Car-fire victim a sex offender

2-5-2012 Pennsylvania:

State police from the Embreeville barracks today identified the man who died last week after setting his car on fire as 38-year-old Thomas J. Evasew of Phoenixville.

The coroner ruled the death a suicide. Court records show that Evasew was paroled last May after serving a 6- to 23-month sentence for disseminating and possessing child pornography. He was still on probation in that case, court records said.

Troopers responding to a reported vehicle fire at 5:18 p.m. Wednesday at 3285 Phoenixville Pike found a 2005 red Ford Focus "fully involved in fire," police said. Inside the vehicle they saw the body.

Washougal update: Case ruled a murder-suicide; suspect dead

Posted in Related Deaths

12-10-2011 Washington:

Deputies said Saturday the Washougal house fire and gunfire-filled standoff has been ruled a murder-suicide and that homeowner and suspect Steven Stanbary is believed dead.

The Clark County Sheriff’s Office issued a release saying the heavily burned remains of at least two people have not been positively identified, but it’s believed Stanbary is one of them.

“Based upon the totality of information known to detectives at this time, investigators believe strongly that Steve Stanbary is the suspect and this his remains have likely been recovered,” the press release said.

Investigators believe Stanbury is dead because of circumstantial evidence and identifying items found close to the body. Physical evidence and video also show that Stanbary was found in one portion of the residence, while other remains were found on the opposite side of the house, said Clark County sheriff’s Sgt. Kevin Allais.

Jail officials say Fulton inmate sets self ablaze

1-21-2010 Georgia:

ATLANTA -- Officials are investigating after an inmate at the Fulton County jail set himself on fire.

Spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan said Jeremy Moody, who is charged with the 2007 deaths of two teens, was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital after the fire last week.

She said Moody set himself ablaze around 1:45 p.m. on Jan. 12.

Moody's family tells WSB-TV they don't believe the jail's report and want an external investigation.

College Park cousins 15-year-old Delarlonva "Del" Mattox Jr. and 13-year-old Chrisondra Sierra Kimble were found stabbed to death in April 2007.

Moody, who was 29 at the time, was charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault and rape in addition to the murder charges.

Investigators said Moody was a stranger to both teens and was likely trying to rob them. ..Source.. Ledger-Enquirer.com

OK- Convicted sex offender dies after setting himself on fire

This one is very disturbing because police sat there, doing nothing to stop him for 30 minutes, claiming they were afraid he was armed. Normally, police would stop a person -under any circumstances- from committing suicide, why were there no attempts here?

10-23-2009 Oklahoma:

A convicted sex offender burned to death when he set himself on fire as authorities served a warrant at his rural Tulsa County home Thursday.

Tulsa County sheriff’s deputies and state Pardon & Parole Board officers were sent to a house in the 14100 block of East Apache Street to contact Johnnie Joe Hobbs, 47, Capt. John Bowman said.

After finding the house empty, the squad peered into a cargo van that sat in the cluttered yard about 3 p.m. Hobbs, who was inside the van, reached out and slammed the door shut, Bowman said.

He then doused the van with gasoline and ignited it, Bowman said. Medics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Bowman said Hobbs had spent time in prison and had indicated that he would do anything to avoid capture.

“There are a lot of people that will do a lot of things to keep from going back to jail,” he said. “To use a flammable liquid to ignite where they are, I have not seen that before.”

Investigators from the Tulsa Fire Department searched through the charred van into the evening, working around piles of garbage that were scattered about the property on the northeastern edge of Tulsa County.

Bowman said that because of the volatile nature of the incident, firefighters didn’t immediately enter the van to douse the flames. There were concerns that Hobbs might have been armed, but no weapons were found after a preliminary search.

About 30 minutes after Hobbs set the vehicle ablaze, authorities entered it and discovered his body in the cab, Bowman said.

The deputies had intended to serve three protective orders on Hobbs, and the parole officers were sent to revoke his suspended sentence for a Muskogee County conviction, Bowman said.

A relative of Hobbs’ gave officials a key to the house, and two of his siblings were in the area as the van burned, Bowman said.

