Robert Seman, Alleged Rapist And Murderer, Jumps To Death From Courthouse Balcony

4-11-17 Ohio:

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A man charged with setting a fire that killed a girl he was accused of raping and her grandparents jumped to his death from a fourth-floor courthouse balcony on Monday, the day before jury selection in his death penalty trial.

Forty-eight-year-old Robert Seman Jr. was being led by deputies from a courtroom after a status conference to a holding cell at the Mahoning County Courthouse in Youngstown when he killed himself, Sheriff Jerry Greene told the Youngstown Vindicator.

"According to a couple of the attorneys and basically everybody there, it seemed like he was in pretty good spirits,'' Greene said. "He was talking about the future of his trial, and he just decided to jump.''

Seman could have faced the death penalty if convicted in the deaths of 10-year-old Corrine Gump, 63-year-old William Schmidt and 61-year-old Judith Schmidt. The March 2015 fire at the family's home occurred the day Seman's trial in Corrine's rape was scheduled to begin in Youngstown. Investigators concluded that the fire was fuelled by gasoline. Burns were found on Seman's body after his arrest, prosecutors said.

Glendale Police: Man, woman died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds at Glendale home

4-9-17 Arizona:

GLENDALE, AZ - Police are releasing more information after a man and woman who were found dead in a Glendale home over the weekend.

A Phoenix spokesperson said they were serving a search warrant to a home near 59th and Peoria avenues on Saturday night in connection to a child pornography investigation.

While officers were entering the home they heard a single gunshot, officials said. Dan Ray Reynolds, 47, and 32-year-old Jessica Rochelle Garcia were found dead inside the home.

It’s believed that both Garcia and Reynolds suffered self-inflicted gunshot wounds. The pair died at the scene, police said.

No additional information was immediately available. ..Source.. by

A mother's love for a lost son — the sex offender found dead Saturday

Posted in Related Deaths

11-10-2014 Missouri:

On Nov. 10, 1992, Lewis Green, then 22, shot himself in the head during a game of Russian Roulette.

That left him partially paralyzed on his left side and with mental problems, his mother said.

Twenty-two years and five days later — on Saturday — Green, 44, was one of three people shot to death at a north side Springfield hotel that often is home to transients, as well as families down on their luck.

"I loved my son," said Green's mother, Kaye Green, Tuesday before she went to start making funeral arrangements. "I loved my son in spite of himself."

Green was living in room 149 of the Economy Inn where he was required to have his address posted online because he was a registered sex offender. Also killed in the same room were Danielle J. Keyes, 29, and Trevor L. Fantroy, 43. One man survived, Christopher K. Freeman, 24. No arrests have been made.

Kaye Green, 63, a former machine operator who retired from Solo Cup after 24 years, said her son moved to the Economy Inn about five months ago. She said he could afford the payments on his checks from Social Security disability and the motel didn't do background checks on who lived there.

The owner of the motel has not returned repeated phone calls from the News-Leader.

Kaye Green said she doesn't think her son's status as a sex offender had anything to do with his death. Police have not commented on whether they are investigating a possible connection.

"Whoever did that was a coward because he couldn't run," she said. "He was trapped in his own body."

Murder-suicide suspect was registered sex offender

3-23-15 Tennessee:

David Laster, who police say killed his ex-girlfriend and himself today at the Bank of Jackson, was a registered sex offender, according to state records.

Laster was convicted of rape and aggravated rape in 1986, according to the Tennessee sex offender registry. He was sentenced to 25 years in state prison but was released early on parole.

Laster's criminal history also include charges of DUI, and domestic assault and verbal assault against ex-girlfriend Virginia Dorris in September 2014.

Jackson police say Laster, 52, shot and killed Dorris, 53, this morning before turning the gun on himself. Dorris worked at the bank, at 132 W. University Parkway. ..Source.. by The Jackson Sun

Escondido Murder Suspect Found Dead In Truck

3-10-15 California:

A high-risk sex offender believed to have killed a woman he considered to be his adoptive mother in the home they shared in Escondido was found dead Tuesday in Del Mar, according to police, who said he committed suicide in his pickup truck.

Joseph Andrew Stuber, 46, was found in the 1400 block of Stratford Court around 7 a.m.

