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Officer-Involved Domestic Fatalities - 1 Officer-Involved Domestic Fatalities - 2 [WA] Tragedy Will Occur If They Don't Have ...

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Thursday, July 31, 2008

[FL] Police Chief Adderley: "Please don't kill me Lisa."

...Ted Lawson, a city spokesman, declined to comment on the new details, saying,

"The chief was a victim of a crime, and it's a personal matter."...

Previous entries:

LAUDERDALE POLICE CHIEF SHOT AT AFTER QUARREL ABOUT `AFFAIR'

The Miami Herald
By Adam H. Beasley
abeasley@MiamiHerald.com
Jul. 31, 2008

Eleanor Adderley, the wife of Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley, fired four shots in her husband's direction after an argument the two had over an alleged affair the chief had in late 2007, according to sworn statements to police.

A neighbor later told authorities Eleanor Adderley had considered suicide after discovering her husband's affair, which he told her had ended.

Frank Adderley also told authorities his wife used his service weapon in the July 8 shooting.

Plantation police, who handled the investigation, released dozens of pages of documents Thursday morning that painted a more complete picture of the night's events than had previously been described.

Frank Adderley was not available to comment Thursday, and the police department referred all questions to City Hall.

Ted Lawson, a city spokesman, declined to comment on the new details, saying, "The chief was a victim of a crime, and it's a personal matter."

According to the statements by Frank Adderley, his wife and his 15-year-old nephew, Karrick Robinson, Eleanor Adderley, nicknamed "Lisa," returned to the family's Plantation home about 9:30 p.m. as her husband lay in the darkened master bedroom.

Robinson told authorities that he heard his aunt and uncle arguing loudly, then heard Frank Adderley state, "Please don't kill me, Lisa."

Robinson said he then saw Eleanor Adderley shut the bedroom door while holding the 9mm Beretta in her hand. He then heard a shot. The bullet missed the chief by mere inches, striking the mattress.

Eleanor Adderley then chased her husband out of the house, firing three more shots before a neighbor could calm her down.

The documents also provided an answer to why there was no 911 call. Earlier in the evening, Frank Adderley had called Plantation Deputy Chief W. Howard Harrison after his wife had asked where his gun was located.

Harrison then dispatched a lieutenant, who coincidentally arrived at the home shortly after the shooting. Lt. Ken Kilbride was met by a group of young men, including the couple's son, who told him his mother was across the street and his father had left about 10 minutes earlier.

Harrison and Kilbride then entered the home and saw evidence of the shooting, including a spent shell casing on the couple's bed.

It was not made clear in the documents if anyone called police immediately after the shooting.

Early the next morning, police charged Eleanor Adderley with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, not attempted murder, which drew widespread criticism from the legal community that she was receiving preferential treatment.

Eleanor Adderley found out about the relationship, the chief told police, "five, six months after it happened," and the two were in counseling to work through it. They were set to meet with a counselor the next day.

"I just think she just got very angry, and it's been hard for her and she just wasn't herself," he said.

Earlier in the day, Eleanor Adderley text messaged her husband, asking where his gun was. He kept it in their closet, and she must have retrieved it before he returned home from work, he added. That's when he reached out to Harrison.

Police later found the gun in the front seat of a car owned by neighbor Robert McKinzie -- to whose home Frank Adderley fled the night of the shooting. Eleanor Adderley followed him there, but Robert and Deberenia McKinzie were able to get the gun from her and separate the two.

'She said, `Deberenia, I just want the pain to go away,' " Deberenia McKinzie told police a week later.

Eleanor Adderley also told her friend that she was despondent all day and contemplated shooting herself with the gun but could not do so because she did not want to leave their son.

The day after the shooting, Frank Adderley released this statement: "Despite these trying times, I support and stand by my wife. I love her very much and will do everything possible to get her whatever assistance she needs during this difficult time."

He paid her $25,000 bond through her attorney and has made it clear he does not want her prosecuted.

Eleanor Adderley told authorities that she was only trying to "scare" her husband, not kill him -- part of the reason she was not charged with attempted murder.


[Source]


Orlando Sun-Sentinel Poll: Do you think Eleanor Adderley received preferential treatment?

Yes (2627 responses)

80.9%

No (439 responses)

13.5%

I don't know (181 responses)

5.6%

[WA] Police chief murder-suicide brought changes, but not the solution

...Over the past weekend, we heard enough about two DV cases to remind us of the risk of letting our guard slip, and the importance of using all our tools wisely and at full strength... Both cases highlight the fact that no single player can safely and adequately protect a domestic violence victim...

There’s more we can do to stop domestic violence

The News Tribune
Kathleen Merryman kathleen.merryman@thenewstribune.com
Published: July 30th
[Excerpts]If any crime should make us more careful, more intuitive, it’s domestic violence. It’s a crime that demands we use every available tool every time to protect victims. No single element – not family, law enforcement, counselors or courts – can do the job alone. We’ve come a good long way from the days when, if victims spoke out, they risked being disbelieved, even blamed. Pierce County and Tacoma stepped beyond that after Tacoma Police Chief David Brame fatally shot his wife, Crystal Judson Brame, in a Gig Harbor parking lot five years ago. The fact that public officials surrounding that family dismissed classic danger signs elevated the event from a tragedy to a scandal. The Judson family then had the rare strength to wrench something of value out of that mess of grief and ruined lives. Thanks to them, and enlightened leaders in law enforcement and government, we have stronger laws protecting victims. We also have their daughter’s finest memorial, the Crystal Judson Family Justice Center. It’s a powerful asset precisely because it brings together so many of the tools DV victims need. Federal Way, too, has been a leader. It has developed a team of advocates for victims, with an additional focus on protecting children in households where domestic violence is an issue. As solid, comprehensive and innovative as these networks are, they cannot save everyone. Over the past weekend, we heard enough about two DV cases to remind us of the risk of letting our guard slip, and the importance of using all our tools wisely and at full strength... Both cases highlight the fact that no single player can safely and adequately protect a domestic violence victim. The fact that both women had asked the courts for orders protecting them from the former boyfriends is not a coincidence. The most dangerous time in a domestic violence situation is when the victim leaves. There will be plenty of blame flying around in the aftermath of these tragedies... This is a tragic, teachable moment, and a challenge to bring more care, more coordination, more intuition to the fight against domestic violence. Lives on both sides are at stake... [Full article here]

[NC] Chief Pope and wife Kimberly arrested after domestic

NC POLICE CHIEF CHARGED WITH ASSAULT RETIRING FayObserver.com, NC
July 29, 2008
The police chief in Knightdale will retire after he and his wife were charged with assault in a domestic incident. Mayor Russell Killen said Monday he talked with Ricky Pope and they agreed the police chief should retire immediately. Pope is a 29-year law enforcement veteran who planned to retire in February. Killen says Pope has enough vacation and sick time to receive full retirement benefits. The 49-year-old Pope and his 38-year-old estranged wife, Kimberly Pope, were charged with assaulting each other early Monday. Wake County deputies say he is charged with assault on a female. She is charged with simple assault. They were released Monday afternoon on bond of $1,000 each. The News & Observer of Raleigh reported they are in the midst of a divorce. [Source]