Hobbs was the subject of protective orders in both Tulsa and Rogers counties, court records indicate. He also had been convicted of showing obscene material to a child, lewd molestation and making lewd proposals to a child. ..Source.. by MATT BARNARD and NICOLE MARSHALL World Staff Writers

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

Tulsan burns himself to death

10-23-2009 Oklahoma:

The convicted sex offender sets himself afire as authorities attempt to serve him with a warrant.

A convicted sex offender burned to death when he set himself on fire as authorities served a warrant at his rural Tulsa County home Thursday.

Tulsa County sheriff's deputies and state Pardon and Parole Board officers were sent to a house in the 14100 block of East Apache Street to contact Johnnie Joe Hobbs, 47, Capt. John Bowman said.

After finding the house empty, the squad peered into a cargo van that sat in the cluttered yard about 3 p.m. Hobbs, who was in the van, reached out and slammed the door shut, Bowman said.

He then doused the van with gasoline and ignited it, Bowman said. Medics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Bowman said Hobbs had spent time in prison and had indicated that he would do anything to avoid capture.

"There are a lot of people that will do a lot of things to keep from going back to jail," he said. "To use a flammable liquid to ignite where they are, I have not seen that before."

Investigators from the Tulsa Fire Department searched through the charred van into the evening, working around piles of garbage that were scattered about the property on the northeastern edge of Tulsa County.

Bowman said that because of the volatile nature of the incident, firefighters didn't immediately enter the van to douse the flames. There were concerns that Hobbs might have been armed, but no weapons were found after a preliminary search.

About 30 minutes after Hobbs set the vehicle ablaze, authorities entered it and discovered his body in the cab, Bowman said.

The deputies had intended to serve three protective orders on Hobbs, and the parole officers were sent to revoke his suspended sentence for a Muskogee County conviction, Bowman said.

A relative of Hobbs' gave officials a key to the house, and two of his siblings were in the area as the van burned, Bowman said.

Hobbs was the subject of protective orders in both Tulsa and Rogers counties, court records indicate.

He also had been convicted of showing obscene material to a child, lewd molestation and making lewd proposals to a child. ..Source.. by Matt Barnard 581-8408, Nicole Marshall 581-8459

IN- Killer of 5 apparently hangs self in Ind. prison

10-9-2008 Indiana:

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An illegal immigrant serving five life terms for the strangling deaths of his wife, three young daughters and a neighborhood girl apparently took his own life Thursday by hanging himself, authorities said.

Simon Rios, 36, was found in his cell at the Pendleton Correctional Facility northeast of Indianapolis after noon Thursday, prison spokesman David Barr said. Rios was pronounced dead about 40 minutes later after guards and medical personnel couldn't revive him.

There were no signs of foul play, Barr said. An autopsy was scheduled.

Rios' attorney, Michelle Kraus, said he left a note requesting that his remains be returned to his native Mexico.

"I'm very sad. I know he did a very evil thing, and he always knew he did a very evil thing. He always expressed remorse to me," Kraus said.

The prosecutor in Rios' case said any remorse the man may have felt had little weight, given the heinous nature of his crimes.

"I don't want anybody to ever lose sight that he is not a victim here," Allen County prosecutor Karen Richards said Thursday. "He killed his wife and four little girls. They are the victims here."

On Dec. 8, 2005, Rios lured 10-year-old Alejandra Gutierrez, a former classmate of his eldest daughter, into his van as she waited at a school bus stop in Fort Wayne. Authorities say he raped and strangled her, then dumped her body in a gravel pit 50 miles away near Muncie.

Five days after killing Alejandra but before her body was found, Rios fatally beat and strangled his wife, Ana Casas-Rios, 28, and strangled their three daughters, Liliana, 10, Katherinne, 4, and 20-month-old Thannya, in their Fort Wayne home.

Police found Rios, then 33, on the front porch of his home after receiving an early morning suicide call. He told them he argued with his wife after she arrived home from work, hit her with a steel pipe and strangled her with an extension cord. He then strangled the 4-year-old with his hands and the other two girls with an extension cord. He placed the children on a bed together.

