstock.com

Bateman has started several groups to help both men and women. She also started a “Brave Woman Camp” for women to come forward with their sexual abuse experiences. “We had 12 rape cases come out of that camp,” Bateman said. “When you’re going through transition and leaving a cult, and you’re used to [having] no power, and you have no education, you’re very vulnerable. A few of the cases that came out were happening in the church, because stuff like that still happened and just was secret. The more I do this work, the more I realize how needed it really is.”

A New Mayor In Town

Warren Jeffs Story
  Community Education Channel / YouTube

In 2017, Donia Jessop, a former member of FLDS who left the cult in 2012, was elected as the first female mayor of Hildale. According to Jessop, she and her family left Short Creek after leaving FLDS but decided to come back to rebuild their home. “This place was so depressed when I came back,” Jessop told the New Statesman. “I realized the thing that was missing; I always said it was hope. There was no hope left. There was no heartbeat here. It was like the heart had been ripped out of Hildale. And I realized I had the heartbeat and I could bring it back. And it took all of us; it’s not just me. But it needed somebody that would stand up and say, ‘I’m going to do this.’”

No Time To Lick Old Wounds

Warren Jeffs Story
  www.abc4.com

In the wake of her election, Jessop explained that 10 male town council members resigned because they refused to work under and be lead by a woman. However, Jessop hasn’t let the opposition hold her back. “Even though we’re hurt, beaten, and bruised, it’s the women who have to stand up and continue to get out of bed every morning and take care of our kids and earn money and make sure we’re supported,” she said. “The men could sit back and lick their wounds. But it’s that way in the world. It’s been that way ever since we were created. We are so freaking strong, and we go through hell every day, and we get up and we get our kids to school every day, and we make meals, and we clean our house and go to work.”

The Dirt Calls You Back

Warren Jeffs Story
  Google Maps

“We came from the dirt here,” Jessop said. “When you’re from the dirt, that’s why you’re called back. You can’t help it. People leave, and they’re like, ‘I’m never going back to that place.’ But the dirt calls your soul back. The dirt will not be unheard. The dirt is shouting out for us to come back here and rescue our town.”

Former Cult Members Rebuild Utah Town After Abusive Leader’s Conviction is an article from: LifeDaily

Brooklyn Man Guilty Of Murder In Stolen Identity Case

0
0

Dmitriy Yakovlev Story

As technology continues to improve so do the methods that scammers use in order to steal our personal, private information. Even with new protection methods, chip cards, and secure servers, it’s superbly difficult to find a security measure that the skilled hackers of the world can’t eventually crack.

Our story begins with one woman attempting to contact her financial institutions. But in this case, the person attempting to empty the accounts is not who she say she is…

Calling for Credit

Dmitriy Yakovlev Story
  www.nydailynews.com

The credit card company, which was also coincidentally her bank, was really giving Irina a hard time. She has been trying, unsuccessfully, to zero out all her accounts for hours and settle as many of them as she could, but they were not being helpful. As a Russian language translator living in Brooklyn, New York, Irina wasn’t exactly rolling in the dough, and she had her reasons for needing the money.

Her Secret

Dmitriy Yakovlev Story
  www.mirror.co.uk

Part of the reason that Irina Malezhik wasn’t exactly rolling in dough, was that she also wasn’t exactly Irina Malezhik. The woman currently making phone calls to Irina’s creditors and banks was Julie Yakovlev. She had stolen Irina’s identity and was working on stealing all of her money. Of course, Irina wasn’t exactly aware of this…

Missing

Dmitriy Yakovlev Story
  www.charleyproject.org

Before the aforementioned phone calls, Julie had successfully withdrawn $40,000 from Irina’s account and now she wanted more. But why had Irina not stopped this when she found her cards were missing? Well, the real Irina had disappeared several months before that moment and two of the only people who knew about it, were Julie Yakovlev and her husband Dmitriy.

The Real Irina

Dmitriy Yakovlev Story
  www.pexels.com

Irina Malezhik was last seen on October 15, 2007. She was viewed on a security camera, leaving her apartment building and never seen or heard from again by anyone except her financial institutions and the occasional online retailer. It seemed like a foolproof plan and but for the pushback from the bank, was working, and had worked before as well…

Foolproof Plan

Dmitriy Yakovlev Story
  www.nydailynews.com

You see, Irina Malezhik is not the only person who had fallen victim to the dastardly husband and wife team. The Russian immigrants had done this once before by killing and then stealing the identity of some of the people they knew personally. One of these people was a man named Viktor Alekseyev, a Russian immigrant like themselves.

Never Found

Dmitriy Yakovlev Story
  www.nydailynews.com

Not only did the Yakovlevs personally know each of his victims, Dimitry was the last person to see each of them alive. It was a bold move, but despite these facts, it wasn’t a connection the police made at first. What they never anticipated was that one of their victims might actually be missed. Irina worked for the federal courts and her disappearance would not go unnoticed…

Disappearing Cop

Dmitriy Yakovlev Story
  www.nydailynews.com

The third time they tried this, they got a bit too greedy. This time they had their eye on another friend with strong ties to the community: retired New York Police Department employee Michael Klein. Klein also lived in Brooklyn and when he disappeared in November of 2003, the authorities finally discovered a link between the seemingly unconnected disappearances.