KNIGHTDALE POLICE CHIEF STEPS DOWN FOLLOWING ARREST Police chief Richard Pope and wife, Kimberly Smith Pope
WRAL
Posted: Jul. 28 2008.
[Excerpts] The town of Knightdale has accepted police Chief Richard Nelson Pope's request for early retirement, Mayor Russell Killen said during a news conference Monday afternoon... Reading from a prepared statement, Killen said the police chief "greatly regrets the incident and the embarrassment that it has caused both his family and the town." In a 911 call released Monday afternoon, Pope tells the operator his ex-wife "just came in and wrecked my house." She is yelling in the background, and at one point, screams: "Don't grab me. Leave me alone. Quit grabbing my arm, Ricky Pope."
"I need somebody here quick," Kimberly Pope says in another 911 call, adding that she has locked herself in her car out in her ex-husband's driveway. "I've got marks on my arms and stuff, where he hit me," she says. Kimberly Pope also tells the 911 dispatcher she walked in on her ex-husband with another woman. She told WRAL News the woman was another town employee, and Killen said the city attorney is looking into whether any policies have been violated... His retirement is effective immediately, but it is unclear whether he will be entitled to full retirement benefits... "Chief Pope served the citizens of Knightdale well for over 25 years," Killen said. "We are all disappointed that his tenure with the Knightdale Public Safety Department has ended in this fashion, but we are all glad that the town and Chief Pope can move forward from this point." [Full article here]

[SC] Correction Officer Deveaux is some young girls true bad dream

Corrections officer charged in criminal sexual conduct case
wistv.com
Bryce Mursch bmursch@wistv.com
July 31, 2008 02:38 PM PDT
COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A 54-year-old man has been charged with first degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, and authorities say the victim was under 11 years of age. Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott announced Thursday the arrest of 54-year-old Charles Deveaux, a correction officer at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. Sheriff Lott stated that the 10-year-old victim in this case reported on June 22nd to her mother that she was sexually assaulted by Deveaux. Lott said the mother reported the assault to the sheriff's department and investigators determined that the 10-year-old was assaulted by Deveaux. Officials say Deveaux no longer works for Richland County. Sheriff Lott said Deveaux turned himself in to investigators at 1pm Thursday, was charged with first degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor - victim under 11 years of age - and booked at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

[FL] Deputy Pickney's wife assaulted trying to kids out of the house

Sarasota County sheriff's deputy Charles Pinkney was arrested and booked into the Manatee County Jail on a domestic violence battery charge after shoving his wife over the couch, reportedly as she had tried to get out of the house with the children. Pinkney's not in jail now and nobody's reporting whether he has to stay away from the home and family (does he?) or whether he's on leave (is he?). And as usual, nothing is known about the family's safety. Trying to get children safely out of a home where there is an angry man is an awful spot to be in - and all the more frightening if you're assaulted in the process. A lot more is involved than one 4-line article can embrace, I'm sure. The very short article in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune mentions that the incident happened Wednesday night, but not what day Pinkney was actually arrested or released - or how many hours(?) he had to stay in a jail.

(I think I'll look around and see if I can find anything on him as a chuck, chuckie, or charlie, and whether this is the only law enforcement agency he's worked with.)

[IL] Len to Drew Peterson: "I ain't Stacy"

At noon Friday, Paula Stark heard from a TV reporter that Drew Peterson was bragging about sleeping with her. Stark and her husband, Len Wawczak, laughed about it at their Bolingbrook home, saying it wasn't true. But an hour later, when their son Len Jr. called to say Peterson was giving him dirty looks at a Bolingbrook barbershop, Wawczak had had enough...

[Note: According to Len Wawczak, his wife Paula Stark declined the police request that she do a polygraph test, and he complied.]

COPS: DREW PETERSON, EX-FRIEND SCUFFLE OUTSIDE BARBERSHOP
Former pal charged with misdemeanor battery
Chicago Tribune
By Matthew Walberg mwalberg@tribune.com
and Mary Owen mowen@tribune.com
July 26, 2008
[Excerpts] A Bolingbrook man who reportedly worked with police to secretly record Drew Peterson was charged with misdemeanor battery after he pushed Peterson outside a barbershop Friday, police said."Best $100 I ever spent," said Len Wawczak as he left the Bolingbrook Police Department after posting the money as bail. Police said Wawczak shoved Peterson twice during a quarrel outside Hyroglyphics Barber Shop on Friday afternoon, witnessed by more than 20 people... Wawczak said that while he was upset to hear reports that Peterson had been saying he slept with Wawczak's wife, Paula Stark, that was not the reason for the confrontation. "You don't mess with my kid," he said. "I'm a parent who's going to stand my ground"... Joliet Herald-News reporter Joe Hosey—who has written a book about the Peterson case due to be released this fall—was on the scene when police arrived, and a photograph showing Wawczak and Peterson facing off in the parking lot was posted on the newspaper's Web site while the two men were still at the station giving their statements... Another police source said Hosey was at the barbershop before authorities arrived... Wawczak offered an explanation for Hosey's being there. He said the reporter was at his home interviewing him when Wawczak's son called from the barbershop and Hosey followed him over... Peterson's attorney Joel Brodsky said he did not know why the incident started and did not know whether his client claimed to have had a sexual relationship with Stark. "I don't know, I don't want to know, I don't need to know," Brodsky said. "All I know is that my client is at home, and the state's confidential informant is charged with misdemeanor battery." [Full article here]

MISSING WIFE SUSPECT, EX-PAL FIGHT IN PARKING LOT
AP
By DANIEL J. YOVICH
July 26, 2008
[Excerpts] A man who says he cooperated with police and wore a wire during conversations with a former police sergeant considered a suspect in his wife's disappearance was charged Friday with battery after shoving Drew Peterson in a barber shop parking lot. Len Wawczak, a former friend of Peterson's, was charged with misdemeanor battery and released after posting $100 bond... "It was the best one hundred dollars I ever spent in my life... I'd do it again"... Wawczak is scheduled to appear for an arraignment on Sept. 10, Teppel said. If found guilty, he faces fines, court fees and community service... [Full article here]

DREW'S 'NOT GOING TO MESS WITH MY FAMILY'
BARBERSHOP BROUHAHA | Ex-friend who wore wire confronts Peterson in front of crowd, accuses him of falsely bragging about affair with wife
Chicago Sun Times
BY JOE HOSEY
July 26, 2008
[Excerpts] At noon Friday, Paula Stark heard from a TV reporter that Drew Peterson was bragging about sleeping with her. Stark and her husband, Len Wawczak, laughed about it at their Bolingbrook home, saying it wasn't true. But an hour later, when their son Len Jr. called to say Peterson was giving him dirty looks at a Bolingbrook barbershop, Wawczak had had enough... What followed was another sordid chapter in the Peterson saga, an expletive-filled, Jerry Springeresque parking lot dust-up -- witnessed by reporters -- that resulted in Wawczak, 41, shoving Peterson in the back and getting arrested on a battery charge... Wawczak and Stark hadn't seen Peterson since the news of their clandestine police help broke. Peterson and his attorney have gone on national TV to call them liars. Then came the barbershop phone call from Len Wawczak Jr. The 20-year-old was getting his hair cut when Peterson walked in. Len Jr. called his parents, telling them Peterson just gave him dirty looks, they said... Wawczak, intent on confronting Peterson about the dirty looks, found a spot between some cars to lie in wait. When Peterson emerged, Wawczak popped out and pounced.
"Hey, m-----f-----... You ain't nothing but a murderer. I'll beat the f--- out of you. Say something!"
"Hit me...I'm going down."
"You ain't nothing but a punk, Drew!"
"Someone call the cops"...
"Take the cool sunglasses off," Wawczak said, trying to knock them off Peterson, who dodged him.
"I ain't Stacy, bitch"... [Full article here]

Previous blog entries:

[IL] Ex-Sgt. Peterson's friends were wired for sound.