Rios' death came a year and eight days after he was sentenced to four life sentences for the murders of his family and two counts of moving a body from a death scene. He earlier received a life sentence for the murder, rape and molestation of Alejandra.

Casas-Rios' mother and other family members attended his sentencing hearing and said they had forgiven him and did not want to see him die. Members of Alejandra's family also opposed the death penalty because their Roman Catholic faith teaches against it.

Rev. Paul R. Bueter, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Warsaw, counseled Rios in jail. He said he received a recent letter from Rios in which the inmate said he enjoyed playing billiards with other prisoners and reading religious pamphlets the priest had sent him.

Bueter speculated that Rios had grown depressed again, as he had been at the time he killed his family. ..News Source.. by KEN KUSMER

ME- Police: Car explosion was suicide

8-20-2008 Maine:
WINSLOW -- An explosion on Monday rocked businesses on China Road, killed a Palermo man and sent flames and automobile parts flying at least 20 feet in the air, witnesses said.

Maine Department of Public Safety Spokesman Steve McCausland said 23-year-old Shane Rexford purchased cigarette lighters at the Cumberland Farms convenience store, drove across the street into the parking lot shared by Pleau's Market and Movie Gallery and ignited a flammable liquid inside his car around 8:15 p.m. Monday.

Rexford died in the fire, which is being treated as a suicide, McCausland said. No one else was hurt.

"I heard this tremendous boom, and it shook the whole building," Movie Gallery Manager Kristen Berard said. The car ignited about 50 feet from the store.

"I ran out, and the trees were all on fire. I was just shaking."

Berard said as she watched, a second explosion launched parts of Rexford's Chevrolet Impala as high as the power lines overhead.

Police and medics arrived on the scene, but Rexford was already dead when they saw him in the driver's seat, according to the Winslow Police call log.

Maine State Police were confident enough about Rexford's identity on Tuesday to inform his mother of what had happened, McCausland said. The medical examiner's office has not yet positively identified Rexford as the deceased.

McCausland said Rexford, of Carrs Corner Road in Palermo, had been a sex offender who, in December 2007, was convicted of possessing sexually explicit material of a minor under 12.

Rexford served five months in the Waldo County Jail and was released in May, a corrections officer said last night from the Belfast jail.

The Impala in the fire was registered in both Rexford's and his mother's names, McCausland said.

Police say the Impala was parked when Rexford lit the flammable fluid. Berard said it appeared that the car was moving while it was in flames, but whether that was from the force of the blast or if the vehicle was still gear, she did not know. From her perspective, she said it appeared that the vehicle slammed into the guard rail at the edge of the parking lot.

The flames and explosion would have been clearly visible from McDonald's across the street.

"My employees told me they could feel the percussion of the blast," McDonald's Manager Derik Boutin said.

Flames scorched trees at the scene about 20 feet up, and charred bits on Monday were still scattered on the asphalt. The metal grill from the Impala and a couple of other charred car parts were also left.

Ken Quirion, of Winslow, was on the Sebasticook River Bridge at a traffic light when he saw youths run across China Road from Cumberland Farms to the fire scene.

A former state fire investigator, Quirion said he drove into the parking lot where the car, parked against the trees with no other vehicles around, was fully engulfed. He said he could not tell if anyone was inside.

"There was so much fire that you couldn't tell anything and I wasn't about to get close because this fire was really going," Quirion said. "The glass was broken out of the whole car, so the fire went extremely quick."

Quirion said he suspected that the Fire Department had just been called about the fire because fire officials arrived about four minutes later -- about the amount of time one would expect for arrival.

"The fire was going awful quick in a very short time and that doesn't happen in an accidental fire," Quirion said.

He said when he heard the news Tuesday that the fire was not accidental, it all made sense.

This was not only the incident in recent memory of an apparent self-immolation, McCausland said.

