[WI] Deputy Peterson's lack of a history of violence contested

Witnesses: Peterson Had History of Pushing Girlfriend Around
WBAY, WI
Emily Matesic
Feb 9, 2008
As it released the final report Thursday, the Wisconsin attorney general's office concluded Tyler Peterson wasn't known to be a violent person who was capable of killing six of his friends. But that's what 20-year-old Peterson did last October, shooting six young people at the home of his ex-girlfriend, Jordanne Murray, and severely wounding a seventh. After evading police for several hours, Peterson eventually killed himself... According to interviews conducted with friends of both Murray and Peterson, there was a history of violence in their relationship dating back to high school... "The conclusion drawn by the attorney general's office is that there was no previous indicator that anybody was aware of other than the episode immediately preceding the killings. To me that seems incredibly inconsistent, and I'm not sure how they could come to that conclusion," Blau said. Since the final report was just released a day before, attorneys for the victims' families weren't sure whether they'll pursue legal action...

Families react to end of shooting investigation
JS ONLINE
By ROBERT IMRIE
Associated Press Writer
Feb 7, 2008
For one family that lost a young child in the shooting rampage of an off-duty deputy sheriff in Crandon four months ago, the state's closing of its investigation Thursday did not answer every question. Wayne Coulter, the live-in boyfriend of Jenny Stahl, whose 14-year-old daughter, Lindsey Stahl, died in the rampage, said he doesn't believe the deputy, 20-year-old Tyler Peterson, could shoot himself three times in the head hours after the killings as police closed in on him in some woods. "Do people believe that?" Coulter asked in a telephone interview from his home in Crandon. "I don't believe that for a minute. Who shot him? I don't know... Nothing is going to be done. It is crazy... They are out to protect their own butts now"... It appears the state's probe looked mostly into the killings and the aftermath, not whether Peterson's employers did anything wrong in hiring or supervising him... Gary Thomas, whose 18-year-old daughter Lianna died in the rampage, declined comment and referred questions to his attorney, Peg Lautenschlager, who represents five families and Neitzel. They have filed claims against the county and city governments seeking wrongful death damages...

[WI] Report on Deputy Peterson killing ex-girlfriend, 5 others, and self - incomplete

...[Justice Department Records Agency spokesman Kevin] St. John called the amount of information the department released Thursday "unprecedented"... But Wisconsin Newspaper Association executive director Peter Fox said the lack of autopsies, transcripts and names reflect even more delays in getting to the bottom of the case... Peterson got his SWAT assault rifle out of his truck, walked back to the apartment and broke down the door. He sprayed the apartment with bullets, killing [girlfriend] Murray, 18, and five of her friends...

Previous entries:

• [WI] Today Deputy Tyler Peterson killed ex girlfriend Jordanne Murray & 5 others
• [WI] An entire community of broken hearts
• [WI] "Experts look at a young officer’s murderous rampage"
• [WI] Lone survivor of Deputy Peterson's deadly dv rampage

Questions remain in Crandon shootings
Some basic details withheld in report
Appleton Post Crescent, Associated Press
Todd Richmond
February 9, 2008
[Excerpts] The state Justice Department's final report on last fall's mass murder in Crandon is 1,265 pages long, with witness interviews galore, photos, diagrams, even evidence transfer receipts. But even now, four months after the slayings, the report still is missing some basic information. It doesn't contain any autopsy reports, transcripts of cell phone messages to and from the victims and the killer, Tyler Peterson. And it doesn't name the sniper who shot Peterson seconds before the young sheriff's deputy took his own life. It does have a three-page explanation for the missing material. Justice Department Records Custodian Dean Stensberg said he chose not to include the autopsies in the report because they were "personal and graphic." He said the agency by law must wait to see if anyone challenges the release of the message transcripts... Agency spokesman Kevin St. John said requests for those specific records would be considered under Wisconsin's Open Records Law, which says government records are generally open to the public. Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, questioned why the agency couldn't have put out everything at once. "Withholding information breeds distrust and suspicion," Lueders said. "Why not release this information? They know they're going to get requests for it anyway"... Peterson, a Forest County sheriff's deputy and part-time police officer, showed up at his ex-girlfriend Jordanne Murray's Crandon apartment where she was throwing a party during the early morning hours of Oct. 7. He found Murray snuggling with another man, the Justice Department report said, and partygoers kicked him out. Peterson got his SWAT assault rifle out of his truck, walked back to the apartment and broke down the door. He sprayed the apartment with bullets, killing Murray, 18, and five of her friends. A seventh partygoer was wounded but survived by playing dead... St. John called the amount of information the department released Thursday "unprecedented... We made an enormous amount of material available without a request so we could provide all members of the media, and thus the public, with as much information as soon as possible," St. John said. But Wisconsin Newspaper Association executive director Peter Fox said the lack of autopsies, transcripts and names reflects even more delays in getting to the bottom of the case.