...two of [ex-sgt. Drew Peterson's] closest friends say they caught it all, cooperating with State Police by wearing a wire and recording seven months of intimate conversations with the former Bolingbrook cop...

[Illinois State Police have neither confirmed or denied the claims of Len Wawczak and Paula Stark yet.]

DREW'S PALS WORE WIRE

SEARCHING FOR STACY | Drew's chilling words caught on tape
Chicago Sun-Times
By Joe Hosey
July 23, 2008
Drew Peterson likes to talk an awful lot — especially for a guy whose third wife was murdered and fourth wife is missing. And now two of his closest friends say they caught it all, cooperating with State Police by wearing a wire and recording seven months of intimate conversations with the former Bolingbrook cop. “We got him,” said Len Wawczak. Peterson mocked investigators as “idiots,” called his third wife “a bitch” whose body he should have had cremated and predicted he’d be tried and acquitted long before his fourth wife’s remains were found, Wawczak said. Wawczak, 42, said he and his wife, Paula Stark, 38, have known Peterson for about 16 years... But a few weeks after Stacy Peterson disappeared last year, the couple began to have suspicions about their longtime friend... And the next seven months would have plenty of nerve-wracking moments, the couple said... In 2004, about 12 years into Wawczak’s friendship with Peterson, Savio was found dead in a waterless bathtub, and State Police determined she was the victim of an accidental drowning.
Stark said at the time Peterson mocked the cops investigating the drowning, saying, “‘She was in a dry bathtub, what a bunch of f------ idiots’”... Wawczak recalled Peterson telling them, “‘I should have had that bitch cremated. It would have cost me less and I wouldn’t be going through this trouble’... He said he wasn’t worried about them finding Stacy’s remains down the road because he figured by that time he would have been tried and acquitted, and you can’t be tried for the same case twice because of double jeopardy or something,” Wawczak said...
Stark, who has two sons and a daughter with Wawczak, said she remained nervous throughout their clandestine work, which ceased in mid-June... Stark said Peterson asked her to run off with him. “He wanted to move to Kentucky and put a business and a house in my name in case they came to get him,” she said. “I said, ‘You plan to take me to Kentucky? You think Lenny’s going to let me go without a fight? You know how he is.’ He said, ‘Don’t make me shoot him.’” Wawczak said he had his own uncomfortable moments. He said he balked when Peterson asked him to prove his loyalty by torching a bunch of plants a neighbor assembled in memory of Stacy and sabotage a boat that was being used in searches... Wawczak and Stark declined to spell out all the conversations they helped record for State Police, but they expect the information to lead to their former friend’s arrest. “He’s done,” Wawczak said. “He’s going away”... Peterson said he never voiced wishes Savio had been cremated, talked of shooting Wawczak or asked his friend to vandalize any flower memorial or boat. “The only thing I talked about was him walking up and down and taking the ribbons off the trees” memorializing Stacy, Peterson said... [Full article here]


DREW'S WIRED PALS LIE LOW
'I'M EXHAUSTED'
She's hiding in friend's basement, he's gone fishing
By Joe Hosey
July 24, 2008
[Excerpts] ...Stark and Wawczak are just looking to cash in on his misery and were sniffing around for money long before this, Peterson said Wednesday... Peterson said he was free with his money, even lending Stark $400 on one occasion. "She did that behind Lenny's back," Peterson said. Stark denied borrowing money and said she and her husband always had to foot the bill when she took Peterson's children on outings. Her mother did put the cap on eBay, Stark said, but the plan was to donate the money to the volunteer search effort to find Stacy. They never got the chance, as the Web site shut down the auction... In a statement released by Peterson's publicist, Brodsky said Stark and Wawczak broke the law if their claims about wearing a wire were true. "If Drew had made any incriminating statement to Wawczak and Stark when they were supposedly undercover agents, today's news would include their arrest for obstruction of justice," Brodsky said. "The police would never allow the disclosure of any such information in an ongoing investigation. The fact is that Drew never made any of the statements Wawczak and Stark attribute to him, period.... Stark wasn't surprised by Peterson's comments, saying he has smeared others. "It's the same with everyone who goes against him," she said... [Full article here]

[CO] It was Officer O'Shell who pulled the triggers - simultaneously

[Oh Tiffany!]

...William O'Shell had shot his wife twice in the head before turning the weapons on himself. "He placed two guns in his mouth"...


Previous entry:

[CO] Murder-suicide: Officer O'Shell & recently-resigned Officer O'Shell
...The Lakewood Police Department says William O'Shell was an officer with the Lakewood Police since March 2005 in the patrol division. They say Tiffany Cuin-O'Shell was an officer from April 2006 to September 2007...

Man killed wife, then self with 2 guns
Rocky Mountain News, CO - 11 minutes ago
By Tillie Fong
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Lakewood police officer William O'Shell killed his wife, Tiffany Cuinn O'Shell, and himself in a murder-suicide last month near Commerce City. That was the conclusion reached by Commerce City police after autopsy results were completed. On June 30, the couple were found dead in the bedroom of their Henderson home, apparently from gunshot wounds. William O'Shell, 30, was scheduled to talk to Commerce City police July 1 about allegations that he abused his 3- month-old daughter. Tiffany Cuin O'Shell, 25, a former Lakewood police officer, had concerns about how her husband had handled the baby. The daughter had multiple leg fractures when she was placed in foster care in June. Friday, Commerce City released an update to the investigation, indicating that William O'Shell had shot his wife twice in the head before turning the weapons on himself. "He placed two guns in his mouth," said Joe Sandoval, Commerce City Police spokesman. Three Glock pistols were recovered from the bedroom. [Source]

Friday, July 25, 2008

[MI] Domestic hostage-standoff ends in fired Officer Barber's suicide

...POLICE SAY THE SITUATION BEGAN AS A DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE, AND BARBER WAS APPARENTLY HOLDING HIS GIRLFRIEND AND HER TWO SONS HOSTAGE INSIDE THE APARTMENT...