In Hancock County, a college student doused himself in gasoline and set himself on fire earlier this year, McCausland said. ..News Source.. by JOEL ELLIOTT Staff Writer

CA- P.G. girl's stalker found dead on Asilomar Beach

6-13-2006 California:

A 44-year-old man recently released from the county jail after serving time for stalking a Pacific Grove High School student was found dead Saturday morning in the Asilomar beach track area of Pacific Grove. Pacific Grove Police said the body of Benjamin Peter Munhall, 44, of Monterey was found in the vicinity of the stalking victim's residence. Police are withholding the cause of death pending an announcement by the coroner's office, but in a statement said that no foul play is suspected at this time. Sgt. Kathy Hale, who was on the scene, said she could not comment because of the ongoing investigation.

Police said Munhall was seen Friday night at Pacific Grove High School where the stalking victim was graduating. Officers searched the area all night for Munhall after being authorized by the Monterey County Probation department to arrest him on a parole violation. Munhall was arrested on June 28, 2005, on suspicion of stalking, child annoyance and prowling. At the time The Herald reported that Munhall had met the girl at a Pacific Grove High School football game in September 2003, when she was 14. A week later he followed her home and gave her a gift. The victim reportedly told her parents about the man, but at that time police didn't know his identity.

"He was infatuated with the young lady," said Pacific Grove Police Lt. Darius Engles. In June 2005, he tried to contact the girl again, showing up at her home at various hours of the day, calling her home and leaving gifts by her car. Neighbors reported seeing his car parked in front of the girl's house. He was arrested in his car in front of the girl's home, and appeared to be living in his vehicle. Police said at the time of his arrest that not much had gone on between Munhall and the victim between September 2003 and June 2005.

Munhall pleaded guilty to a charge of stalking and was sentenced Nov. 18 to a year in jail and 5 years probation. He was required to register as a sex offender and was ordered to have no contact with the victim. He was released Feb. 21 after serving 293 days from the date of his arrest. ..more.. : by Herald Staff Report. See also: Stalker's death ruled a suicide "Benjamin Peter Munhall, 44, of Monterey, was found dead Saturday morning in the Asilomar beach tract area. He died of a cut to the throat; a double-edged razor blade was found nearby, police said."

LS- Police briefs: State police investigate suicide

8-22-2006 Louisiana:

An East Texas man under investigation for sex offenses apparently committed suicide in Red River Parish early Sunday, according to a Louisiana state police report.

Robert Barnett, 49, a registered sex offender from Carthage, Texas, left a suicide note before parking his pickup on a Union Pacific crossing on a private road off state Highway 1 four miles south of Grand Bayou, troopers said. This happened about 2 a.m.

"The train crew reported that the driver stopped as if he were going to wait for them to pass and then drove into their path and stopped in front of them as the train entered the crossing," said a release from Louisiana state police Troop G.

Barnett was not restrained in his 2005 Ford Ranger pickup and died at the scene, troopers said. None of the train's crew members were physically injured.

Investigation into the incident is continuing, troopers said. ..more.. : by The Times

PA- Death years ago ruled a suicide

3-7-2008 Pennsylvania:

Nearly five years to the day after a man was found on fire in Bethlehem's Nisky Hill Cemetery, the Lehigh County coroner's office has ruled his death a suicide.

A man walking his dog in the historic North Side cemetery the afternoon of March 11, 2003, saw a drift of smoke that he thought was a pile of leaves on fire and called police.

Instead, police and firefighters found a trembling man in a wooded area near the cemetery with severe burns on 98 percent of his body.

David Burkhardt, 58, was still conscious and told police he was jumped by three men who had set him on fire. He died eight hours later at Lehigh Valley Hospital's burn center.

On Thursday, Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim ruled Burkhardt's manner of death as suicide.

He said Burkhardt did not leave a suicide note, but some of his clothes were found neatly folded near a gravestone, an act unlikely to have been done by an attacker.

Grim said police also tracked down three people thought to be linked to Burkhardt's death, but determined they were not connected.

Burkhardt's brother, Thomas R. Burkhardt Jr. of Bethlehem, said Thursday he believed for years his brother had been attacked and killed while walking in the cemetery.

He said he was unsure what to think about the coroner's ruling.

