Hampton Man Gets Life Sentence And Rambles On For 100 Minutes

HAMPTON — Just before defendants are about to be sentenced, the judge asks them if they want to say anything.

Most times, defendants opt to say nothing. But sometimes, what follows is perhaps a brief plea for mercy, an apology to the family, or an assertion of innocence.

But John Anya-Onwuka — being sentenced in Hampton Circuit Court Monday for murder in the slaying of his ex-wife — rambled for more than an hour and a half. The hand-written statement began with being in his mother's womb.

A court reporter had difficulty transcribing Anya-Onwuka's words, due to his low tone and thick Nigerian accent. Judge Wilford Taylor Jr. even took a short recess to "stretch."

But after the statement — which lasted from about 4:20 p.m. to just before 6 p.m. — Taylor sentenced Anya-Onwuka, 50, to life in prison in the murder, plus three years for using a knife in a felony in the slashing death of his ex-wife, Gloria Anya-Onwuka, in 2006. The couple was divorced, but lived together in the upscale Farmington subdivision.

"It's the first time I had a defendant give his entire life story at that point in the case," said Anya-Onwuka's court-appointed lawyer, Stephen J. Weisbrod. Then again, he was also the first client who ever pleaded guilty to first-degree murder without a plea agreement.

Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Anton Bell twice objected to the statement while Anya-Onwuka was reading it. But Taylor declined to stop him.

The Daily Press reporter could not hear much of the statement, but Bell said the gist was: "Everybody was bad, and he was a saint." Bell said Anya-Onwuka never apologized to his ex-wife's family, including her mother who traveled from Nigeria for the hearing.

Weisbrod said he apologized "in a roundabout way."

During Monday's testimony, the victim's brother, Emeka Renner, glared at Anya-Onwuka in court, saying: "I want to know why you did what you did. That was a defenseless woman."

Weisbrod said the statement tends to show Anya-Onwuka is mentally ill. Taylor denied Weisbrod's motion before the sentencing to have Anya-Onwuka evaluated for a third time.
www.wtkr.com

Baltimore Police Detective Killed Over Parking Spot

An off-duty Baltimore police detective, taking part in the Canton nightlife on the eve of his birthday Saturday, was killed after being struck in the head after an argument over a parking spot, police said. He would have turned 38 today.

Brian Stevenson, an 18-year veteran and married father of three, was pronounced dead at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center not long after he was attacked in the 2800 block of Hudson St. at about 10 p.m.

Acting on information from witnesses, police arrested 25-year-old Sian James later Saturday night at a downtown club. On Sunday afternoon, he was charged with first-degree murder.

Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III told reporters outside the hospital that the argument was "incredibly petty."

"It's an incredible tragedy for the family, for all of us," said Bealefeld, who spoke with Stevenson's family members along with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. "The city's losing … we're losing a fantastic detective who works to make people safe in this city. It's just senseless."

Stevenson grew up in the city and went on to investigate shootings and robberies in the Northeast District. He went to have dinner with a longtime friend near Canton Square when an argument broke out in the parking lot of an eye care clinic. Residents say the neighborhood is typically jam-packed, with some area bars offering valet service and drivers jockeying for precious parking spots.

Police sat James picked up an object — a rock or piece of concrete — and hurled it at Stevenson, striking him in the right temple and causing him to fall to the ground.

Stevenson lost consciousness and was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

James went on to a club in the Power Plant area, where officers found and detained him, police said.

Stevenson is the first city officer to be killed in an attack since January 9, 2007, when Officer Troy Lamont Chesley Sr. was fatally shot during a robbery while he was off-duty in Northwest Baltimore. Last month, Officer James Fowler died after losing control of his vehicle while driving to a training program in Pennsylvania.

Friends recalled Stevenson as a jovial man who was one of the department's snappiest and unique dressers, pairing wild colors and patterns. Detective Thomas Jackson, a homicide investigator who worked with Stevenson in the Northeast District investigating shootings and robberies, said Stevenson was called "Smiley" because of his consistently upbeat mood.

As a detective, Jackson said, Stevenson was able to relate to those he interacted with in the streets. He grew up in the city and graduated from Dunbar High School, Jackson said.