BARRICADED GUNMAN IN MUNDY TOWNSHIP APARTMENT BUILDING; HOSTAGE FREED
The Flint Journal - MLive.com, MI
by Shannon Murphy | The Flint Journal
Thursday July 24, 2008, 4:47 PM
[Excerpts] Police in Mundy Township are trying to negotiate with a barricaded gunman in Maple Park Terrace apartment complex off Maple Road. Police receieved a 911 call from someone who said they had earlier been held hostage by the man... The building has been evacuated and entrance and exits have been blocked. [Full article here]

FIRED COP CENTER OF MUNDY TOWNSHIP STANDOFF
Police Chief Releases Statement Concerning Former Officer
WNEM
July 24, 2008
UPDATED: 7:09 pm EDT July 25, 2008
[Excerpts] A standoff between an armed man and police in Mundy Township ended Thursday night at 11:30 p.m. Police identified the gunman as 39-year-old Antonio Barber. Barber, a former Flint police officer, was fired a few years ago for allegedly stealing a football video game seized in a drug raid... Officers responded to the apartments after reports that a man had been holding people hostage... After nearly nine-hours of police negotiation, officers found Barber dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound... [Full article here]

STANDOFF ENDS, FORMER POLICE OFFICER FOUND DEAD
Police say investigation is ongoing
ABC12 News
July 25, 2008
...Terry Barber has identified the man as his son, former Flint Police Officer Antonio Barber, 39. "They did let me go over there and try to talk him out, but I felt it was too late then. He wouldn't, he wouldn't pick up the phone, but I did talk to him earlier, and he did call me several times on my cell phone, but I didn't have my phone. The officer had my phone," Barber said. "The team went inside, checked, and found the suspect deceased. There were no shots fired by any of the officers on the scene," said Mundy Township Police Chief James Petres. Police say the situation began as a domestic disturbance, and Barber was apparently holding his girlfriend and her two sons hostage inside the apartment. At some point in the afternoon, the hostages were let go, unharmed... [Full article here]

FATHER OF ANTONIO BARBER BLAMES FLINT MAYOR DON WILLIAMSON FOR SON'S DEATH
The Flint Journal
by Bryn Mickle
Friday July 25, 2008
[Excerpts] [Editor's note: This is an updated version of a previous post of this article.] A former Flint police officer who lost his job over a football video game died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot during a nearly nine-hour standoff Thursday. Antonio Barber's father blamed the death on the city's refusal to give him his job back after theft charges against him were dropped two years ago. "I blame this on the mayor of Flint," said Terry Barber, shortly after learning his son was dead about 11:15 p.m. Thursday. "Don Williamson wouldn't let him come back to work." But Williamson said Barber had the chance to get his job back and refused. The city offered Barber his job and $10,000 to return, but Williamson said Barber wanted more money...The standoff at the Maple Park Terraces apartments on Maple Road near Torrey Road began about 2:30 p.m. after two teens called 911 to say they and their mother had been held hostage by Barber in the apartment for about 13 hours. The mother ran out of the apartment when police arrived, but Barber remained inside as officers surrounded the second-floor apartment. Unsure if anyone else was inside and told he had a 9 mm pistol, police evacuated the building along with three other apartment buildings... Nearby day care and summer school programs were put on lockdown... Negotiators spoke with Barber by cellphone but said he eventually stopped answering the phone... After calling in the Oakland County Sheriff's Department to send a robot into the apartment, investigators poked a camera into a closed bedroom and found Barber's body... Police said they believe the standoff was sparked by a relationship problem between Barber and his girlfriend, but they said details were sketchy... Terry Barber said he felt his son's death could have been avoided if police would have let him talk to his son sooner Thursday. Family members asked police numerous times for permission to call him or go to the apartment door, but police refused before eventually letting Terry Barber try... It was an emotional scene at the entrance of the apartment complex, where Barber's mother had to be restrained at times from running to see her son. "I want my son out of that apartment!" she shouted at one point... Family members broke into screams and sobs when word came that Barber was dead. Terry Barber said his son had two sons of his own. Funeral arrangements are pending... [Full article here]

Thursday, July 24, 2008

[SC] Fired Officer Wiggins violates protection order - arrested for 3rd time but is out, wearing GPS

...Wiggins alleged that his girlfriend came into his room and started hitting him and he hit her back... Wiggins had red marks on his neck and leg. Mishoe had a swollen right arm...

FORMER ATLANTIC BEACH OFFICER FREE ON BOND, UNDER GPS MONITORING
WBTW News 13, South Carolina Now
By Jody Barr
July 23, 2008
[Excerpts] The former Atlantic Beach Police officer awaiting trial on charges that he had sex with a known-prostitute inside the town’s police department is free once again on bond. Horry County Sheriff’s Office placed a GPS monitor on 46-year-old Terrance Wiggins Wednesday; one week after a North Myrtle Beach judge revoked his bond on criminal domestic violence charges. Wiggins was released on a surety bond last Wednesday, but violated a court order to have no contact with the victim in the case who is Wiggins’ live-in girlfriend... [Full article here]

EX-ATLANTIC BEACH POLICE OFFICER FREED, OUT ON BAIL
Myrtle Beach Sun News, SC
By Claudia Lauer clauer@thesunnews.com
July 24, 2008
[Excerpts] A Former Atlantic Beach police officer charged with domestic violence last week was released Wednesday on bail, under the condition that he wear a GPS tracking device that limits him to home detention. Terrance Wiggins, 46, was arrested last week on charges of domestic violence and ordered as part of his bond not to have contact with his girlfriend, Leslie Mishoe... Wiggins was fired in October 2007, after a State Law Enforcement Division investigation charged Wiggins with misconduct in office for making inappropriate sexual advances toward a citizen in exchange for not charging her with drug violations... [Full article here]

FROM LAST WEEK'S NEWS:

FORMER AB COP CHARGED WITH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
MyrtleBeachOnline.com
By Aliana Ramos - aramos@thesunnews.com
Jul. 18, 2008
[Excerpts] Former Atlantic Beach Police Officer Terrance Wiggins, 46, is being held on $2,130 bond at J. Reuben Long Detention Center after he and his girlfriend Leslie Mishoe were charged with criminal domestic violence by North Myrtle Beach Police... Wiggins alleged that his girlfriend came into his room and started hitting him and he hit her back... Wiggins had red marks on his neck and leg. Mishoe had a swollen right arm, according to the report. Because Wiggins and Mishoe both had conflicting stories they were both arrested. Wiggins was arrested again after violating his bond release, when he contacted Mishoe after he was let out of jail, according to another police report... [Full article here]

[CT] Detective Bruneau ever-closer to having his stalking charges erased

From the previous entry:
...One message read, "I know where you live and I know where he lives... Tell the flavor of the month with you I took a good look. He ain't no match. Have a nice date"...