''If that's what [Grim] said, I guess that's the way it is,'' Burkhardt said.

Burkhardt's death came about a year after police charged him with exposing himself and performing a sex act while standing in front of the window of his Center Street house dressed in a woman's wig and feather boa. A utility crew was working outside and reported the incident to police the following day, claiming Burkhardt's actions caused them ''severe distress.''

Police obtained a search warrant for the house, where they found several women's wigs, a white boa neck garment, several women's robes and Burkhardt hiding under the bed.

Police said that over the years, they had received similar complaints from delivery people and workers in the area, but no one was willing to testify against Burkhardt.

He agreed to plead guilty to indecent exposure and prosecutors dropped open lewdness and disorderly conduct charges. He was put on 23 months probation and ordered to attend sex offender counseling.

Family members were unsure what led Burkhardt to the incident at his living room window, but his life fell apart after the charges, said Joe Delaney, who is married to Tammy Delaney, Burkhardt's niece. She declined to comment.

''To us, it's like the system killed him,'' Joe Delaney of Bethlehem said. ''He had to sell everything, he lost his job, he was never the same. We never understood why he did that in the window.''

He said Burkhardt was a talented artist, cleaned houses and worked various home health care jobs. He said relatives were torn between believing Burkhardt had killed himself or someone had targeted him.

''Who would want to die like that?'' Delaney said. ''It's just awful.''

Nearly five years later, Delaney said there are still burn marks on a tree in the wooded area where Burkhardt was found.

''To us, he was the best person in the world that would do anything for you,'' Delaney said. ''We're proud to say we all stood by him and were there for him.'' ..more.. by Pamela Lehman

TX- Man may have caused crash that killed him, four others

Posted in Related Deaths

6-2-2006 Texas:

HOUSTON (AP) - Investigators now believe a May 16 crash that killed five people on a rural Southeast Texas road might have been intentionally caused by one of the drivers, a man whose stepdaughter had accused him of sexual abuse.

The collision happened after a pickup truck veered off the road, came back on and slammed into an oncoming tractor-trailer rig. The wreck happened near Liberty, about 50 miles northeast of Houston.

Authorities said William Pete DeShayes III "intentionally" swerved his pickup into the path of the tractor-trailer, possibly because a 15-year-old stepdaughter not involved in the crash was preparing to go public with her accusations against him of sexual abuse.

Killed in the accident were DeShayes, 40, from Splendora; his 11-year-old daughter Mariah; and 10-year-old daughter Hayven. Another daughter, Deborah Nicole DeShayes, 14, survived the crash. Also killed were the couple driving the big rig.

"I think he may have been trying to kill the children, too," said Trooper Sean Cheshire of the Texas Department of Public Safety. "The evidence points to it. He took no evasive action. He thought warrants were out for his arrest."

Nicole DeShayes told authorities the last thing she heard her father say before he turned the steering wheel and headed toward the 18-wheeler was that his chest was hurting and that he was "sorry." She told the DPS investigator later that she felt her father had intentionally caused the accident.

Mary DeShayes, William DeShaye's ex-wife, said that on the night of the accident she and her 15-year-old daughter went to police in Rockdale after the girl said her stepfather had abused her for the past four years.

Police note that in the days and hours before the wreck, William DeShayes had repeatedly telephoned and sent desperate text messages to the girl. He called Rockdale police at least three times wanting to know if "assault charges" had been filed against him.

The dead man's mother, Linda Gilmore, vehemently denied the allegations of a murder-suicide, blaming the attack on a possible heart attack.

"I know he would not deliberately try and hurt them babies," she said. "They were his life, his world."

But Mary DeShayes said "he felt if he died that he'd be glorified and nobody would know his secrets."

Child Protective Services has opened an investigation into the sexual abuse allegation against William DeShayes, and into the wreck.

"We will look at the accident report to try to figure out what happened," said Chris Van Deusen, CPS spokesman in Austin. "We will make sure the two surviving girls are cared for and given counseling." ..more.. by AP

SC- Children's throats slashed in S.C. fire..