"He loved doing his job, and he made sure his family was provided for," said Detective Sandra Forsythe, who continued to bring baked goods to her former partner after she moved on to the homicide unit this year.

Stevenson was featured in a 1994 Baltimore Afro-American article about the first class of officers to graduate under the then-new police commissioner, Thomas Frazier. His mother beamed with pride when discussing her son.

"I think that it is wonderful because he's doing something for society," Sheila Dorsey told the Afro. "He has always been the type of person who would help other people in any way that he could. I know that he will be a good police officer, because he has the Lord on his side."

At the scene, neighbor Tricia Zebron said that the neighborhood is typically chaotic on weekends. She said parking spots are hard to come by - her car was parked in the same lot where Stevenson was struck, though there are "private parking" signs posted that warn that driver's will be towed.

"It's a circus every weekend here," she said.

The suspect, James, lived around the corner in the 2800 block of Dillon St.. Court records show he was charged in July with attempted rape, third-degree sex offense, assault and false imprisonment. Initially held without bond, he was released in mid-September on $150,000 bond. Details of that case were not immediately available.

Records also show that in late July James was ordered to stay away from a woman who had filed her second protective order against him in a span of four months. Reached for comment, a man who answered the woman's phone said that they could not discuss James because of an "ongoing situation."

Outside the emergency room entrance at Hopkins Bayview on Saturday night and into Sunday morning, dozens of officers in uniform or street clothes stood solemnly. Some were retired officers. There was little discussion. Deep into the morning, relatives of Stevenson continued to arrive.

As one group of officers walked to their cars to head home, they each shook hands.

"Be safe," they said to each other.

Jackson, who investigates city homicides, many over petty disputes and slights, said Stevenson's death was one of the most senseless he could think of.

"All of them are terrible, but a parking spot?" Jackson said.

The driver of a limo parked outside the nearby Clutch sports lounge said he didn't see or hear the commotion from the attack, but he noted that he was an off-duty Prince George's County police officer. "It hurts," he said of news that a fellow law enforcement officer had been killed.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/

Man Charged With Murder Is No Stranger To Jail

SNOW HILL -- Police arrested a Pocomoke City man for the stabbing death of a teen, charging him with murder.

James Edward Ballard, 29, of Pocomoke City, was ordered to be held without bond by Judge Gerald Purnell in Worcester County District Court.

Police charged Ballard with first-degree murder in connection with the death of 18-year-old Russell Matthew Bailey III, also of Pocomoke City. Police also charged him with second-degree murder, manslaughter and first-degree assault.

The circumstances of the incident were not immediately clear. First-degree murder is a charge that implies premeditation; Ballard told police he was defending himself.

According to court documents, Pocomoke City Police and Maryland State Police responded at 2:30 p.m. to a reported stabbing in the 700 block of Eighth Street in Pocomoke City, across the street from the middle school.

Police found the victim lying on the ground, bleeding from a chest wound. In charging documents, police said "numerous witnesses" said they saw Ballard stab Bailey.

Investigators telephoned Ballard to come in for an interview. At the Pocomoke City Police station, he confessed to stabbing Bailey, calling it an act of self-defense. In charging documents, police allege that Ballard killed Bailey with premeditation, based upon their investigation.

Pocomoke Mayor Mike McDermott said the event was sad and unfortunate.

"It's always a tragedy when people resolve anger and frustration with this kind of violence," said McDermott. "I'm glad we know who the bad guy is and we have dealt with the criminal."

Bailey had graduated from Pocomoke High School in June. Tyrone Mills, the school's principal, said in a statement: "We are deeply saddened to learn of Russell's death. It is a tragedy to lose a young man who had his whole life ahead of him."

Mills described Bailey as a student who enjoyed working on vehicles in the auto tech program who had aspirations to continue his education after he graduated last spring.

At Snow Hill District Court early last Thursday, Ballard, the suspect in Bailey's killing, sported a bushy beard and shiny white Air Jordan sneakers with his a navy blue prisoner jumpsuit. He told the judge that he has "a lot of stuff going on" in his life, that he needed a lawyer, and asked for a preliminary hearing.

Ballard also told the judge he had barely been home two weeks after having spent 18 months in jail for a probation violation.