Abandoned Car

Dmitriy Yakovlev Story
  www.fox8.com

Klein was the perfect target, he was selling his Brooklyn home and was about to leave for good when he vanished, but the Yakovlevs were sloppy. Two days after Klein disappeared, his car was found abandoned in New Jersey…right near an apartment complex where they had lived a few years earlier…

Viktor Discovered

Dmitriy Yakovlev Story
  www.dailymail.co.uk

Viktor Alekseyev had disappeared in December of 2005, and for many months, the Yakovlevs believed themselves to have gotten away with murder. But when his body was found in New Jersey in 2006, suspicion once again turned their way. Someone had apparently killed and dismembered him.

Surgical Precision

Dmitriy Yakovlev Story
  www.nj.com

Mr. Alekseyev’s body parts had turned up in plastic garbage bags in South Mountain Reservation, in Essex County, N.J. The crime scene investigators examined the body for cause of death but could not determine it. What they did discover however, was that whomever had carved up the body had done so with a surgeon’s precision. Dmitriy Yakovlev had medical training…

Interviewed

Dmitriy Yakovlev Story
  www.nydailynews.com

Because the alleged crime seemed to have occurred in two separate states, the FBI became involved. Dmitriy Yakovlev, was brought in for questioning and during the course of the interview, suggested that Irina Malezhik must have left the country without telling anyone. Irina was originally from the Ukraine and his theory was that she just went home.

Pay Back

Dmitriy Yakovlev Story
  www.voiceofpeopletoday.com

But his “theory” was doomed from the start. When the FBI agents asked him why he had been making ATM withdrawals with Irina’s credit cards. Not to be caught unawares, Yakovlev exclaimed that he had been given permission to access those cards and accounts as repayment for some personal loans. Obviously the FBI agents weren’t buying it…

Serious Evidence

Dmitriy Yakovlev Story
  www.nymag.com

The evidence was piling up. The FBI found some of the Irina, Viktor, and Michael’s personal belongings in the Yakovlev’s possession. This included: $350,000 in checks made payable to Klein at the real estate closing; a Patek Philippe watch, driver’s license, birth certificate, and other personal documents belonging to Alekseyev, Malezhik’s Social Security card, cellular telephone, and her underwear.

Long Trial

Dmitriy Yakovlev Story
  www.nydailynews.com

The three week trial commenced soon after and during the course of it, nearly 40 witnesses came forward to give testimony against the incorrigible couple. The long and short of it was that Dmitriy Yakovlev murdered Alekseyev and Malezhik in connection with his theft of their identities and likely murdered Klein as well. But of course his defense attorney offered an excuse…

Alcohol Problems

Dmitriy Yakovlev Story
  www.healdove.com

Michael Gold, Yakovlev’s attorney, alleged that the government had no solid evidence to back claims that Mr. Yakovlev was the “cold-blooded, scary killer” they were making him out to be. In his eyes, Dmitriy Yakovlev had been helping Irina Malezhik with her drinking problem and other personal problems when she disappeared.

Pleading Out

Dmitriy Yakovlev Story
  www.thekharkivtimes.com

Meanwhile, what Yakovlev didn’t know was that his wife Julie had already pleaded guilty to identity theft and credit card fraud. She admitted to her participation in the plot to steal Irina Malezhik’s identity but told the court that she had no part in the murders. She would spend 36 months in prison, as for Dimitry…

Seven Hours

Dmitriy Yakovlev Story
  www.nydailynews.com

The jury deliberated for seven hours over the course of two days before coming to an amicable decision. They found Dmitriy Yakovlev guilty of conspiracy, bank fraud, using stolen credit cards and other charges. Strangely enough, they did not find him guilty of murder, maybe because there was no body for Irina Malezhik or Michael Klein…

Payback’s a…You Know

Dmitriy Yakovlev Story
  www.time.com

In addition to the defendant’s 30-year sentence, which at his age will likely mean he will spend the rest of his natural life in prison, he was also ordered to pay back $432,050 to the estate’s of the deceased. It seemed a reasonable concession considering the trouble and pain he caused.

Lifetimes to Pay

Dmitriy Yakovlev Story
  www.ibtimes.com

Originally, Yakovlev faced a much more serious sentence of life in prison. After some consideration however, U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch defended the new sentence of 30 years stating: “Today’s sentence ensures that this defendant will never again have the opportunity to murder or otherwise victimize innocent victims.”

Who to Trust

Dmitriy Yakovlev Story
  www.foodindustryexecutive.com

Some people may believe that Yakovlev’s sentence seems a bit weak considering the three potential murders he committed, but in the end we need to trust in our justice system. Meanwhile, this case is one which reminds us to be careful who we share our lives with, cause you just never know who you can trust.

Brooklyn Man Guilty Of Murder In Stolen Identity Case is an article from: LifeDaily

Viewing all 7148 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images