"The face of the body was concealed, but after evidence technicians processed the scene, the identity of the body was confirmed to be that of the murder suspect, Joseph Stuber," according to an Escondido police statement. "Preliminary investigation shows that Stuber killed himself by asphyxiation."

Around 4:20 a.m., police announced Stuber was suspected of killing a woman with whom he lived at 2149 Mountain View Drive, and who was initially believed to have been his mother. Police later said Stuber was like an adoptive son to the woman, but the pair had no biological relation.

Man accused of killing girlfriend dies

2-11-15 Utah:

NORTH LOGAN — The man accused of killing his girlfriend and attempting to kill himself died Tuesday evening, police said.

Christian Emerson, 26, was discovered Sunday with a gunshot wound to the head and was airlifted to an area hospital in critical condition, according to North Park police. A passerby located Emerson and his 26-year-old girlfriend, Amanda Hoyt, inside a white Subaru that had wrecked near 1830 Canyon Ridge Drive.

Hoyt was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. An investigation showed she had multiple gunshots fired at her, but it was unclear how many times she had been hit, police said. Investigators said it appeared to be a homicide and attempted suicide.

Hoyt's small dog was also found in the vehicle unharmed and was returned to her family.

North Park police said there are many details that remain unclear, including whether Emerson had been driving at the time shots were fired, where they were going, if Emerson owned the gun used, or if the event was premeditated.

Rape charge may have triggered domestic homicide

Posted in Related Deaths

4-22-2014 Indiana:

GRIFFITH | Police continue to look for what triggered a murder-suicide Monday outside St. Mary's School where a Gary man killed his estranged wife

He later turned the gun on himself when confronted by police outside his garage.

"We are still trying to find the specific cause of the event," Griffith Police Chief Greg Mance said. "At this time, everything still points toward a domestic situation that turned violent."

The violence took place 10 days before the killer, Remanard Castro, would face a judge and the possibility of a 20- to 50-year sentence on charges he had raped his victim, Nina Castro, in November.

Laura Berry, executive director of the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence in Indianapolis, suggested Tuesday the upcoming court hearing may have been the trigger.

She said if the rape took place last fall and the charges were only recently filed, Remanard may have deluded himself "into thinking he got away with it, and once he knew he had an initial hearing coming up, all of a sudden he is facing incarceration."

Anson Co. Sheriff: Registered sex offender killed 2-year-old girl, self

11-25-2014 North Carolina:

ANSON COUNTY, N.C. — Anson County deputies said the man who killed a 2-year-old girl and then himself in a murder-suicide was a convicted sex offender from Kentucky.

Investigators came to the home on Horne Store Road Monday around 5 p.m. Monday after someone called 911. "Yes, I need some help over here ... Anson County, I need y'all help. Please hurry," said the 911 caller.

She said her brother-in-law had committed suicide. Investigators discovered George Rufus Harris, 33, shot to death in a shed behind the home. Inside a bedroom, they found the body of that 2-year-old girl and they found a suicide note.

“He admitted he killed the child regretted it and was going to take his own life,” said Sheriff Tommy Allen.

Officers didn’t have a motive, but said Harris was a registered sex offender who was wanted for a probation violation and failing to report. Eyewitness News checked and found he was convicted of sexually abusing a 14-year-old.

Homeless sex offender linked to bizarre Oklahoma death

8-19-2014 Oklahoma:

A homeless sex offender who spent much of the last decade behind bars has been linked to a bizarre McClain County death that had stumped investigators for months.

Michael B. Hair committed suicide just two weeks after authorities believe he took the life of 24-year-old Rachelle Lyn Flowers at her home near Cole in April. He is now linked to the young mother’s death by DNA, according to multiple sources.

Hair was 46 when he killed himself near a Goldsby mobile home park. He was a registered sex offender and burglar who served nearly a decade behind bars for assault, attempted rape and indecent exposure, court records show. His past convictions include burglary, grand larceny and obtaining merchandise under false pretenses.

Clinton Flowers, the victim’s husband, said Tuesday evening that he is upset that somebody like Hair was free and walking around.

“Why is this guy even free out here ...and what is wrong with us as a society?” he said.

“I mean, the guy’s been arrested 11 times. What happened to three strikes?”

McClain County Sheriff Don Hewett said Hair left his DNA “all over the crime scene” when he tried to burn down the farmhouse where the victim lived with her husband.