In September 2008, a Worcester County Circuit Court judge sentenced Bailey to a year in jail and two years on probation on charges of second-degree assault.

Months later, authorities learned not only had Ballard moved from Pocomoke City to Philadelphia, but he had been arrested there in February 2009 on drug charges. They also learned of his July 2009 arrest in Hampton, Va., also on a drug charge.

Both his move and the arrests violated the terms of his probation. As a result, a judge sent him back to jail for another 18 months in November 2009.

Ballard's criminal record in Worcester and Wicomico counties dates to 1999 and includes other charges for burglary, drug possession, armed robbery, assault and escaping from police custody. No date has been set yet for Ballard's next court appearance.

www.delmarvanow.com

Man Charged With Fatal Stabbing In Pocomoke Had Just Been Released

Why was this man back into the streets of any city or town? Why are any of them set free and allowed to roam the streets helping themselves to anything they feel entitled to? What is it going to take to get these people actually punished for the crimes they commit? My guess is that repeat offenders know how to work the system..........

Someone clue the average citizen in on all of this so that we NO longer become victims!

SNOW HILL -- Police arrested a Pocomoke City man late Wednesday in the stabbing death of a teen, charging him with murder.

James Edward Ballard, 29, of Pocomoke City was ordered to be held without bond by Judge Gerald Purnell in Worcester County District Court.

Police charged Ballard with first-degree murder in connection with the death of 18-year-old Russell Matthew Bailey III of Pocomoke City. Police also charged him with second-degree murder, manslaughter and first-degree assault.

The circumstances of the incident were not immediately clear. First-degree murder is a charge that implies premeditation; Ballard told police he was defending himself.

According to court documents, Pocomoke City Police and Maryland State Police responded at 2:30 p.m. to a reported stabbing in the 700 block of Eighth Street in Pocomoke City, across the street from the middle school.

Police found the victim lying on the ground, bleeding from a chest wound. In charging documents, police said "numerous witnesses" said they saw Ballard stab Bailey.

Investigators telephoned Ballard to come in for an interview. At the Pocomoke City Police station, he confessed to stabbing Bailey, calling it an act of self-defense. In charging documents, police allege Ballard killed Bailey with premeditation, based upon their investigation.

Bailey graduated from Pocomoke High School in June. Tyrone Mills, the school's principal, said in a statement: "We are deeply saddened to learn of Russell's death. It is a tragedy to lose a young man who had his whole life ahead of him."

In Snow Hill District Court on Thursday, Ballard sported a bushy beard and shiny white Air Jordan sneakers with his navy blue prisoner jumpsuit. He told the judge that he has "a lot of stuff going on" in his life; he needed a lawyer, he said, and asked for a preliminary hearing.

Ballard also told the judge he had barely been home two weeks after having spent time in jail for a probation violation.

In September 2008, a Worcester County Circuit Court judge sentenced Bailey to a year in jail and two years on probation on charges of second-degree assault.

Months later, authorities learned not only had Ballard moved from Pocomoke City to Philadelphia, but he had been arrested there in February 2009 on drug charges. They also learned of his July 2009 arrest in Hampton, Va., also on a drug charge.

His move and the arrests violated the terms of his probation. As a result, a judge sent him back to jail in November 2009.

Ballard's criminal record in Worcester and Wicomico counties dates to 1999 and includes other charges for burglary, drug possession, armed robbery, assault and escaping from police custody. No date has been set yet for Ballard's next court appearance.

www.delmarvanow.com

Teresa Lewis Is Executed In Virginia

JARRATT — Teresa Lewis died by injection tonight for the murders of her husband and stepson in Pittsylvania County, the first execution of a woman in Virginia since 1912.

Lewis, 41, was pronounced dead at 9:13 p.m., Larry Traylor, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Corrections, announced outside the prison.

Minutes earlier, given a chance to make a last statement, Lewis said: "I just want Kathy to know I love you and I'm very sorry."

The murders left Lewis' stepdaughter, Kathy Clifton, the only surviving member of her family.
About 8:50 p.m., Lewis' lawyer, James E. Rocap III, and her spiritual advise , the Rev. Julir Perry, the chaplain at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women, entered the witness room after visiting with Lewis.

