Coroner Investigating Death of Retired Fresno Firefighter Recently Arrested on Child Porn Charges

9-26-2012 California:

The Fresno County Coroner's office has confirmed they are investigating the death of former Fresno Fire Department employee Dan Allen Craft just one day after his arrest on child porn chargers.

Craft, who is a retired Engineer, was arrested on Tuesday for the possession, receipt, and distribution of child pornography.

Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said Craft came into possession of the illegal materials through email from a subject who was involved in sexually abusing and photographing an 8 year old female victim in Florida.

Craft was freed on bail the same day as his arrest and was found dead in his home on Wednesday morning. ..Source.. by KSEE News

Defendant's death brings sex offender case to a close

9-25-2012 Texas:

Alleged attempted suicide victim and convicted Cooke County sex offender Michael Charles Conner, 35, succumbed to his wounds late Friday in a Plano hospital.

The death followed an incident early Wednesday morning where Conner allegedly shot himself in the head in a Denton residence. He survived and was transported to a Plano hospital.

The incident rendered him absent during proceedings in the 235th District Court, where he faced a 10-year sentence for his failure to meet sex offender registration requirements. His death brings proceedings to a halt, and Cooke County Assistant District Attorney Lisa Decker said by the end of the week, she will submit a case dismissal motion to presiding judge Sharen Wilson.

“Obviously the police are investigating a suicide,” Decker said. “Beyond that, I cannot comment.”

But even after Conner allegedly tried to kill himself, he was destined for a long prison term if he had survived. In November 2010, the convicted sex offender reportedly failed to notify Gainesville authorities of his move to Denton.

This counted as a third-degree felony, and he faced a sentence between two and 10 years. Decker said Conner finally received the longest sentence possible due to a “character assessment” — a consideration of his history of sex crimes that began in 1997. During that year, he kidnapped a young woman and received only probation. The kidnapping, Decker explained Thursday, was sexual in motive.

This led to counseling for Conner and attempts toward rehabilitation. But in 2000, he began a prison sentence of nearly seven years for the convicted rape of an 18-year-old woman in Cooke County. After his release in 2006, he resumed residence in the county and was ordered to register annually as a sex offender.

In early 2010, Decker said, Conner exposed himself to a female neighbor. Though the incident was reported, it was never brought to prosecution. However, it was a sizable factor in the 10-year prison sentence Conner received this past week shortly after attempting suicide. ..Source.. by GREG RUSSELL

Utah inmate who won $1.4M award in rape case found dead in her cell

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Man found dead in pond near Conway

9-20-2012 South Carolina:

A man was found dead in a pond near Conway on Thursday afternoon, according to authorities.

The Horry County dive team pulled Lester Causey Jr. from a pond near the street he was from around 3 pm, officials said.

According to Horry County Police Sgt. Robert Kegler, Causey was found in a pond off Oak Log Lake Road, just off SC 905, outside Conway around 1 p.m.

Deputy Coroner Darris Fowler said that Causey, 44, was from Oak Log Lake Road, but might not have been living there when he died.

Friday Fowler said the preliminary cauuse of death is drowning but the complete autopsy report will take months. There were no signs of foul play.

Searches of the J. Reuben Long Detention Center website found several past charges against Causey, including probation violations in March and a harassment in the second degree charge from mid-June of this year.

Dania Beach man kills girlfriend, hangs himself at Greenbelt Park, police say

Posted in Related Deaths

8-31-2012 Florida:

A man found hanging from a tree in Greenbelt Park on Sunday morning apparently first killed his girlfriend before turning to suicide, authorities said.

The body of Louise Attardi-Cramer, 50, dead from blunt force trauma, was discovered in her bedroom early Sunday, said Keyla Concepcion, a spokeswoman for the Broward Sheriff's Office.

About four hours later, Michael Kanuf, 49, was found by a couple taking a morning stroll through a secluded area of the park adjacent to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Concepcion said.