Coroner releases identities of bodies found in East Side apartment

Posted in Related Deaths

5-20-2013 Indiana:

EVANSVILLE — A man and woman whose bodies were found in their northern Vanderburgh County apartment Monday afternoon were identified Wednesday by the Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office as Holly L. Usrey, 56, and Thomas H. Zinni, 65.

Usrey died from blunt force trauma to the head, according to the Coroner Annie Groves, and her death is listed as being a homicide. Zinni died from a self-inflicted wound, Groves said.

The couple were found Monday in their apartment by a maintenance employee of the Delaware Trace Apartments, however, their date of death is listed as May 20.

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.

3 dead, 1 injured

Posted in Related Deaths

3-26-2012 Georgia:

MOULTRIE — A Colquitt County man was one of three people fatally shot early Monday morning at a residence near the Colquitt-Tift County line in what is believed a murder/suicide.

The Observer has learned that Darrell Dewayne Ward, 42, one of those who died at the Innis Road residence, lived a short distance from the location where the shootings took place.

Tift County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Bobby Brannen confirmed earlier Monday that three people were dead at the residence, located off U.S. Highway 319 South near Omega.

Tift County’s 911 center received a call shortly before 6:30 a.m. about a person being shot, Brannen said.

A fourth person was transported by air for emergency medical treatment.

Brannen did not release any additional information, and the other fatalities have not been identified. It is believed, but not confirmed, that two of the dead are related to the woman who was air lifted, possibly mother and father.

Ward had moved back and forth between Colquitt and Tift counties since his release in April 2007 after he served nearly 10 years at Autry State Prison in Pelham, authorities said. He pleaded guilty Oct. 31, 1997, to the rape of a Lowndes County woman and began serving his sentence in state prison in December of that year.

On Jan. 15, Ward changed his sex-offender registration to Colquitt County from Tift County, after having moved from here to Tift County in 2010.

In a plea arrangement on the rape charge in Lowndes County, counts of false imprisonment, aggravated stalking and burglary were dismissed at the time he pleaded to the rape charge, District Attorney David Miller said.

The Georgia State Patrol charged Ward in July 2010 in Colquitt County with driving under the influence, failure to maintain lane, failure to provide assistance and driving without a license on his person. It was not immediately known whether those charges had been disposed of. ..Source.. by Alan Mauldin

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GBI: Ward was shooter in murder-suicide

3-27-2012:

TIFTON — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation Sylvester Office and the Tift County Sheriff’s Office began a joint investigation at 7:30 a.m. Monday into a murder/suicide that occurred in Tift County, the GBI reported.

Kim Baker, special agent in charge, provided a press release Tuesday stating that two adults discovered deceased inside the residence located at 103 Iniss Road in Tifton have been identified as James Williams Peters Sr., approximately 57 years of age, and Shirley Ann Peters, approximately 53 years of age. Both had sustained what appeared to be gunshot wounds.

A third person also found deceased at the residence was identified as Darrell Dewayne Ward, approximately 43 years of age, who had sustained a gunshot wound to the chest.

So far, the crime scene examination and interviews conducted by the GBI and the Tift County authorities indicate that sometime after 10 p.m. Sunday, Ward drove to the Peters’ residence, armed with a handgun, and mortally wounded James and Shirley Peters, shot their daughter and then fatally shot himself. The daughter is expected to recover from the injuries that she sustained during the attack.

The bodies of the deceased are being transported to the GBI Crime Lab for autopsies.

The investigation by the GBI, TCSO and the Tift County Coroner’s Office continues.

Ward had moved back and forth between Colquitt and Tift counties since his release in April 2007 after he served nearly 10 years at Autry State Prison in Pelham, authorities said. He pleaded guilty Oct. 31, 1997 to the rape of a Lowndes County woman and began serving his sentence in state prison in December of that year.

On Jan. 15, Ward changed his sex-offender registration to Colquitt County from Tift County, after having moved from Colquitt County to Tift County in 2010.

In a plea arrangement on the rape charge in Lowndes County, counts of false imprisonment, aggravated stalking and burglary were dismissed at the time he pleaded to the rape charge, District Attorney David Miller said.

