Police Officer Involved Domestic Violence.
Lighting a candle of remembrance for those who've lost their lives to domestic violence behind the blue wall, for strength and wisdom to those still there, and a non-ending prayer for those who thought they had escaped but can't stop being afraid.
A Martin County Sheriff’s Office corrections deputy was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of pushing his wife and ripping off her bikini top... Edward Farren, 41, was arrested by police in Port St. Lucie on a misdemeanor battery charge...
MARTIN COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPUTY, WIFE, ARRESTED IN DOMESTIC DISPUTE
TCoast Talk, tcoasttalk.com
June 8th, 2009 by Ana X. Ceron
[Excerpts] A Martin County Sheriff’s deputy was arrested on a domestic battery charge over the weekend. Martin County Sheriff’s Deputy Edward Farren, 41, allegedly pushed his wife to the ground after an argument on Saturday night. His wife, Michelle Farren, had spent the night at her husband’s Port St. Lucie home after he called her and asked her to come over, the woman told police. Michelle Farren said she showed up at his house despite a restraining order that he has against her because she wanted to be with their three children... One of the children told police his father “went at” his mother... The children were left with a relative while couple was booked into the St. Lucie County jail... Edward Farren faces a domestic battery charge and his wife faces a charge of violating the injunction... [Full article here]
OFF-DUTY MARTIN CORRECTIONS DEPUTY CHARGED IN DOMESTIC INCIDENT
tcpalm.com
By Will Greenlee
Posted June 8, 2009
[Excerpts] A Martin County Sheriff’s Office corrections deputy was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of pushing his wife and ripping off her bikini top... Edward Farren, 41, was arrested by police in Port St. Lucie on a misdemeanor battery charge... She spent the night at his home and got up Saturday to take their children to the beach, according to the report. Edward Farren started an argument involving the topic of sex before ripping off his wife’s bikini top, the report stated. She tried to put it back on, but Farren again ripped it off. After his wife put on a shirt, Edward Farren put her arms behind her back and pushed her down, Michelle Farren told police. He pulled her up and then pushed her outside... He is on administrative leave without pay. [Full article here] [police officer involved domestic violence law enforcement humiliation port st. lucie florida state]
LOS ANGELES POLICE DETECTIVE STEPHANIE ILENE LAZARUS
HAS BEEN ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH KILLING HER FORMER BOYFRIEND'S WIFE,
SHERRI RAE RASMUSSEN
..."This individual was investigated and arrested by L.A. police officers who were going where the truth took them," [LAPD Police Chief William] Bratton said. "It reflects very positively on the department. It doesn't reflect too well on her, in terms of what we allege that she did, but it has no negative reflection on the department, rather it has a very positive reflection on us in the sense that we take our efforts very seriously and we go where the truth takes us. Sometimes it's painful"...
OFFICER CHARGED WITH KILLING RIVAL IN 1986
timesoftheinternet.com
LOS ANGELES, June 5 (UPI) --
[Excerpt] A Los Angeles police detective was charged Friday with killing her former boyfriend's wife in 1986 when she was a young patrol officer. Stephanie Ilene Lazarus, 49, was arrested at Parker Center, the police headquarters building, the Los Angeles Times reported. She allegedly beat and shot Sherri Rae Rasmussen, whose body was found by her husband in their condominium apartment... [Full article here]
LAPD DETECTIVE ACCUSED OF KILLING ROMANTIC RIVAL
Los Angeles Times
June 5, 2009
[Excerpts] Police allege that [Los Angeles Police Department Detective Stephanie Ilene] Lazarus beat and fatally shot Sherri Rae Rasmussen, a hospital nursing director, according to sources familiar with the investigation. "It's very bittersweet. Our goal is to always bring people to justice, but this is somebody we know," said Deputy Chief Charlie Beck, who oversees the detective bureau. Rasmussen's badly beaten body was found by her husband in the living room of the couple's Van Nuys condominium on Feb. 24, 1986. Shortly after the slaying, two men robbed another woman in the area at gun point and homicide detectives came to believe the pair had killed Rasmussen... [Full article here]
LAPD DETECTIVE ARRESTED IN MURDER CASE
She's accused of killing ex-BF's wife in 1986.