[AZ] Officer Baumgarth promised to terrorize his ex-girlfriend

"...He told me I was going to suffer, and pay, and do things that I don't want to do. He told me he knew I wasn't dumb enough to go to anyone at his work, because if he goes down, I will go down too... he said he was going to make me suffer in a way that I am really, really going to dread."

Police: Officer Posts Sex Photos On eBay
KPHO
February 6, 2008
[Excerpts] A Tempe police officer posted explicit images of his ex-girlfriend for sale on eBay after she refused to have sex with him, court documents show. Tempe police said Officer Curtis Baumgarth's former live-in girlfriend contacted them Jan. 30 and reported that Baumgarth, 39, had been harassing her since October via phone and e-mail. Police said the harassment mostly took the form of text message threats and had escalated recently. According to court paperwork, Baumgarth sent the woman more than 115 text messages between Jan. 3 and Jan. 28. Baumgarth threatened to post pictures of his ex-girlfriend having sex with him on the Internet if she lied to him or refused to perform sexual favors, then offered the pictures for sale on eBay when she refused to comply... He also told the woman he had run criminal histories on her male acquaintances... Baumgarth was arrested Tuesday at a Tempe police substation on charges of computer tampering to threaten and obtain confidential information, and obtaining an unauthorized criminal history. Baumgarth was hired as a Tempe police officer in 1994...

Tempe police officer arrested for threatening ex-girlfriend
abc15.com
Reported by: Lori Jane Gliha ljgliha@abc15.com
2/06/08
[Excerpts] ...Last week, Baumgarth's ex-girlfriend obtained a personal protection order against him. In the court documents she wrote, "Curt sent a photo of me giving him oral sex to two of my friends. He threatened to send it out to more friends, co-workers, and family, and post it on the Internet because I was not answering his calls. When I did answer the phone that night he told me I had to pay for lying to him and for ignoring his calls today. He told me I was going to suffer, and pay, and do things that I don't want to do. He told me he knew I wasn't dumb enough to go to anyone at his work, because if he goes down, I will go down too." She indicated on January 29, 2008, he "called me in the morning and said don't be surprised if your windows are broken when you get home tonight. I asked him why he was doing this and he said he was going to make me suffer in a way that I am really, really going to dread. I told him he was acting crazy, and he said, yeah I know I am, I never thought I would be like this - you bring it out of me." On February 1, 2008, the ex girlfriend indicated, "Curt posted nude photographs of myself for sale on eBay. He is also letting potential bidders know that he will be posting pornographic videos of us soon"...

[OR] Using wife's face to pulverize an orange OKAY. Police union president Det. Hyson in the clear.

...Deputies found a smashed and split orange in the kitchen. The sheriff's office report concluded: "Steve was determined to be the primary aggressor by assaulting Lora with the orange. Lora did have minor swelling on her left eye"...

Previous entry:
[OR] Union Prez, Detective Hyson can keep guns after dv arrest

Domestic violence charge dropped against Clackamas County Sheriff's detective
by The Oregonian
February 07, 2008
[Excerpts] A domestic violence assault charge has been dropped against a Clackamas County Sheriff's detective arrested last month in an incident involving his wife. Steven P. Hyson, 41, remains on paid administrative leave while the department completes an internal investigation, Detective Jim Strovink said in a prepared statement. Hyson, president of the Clackamas County Peace Officers Association, was arrested early Jan. 28 at his Vancouver home after an argument with his 36-year-old wife, according to police reports. AT THE STATE'S REQUEST Wednesday, the one count of fourth-degree assault-domestic violence filed against Hyson was dropped, and Clark County District Court Judge Vernon Schreiber rescinded a no-contact order barring Hyson from talking to his wife... The case was investigated and then reviewed by the Domestic Violence Prosecution Center, which determined it did not meet the criteria for prosecution... the union was not surprised at the outcome, "We weren't expecting anything else," Bailey said. "He's an honorable guy, he has integrity"...

Deputy exonerated of domestic violence allegation
Columbian
By JUSTIN CARINCI
February 07, 2008
[Excerpts] ...Steve Hyson told deputies that his wife, 36-year-old Lora Hyson, threw an apple at him, hitting him in the lip. Deputies wrote that they didn't see any evidence of an injury. Hyson's wife said that he picked up an orange from a fruit bowl and hit her several times in the eye with it, according to the report. Deputies found a smashed and split orange in the kitchen. The sheriff's office report concluded: "Steve was determined to be the primary aggressor by assaulting Lora with the orange. Lora did have minor swelling on her left eye."

[CA] After cop-son's dv, Dep. Chief Tacchini demoted to $163,000.00

...The elder Tacchini came under scrutiny because of questions about what role he may have had in the decision- making related to his own son and the incident. He has not commented on the matter and remains on a two-week vacation... a police report was never filed... Sources say the action to demote him came after Chief Fong discovered apparent contradictions in the elder Tacchini's account of his actions... His demotion means a salary cut from $220,000 dollars to $163,000 a year...