OFFICER COULD HAVE CHARGES ERASED
The Advocate
By John Nickerson
07/24/2008
[Excerpts] A West Haven police officer charged with harassing and stalking his former girlfriend and her boyfriend was granted entry to two programs for first-time offenders that would allow his misdemeanor charges to be erased in a year. Appearing before Judge Referee Jack Grogins at state Superior Court in Norwalk yesterday, Detective William Bruneau, 41, was allowed to enter the family violence education and accelerated rehabilitation programs. If he successfully completes the programs before his next court appearance on July 22, 2009, Bruneau's two second-degree stalking and second-degree harassment charges will not go on his record. Bruneau was charged Jan. 5... [Full article here]

[PA] "Bloodbath imminent." Officer Weigold charged w/ terroristic threats, stalking, harassment

... She says her husband jammed a clip in his handgun and told her a "blood bath" was imminent... Donna Weigold said her husband said he would kill her. The couple's 10-year-old daughter called Lehigh Township police. "He then told me to tell the police it was just a verbal argument"....

EXCERPTS FROM MAY TIL' TODAY

BETHLEHEM POLICE OFFICER CHARLES WEIGOLD'S WEAPONS SEIZED WITH PFA ORDER
pennlive.com
Posted by Michael Buck
May 13, 2008 17:49PM
The Northampton County Sheriff's department said there was an order along with the PFA to seize Charles Weigold's weapons. Bethlehem police Deputy Commissioner Stuart Bedics said Weigold, the officer who handles all of the evidence for Bethlehem police, will remain on active duty, but in a different position because the evidence locker stores weapons. "He will not have access to the evidence room," Bedics said. "We don't want him to have any access to weapons"... [Full article here]

PROTECTION FROM ABUSE ORDER DROPPED AGAINST BETHLEHEM COP
pennlive.com
Michael Buck
May 21, 2008 12:06PM
A protection from abuse order filed against a Bethlehem police officer was withdrawn Friday after his wife wrote a letter to the Northampton County Court asking for the dismissal... Along with the dismissal order in court records, Donna Weigold's handwritten letter said she "feels (the dismissal) is best at this time"... [Full article here]

BETHLEHEM OFFICER IN DOMESTIC CONFLICT HOSPITALIZED
The Morning Call
July 23, 2008
A Bethlehem police officer charged with several offenses in a conflict with his wife has been committed to an area hospital. Charles W. Weigold Jr., 47, is at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg, said Northampton County Detective Francis Jordan. Weigold checked into the hospital on Tuesday evening, Jordan said. His condition was not immediately available... She says her husband jammed a clip in his handgun and told her a "blood bath" was imminent; he says she sprayed him in the face with bleach during another argument... [Full article here]

BETHLEHEM POLICE OFFICER ARRAIGNED ON HARASSMENT AND THREAT CHARGES
by Express-Times staff
July 23, 2008, 6:53 PM
Charles Weigold, 49, was arraigned on charges of stalking, harassment and making terroristic threats this afternoon. He is free after posting the $10,000 bail set by District Judge Michael Koury... Donna Weigold was granted a protection from abuse order against her husband on Tuesday. Charles Weigold violated that order when he called the cellphone of his 19-year old son numerous times in an attempt to reach his wife. "I'm concerned this is a situation where he doesn't understand the boundaries, and he is trying to manipulate his children to get to Mrs. Weigold," said Jacqueline Taschner, chief domestic violence prosecutor. Weigold was arrested about 1:30 p.m. today at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg. He had voluntarily checked himself into the psychiatric ward Tuesday. "After the charges were filed, he said he was going to kill himself" [Full article here]

BETHLEHEM OFFICER'S ARREST SOUGHT
He allegedly broke protection order filed by wife.
The Morning Call
By Tyra Braden
July 23, 2008
...Donna Weigold in her written version of events said her husband "got mad" on Saturday because he didn't like the pajamas she was wearing. She gave the following account. He yelled and swore and "told me I needed to learn to listen to him and obey him." Matters escalated, she said, and her husband said "that it's time for spring cleaning again" and that she was a "slob" who didn't know how to do things correctly. She said she was holding a bottle of bleach and squirted it into the air. Donna Weigold said her husband said he would kill her. The couple's 10-year-old daughter called Lehigh Township police. "He then told me to tell the police it was just a verbal argument." Donna Weigold said she took her children to a birthday party, and her husband showed up. Told by someone at the party that he was not welcome there, he left but called his wife and "told me I best get home and clean the refrigerator." She called police for an escort to the house so she could get some of her belongings. "He flipped out when he saw the police and said that I didn't learn and that I never do anything right. I told him that he always threatens me." On Monday morning, Donna Weigold said, her husband kissed her and asked if that was better than fighting. "I said yes, but I want to be my own person. When he got ready for work, he took his gun, held it upright and put the clip in it right next to the bed. He said that when he sees me and gets face to face with me, there's going to be a blood bath." Donna Weigold said that sometime earlier -- she did not provide a date -- her husband had said, "I would look better with a bullet between my eyes"... [Full article here]

BETHLEHEM OFFICER IN DOMESTIC CONFLICT CHARGED
Allentown Morning Call
July 23, 2008
...Charles W. Weigold Jr., 49, of Danielsville said during the arraignment that he had voluntarily committed himself to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg... Weigold's status with the police department could not be verified today. At the arraignment, Weigold told [District Judge Michael] Koury his position with the department was "questionable"... [Full article here]

BETHLEHEM POLICE OFFICER CHARGED WITH STALKING
Allentown Morning Call
By Joe McDonald and Pamela Lehman | Of The Morning Call
July 24, 2008
...At the arraignment, Weigold used $10,000 in cash that he withdrew from an account in his and his wife's names, which sparked a heated exchange between Assistant District Attorney Jacqueline Taschner and defense attorney Bohdan Zelechiwsky of Bethlehem while Koury was out of the courtroom. Taschner said Weigold withdrew the cash Monday and argued it was part of a pattern of "harassment" against his wife. Koury disagreed and permitted Weigold to use it to stay out of prison. Koury also ordered Weigold not to have any contact with his wife and required him to wear an electronic GPS monitor. Before the arraignment began, Weigold chatted with a county detective about the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and showed reporters a large tattoo of the twin towers on his leg. Weigold told Koury he had been a sergeant in the New York City Police Department, where he served 20 years. Zelechiwsky said Weigold never had any trouble with the law before and had now found himself in an "unfortunate situation" that was "totally out of character." Taschner said events in the Weigold household have been escalating and repeatedly described Weigold as a manipulative person who "thinks he is smarter than everyone else." [Full article here]

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

How many officer suicides (and murders) will it take to bring a change?

...Either the officer is going to blow up one day and kill others or he’s going to kill himself...

...No one even keeps a complete, running tally of how many officers have killed themselves or attempted suicide. That includes the FBI...