myfoxla.com
Text story by City News Service
Posted by: Scott Coppersmith
Friday, 05 Jun 2009
[Excerpts] ...[Sherri Rasmussen] was discovered by her husband, who had a long-term relationship with Lazarus prior to the marriage, according to LAPD Deputy Chief Charlie Beck, who oversees the detective's bureau... "We are going to go where the truth and the facts take us," police Chief William Bratton said... A DNA sample taken from the crime scene - police declined to specify what the sample was or where it was found - was reanalyzed and police detrmined that the killer was a woman, not a man as previously believed. According to the Los Angeles Times, detectives trailed Lazarus last week and obtained a sample of her DNA from a discarded cup or straw, and it conclusively matched the sample taken from the crime scene... "You cannot know a person for 26 years ... you can't know a person for that long, know their family, and not be affected by this," Beck said. "There will still be a period of disbelief and then internal mourning for a lot of people on this." Beck declined to say whether Rasmussen's husband was being investigated by police... "This individual was investigated and arrested by L.A. police officers who were going where the truth took them," Bratton said. "It reflects very positively on the department. It doesn't reflect too well on her, in terms of what we allege that she did, but it has no negative reflection on the department, rather it has a very positive reflection on us in the sense that we take our efforts very seriously and we go where the truth takes us. Sometimes it's painful"... [Full article here]
VETERAN DETECTIVE'S ARREST IN 1986 KILLING STUNS THE LAPD
Police allege Det. Stephanie Lazarus, 49, shot her ex-boyfriend's wife, then harbored the secret for more than two decades.
Los Angeles Times
By Andrew Blankstein andrew.blankstein@latimes.com
and Joel Rubin joel.rubin@latimes.com
June 6, 2009
[Excerpts] Shortly after she sat down at her desk on the third floor of LAPD headquarters Friday morning, Det. Stephanie Lazarus was told a suspect in the basement jail had information on one of her cases. The 25-year police veteran went quickly downstairs. As Lazarus removed her firearm to pass through security, she unknowingly walked into a trap. There was no suspect - only questions about a terrible secret police believe she has been harboring for more than two decades. Now disarmed, Lazarus, 49, was confronted by homicide detectives and arrested on suspicion of the 1986 slaying of a woman who had married Lazarus' ex-boyfriend... To minimize the chances that word of the reopened investigation would leak, only a small circle of detectives and high-ranking officials were made aware of it... Asked at an afternoon news conference whether Lazarus had been either deliberately or mistakenly overlooked because she was a cop, Beck said: "I don't know the answer to that at this poin"... Until her death, [Sherri] Rasmussen was director of critical-care nursing at Glendale Adventist Medical Center. Her slaying stunned colleagues, who referred to her as a vital member of the staff, according to news reports. On the day she was killed, she had reportedly stayed home from work after straining her back in an aerobics class. In an article about the family's reward, her father said Rasmussen had entered college at 16 and had taught for a period at UCLA. "It's safe to say we have some closure," said Ruetten, the victim's husband, when reached at his home in San Diego. "It's been a horrible thing to go through it all again." [Full article here] [police officer involved domestic violence law enforcement fatality fatalities murder washington jail lapd california cold case]
...Officials said former DeKalb County sheriff's deputy Derrick Yancey had cut off his ankle monitor... He was last spotted at a bus station in Phoenix, Az. Authorities believe he could be anywhere between Phoenix and Los Angeles or even in Mexico...