The GSP charged Ward in July 2010 in Colquitt County with driving under the influence, failure to maintain lane, failure to provide assistance and driving without a license on his person. It was not immediately known whether those charges had been disposed of. ..Source.. by The Tifton Gazette CNHI

Autopsy: Man who killed former girlfriend at Duke clinic committed suicide

Posted in Related Deaths

5-10-2010 North Carolina:

The Durham man who exchanged gunfire with police in May after fatally shooting his former girlfriend at a Duke clinic died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Burnett Taylor, 51, died of a contact gunshot wound to the right side of his head, the autopsy report states.

Taylor was confronted by police about two blocks from the clinic at 3116 N. Duke St. where 40 minutes earlier he had fatally shot 49-year-old Charlene King six times.

When police confronted Taylor, the autopsy states, he was holding a gun to his head.

Shots were also fired by police, the autopsy report states. The autopsy describes a second gunshot wound to the left hip. ..Source.. by Staff Reports

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Man shoots, kills girlfriend at Duke health clinic

5-6-2010 North Carolina:

DURHAM (WTVD) -- A Duke Medicine employee was shot and killed by a gunman who came to her workplace in Durham Tuesday afternoon.

The shooting at the Duke Health Center at North Duke Street happened just before 3 p.m. at the corner of N. Duke Street and Frasier Street. That's north of I-85 near the Durham Regional Hospital.

Panicked 911 calls immediately began flooding into emergency operators.

"We're all hiding in a room here," a doctor told a 911 operator.

Click here to listen to the calls

"The guy with the gun came in and somebody fell through the door," said another caller. "A man came in behind her and shot."

Witnesses reported hearing four shots. They said medical staff were attempting to give the woman CPR, but she was unconscious.

Durham police identified the victim as 49-year-old Charlene Bullock King. Relatives told ABC11 that she worked at the center for 27 years as a phlebotomist. They said the gunman was her ex-boyfriend.

Police identified him as 52-year-old Burnette Taylor of Durham.

"Charlene was very sweet, very sweet," King's stepson Steven Shealey said. "She didn't deserve this at all. Even at one point when I was going through some things with my fiancé, she took me in."

He said she had recently had a fight with Taylor and decided to leave the relationship.

"I guess he realized he had lost something that was a jewel, something that was precious as she was, and that's why he couldn't let go," Shealey said.

After the shooting, Durham police quickly swarmed the area trying to find Taylor who took off on foot.

"We happened to have officers training not too far from here at that point in time, so they were able to respond at a very quick rate," Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez said.

Witnesses reported the gunman ran into a wooded area behind a house on Carver Street. They reported hearing multiple gunshots before Taylor was seen lying on the ground.

As police tracked Taylor, Lopez said he "engaged police officers in a gun battle" at Carver and Broad streets.

Taylor was shot by officers and Lopez said he was taken to Duke Hospital where he later died.

Lopez said the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation would be assisting in the case - as is standard in any officer involved shooting.

Taylor had a long criminal record. According to the North Carolina Department of Corrections, he was a registered sex offender after convictions for second-degree rape and kidnapping in 1993. He also has convictions for car theft, larceny of firearms, resisting arrest, and drunk driving.

After serving time for those crimes, he was released and apparently began dating another woman, who late-last year accused him of assault. The woman even requested a temporary restraining order, describing a violent episode in which Taylor beat her unconscious. In court documents she wrote, "He continued to slap, kick, punch me with his fists. Blackening both my eyes, fracturing my ribs, my liver was cut due to a kick."

Probation officers put out warrants for Taylor's arrest beginning in November of last year.

State correction officials say Taylor's probation officer made every attempt to locate him, but officers never managed to track Taylor down, until six months later when Durham police officers shot him Tuesday.

Officials with the North Carolina Department of Correction also say their revue shows the probation officer made numerous attempts to find Taylor over the last six months, at his last known address and his family members, but Taylor was willfully fleeing supervision.

Meanwhile, Duke Medicine reopened on Thursday after it cancelled all appointments for all services at the Duke Health Center at North Duke Street for Wednesday. ..Source.. by WTVD.com

Man who plunged from tower was suspect in 3 slayings

Posted in Related Deaths

4-8-2012 Mississippi:

BAY ST. LOUIS -- Authorities suspect a twice-convicted felon killed his mother, stepfather and girlfriend at their home on Citizen Street before he climbed a cellphone tower in Waveland and plunged about 300 feet to his death.