FEW POLICE AGENCIES ADDRESS SUICIDES WITHIN RANKS
AP
by carrie antlfinger
7/22/2008
[Excerpts] MILWAUKEE — Police Sgt. Chuck Cross pointed his department-issue .40-caliber handgun at his temple, finger on the trigger, as he sat drunk against his hallway wall. "I was about eight pounds of a trigger pull away," he said. He's unsure why he stopped. Fellow officers, called by his girlfriend, took him to a mental health center. He was charged with disorderly conduct while armed, and was fired. He says his department had no idea how to handle his situation that March 2007 night, but after six suicides in three years the Milwaukee Police Department now provides suicide awareness training. Since starting the program early this year it has had two more suicides. It's among the few departments confronting the subject.
Experts estimate that only 2 percent to 10 percent of the 18,000 police departments nationwide actively work to prevent suicides within their ranks.
No one even keeps a complete, running tally of how many officers have killed themselves or attempted suicide. That includes the FBI, which issued a 726-page report seven years ago that called suicide a "significant issue confronting the law enforcement community." "We wear a Superman cape. You're not supposed to be emotional or show it. It might show that you are weak," said Cross, who pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and won his job back. "I don't think I'm so far off that a lot of cops haven't walked down the path I have." Milwaukee officers Tina Kurth and Dave Arndt have trained nearly all the department's 2,700 employees this year. They talk about depression signs, individual stories of suicides, how suicide affects survivors and department support efforts. The important thing is to raise awareness and reduce stigma...
The California Highway Patrol started a suicide awareness program after it had seven suicides in 2006, Capt. Susan Coutts said. It's had none since...
Andy O'Hara, who is retired from the CHP, this year started the Psychological Survival for Police Officers program, which offers departments mental health training services. He came close to suicide himself, and wants departments to provide nine hours of training at the cadet level and then yearly voluntary therapy sessions. His group and Survivors of Law Enforcement Suicide also plan to lobby the FBI for a centralized tracking system to help determine the problem's severity... Within the next several months, the International Association of Chiefs of Police plans to urge its 22,000 agency members in 100 countries to implement suicide training programs. It's also putting out two guidebooks. * P.O.L.I.C.E. Suicide Foundation: http://www.psf.org/ [Full article here]

3 POLICE OFFICERS COMMIT SUICIDE DURING 72 HOUR PERIOD
Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers
www.privateofficer.com
Rick McCann
July 21 2008
[Excerpts] It has been a deadly week-end for law enforcement. Three police officers working for three separate agencies in three different parts of the country were killed in less than seventy two hours... These officers all died from self- inflicted gunshot wounds... Ask any police chaplain or crises intervention specialist the reason for the high rate of police suicides and you’ll hear the array of reasons. Stress, grief, the stuff cops see on a daily basis, feelings of inadequacies and job dissatisfaction, domestic issues, drug and alcohol abuse and many other issues. Pile that stuff on top of what every officer already silently carries inside and it’s a recipe for disaster. Either the officer is going to blow up one day and kill others or he’s going to kill himself... On Friday evening officers rushed to an officer’s home in Milwaukee after hearing rumors that he might be considering killing himself... A sergeant and several officers managed to arrive and talk to the officer who stood holding a gun to his head... On Saturday night less than twenty four hours later and hundreds of miles away police and emergency workers rushed to the home of a twenty four year Boston police officer who had been on the force since 2006. The young officer who was from a family of cops had also ended her life with a bullet... Boston Police Superintendent in Chief Robert Dunford told reporters and bystanders at the scene. “I have no explanation”... In the last nine years, 19 LAPD police officer’s have committed suicide as opposed to 7 killed in the line of duty in the same time frame...
There are no words to adequately describe what being a police officer really does to a persons mind, body and soul. Unless you wear the badge and live the life it would be hard to begin to bring you inside a world different that any can imagine...
I can only hope and pray that police departments worldwide will put forth the effort to recognize the symptoms, address them before the jumping off point, add trained professional counselors to the department’ staff and encourage their officers to open up and talk without being afraid of reprimand or suspension or termination for the feelings that they might temporarily be having or the issues that they might be facing. Police officers on the job day after day face battle fatigue no different than soldiers in combat and demons that are bigger than they are and we need to be there to help ease the stress, carry their load and sooth their pain and always be willing just to listen. [Full article here]

[CA] Deputy Griffith's family in fear


..."R. Griffith told her after the body dissolved he would drive around the desert with the drain valve on the drum slightly open, leaking her body onto the desert floor"...


DEPUTY CHARGED WITH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN TEMECULA CASE

PE News
Jul 22, 2008
[Excerpt] A Riverside County sheriff's deputy has been charged with domestic violence and making threats of violence against his wife and his step-daughter's boyfriend. Ronald Eugene Griffith, 46, of Temecula was charged Monday with domestic violence against his wife, two counts of terrorists threats and a misdemeanor battery charge. According to court records, Griffith choked his wife and told her in detail how he would dispose of her body. [Full article here]

EX-DEPUTY AWAITING ARRAIGNMENT IN ALLEGED ASSAULT ON WIFE
SignOnSanDiego.com
July 22, 2008
[Excerpts] A 46-year-old former sheriff's deputy from the Temecula station is out on bail Tuesday, awaiting arraignment... [Detective Roman] Pluimer stated in his affidavit that on April 26, [Ronald Eugene] Griffith attacked his wife, forcing her against a closet door and choking her, saying "you're (expletive) lucky I don't kill you right now"... Documents further state that after he returned, Griffith got into an argument with his step-daughter, [SU]. When [SU] made a hand gesture, Griffith allegedly bent her finger back, forcing her to the floor... Griffith also ordered the step-daughter to get the boyfriend, [VU], out of the house before he killed him. The wife told detectives that Griffith had threatened to cut her up into little pieces and put the parts into an acid-filled, 50-gallon drum. "R. Griffith told her after the body dissolved he would drive around the desert with the drain valve on the drum slightly open, leaking her body onto the desert floor," Pluimer wrote. The wife took the statement as a threat and was scared he would actually carry it out, Pluimer said. Details of the alleged battery on emergency personnel were not released. [Full article here]

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

[CA] Ex-Deputy Greenberg kills man, wounds self - "appeared to be domestic issues"

...A former police officer is suspected of killing another man in El Dorado County before turning the gun on himself... Greenberg was taken by helicopter to Sutter Roseville Hospital. He faces murder charges if he recovers...

Former officer suspected in murder-suicide

Examiner.com
by Mike Rosenberg
Jul 22, 2008
BURLINGAME - A former Burlingame police officer shot and killed a 26-year-old man at close range then killed himself about 40 miles northeast of Sacramento on Monday, authorities said. Morris Greenberg, 37, shot Anthony Dumont with a handgun during an argument inside a residence in Placerville, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office. Greenberg, an 11-year veteran of the Burlingame Police Department, died after shooting himself in the head, said El Dorado Sheriff’s Sgt. Bryan Golmitz. Greenberg worked for Burlingame from Aug. 12, 1996, to April 2, 2007, said Burlingame Capt. Mike Matteucci. He retired last year in “good standing.” Golmitz said the motive for the shooting was under investigation but appeared to be domestic issues. [Source]