At 8:55 p.m., after the death warrant was read to Lewis by Chief Warden George M. Hinkle, the door to the execution chamber opened and Lewis, wearing blue prison-issued pants and shirt, was led inside by corrections officers holding each arm.

Lewis appeared serious and fearful. She looked around the room as she was escorted to the gurney, where she lay down.

Her torso and limbs were quickly strapped down by five execution team members, and at 8:58 p.m. a blue curtain was drawn, blocking the view from the witness room as intravenous lines used to administer the drugs were inserted.

At 9:09 p.m., the curtain opened and Lewis was asked whether she had a last statement. She asked if "Kathy" was present, presumably referring to Kathy Clifton, the daughter and sister of the two murdered men.

Clifton had said earlier that she and her husband would attend the execution. Family witnesses view from a private room; corrections officials said they did not respond to Lewis' question.

The first of three chemicals then began flowing. Lewis' left foot had been moving as if she were tapping it, but the movement quickly stopped. She was pronounced dead at 9:13 p.m. and the curtains were redrawn, again blocking the view.

Outside the prison, about a dozen people stood in protest. They were outnumbered by about three dozen members of the media, including reporters from Great Britain and Italy.

Lou Hart, who said he was a Quaker from Charlottesville, said it was his first time to stand outside the prison. "I'm not against every death penalty, but I am against most," he said. "This one bothered a lot of people because of the harshness of the penalty."

Longtime death-penalty foe Annette Blankenship of Colonial Heights said she and Lewis had been corresponding for the past several years.
"I have two sons. And seeing this, I really feel bad — when I saw her son, it just tore me up," she said. Lewis has a grown son and daughter.

After the execution, Lewis attorney Jim Roach said: "Tonight the machinery of death in Virginia extinguished the childlike and loving spirit of Teresa Lewis."

He said she met with both of her children yesterday and wrote letters to both of them.

The execution was just the 12th of a woman — compared with more than 1,200 for men — since the death penalty resumed in the United States in 1977. The rare event drew attention, and criticism, from across the nation and abroad.

Lewis was sentenced to death in 2003 for the Oct. 30, 2002, murder-for-hire slayings of her husband and stepson. Using sex and promises of money, she persuaded two men to kill for her in an effort to gain $250,000 in life insurance.

Julian Lewis, 51, and C.J. Lewis, 25, were hit with multiple shotgun blasts in their beds while Teresa Lewis stood by in the kitchen of the family trailer early that morning. As her husband was dying, she took his wallet, split the money inside it with the gunmen, and then waited 45 minutes to call for help.

Lewis was the secondary beneficiary of her stepson's life insurance policy, which meant both men had to die for her to collect. The shooters, Matthew Shallenberger, who was her lover, and Rodney Fuller, each were sentenced to life. The evidence led the judge to deem Lewis "the head of this snake," and he sentenced her to death.

The European Union's delegation to the U.S., concerned about Lewis' mental capacity, sent a letter this month to Gov. Bob McDonnell asking that he commute the sentence to life. Iranian officials, stung by criticism over a woman convicted of adultery there and sentenced to death by stoning, blasted the West this week for hypocrisy.

The governor's office had no comment on either development.

Those asking that her life be spared included Amnesty International, best-selling author John Grisham, religious and anti-death-penalty groups, and thousands of people who signed petitions asking McDonnell to commute the death sentence.

McDonnell twice turned down clemency pleas, most recently on Monday. He said that after a careful review he found no compelling reason to set aside the sentence and noted that no professional evaluation of Lewis ever found she met the medical or legal definition of mental retardation.

Her lawyers contended that her low IQ, a personality disorder and addiction to pain medication made it impossible for her to have been the mastermind of the crime.

Lewis' lawyers and supporters also argued that she should have received the same sentence as the shooters. They said that Lewis, the mother of two who last year became a grandmother, had no prior record of violence and had been an exemplary inmate since her conviction.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court turned down her appeal and request for a stay of execution.

Lewis spent part of her last day visiting with family, her spiritual adviser and her lawyers, Traylor said.