The triple homicide and two other homicides Saturday in Hancock County marked what is believed to be a record of five homicides reported in a single day in the coastal counties.

“It was like a double full moon,” said Waveland Police Chief Kenny Hurt, previously chief investigator of the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office.

“All of us officials and investigators have been talking about how we don’t recall ever having this many at a time. We had a double homicide several years ago, but never anything like this,” Hurt said.

No motives have been revealed in any of the killings.

Authorities on Sunday identified victims in the slayings on Citizen Street as Wilton Bernard Jr., 69, his wife, Jeanie Bernard, 66, and Kathleen Deese, 50.

Deese was the suspect’s girlfriend, said Bay Deputy Police Chief Christine Johnson.

The suspect, Anthony Garrett, 46, died later Saturday night as authorities tried to talk him down from a tower and a crowd gathered to watch. Investigators are considering the possibility that he slipped and fell while trying to get down.

Witnesses reported Garrett shouted at onlookers and law enforcement officers, claiming he had killed his family with a hammer, and said he had been in prison a number of years.

Garrett was convicted of sexual battery in 1985 and again in 1988. He had given officials his mother’s home address as his address for the Mississippi Sex Offender Registry. The website said his picture was last updated March 27.

Back-to-back autopsies were performed Sunday, but authorities have not yet said how the three on Citizen Street were killed.

The Bernards were retired and mostly kept to themselves, said their next-door neighbor, who asked not to be identified. She said the couple had lived there about 10 years and had recently finished planting flowers in their yard.

Crime-scene tape was still tied around the yard Sunday afternoon. An American flag waved in the breeze from a short pole on a tripod-style planter of flowers in front of the light-colored stucco home, where sego palms grow underneath a set of double windows in front.

Three vehicles were parked on the property. A pickup truck and station wagon were in the front yard, and a car was parked under a lean-to built adjacent to a shed.

Public records show Garrett and Deese had previously lived in Meridian.

They apparently all lived together in a house at the corner of Citizen Street and Old Spanish Trail. Citizen Street is a dead-end road. Numerous motorists passed by and slowed down to look at the house Sunday and turned around and left.

Police said the three were found dead at 7:42 p.m. Saturday.

The neighbor said she had no idea anything had happened until a string of patrol cars drove up as she sat on her porch. She said authorities were still there when she went to bed about 3 a.m. Sunday. The woman said she heard no gunshots or sounds of distress.

Authorities linked Garrett to the slayings after Waveland police and Hancock County deputies responded to a report of a man who had jumped a fence and climbed onto a cell phone tower at U.S. 90 and Kiln-Waveland Cutoff Road in Waveland.

The tower is a three- or four-mile drive from the home on Citizen Street.

The sight of a man near the top of the tower drew a crowd of several dozen from neighboring businesses including the Knock Knock Lounge.

The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation are assisting in the probe of those incidents. ..Source.. by ROBIN FITZGERALD

Police: Delaware Train Deaths Possible Double Suicide

Note to the person commenting: We do not gather facts, we show what is reported in the news, whatever happened in the past, is no longer relevant. Today the fact that someone committed suicide who had a prior sexual conviction, is the only thing relevant. There are many times that we wish history could be changed, but that is not possible now.

Posted in Related Deaths 4-4-2012 Ohio:

DELAWARE -- Police say a convicted child rapist and his sister were killed after lying down in front of a train Wednesday morning.

Just before 4:00 a.m., Delaware police received a call from Norfolk Southern Dispatch, saying a train had struck a pedestrian near Vernon Ave.

After arriving on the scene, officers found the bodies of two people, along with an apparent suicide note in a sealed plastic bag.

The deceased have been identified as Roy T. Weatherford III, 44, and his sister, Kara McGlenaghan, 33.

On March 2, an indictment was filed on Weatherford for six child pornography counts. He had previously served 15 years in prison for raping and drugging a female, and was released in 2007.

Report clears Fond du Lac officers

Posted in Related Deaths

3-20-2011 Wisconsin:

Fond du Lac - The Fond du Lac County prosecutor says Officers were justified in defending themselves and firing at a gunman who had shot and killed a police officer in March, the Fond du Lac County district attorney's office ruled Monday.