Previous entry:
[CA] No dv report written on SFPD Asst. Chief Tacchini's officer son

S.F. deputy police chief demoted
abc7news.com
By Vic Lee
February 07, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO - ABC7 News has learned tonight that a San Francisco Deputy Police Chief was demoted on Thursday -- just three weeks after a domestic abuse investigation involving his rookie officer son. Stephen Tacchini was appointed deputy chief of field operations less than a month ago as part of a sweeping change Chief Heather Fong made in her command staff... Tacchini's demotion comes three weeks after his son, 23-year-old rookie officer James Tacchini, was questioned by police investigating a 911 domestic violence call. Police responded to an apartment on the 300 block of King Street where they interviewed both Tacchini and his female friend. A lieutenant after being briefed at the scene reportedly called Tacchini's father, and a police report was never filed, although witness statements were taken. Tacchini has come under scrutiny because of the possibility that he may have had something to do with the handling of the incident... The head of the police officers union [Gary Delagnes] says that call to Deputy Chief Tacchini should never have been made... Tacchini, who's on a two-week leave, declined to comment... His demotion means a salary cut from $220,000 dollars to $163,000 a year.

S.F. deputy chief demoted after domestic flap
San Francisco Chronicle
Jaxon Van Derbeken
February 8, 2008
... Tacchini's son, James, meanwhile, has been placed on administrative duties following the Jan. 19 incident when officers went to the apartment of a woman he had been dating. He allegedly had been drinking and was carrying a weapon - an apparent violation of department policy - but was never tested for intoxication, The Chronicle was told. The decision to disarm him came as he was leaving... The woman had called a friend and told him that she had been pushed earlier and felt threatened. The friend summoned police. However, when officers arrived at 2:26 a.m., the woman said nothing had happened. James Tacchini was sent home in a taxi. The elder Tacchini came under scrutiny because of questions about what role he may have had in the decision- making related to his own son and the incident. He has not commented on the matter and remains on a two-week vacation. His attorney, James Collins, said he had not talked to his client about the matter and so could not discuss it. Sources say the action to demote him came after Chief Fong discovered apparent contradictions in the elder Tacchini's account of his actions surrounding the incident. On Thursday, Fong notified Tacchini that she was demoting him for his having "inappropriately handled" the situation and not making proper notifications among the command staff, according to some familiar with the case...

[TX] Officer Mireless's wife thought she was going to die

S.A. officer charged in assault on wife
My San Antonio, Express-News
Colin McDonald
02/09/2008
[Excerpts] A San Antonio police officer has been arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, almost two months after allegedly assaulting his wife... Mireles' wife told investigators her husband was drunk and angry and asked her "if she wanted to stop lying about him looking at girls." He then pulled out his gun and asked "if she wanted to know what was going to happen to her," and hit her in the back of the head with the weapon, causing her to start bleeding, the affidavit states. She also told investigators that Mireles held his gun out of the car window and fired several rounds. After the shooting, Mireles drove to a construction area, and his wife thought he was going to kill her, according to the affidavit. It stated that once there, he told her "No one will ever know"... On Friday detectives obtained an arrest warrant charging Mireles with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was arrested Friday night without incident, according to the police. The Police Department has an early warning system in which any report of a domestic disturbance involving an officer is reviewed by a sergeant. If the allegations are sustained, the case goes before two committees that make recommendations to the chief of what should be done. Mireles was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal and administrative investigation...

[NE] Detective & Susan James arrested for handcuffed child abuse

Omaha police officer, wife face abuse charges
Omaha World-Herald
BY JOHN FERAK
February 8, 2008
[Excerpts] An Omaha police officer accused of repeatedly restraining his 13-year-old son - sometimes using police handcuffs and once for more than a day - pleaded not guilty Friday to felony child abuse charges. Fredric James, 39, a police detective, and his wife, Susan R. James, 42, appeared Friday before Douglas County Judge Craig McDermott. Both pleaded not guilty to four separate counts of felony child abuse. The judge told them that each charge carried up to five [years] in prison if they are convicted. The two were released on their own recognizance... Investigators determined that Fredric James confined and punished his son, [A.J.], by using police equipment to handcuff or "flex cuff" his son to immovable objects in their home for as little as an hour and for as long as 27 hours. The boy was home-schooled... "Mr. James believes he will ultimately walk out of court without this felony conviction," [Fredric James' attorney, Chad] Brown said. "Fred has worked hard to build his reputation professionally and personally for the community of Omaha, and he's saddened by these allegations"... [A.J] told a friend Jan. 14 that he was running away from his home because of abuse. The friend's mother then called 911. In an interview with police, the boy said that earlier that afternoon, his mother had struck him on the legs and lower back about 30 times with a fan belt. The boy told police that his father had handcuffed him to a pole in the basement of the residence on three separate occasions... A friend told investigators that he saw the boy handcuffed to a basement pole last Halloween for about 90 minutes as a punishment... During a second incident last October, the boy said, he was handcuffed to a pole in the family's basement overnight, but that incident lasted less than 24 hours. That time, the punishment was for using inhalant drugs. The boy told police he was not provided bedding but was given a bucket to use as a toilet...