In an interview Monday, Lewis said she hoped to have a contact visit with her son and daughter on her last day. She also has a 14-month-old grandson by her daughter.
www.timesdispatch.com

Indiana Children Died After 10 Hours In Closet

( Sept. 22) -- An Indianapolis woman who's been charged in the deaths of her two young children allegedly locked her five kids in a closet for 10 hours before the two perished.

That's according to a police report released Tuesday that accuses Edyan Farah, 28, of dragging a bed up against the closet to block it shut, then leaving to visit a neighbor. Investigators are awaiting results of a toxicology report, but believe the two children -- a 5-year-old girl and her 3-year-old brother -- died Sunday of asphyxiation. Details were reported by several news agencies.

The children were trapped in a closet about 6 feet by 18 inches for more than 10 hours, and one of the surviving siblings told police they'd been crammed in there before, WRTV channel 6 TV station reported.

Lt. Jeff Duhamell said it was the worst case he's seen in 28 years with the Indianapolis police force. "The bottom line is, animals are treated better than that," he told the station. The police report also alleges that Farah failed to call 911 after she arrived home and discovered her children's lifeless bodies, and tried to prevent neighbors and relatives from doing so.

Her uncle, Mohammad Hersi, peered into the apartment and "saw what appeared to him as a deceased child laying on the couch," the report stated, according to WRTV. When he tried to call police, "Farah grabbed the phone from Mohammad Hersi and threw it," it said. Another friend was quoted as saying Farah wouldn't let anyone into the apartment.

"She didn't look normal. She was not the woman we knew," Hersi told The Indianapolis Star.

The children were in rigor mortis when paramedics arrived.

Farah, a Somali immigrant, will appear in an Indianapolis court today to be advised of her rights, a spokeswoman for the Marion County prosecutor's office, Susan Decker, told The Associated Press. She was charged Monday with two preliminary counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, but prosecutors have asked for 72 more hours to prepare formal charges. Farah remains jailed on a $200,000 bond.

The remaining three children, whom police and neighbors described as looking malnourished, have been transferred to foster care, Duhamell said.

Relatives told the AP that Farah's family had emigrated to the U.S. from Somalia about a decade ago. Her husband, Burhan Hassan, traveled back home to Somalia a few weeks ago to visit his parents, and was still there when his children were discovered dead last weekend, the Star reported. Hassan is now en route back to America.
Meanwhile, neighbors of the Farah family at their two-story apartment complex said they were shocked by the deaths.

"The kids were always at the window waving and saying 'Hi' when you walked by. They were never out playing, but they always seemed happy," neighbor Nicole Felt told WRTV. "My heart goes out to those kids -- the two that passed, certainly, and the three that now have to live with what happened."

www.aolnews.com

Supreme Court Will Not Stop Execution

THE US Supreme Court denied an emergency application yesterday that would have stopped Virginia from executing a woman convicting of two killings, clearing the way for the state to execute a female for the first time in nearly a century.

A Court spokeswoman added that Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor voted to stop the execution of Teresa Lewis, who is scheduled to die by legal injection tomorrow.

Lewis, 40, was convicted of taking part in the hired killings of her husband and stepson in October of 2002. Lewis paid two men, one of whom was her lover, and purchased the guns they used in the murders of Julian and Charles "C.J." Lewis. In exchange for the killings, Teresa Lewis planned to split an anticipated $250,000 insurance payment with the shooters, Matthew Shallenberger and Rodney Fuller.

She admitted her role in 2003, pleading guilty to seven overall criminal counts and two counts of murder for hire.

The Supreme Court was Lewis' last stop on the long legal road leading to her execution. She was also denied clemency last Friday by Virginia's governor, Bob McDonnell.

Lewis' lawyers have long argued that she should not be killed because she has tested as low as 70 on IQ tests and the Supreme Court has ruled that killing mentally handicapped people constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. However, the lower courts have continually denied the argument that Lewis qualifies as severely mentally handicapped.

In denying her clemency, McDonnell said last week that since no medical professional has ever concluded that Lewis was mentally retarded, there was no compelling reason for him to intervene on her behalf.

Shallenberger and Fuller both received life sentences for the the murders.

www.heraldsun.com.au

Teresa Lewis To Be Executed In Virginia

RICHMOND, Va., Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell said Friday he will not grant clemency to a woman scheduled to be executed next week for the murder of her husband and stepson.