A report issued by the DA's office says the gunman, James Cruckson, 30, sexually assaulted his girlfriend and refused to return her 6-year-old daughter. Several police officers responded. The report says Cruckson shot and wounded one officer who entered the home, and he riddled another officer's squad car with bullets.

As a third officer ran to investigate the sounds of gunfire, Cruckson shot him twice and killed him. One shot hit Officer Craig Birkholz, 28, in the abdomen below his bulletproof vest, and the second hit the top of the vest with fragments entering his torso.

Cruckson later killed himself. ..Source.. by DINESH RAMDE

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DOJ releases FdL shooting report

10-5-2011 Wisconsin:

MADISON - The Wisconsin Department of Justice has released more than one thousand pages of documents related to its investigation of the March shooting that killed a Fond du Lac police officer.

The Fond du Lac County district attorney ruled last month police acted appropriately during the shooting.

FOX 11 filed an open records request with the state to obtain the records from that incident. The DOJ handed them over Tuesday.

The department has since posted the report on its website. Click here to read it.

Authorities say James Cruckson shot and killed 28-year-old officer Craig Birkholz as he ran towards the scene. Cruckson also shot Officer Ryan Williams and his K9 officer Grendel, both recovered. Cruckson later took his own life.

As Fond du Lac officers battled his shots March 20, frantic calls poured into to 911.

"I believe I'm hearing gunshots," one caller said. "Yes, stay in your house, stay away from windows," the dispatcher responded.

"I'm on Division and Lincoln," another said.

"You need to stay in your house, we have an incident going on on Lincoln," a dispatcher responded.

The recordings are part of more than 1,000 pages of investigative documents, photos and video, released to FOX 11 by the Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation.

Some information has been removed to protect the victims, Officer Ryan Williams, James Cruckson's former girlfriend and Officer Craig Birkholz.

Dash cam video shows Birkholz racing to the scene. Other officers were already there, including Williams. Bullets were flying.

"Shots fired, shots fired, we got a sniper," officers say over radio.

The video goes black when Birkholz leaves the car. DOJ removed the video, because it captures Birkholz' death.

According to the autopsy report, Birkholz was shot twice.

Newly-released video from the Department is giving us a first look inside the duplex where it all began. Video shows the second floor where police say Cruckson fired nearly 50 rounds through a window.

Hundreds of pages of interviews confirm Cruckson was driven by a crumbling relationship. He spoke with a negotiator ten times during the standoff.

In the report, the negotiator describes Cruckson as having flat emotions. He said Cruckson never yelled during the conversations, but did admit killing an officer and raping his former girlfriend.

However, in audio previously released by Fond du Lac authorities, Cruckson blamed her for everything.

"You lied, that's why those cops got killed, so pretty much you killed those cops," Cruckson said on her voicemail.

Hundreds of photos show the aftermath of Cruckson's attack, Williams' vest pierced in several places, squad cars riddled with bullets and a community and department forever changed.

The report, like the Fond du Lac County district attorney, also concluded that officers acted appropriately to protect the community. ..Source.. by Lindsay Veremis, FOX 11 News

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SPECIAL REPORT - In Their Own Words: FdL Officer Shooting One Year Later

3-21-2012 Wisconsin:

Concerns about 6-year-old prompted police to enter Lincoln Avenue duplex

Jon Gutzmann

Capt. Jon Gutzmann has no regrets about his decisions and actions the morning of March 20, 2011.

He was one of three officers to first enter James Cruckson’s home at 24 S. Lincoln Ave. on the city’s west side after Cruckson’s ex-girlfriend, Josephine Warner, reported a sexual assault and that her 6-year-old daughter was still in the house.

That morning, he saw a bloody Officer Ryan Williams tumble into Officer Zach Schultz on the stairwell leading up to where the armed and suicidal Cruckson was situated.

Gutzmann later heard calls about Officer Craig Birkholz being shot by Cruckson and killed.

During the shootout, Gutzmann left the house in an armored vehicle only to return again with the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team to find Cruckson dead on the first floor of his residence from a single self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“Obviously, I have thought about this a great deal over the last year,” said Gutzmann, who continues to read reports and listen to dispatch tapes. “… Given the information I had that day, no, I would have not made any other decision. In speaking with other (officers) that were in that house, we all agreed that was the best method, given the information we had.