Posted in Related Deaths

8-10-2004 South Carolina:

ROCK HILL - Three children who were found dead in a Monday housefire were murdered, authorities announced today.

The three children, tentatively identified as Jairo, Denise and Denia Meza all died from having their throats slashed, York County authorities said.

Two adults also found dead at the scene died of smoke inhalation and burns, according to York County Coroner Doug McKown.

The father, Jose Denis Meza, 39, was positively identified from fingerprints. The mother has been tentatively identified as Marbely Zeldon Meza, 30.

Authorities said they believe either the mother or the father killed the three children.

The body of the adult female, believed to be the mother, had knife wounds that could have incapacitated her, officials said.

Meza was charged July 16 with fondling his eldest daughter and had been ordered to move out of the home. He was scheduled to appear in court Monday on the sexual molestation charges. ..more.. by Dan Huntley

NJ- State report says DYFS could have done more to protect victims of 2006 murder-suicide

Posted in Related Deaths

10-24-2007 New Jersey:

The state Division of Youth and Family Services could have done more to protect Melanie and Scott McCarter, a report released by the New Jersey Office of the Child Advocate said Wednesday.

Wendy Bennett McCarter, 35, was shot and killed on the morning of May 25, 2006, by her husband, Scott McCarter, who also killed their two children, Scotty, 12, and Melanie, 6, before shooting himself in their Nabb Avenue home in Millville.


Scott McCarter had been barred from living with Wendy and his children because of a court order stemming from charges he allegedly molested two teenage girls from 2001 to 2004.

One of the girls was Wendy McCarter's daughter, Amanda Bennett, who has filed a lawsuit against DYFS over the deaths of her mother and two siblings. Bennett had moved out, and was not at the Nabb Avenue home at the time of the murder/suicide.

TDK employee's death ruled self-inflicted

10-26-2007 Oklahoma:

A TDK Ferrites employee who was killed Oct. 14 in an industrial accident at the Shawnee plant apparently died of self-inflicted injuries, an investigation has revealed.

Ron Stravlo, president of the local plant, made the announcement Thursday after a meeting concluded between TDK and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials who investigated the death.

"OSHA inspectors said TDK was not at fault in this case," Stravlo said. "It was employee misconduct a self-inflicted wound."

Stravlo said Joe Pennington, 47, was running a kneader-type machine, which simulates kneading of bread. The large machine is used to compound the plant's ferrite materials. Workers operate the machinery on the ground level, so there is no reason to climb onto the machine, Stravlo said, but that's what Pennington apparently did.

"He found a way to bypass all of the safety equipment," Stravlo said, and climbed up the machinery about seven feet.

After that, Stravlo said the employee was able to bend over his upper body inside the machine, where a chute comes down for sealing. Stravlo said it appears Pennington maneuvered his foot to activate the machine, which crushed him.

Another employee found him and ran for help. The medical examiner ruled cause of death as suffocation, Stravlo said.

Following the employee's death, it was discovered that the worker, whose legal name is Joe Pennington, was working at TDK under the alias Lawrence Joe Fox, 48. While employed at the Shawnee magnet manufacturing plant, he had a valid driver's license and Social Security number in the Fox name.

His true identity wasn't known until after he died and TDK officials tried to notify his family. That's when it was learned he was Joe Pennington, a wanted sex offender out of Arizona. Since 2003, Pennington had been sought for probation violations involving a 2001 Arizona conviction of sexual conduct with a minor and kidnapping, according to online court records.

Pennington started working at the Shawnee plant as an Express Personnel temporary employee in April 2004 and was hired full time earlier this year. He worked in several departments, Stravlo said, including 15 months in the powder house, where his death occurred.

Stravlo said Pennington knew the kneading machine "inside and out" and it appears he figured out a way to bypass safety regulations. Stravlo said there are four employees in the large powder house area who may not see each other much during their shifts, so Pennington had time alone while working. The incident happened about 11:30 a.m.

Stravlo said OSHA officials did a good job investigating all possible ways the death could have occurred because nothing made sense.