Police say Kanuf left a note outside a relative's home admitting to the crime and saying that he was going to commit suicide.

Willoughby man considered rape suspect found dead of apparent suicide

8-31-2012 Ohio:

CHARDON, Ohio -- A Lake County man indicted in July on several counts of raping a young girl has died, apparently after committing suicide.

The attorney for Frank Vidmar, 52, said he found Vidmar's body in a shed at the Croatian Center on Mulberry Road near Chardon on Friday morning. Vidmar had been doing maintenance work at the center the previous day with permission from the court.

The body has been sent to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office, which will do an autopsy to determine the manner and cause of death, said spokesman Powell Caesar. It was reported to the office as a suicide, he said.

Vidmar had been out on bail for about two weeks, his attorney John Luskin said.

Luskin said Vidmar maintained his innocence, but was upset with the way police had treated his mother. He said Lakewood Police searched his mother's Kirtland home, where Vidmar also lived, on Wednesday.

"Apparently, they tore the house up pretty bad," Luskin said.

Luskin said police were looking for suspected child pornography on a computer and that they based their search on an intercepted conversation between Vidmar and his sister while Vidmar was in jail.

But the conversation Vidmar had with his sister was about removing Internal Revenue Service records from the computer, not any pornography, Luskin said. ..Source.. by Peter Krouse, The Plain Dealer

DPS officer accused of child molestation commits suicide

9-6-2012 Arizona:

A veteran Department of Public Safety officer committed suicide Wednesday near Yuma after being informed that he was under investigation for sexual abuse and child molestation.

Deputies responded Wednesday evening to a 911 call about a dead person found at Adair Park Shooting Range northeast of Yuma, according to Capt. Eben Bratcher, spokesman for the Yuma County Sheriff's Office. Bratcher said deputies arrived on scene and found the body of James Howard, who had died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Howard had served as a DPS officer assigned to the Roll area.

Bratcher that said on Wednesday morning, investigators from the sheriff's office had served a search warrant at Howard's residence, located in the 38100 Block of Kumquat Dr. Drive in Roll, in reference to an ongoing criminal investigation.

Pender inmate found dead in cell

8-1-2012 North Carolina:

A Pender County jail inmate was found hanging in his cell Wednesday morning, an apparent victim of suicide, according to a news release.
Damien Manley

Damien Billy Manley, 21, was pronounced dead at the jail in Burgaw about 2:30 a.m.

According to Chief Deputy Keith Hinkle, a jail officer was making the rounds when he came upon Manley about 1:42 a.m.

Hinkle said Manley, who was housed alone, had used the cover from his mattress to hang himself.

The officer attempted to revive Manley but was unsuccessful.

Hinkle said the last time Manley was seen alive by jail staff was at 1:21 a.m.

According to a press release from Sheriff Carson Smith, the State Jail Inspectors Office was notified of the death and the State Bureau of Investigation was asked to conduct an investigation.

An internal investigation is also underway, Smith said.

“Preliminary indications are that the jail officers on duty followed state rules, Sheriff’s Office procedures and medical staff guidance in their classification and monitoring of the inmate,” the release states.

Manley, of Rocky Point, was jailed July 24 on suspicion of first-degree burglary, assault on a child under 12 and contempt.

He was being held on a $60,000 bond. ..Source.. by CONUS TOC SOURCE

Man charged with voyeurism kills self, police say

9-5-2012 Ohio:

Police say a central Ohio man has committed suicide after authorities discovered of hundreds of videos of naked woman they say the man filmed from outside their windows.

The Franklin County Sheriff's Office said about 50 women were targets of 38-year-old John Hayes of Columbus, who faced two counts of voyeurism.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that members of the county Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force were looking for child pornography when they searched Hayes' home and computer last week. Instead, they found hundreds of videos showing women dressing, nude and, in some cases, having sex.

Authorities said each video was categorized on a hard drive by the location where it had been recorded.