Ex-Cop Allegedly Guns Down Man In Driveway
cbs13.com
Jul 21, 2008
A former police officer is suspected of killing another man in El Dorado County before turning the gun on himself. Morris Greenberg, a former police officer in Burlingame, allegedly gunned down 26-year-old Anthony Dumont when an argument turned ugly in Greenberg's driveway. El Dorado County deputies say the shooting happened in front of family members, including children. Relatives rushed Dumont to a nearby fire station in a pickup truck, but he succumbed to his injuries. "I could hear her on the phone saying, 'He's not breathing,'" said Mary Bozarth, who witnessed the incident. "An ambulance showed up but never left." Greenberg then reportedly turned the gun on himself, but survived the gunshot. "He seemed like a rounded, normal guy," said neighbor Brek Peterson. "He was a police officer, he had been injured." Greenberg was taken by helicopter to Sutter Roseville Hospital. He faces murder charges if he recovers. Deputies are still investigating a motive for the shooting but sya[sic] it appears to be related to a domestic issue. [Source]
[police officer involved domestic violence oidv intimate partner violence (IPV) abuse law enforcement public safety fatality fatalities lethal murder suicide attempt california state]

Monday, July 21, 2008

[NH] Ex-deputy/Current Dispatch boss Scribner arrested for battery with a DANGEROUS WEAPON & assault

...Scribner's girlfriend, told Officer Diep H. Nguyen she and Scribner were arguing and he punched her in the face. She was knocked to the floor and, while down, Scribner kicked her with his black boots, Nguyen wrote in his report. While talking to Nguyen, [Scribner's girlfriend] held an ice pack to her left eye, which the officer said was swollen and bruised. She was taken by ambulance to Massachusetts General Hospital for further treatment...

NOT knowing where the victim lives [NH or MA], not knowing Scribner's HISTORY with his county, and KNOWing Boston's penchant for keeping officers who beat their wives employed & armed - I just pray the alleged victim is safe and afforded all the protections that any other victim of domestic violence should be entitled to receive.

FORMER ROCKINGHAM COUNTY DEPUTY ARRESTED IN BOSTON
The Union Leader, NH
By PAT GROSSMITH
Jul 21, 2008
[Excerpts] A former Rockingham County deputy sheriff was arrested in May at a posh Boston hotel for allegedly beating his girlfriend. Richard J. Scribner, 41, of 454 Narrows Road, Barnstead [NH], is employed as a dispatch supervisor with the county, said Martha S. Roy, director of the county's Human Resources Department. He was a special (part-time) deputy sheriff but no longer is, according to Roy. Royd said she does not know [??] the date Scribner was hired as a deputy or when his employment ended... A Rockingham County dispatcher who answered a call for Scribner said he was on administrative leave. She did not know when he would be returning... Roy would not comment on what affect, if any, Scribner's arrest and/or conviction would have on his employment with the county. Sheriff J. Daniel Linehan declined comment, saying the matter was a personnel issue. Scribner was arrested on May 4 at the Four Seasons, 200 Boylston St., according to police and court records. At 1:50 a.m., police went to his hotel room for a domestic violence report... Scribner's girlfriend, told Officer Diep H. Nguyen she and Scribner were arguing and he punched her in the face. She was knocked to the floor and, while down, Scribner kicked her with his black boots, Nguyen wrote in his report. While talking to Nguyen, [Scribner's girlfriend] held an ice pack to her left eye, which the officer said was swollen and bruised. She was taken by ambulance to Massachusetts General Hospital for further treatment. Scribner is charged with assault and battery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon -- a shod foot -- a felony, according to records on file in Boston Municipal Court. He posted $1,000 cash bail on June 5. Bail conditions include he abstain from drugs/alcohol and have no contact with Prunier. His next court hearing is Aug. 19. [Full article here]
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[IL] A voice for missing Stacy, a new book's released, Drew's folding gun & his vacation with the kids

..."It's a good Stacy day today,"
said her close friend Sharon Bychowski. "Now Stacy's life has more meaning than it did." Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi (D- Joliet) sponsored a measure—which was pushed by Will County State's Atty. James Glasgow... it might be the difference between 60 years in prison and [Drew Peterson] getting away with murder...

Stacy Peterson allies buoyed by bill on hearsay testimony
Bill to ease limits on hearsay testimony sent to Blagojevich

Chicago Tribune
By Erika Slife eslife@tribune.com
July 10, 2008
[Excerpts] Friends and family of missing Bolingbrook woman Stacy Peterson rejoiced after state lawmakers Thursday sent to the governor's desk legislation that could affect the possible prosecution of the chief suspect in her disappearance, her husband, Drew. "It's a good Stacy day today," said her close friend Sharon Bychowski. "Now Stacy's life has more meaning than it did." Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi (D- Joliet) sponsored a measure—which was pushed by Will County State's Atty. James Glasgow — that would allow a judge to decide at a pretrial hearing whether hearsay testimony could be admitted into court. The prosecution would have to prove to the judge that the witness who made the statements could not testify because the defendant murdered the witness. The Senate passed the legislation during a special session called by Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The measure awaits the governor's approval. A spokesman for his office said it is under review... Stacy Peterson was 23 when she vanished Oct. 28. Before she disappeared, she had reportedly told her loved ones she wanted a divorce and she felt threatened by her husband. Her case led authorities to reinvestigate the 2004 death of Drew Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio, 40, who was found drowned in an empty bathtub in her home. Her death, initially ruled an accident, was classified a homicide in February. Savio had also reportedly told others Peterson threatened her and she feared for her life. Peterson, 54, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, has not been charged in either case and has denied any wrongdoing... [Full article here]

Proposed Law May Make Peterson Prosecution Easier
Judge To Rule On Drew Peterson Gun Charge July 30
CBS
Jul 14, 2008
[Excerpts] ...Meanwhile, on the governor's desk is a piece of legislation that could aid any prosecution of Peterson. Now anything [Kathleen] Savio told others about fearing for her life may end up being admissible in court, if a bill sponsored by Joliet Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi is signed into law. "If she were to have made statements prior to her death that said to a third person she feels she's going to get murdered, and those statements pass the reliability threshold, those statements will come into court," Wilhelmi said. It's called hearsay testimony and it's important because statements that SAVIO AND STACY Peterson allegedly made to family members, friends, clergy members and others about Drew Peterson and his alleged threats currently aren't admissible in court. But if the law passes, what Stacy Peterson told her pastor about her husband's whereabouts the day before Savio was found dead could possibly be used against him. Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow helped craft the legislation and said it might be the difference between 60 years in prison and getting away with murder. He wouldn't say anything about the Savio or Peterson investigations but said he hopes this law will lead to cold case breakthroughs. "We urge all our local police departments to go through their cases and see if there might be one that's been sitting on the shelf that might be reinitiated based on this additional evidence that might be brought into court," Glasgow said. The law was passed by the general assembly almost unanimously. If signed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, it will go into effect immediately. Glasgow said if that happens, it would amount to one of the most momentous changes to the law he has seen in his decades-long law enforcement career... [Full article here]