FUGITIVE TOOK BUS HEADING WEST Atlanta Journal Constitution Ex-deputy wanted in double slaying.Tape shows Yancey leaving area, but trail grows cold out West. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution By Rhonda Cook Friday, June 05, 2009 [Excerpts] Former DeKalb County sheriff's deputy and now fugitive murder suspect Derrick Yancey escaped Atlanta on a westbound Greyhound bus and then vanished somewhere between Phoenix and Los Angeles, Sheriff Thomas Brown said Thursday. Yancey, who worked in the DeKalb County Jail until a year ago, is accused of shooting his 44-year-old wife and a day laborer. At the time, Yancey claimed he shot 20-year-old Marcial Cax-Puluc after the Guatemalan immigrant shot and killed Yancey's wife, Linda, during an attempted robbery at their home. His story fell apart and Yancey was charged with two counts of murder. He was released on $150,000 bond and ordered to wear an ankle bracelet monitor. Police say Yancey removed that ankle bracelet at 5:41 a.m. April 4 and left his mother's Clayton County house... The first image recorded Yancey, using the name "David Brown," at the Atlanta bus station at 7:10 a.m. buying a ticket to the West Coast. Other bus station cameras tracked Yancey to Dallas, to Amarillo, Texas, and then to Phoenix, where he transferred to a 12:40 p.m. Greyhound to Los Angeles. Yancey was not seen after that because the four stops on the route to Los Angeles did not have cameras, Brown said... Yancey might have headed into Mexico, considering he's fluent in Spanish... A $10,000 reward is being offered for his capture and the television show "America's Most Wanted" (9 p.m. Saturdays on Fox) will broadcast an unscheduled segment... The sheriff said family members also might have helped Yancey get away and, if they did, they will be charged. Investigators suspect Yancey may have altered his appearance... The video from the Atlanta bus station showed him with a new mustache, longer hair and the beginnings of a beard... Most likely, the sheriff said, Yancey will be captured during a traffic stop. [Full article here]
VIDEO SHOWS DERRICK YANCEY LEAVING Family May Have Helped Yancey Escape, Sheriff Says WGCL June 4, 2009 [Excerpts] Derrick Yancey, the ex-deputy accused of killing his wife and a day laborer, is seen on video leaving the area, officials say... Security guards at the bus station didn't even notice him, and with good reason -- Yancey had quite the head start on authorities. Officials said he had cut off his ankle monitor, but 11 hours would pass before the monitoring company would report the breach to authorities. He was last spotted at a bus station in Phoenix, Az. Authorities believe he could be anywhere between Phoenix and Los Angeles or even in Mexico. "We do know that he is quite proficient in the Spanish language," Brown said. Yancey's wife Linda, who was also a DeKalb County deputy, and a day laborer were shot to death in Yancey's home in Stone Mountain in June 2008... "Weeks before he disappeared, he applied to receive a lump sum payment of his pension that he had contributed to DeKalb County," Brown said... [Full article here]
VICTIMS:
Marcial Cax Puluc
Marcial Cax Puluc is the man who is believed to have been killed as a part of a contrived story Deputy Yancey told authorities, as a cover-up in his (premeditated?) murder of his own wife, Dekalb Sheriff's Officer Linda Yancey. Marcial is more than a dead prop. He was a young man with a family who loves him - who was here to help them by earning money to send home. Linda was much more than a wife. She's a mother, sister, friend, and missed co-worker. Her sweetness lingers heavy in the air over all of this.
[GA] Linda Ann (Thomas) Yancey - "I will never forget that beautiful smile of hers" - ...Linda was a wonderful person, and one of the most professional and polite officer that had ever worked for me. I thank God for allowing me to speak with her and the family recently before her untimely death. I will never forget that beautiful smile of hers, and her charming personality. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16...
[GA] Who believes Deputy Yancey didn't murder Linda & Marcial? - ...FOX 5 NEWS HAS LEARNED DEKALB POLICE WANT TO TALK TO DEPUTY DERRICK YANCEY ABOUT THE DOUBLE KILLINGS AT HIS HOUSE, AGAIN. IT APPEARS HIS ACCOUNT OF THE INCIDENT IS BEING QUESTIONED...
[GA] "Resigned" Deputy Yancey indicted for double murder of Linda and Marcial. - ..."This is a case that's going to lean heavily on the forensics and ballistic evidence, which we have quite a bit of, and it's powerful. It will prove beyond a reasonable doubt what we've thought all along -Deputy Yancey's guilty"...