"They looked at everything," he said, and interviewed powder house employees, many who have been there more than 30 years. Worldwide, TDK has never experienced an on-the-job suicide, Stravlo said.

"We are deeply saddened by this incident and the grief it has caused in the plant," Stravlo said. "We have sympathy for Joe Fox's family, but TDK had nothing to do with this person's death."

OSHA officials have recommended placing "Do not climb on machines" signs in the powder house area, Stravlo said, and TDK officials will re-emphasize not climbing on machinery when training.

Pennington lived in Meeker. TDK employees knew him as Joe Fox, and he was a good employee while there, Stravlo said, only missing two days of work in more than three years of employment. Stravlo said grief counselors have been available to all TDK employees over the past week.

Shawnee police also investigated this case. Police have no knowledge of Pennington being in any trouble while living here in Oklahoma. ..more.. by Kim Morava


Death probe of TDK employee takes new twist
10-17-2007 Oklahoma:

A TDK Ferrites employee, who was killed Sunday in an industrial accident at the plant, was described by company officials as a "model employee." But Shawnee police said Tuesday he was a convicted sex offender and was wanted on charges in Arizona.
Company officials and police confirmed he worked at the local plant under a different name for more than 3 1/2 years.

Ron Stravlo, president of the Shawnee plant, said that Joseph Pennington, 47, worked under the name of Lawrence Joe Fox, 48, while working at TDK. The worker's real identity was not discovered until Stravlo was attempting to notify next of kin of the death.

"He had a legitimate Social Security account number and a valid Oklahoma driver's license," Stravlo said Tuesday.

"He apparently created his own identity," Shawnee Police Detective Ethan Rieves said Tuesday. "It doesn't appear he stole anyone's identity," the officer said.

The death remains under investigation. Stravlo said officials with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are in charge of the investigation.

"They were on site Monday and will return this morning," Stravlo said. "The company is cooperating with investigators to determine the cause of death."

Stravlo said that Pennington had worked at the local plant as an Express Personnel employee from April 2004 through April when he was hired full time.

"We followed the I-9 and federal laws in our hiring practice," Stravlo said.

He said, "There was no reason for us to not believe he was Joseph Fox."

Stravlo said Pennington had worked in several departments, including the grinding, pressing and powder house. He was in the powder house at the time of the fatal accident, Stravlo said, although how he died is still not known. Pennington was discovered around 11:40 a.m. Sunday by a fellow employee who immediately ran for help, Stravlo said.

"Fellow employees attempted to revive him and called 911. Their efforts were unsucessfull and he was pronounced dead at the scene. We believe he was dead at the time he was discovered," Stravlo said.

Because OSHA is in charge of the accident investigation, Stravlo said company officials cannot comment further about the scene or the man's death.

Stravlo said there were no emergency contact numbers for the victim. He said as he continued his efforts Sunday night to contact the next of kin, he called a number and a woman answered who identified herself as an aunt in Arizona.

"She didn't know of any other next of kin," Stravlo said he was told, but said she would continue to find other relatives.

On Monday, Stravlo said he received a phone call from a woman in Arizona who identified herself as Shirley Pennington.

"She tells me she is the mother of Joseph Fox. She said the person you know as Joseph Fox is not Joe Fox. His real name is Joe Pennington," Stravlo said, "and she gave me a different Social Security number. That number and his real name is Joe Pennington."

Stravlo said he was unsure if Shirley was Pennington's aunt or his mother.

However, Rieves said Shirley Pennington told police officials she was the man's aunt and that his mother had not been heard from for several months.

Authorities said that Joe Pennington, who lived in Meeker at 422 W. Carl Hubbell Blvd., was a convicted sex offender from Arizona. "He was wanted on charges of sexual abuse and failure to appear. And he never registered in Oklahoma," Rieves said.

"Arizona authorities would have wanted to extradite him had he been arrested," Rieves said.

Rieves said the last case Pennington was wanted on was in 2003.

The detective said he had been told the man was a drifter before he got the TDK job and remained somewhat of a loner. Pennington had not been in any trouble since coming to Oklahoma, Rieves said.

Stravlo said the man had missed only two days of work in the 312 years of employment.