If she is put to death, Teresa Lewis, 41, would be the first woman executed in Virginia since 1912, The Washington Post reported. She is scheduled to die by lethal injection Thursday.

Lewis pleaded guilty in 2002 to arranging for her lover and another man to kill her husband, Julian Lewis, a Vietnam veteran, and his son, Charles "C.J." Lewis, an Army reservist. Matthew Shallenberger and Rodney Fuller, who carried out the killings at the Lewis trailer in Danville, received life sentences.

A judge, declaring Lewis the "head of this serpent," gave her the death penalty.

Opponents of Lewis' execution say Shallenberger actually planned the killings, manipulating Lewis, who has an IQ just above the level of mental retardation.

McDonnell, who supports the death penalty, said he read the submissions from Lewis' lawyers.

"I find no compelling reason to set aside the sentence that was imposed by the Circuit Court," McDonnell said.

Lewis 2010

www.upi.com

Neighbors Called Womans Son Odd And Aggressive

Residents in Darby, Pa., were only mildly shocked to hear that a local man was arrested on murder charges last week in Worcester County, after police said he pushed his elderly mother out of his van and deliberately ran her over several times.

Steven Molin, 58, was charged with murder on Sept. 1 in the death of his mother, 85-year-old Emily Molin. He told police his mother fell out of his work van while they were driving down a country road outside Berlin and he must have hit her when backing up to go look for her, but the police said the evidence pointed to a deliberate act.

Neighbors living in the Pennsylvania town of Darby, where the Molins lived, were saddened by the news of Emily Molin’s death. But few were truly shocked to learn that her son was accused of killing her in such a bizarre and violent manner.

“It was kind of a shock to me that he would go to this length, but then again, I’m not really all that shocked,” said Paula Brown, a former mayor of Darby who has known the Molins for more than 30 years. “He has been quite a character. He’s quite aggressive. If you didn’t agree with his point of view he would get very, very aggressive with you.”

According to the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation, Molin allegedly ran over his mother two or three times. The story he told police that she accidentally fell out of his van did not add up with the evidence.

Emily Molin was a sweet woman who did not deserve to die in that manner, Brown said. She said Steven was extremely controlling with his mother when they lived together, often refusing to let her speak with the neighbors, and social services had moved Emily out of their home. He has an odd personality that made many people in the town uncomfortable, she said.

“He controlled her all the time. If I would go to the door to hand out information when I was on council and the mayor, he would sometimes push her in the house if he didn’t want her to speak to you any more,” Brown said. “A lot of people in Darby are very sad over this. Mrs. Molin was a lovely person.”

Molin is a self-employed handyman in Darby. His arrest in Worcester County was not Molin’s first brush with the law. In 1982, he was convicted on aggravated assault charges, according to online court records, and three years later, he was sentenced to two to four years in prison for receiving stolen property. Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to harassment charges. He also burned down a dentist’s office he was working on in Darby.

Molin is being held at the Worcester County Jail with no bond. A preliminary hearing in the case has been scheduled for Sept. 30 in Snow Hill District Court. The residents of Darby will be keeping a close watch on the case, Brown said.

www.oceancitytoday.com

Man Involved With Death Violates Probation And Gets Another Chance

Two years later and still hasn't completed his punishment. He's given a second chance and told not to come back again........a third chance?? Gee, I bet the family that had their son so horribly beaten to death by this creep wishes they had gotten more chances. Some people just never learn their lessons.........I wonder why they never do. Possibly the parents?

SNOW HILL -- A Circuit Court judge found 21-year-old Fernando Musiani in violation of his probation, two years after his involvement in the death of a Berlin teen, and ordered him to continue performing community service and attending anger management classes.

Judge Thomas C. Groton III told Musiani, who pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment in the 2008 death of Berlin's Michael Harry "Mikey" Mitchell, to complete a anger management course he's failed three times and 100 hours of community service. He was given the same tasks at the start of his probation.

"This is your second chance," Groton said. "Rarely, if ever, do I give anybody a third chance."

Musiani was charged with violating the terms of his probation for his failure to complete an anger management course and not completing 100 hours of community service, to be performed by talking to high school students about the consequences of drinking, in the past two years.