[GA] Trial delays for double-murder accused Deputy Yancey - This short article's author didn't mention the names of Deputy DY's (alleged) victims. That has to be wrong. (It just has to be.) May these two stolen lives never be considered incidental in the prosecution or coverage of this case... Who's NOT in a jail right now? Derrick Yancey.
...Martinez, 32, pleaded guilty to "causing corporal injury to a roommate"... If accepted to the program, he could keep a job and live at a county-provided "confinement home"...
SHERIFF'S DEPUTY PLEADS GUILTY TO BEATING GIRLFRIEND signonsandiego.com By Mark Arner 6:20 p.m. June 4, 2009 [Excerpts]Imperial Beach Sheriff's deputy Leanno A. Martinez pleaded guilty in Chula Vista Superior Court Thursday to a felony charge of beating a live-in girlfriend. As part of a plea bargain he agreed to serve 180 days in jail, authorities said. Martinez, 32, pleaded guilty to "causing corporal injury to a roommate," before Superior Court Judge H. Ronald Domnitz, said Deputy District Attorney Enrique Camarena. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 14. Domnitz issued a restraining order banning Martinez from having any contact with his former girlfriend, Camarena said. Domnitz also required Martinez to take a year-long class that teaches the effects of domestic violence and how to avoid it. Martinez will be placed on probation for three years... Sheriff's officials would not say how long Martinez has worked for the department, or whether he has been on leave since his arrest... The plea bargain will allow Martinez to enter a work furlough program and avoid serving his sentence at a county jail. If accepted to the program, he could keep a job and live at a county-provided "confinement home," Camarena said. He would only be permitted to leave the home to go to court or go to work. [Full article here] [police officer involved domestic violence law enforcement california jail]
The savory smell of marinated chicken often lingered along Alameda Avenue in Oak Forest whenever Irma Rodriguez cooked a meal. She was a great chef and often shared food with neighbors... The Cook County medical examiner’s office this morning tentatively identified the body found in the car trunk as Irma Rodriguez... [Police] said they had not been able to talk to her estranged husband, Norberto, a former Chicago police officer who was charged with trying to kill her in 1997... An internal police investigation of the incident concluded, "Officer Rodriguez unlawfully shot his wife, Irma Rodriguez, with his firearm during a domestic dispute"... Tuesday [June 2nd, 2009] was the day Ms. Rodriguez was supposed to be in divorce court. Proceedings began more than a year and a half ago...
Much love to the involved families and friends. Irma is more than a victim. The woman she was while she was living is not represented here in these news articles. If people who know and love Irma want to use this blog to share anything I can post that for you. I know it's only words right now - but I am so so sorry for who has been stolen from you. If there is anything that I can do, just whisper, and I will do it.
AUTHORITIES FINALLY ID WOMAN’S BODY IN TRUCK Chicago Tribunal By Admin on June 3, 2009 [Excerpts] ...The Cook County medical examiner’s office this morning tentatively identified the body found in the car trunk as Irma Rodriguez, 44, of the 15400 block of Alameda Avenue, a mother of three who had been missing since Sunday evening. Family members earlier had said that the body was hers... Oak Forest Acting Police Chief David DeMarco said police had executed a search warrant at the Rodriguez home, but said police had no suspects “right now” in the shooting death. They said they had not been able to talk to her estranged husband, Norberto, a former Chicago police officer who was charged with trying to kill her in 1997 — a charge he was acquitted of in a bench trial, court records show. The body was found Monday night in the trunk of Irma Rodriguez’s white Pontiac Grand Am... She had been shot several times in the back... Irma and Norberto Rodriguez were going through a divorce and were due in court Tuesday... Norberto Rodriguez allegedly shot his wife in the hand after a domestic dispute at their then-home on the South Side in 1997, but Irma Rodriguez later claimed she’d been accidentally shot during a struggle. He was charged with attempted murder, two counts of aggravated battery, and one count of armed violence, but was acquitted on all charges on July 2, 1998... She’d been trying to prevent him from killing himself when the gun went off, she said during a Police Board hearing where he was fired after his acquittal... [Full article here]