“I said all along that I don’t know if I could go back and sit in my house and look at my children if, in fact, the little girl would’ve have been in that home and harmed. … I took an oath to not let that happen.” ..This is a multi-page article, more in the original.. by Russell Plummer

2 Killed in Gulfport, Suspected Shooter Found Dead

Posted in Related Deaths

10-11-2011 Mississippi:

GULFPORT, Mississippi -- Police in Gulfport are investigating a double murder-suicide.

Gulfport Police say the crime happened on Monday around 1pm at a home on Kent Ave.

The victims have been identified as a minister's wife 45-year-old Karen Ferguson, and her son 21-year-old Trevor Cole, who has cerebral palsy. Both were found shot to death inside their home.

The alleged shooter, 70-year-old Paul Buckman, was found dead inside an apartment at Creekwood North Apartments on Oneal Road just blocks away. Police say Buckman died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Investigators say Karen Ferguson is the wife of Minister Les Ferguson who works at the Orange Grove Church of Christ. Police say Buckman previously attended their church, but was accused of molesting their disabled son Trevor. Buckman was sent to jail, but bonded out a few days later.

Investigators say the couple's 5 year-old son was also home when the suspect entered the house, but Mrs. Ferguson told the child to run. The child was able to escape to a neighbors house. The neighbor called police.

Police are still investigating the case. News 5 will bring you more details as they are released on wkrg.com and News 5 at 5pm and 6pm. ..Source.. by WKRG Staff

Remains Of Ohio Teen Missing For 13 Years Found In Rapist’s Home

Posted in Related Deaths

2002 Ohio:

Police are saying that the skeleton of a fourteen-year-old Ohio runaway that has been missing since 1999 has been discovered after the home where she was last seen was demolished.

The Lima News reported that Lima police on Saturday stated that the remains of Nicholle Coppler were discovered in a crawl space while the home’s foundation was being dug out. Allen County Coroner Gary Beasley stated that they were identified from her dental records.

Glen Fryer, who owned the home, was a suspect in Coppler’s death. The newspaper reported that he was 55 when he committed suicide in 2002 while waiting for his sentencing for raping a girl.

The state took possession and demolished the home because of unpaid taxes. Coppler’s remains were the only ones discovered.

Missing Cleveland Mother Latasha Jackson, 13 MO Chaniya Wynn Killed by Thomas Lorde in Double Murder-Suicide

Posted in Related Deaths

2-19-2012 Ohio:

Cleveland, OH, police have confirmed Latasha Jackson and her 13 month old daughter, Chaniya Wynn, who were kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend, Thomas Lorde, 35, yesterday afternoon, were found dead Sunday morning in a double murder-suicide. The bodies were found with Thomas Lorde’s in a closed garage of an unoccupied structure on Union Avenue. All were found with gunshot wounds to the head.

The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner Office will determine the official cause of death for all three individuals, Fox 8 reports. Latasha Jackson and Chaniya Wynn were taken at gunpoint by Thomas Lorde on the streets at about 11:44 a.m. Saturday and were last seen walking south down East 72nd Street. This is a sad, sad case and the mother and child didn’t deserve the hand they were dealt by Thomas Lorde, who is a registered sex offender with a long and violent criminal history.

'Incestuous' Sex Images Found on Josh Powell's Computer Before Murder-Suicide

Posted in Related Deaths

2-10-2012 Washington:

(NewsCore) - Images depicting incestuous sex between a parent and child were found on Josh Powell's computer and handed over to Washington investigators just days before he brutally murdered his two children and then killed himself.

The material stored on the computer was deemed to be so disturbing that one psychologist working on the Powell's custody case recommended that the court prevent the children from being returned to their father, KING 5 reported late Thursday, citing Thomas Shapley of Washington's Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS).

The images included very realistic "lifelike" simulations of incestuous sex acts, Pierce County officers said, and may have prompted a judge to order that Josh Powell undergo a psychosexual evaluation, according to the report.

Police in West Valley, Utah, discovered the documents and sent them to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department under a restrictive court order Feb. 1.

On Feb. 5, Josh Powell blew up the family home in Graham, Wash., with his sons, seven-year-old Charlie and five-year-old Braden, inside. Authorities believe he hacked his sons in the head and neck with a hatchet before the explosion took place.