Previous blog entries:
Judge Allows Drew Peterson to Leave Illinois on Vacation While Considering Motion to Dismiss Weapons Charge
FOXNews
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
[Excerpts] A Will County judge modified Drew Peterson's bond Monday, allowing him to leave Illinois on vacation with his children while the judge mulls a defense motion to dismiss felony weapons charges. A grand jury indicted the former Bolingbrook police sergeant Thursday on two felonies related to a semiautomatic rifle seized by authorities investigating the disappearance of his wife, Stacy. The new charges, filed Friday, supersede a single felony weapons charge filed May 21, alleging Peterson possessed an assault rifle with a barrel shorter than allowed by law. The new indictment alleges Peterson possessed a modified assault rifle and that he unlawfully transferred the rifle to his son, Stephen. Police seized the rifle and 10 other guns during a Nov. 1 search at Peterson's house for clues after Stacy Peterson disappeared. Peterson has been named a suspect in his wife's disappearance but hasn't been charged. Investigators have also exhumed the body of Peterson's third wife Kathleen. Her death was ruled a homicide. During the two-hour hearing Monday, Peterson's lawyer, Joel Brodsky, argued his client was immune from prosecution for the gun charges because he was still a police officer when authorities seized the weapon... [Full article here]
Phoenix Books Announces New True Crime/Mystery Title, Fatal Vows: The Tragic Wives of Sergeant Drew Peterson, Detailing the as yet Unsolved Mystery That Continues to Intrigue the Nation
PRNewswire
July 16, 2008
[Excerpts] Phoenix Books is proud to announce the September release of the first-ever book to detail the disturbing Drew Peterson case. Fatal Vows: The Tragic Wives of Sergeant Drew Peterson is the true story of the Bolingbrook, Illinois, Police Sergeant, whose third wife was found dead in a dry bathtub, and whose fourth wife -- thirty years his junior -- vanished seemingly into thin air in the fall of 2007... Drawing upon exclusive interviews with the families of both Stacy Peterson and Kathleen Savio, Joseph Hosey investigates the real Drew Peterson and the tragic story of his wives' questionable ends. Finally, Hosey poses the question all of America is asking: WHERE IS STACY? Joseph Hosey has been a reporter for the Chicago area's Herald News since 1999 and has been on the cusp of every major development in the Drew Peterson case. He is the only member of the media to cover Kathleen Savio's inquest, having broken the stories of her death and, later, the disappearance of Stacy Peterson... [Full article here]

Drew Peterson's lawyers end effort to block wrongful-death suit in Savio case
Drew Peterson's lawyers withdraw motion to halt case

Chicago Tribune
By Erika Slife eslife@tribune.com
July 17, 2008
[Excerpts] Lawyers representing the estate of Drew Peterson's third wife are now free to file a wrongful-death lawsuit against Peterson after his attorneys withdrew a motion Thursday that sought to block them. But attorneys for Kathleen Savio's estate said that a wrongful-death lawsuit against the former Bolingbrook police sergeant likely won't be initiated until after the grand jury investigating Savio's death was discharged. "That's something we'll have to look at," said John Q. Kelly, a New York attorney representing the Savio family. Kelly was the lawyer for Nicole Brown Simpson's family in a successful civil suit against O.J. Simpson... The special grand jury in Will County is investigating the mysterious circumstances surrounding Savio's death in 2004, as well as the Oct. 28 disappearance of Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy, then 23. Savio, 40, was found dead in an empty bathtub in her Bolingbrook home. Her divorce to Peterson was only weeks away from being finalized... [Full article here]
...It was "basically just a way for the State Police to break our balls because we're friends with Drew," [Peterson's friend Len] Wawczak said...

Pals: Drew gave us his 'secret' gun
Couple say police missed weapon during search

Chicago Sun Times
BY JOE HOSEY
July 16, 2008
[Excerpts] Friends of Drew Peterson say he gave them a secret folding gun that he said the Illinois State Police missed when they searched his home three days after his wife was reported missing. Peterson's attorney, Joel Brodsky, has denied there was such a gun. Brodsky mocked Ric Mims, a former friend of Peterson's, in March on CNN's "Nancy Grace" show after Mims said that Peterson showed him the gun, saying, "Hey [the police] didn't find this one." Mims said Peterson was "chuckling" when he showed him the gun... But other friends of Peterson, Len Wawczak and his wife, Paula Stark, of Bolingbrook, say that Peterson signed the folding gun -- a North American Arms .22-caliber revolver -- over to Paula Stark the day after the State Police pulled Peterson's firearm owner's identification card in February. "It was the same gun Ric Mims identified," Stark said. Stark has a handwritten contract for the "Transpher [sic] of 1 North American Arms Corp. S.S. .22 cal revolver" from Drew Peterson to Paula Stark dated Feb. 28, right after he returned from New York City, where he appeared on the "Today" show. Stark and Wawczak watched Peterson's children while he was in New York. Wawczak said Peterson wrote out the transfer for Stark while sitting at the desk in his home office. "It was written before me, her, Drew and Kris," Peterson's teenage son, Wawczak said. Stark and Wawczak said they took the gun home. Less than a month later, State Police took the gun when they came to their home to seize Stark's Ruger .357 Magnum revolver after her FOID card was suspended because it listed an inaccurate date of birth and outdated address. The State Police also found the .22, which folds into its own handle, and pegged it as Peterson's, Wawczak said. It was "basically just a way for the State Police to break our balls because we're friends with Drew," Wawczak said... [Full article here]

Saturday, July 19, 2008

[[MA] Another Boston cop arrested for dv: Antonio Rotger

...In January, a Herald review found that Boston police did not fire any of the 11 officers disciplined in the past two years for punching their spouses, striking their children or other violent incidents. Since then, three more officers have been arrested on domestic violence-related charges...

HUB COP ALLEGEDLY CHOKED WIFE
On paid leave after Florida incident
Boston Herald
Jessica Van Sack jvansack@bostonherald.com
Mike Underwood
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
[Excerpts] A Boston cop busted in Florida for allegedly choking his wife in a booze-fueled Fourth of July argument has been placed on administrative leave and is facing domestic violence charges. Antonio Rotger, 54, was sitting in the back of a car driven by his wife, with his 21-year-old stepdaughter in the front passenger seat, when he reached one hand around her neck and with his other hand tried to pull the keys out of the ignition as they entered an Orlando-area resort at about 4:30 p.m., according to an Orange County Sheriff's Office report. In a statement given to authorities three hours after the alleged attack, Rotger's wife of six months said she had to bite her husband's arm to get him to release the chokehold. After she put the car in park, her daughter grabbed the keys and alerted security at the resort, the report said. His wife told authorities she would not press charges or testify in court. But her daughter said she would testify. Rotger reeked of alcohol and had glassy eyes and slurred speech at the time of his arrest, according to the police report... He is scheduled to be arraigned on a domestic violence charge Aug. 6... Orange County cops contacted Boston Police after Rotger's arrest and he was immediately placed on paid administrative leave, said spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll... She said Rotger has a clean disciplinary record, although he has been the subject of internal affairs investigations before. Driscoll would not say for what. In January, a Herald review found that Boston police did not fire any of the 11 officers disciplined in the past two years for punching their spouses, striking their children or other violent incidents. Since then, three more officers have been arrested on domestic violence-related charges and placed on administrative leave, Driscoll said. [Full article here]