MIDLOTHIAN BODY NOT ID'ED YET AS MOM MyFoxChicago.com Updated: Wednesday, 03 Jun 2009, 6:27 AM CDT Published : Wednesday, 03 Jun 2009, 5:54 AM CDT [Excerpts] The savory smell of marinated chicken often lingered along Alameda Avenue in Oak Forest whenever Irma Rodriguez cooked a meal. She was a great chef and often shared food with neighbors as their noses perked up to the aroma coming from Rodriguez's kitchen. "She always smelled up the neighborhood," recalled 30-year-old neighbor, Kurt De Grott, as he took a break from trimming the grass along his fence. "My daughter would be like, 'what smelled so good?' and [Rodriguez] would be like, 'come here' for a taste." Sunday night he saw Rodriguez's children arguing with her husband, Norberto Rodriguez. Their 44-year-old mother was missing. So was her car, a 2002 white Pontiac Grand Am. Then police showed up... Irma Arroyo was born in Puerto Rico in April 1964... Irma Rodriguez filed for divorce from Norberto Rodriguez in Sept. 2007 after 13 years of marriage, records show. They were due in family court Tuesday morning at the Daley Center. Carmen Quinones, Irma Rodriguez's attorney in the divorce, did not return phone calls for comment. Norberto Rodriguez was representing himself... Oak Forest police called on the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force to investigate. About 20 officers are working the case... At the time of the filing, she had been working as a secretary at Palos Community Hospital for about two and a half years, according to court records. A Palos Community spokesman confirmed Tuesday Irma Rodriguez still worked there. He declined to provide further details... Forest Ridge Elementary School District 142 Supt. Margaret Longo said. Rodriguez was an involved parent and a "terrific mom," Longo said... [Full article here]
YESTERDAY & THE DAY BEFORE:
POLICE SEEK MISSING OAK FOREST WOMAN The Southtown Star June 1, 2009 Sun-Times News Group Police are involved in the search for a 44-year-old Oak Forest woman last seen at home Sunday evening. Irma Rodriguez, 44, was last seen about 7 p.m. Sunday in her Oak Forest home, acting Police Chief David DeMarco said Monday evening. "She has no health or other problems, and no unusual circumstance. It is unusual for her not to be in contact." Rodriguez is described as a Hispanic female about 5-foot-1 and 125 pounds, DeMarco said. She has brown eyes and brown hair. Also missing is her white 2002 Pontiac Grand-Am four-door, he said. The car has Illinois license plate TITA6. Anyone with information is asked to call Oak Forest police Lt. Mark Jensen at (708) 687-4050, Ext. 1207. [LINK]
BODY FOUND IN MIDLOTHIAN, WOMAN STILL MISSING FROM OAK FOREST Chicago Sun Times June 2, 2009 [Excerpts] The body of a woman in her 40s was found in south suburban Midlothian, nearby Oak Forest where police have been searching since Sunday for a 44-year-old missing woman... Her identity was not available Tuesday morning and the medical examiner’s office would not provide further details as to where or when the body was found or how she died... Irma Rodriguez, 44, has been missing from her Oak Forest home since about 7 p.m. Sunday, Deputy Police Chief David DeMarco said Monday evening. "She has no health or other problems, and no unusual circumstance. It is unusual for her not to be in contact"... Article commenter - ...Kids were out riding bikes and playing kick ball sunday evening when we returned form laundromat approx 6:15pm now what I do know is that Midlothian police are up and down kilpatrick writing tickets they even go into the private lots checking tags now its one day before the first of the month and most people are renewing registrations if this woman was reported missing at the actual time she went missing how on earth did they miss that neatly parked car on the street that was sitting there all day Sunday,uhm further more she was found last night not this morning I returned from work at 5;30pm went across the street to the store at 7:20pm there were no cops in site I return shortly before 8 roughly eight 10 and CSI is swarming the first cop car I saw said oakforest Police not midlothian,in addition a gentleman shows up frantically and says did they find her? my friends mother has been missing for two days well Sunday to Monday is one day then he says Verbatim her Husband turned himself into police around noon today with a Lawyer ironic... 6/2/2009 12:18 PM CDT on suntimes.com [Full article here]