Pennington's body was taken to the state medical examiner's office, Rieves said.

The TDK official said, "Regardless of who he is, we have a tragedy. We are doing everything we can to learn how the accident occurred, and to prevent it from happening again. But we haven't been able to determine that," Stravlo said. ..more.. by Mike McCormick, Executive Editor

NY- Fired sex offender shoots 3, kills self

Posted in Related Deaths

9-27-2005 New York:

New Windsor – Victor Piazza, 55, walked calmly into the offices of Verla International during lunch hour and shot three company officials in the head, witnesses told New Windsor police. Piazza then put the .38-caliber revolver to his own head and killed himself, police said.

All three of his targets – Verla International owners Mario Maffei, 57, and Robert Roth, 65, and office manager JoAnne O'Brien, 48 – survived the shooting but remained hospitalized last night.

Maffei staggered downstairs to the lobby seconds after being shot about 12:30 p.m.

He yelled to employees that he was hit and for someone to call police.

Then he pushed through the building's doors and collapsed into the parking lot.

Morton man who burned himself ruled a suicide

6-30-2007 Illinois:

PEKIN - A Tazewell County Coroner's Jury ruled Thursday that the death of a man who doused himself in gasoline and set himself ablaze was a suicide.

Stuart C. Nelson, 47, of 379 E. Forestwood, Morton, went to the Travel Center on May 18 at 1801 N. Morton Ave., bought a gas can and $1.55 cents of gasoline, poured it over himself and lit himself on fire. He died at 1 a.m.

Witnesses said Nelson never uttered a sound the entire time - even when on fire.

Witnesses ran to his aid with fire extinguishers and put out the blaze.

Nelson was living at the Days Inn nearby. He had been forced to move from his parents' house because it was near a school and he was a sex offender.

He had just gotten out of jail.

But Nelson's father claims his son no longer was required to be registered as a sex offender.

Richard Nelson said his home actually is far enough from Grundy Grade School, but his son was not allowed to live there because he smokes.

Dealing with loss

“He was a great kid. It just tears you apart. You're not supposed to bury your children,” Richard Nelson said Thursday. “I want to remember him as my son, smiling and joking and having a good time.”

Nelson was a schizophrenic, said Morton Police Department Detective Sgt. Bill Roth.

“If he stayed on his meds - and that was his problem - and off alcohol he was a decent guy to talk to,” said Roth. “He was a whole different person when he was drinking.”

Witnesses reported Nelson had a “scary look” on his face. “He had a look in his eyes that people said he was wild, he was agitated,” Roth said during Thursday's inquest.

Roth said the inability to move back in with his parents may have been a contributing factor to his suicide.

An autopsy established the cause of death as inhalation of hot gases that caused spasms and edema to the larynx, said Tazewell County Coroner Dennis Conover.

A toxicology screen found no legal or illegal substances in his system. He was supposed to be on Thorazine, but there was none in his system, Conover said.

“With the closure of Zellers (Mental Health Center) I know there are more and more people on the streets who need help,” said Conover.

After starting the blaze, Nelson walked away from the pumps to the south side of the parking lot where he dropped to the ground.

Conover said that decision by Nelson saved lives. ..more.. by Sharon Woods Harris (Self-Immolation)

Man, 12-year-old daughter found dead

Posted in Related Deaths

5-31-2007 Pennsylvania:

A few weeks ago 12-year-old Mandie Coco told friends her father was molesting her.

On Wednesday afternoon, Mandie and her 41-year-old father, Christopher Coco, were found dead lying on his bed, both shot in the head, in an apparent murder-suicide, Stroud Area Regional police said.

Police said they were looking for a motive, but Mandie's friends and others in the Normal Street public housing development in East Stroudsburg said they always thought her father was an odd man who screamed at children and sported a pistol strapped to his hip.

The father and daughter were found about 2:30 p.m. in the front bedroom of their home at 453 Hill St.

Police went to the apartment to check on Mandie at the request of KidsPeace, where she was enrolled, because she had not been seen at school since Friday, Capt. William Parrish said.