BODY, MISSING MOM'S CAR FOUND IN MIDLOTHIAN | UPDATED STORY Chicago Breaking News June 2, 2009 12:43 PM [Excerpts] The woman's body found shot to death in the trunk of a car belonging to a missing Oak Forest woman still has not been conclusively identified as that Irma Rodriguez, police said this morning. Earlier, however, a relative said family members had been told by police that the body was hers... Rodriguez, a mother of three, is the wife of a former Chicago police officer dismissed from the force after he allegedly shot Rodriguez in the left hand during an argument... At a late morning news conference, Oak Forest Acting Police Chief David Demarco said police had executed a search warrant at the Rodriguez home, but said police had no suspects "right now" in the shooting death... Family members reported her missing because she never before had left the house without her purse and failed to answer her cell phone, he said. He said police had not recovered the cell phone... Demarco said there was no identification on the body. An autopsy was being conducted... [Full article here]
Woman's body found with apparent gunshot wound in Midlothian ABC7chicago.com June 2, 2009 [Excerpt] ...Court records from 2007 show that Rodriguez filed for a divorce from her husband, a former Chicago policeman, and there was a court hearing on the matter scheduled for Tuesday. "She's so nice. I mean, she's a mother of three children. Nobody wants to see that. She's a very nice lady. My neighbor just came over here a couple of minutes ago, she was crying because she had just talked to her," said Kelly Degroot, neighbor... [Full article here]
BODY FOUND IN TRUNK OF MISSING WOMAN'S CAR ABCLocal By Ben Bradley June 2, 2009 [Excerpts] ...The woman found in the trunk car is believed to be Irma Rodriguez. She was married to a former police officer and in recent years their relationship had allegedly turned violent. But if police think the husband played a role in her disappearance, they're not ready to say so. On their hands and knees, searchers scour an Oak Forest creek and nearby retention pond. Presumably, they're looking for evidence - possibly a murder weapon - after a woman's body was found in the trunk of Irma Rodriguez's car. It was parked in nearby Midlothian... Tuesday was the day Ms. Rodriguez was supposed to be in divorce court. Proceedings began more than a year and a half ago. Her husband was a Chicago police officer, until he was fired for allegedly shooting at his wife. Weeks after the divorce proceedings began, Officer Norberto Rodriguez was charged - but not convicted - of shooting his wife in the hand... An internal police investigation of the incident concluded, "Officer Rodriguez unlawfully shot his wife, Irma Rodriguez, with his firearm during a domestic dispute." Police say they haven't spoken to Mr. Rodriguez and have not called him a suspect. Still, Tuesday's discovery of the body, and water search, indicate police have a theory about what happened... [Full article here]
BODY, MISSING MOM’S CAR FOUND IN MIDLOTHIAN Chicago Tribunal June 3, 2009 [Excerpts] ...Authorities would not identify the woman but family members confirmed her identity as Irma Rodriguez, 44, of the 15400 block of Alameda Avenue, a mother of three who had been missing since Sunday evening... She had been shot several times in the back, and her death was ruled a homicide by the Cook County medical examiner’s office... Rodriguez’ lawyer, Carmen Quinones, said she had been informed that her client was missing before the Daley Center hearing this morning. The woman’s husband also did not show up... The judge hearing the case postponed the case until next month at Quinones’ request. Norberto Rodriguez allegedly shot his wife in the hand after a domestic dispute at their then-home on the South Side in 1997, but Irma Rodriguez later claimed she’d been accidentally shot during a struggle. He was charged with attempted murder, two counts of aggravated battery, and one count of armed violence, but was acquitted on all charges on July 2, 1998, after a bench trial in front of Cook County Circuit Court Judge Ralph Reyna... [Full article here]
I was off exploring whether we could get together for new federal legislation. I'm back, full of plans for an alternative, looking at days of news I missed, and a packed email inbox.
The very first email I opened this morning was also my last - from Susan Murphy-Milano alerting me to Irma... Another life lost. I started collecting Irma's information and just felt so helpless to make this stop.