Mitchell died at age 19 in a fight at a high school graduation party. An Ocean City man three years older than Mitchell, Dominic R. Canale, allegedly clubbed Mitchell in the head with a wooden baseball bat he retrieved from a car's trunk. Canale was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Musiani, who took part in the fight, pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment, and murder charges against him were placed on the stet docket.

Musiani, who represented himself, told the judge that he had tried to complete the anger management program three times but had failed each time because he missed too many classes. He said that he had trouble keeping jobs as well.

"When I start, I want to finish the things I do," he said, "but something blocks mentally."

Musiani told the judge he had seen a doctor who put him on a medication for depression. He also explained that his father had arranged for him to get counseling at Worcester Youth and Family Services.

"I've been making a lot of positive changes in my mind," he told the judge. "I've already seen an improvement in myself and I'd like to continue the program."

www.delmarvanow.com

Trial Postponed In Worcester County

POCOMOKE CITY, Md. - The trial for a murder suspect has been postponed in Worcester County.

Alexander Crippen was set to appear before a judge and jury (today)Wednesday, September 8th, but the trial has now been pushed back to December.

Crippen is accused of shooting Reginald Handy Jr. near Laurel and Fifth streets in Pocomoke back in May.

He is charged with multiple offenses including first degree murder.

www.wmdt.com

Murder Of Sharone Bailey Will Be Heard By Grand Jury

EASTVILLE — Sharone White Bailey’s accused killer allegedly stabbed her, chased her as she ran and then stabbed her repeatedly as she banged on a neighbor’s door for help.

Then, after she gained entry to the home of elderly neighbors, Derrick Epps broke through the door and continued to stab her.

“He must have killed her,” the neighbor, 84-year-old Alice Doughty, told a judge during a criminal hearing in Northampton court. “All that blood was on the floor.”

Later, while in custody, Epps made an escape attempt while using the restroom and apparent ran out of the sheriff’s office before being apprehended.

General District Court Judge Gordon Vincent certified the murder charge against Epps, 36, of Exmore, to a grand jury.

Witnesses presented by Commonwealth’s Attorney Bruce Jones told a horrifying story to a courtroom packed with the victim’s friends and family. Many wept quietly as they heard the story of her final moments on July 9.

The slaying of Bailey, 57, who had recently been named the 2010 Eastern Shore Citizen of the Year at a gala event, shocked the community.

On the day of her death, Bailey drove home from work in the middle of the day. Epps, her neighbor, saw her pull into her driveway and ran into his kitchen to get a long knife.

“He told her he wanted money,” testified Northampton County Sheriff’s Office investigator Terry Thomas, who said Epps told him the entire story of the slaying when he was arrested. Thomas said Epps told him he stabbed her “a few times.”

He told Thomas that Bailey fell to the ground and then got up and ran across the street. Thomas said Epps told him that Bailey was screaming for help when she got to the neighbor’s front door. He said he was continually stabbing her as she banged on the door.

Epps admitted he went back a few minutes later and broke through the Doughtys’ door, “because a voice told him she was not dead,” Thomas said.

The testimony of the neighbor, Joseph Doughty, 86, told more of the story.

“I heard a hard rap on the door. I jumped up. I opened the door, ” he said.

“She fell on the floor,” he said. “She asked me to call 911. She was trying to fight him off. He had this big, long knife.”

When Bailey fell, the defendant backed away, Doughty said. He testified that he quickly locked the storm door and the wooden door and ran to the telephone to call for help.

As he was talking to 911, Doughty said the defendant burst through the doors breaking the door frame and the wooden door.

“He came in the house and cut her again.”

His wife, Alice Doughty, appeared frail as she was helped to the witness stand by deputies.

Jones asked her if she knew Epps. She pointed to the defendant and said, “He lived next door.”

She recalled the scene with obvious pain, telling the same story as her husband.
“She came running in the door and he was right behind her,” she said, looking at Epps.

“When she fell, I was talking to her. He came into the house, cut her again,” she said.

In addition to the first degree murder charge, Epps is charged with entering a dwelling with a deadly weapon with the intent to commit murder and assault and battery of a police officer.

Northampton Sheriff’s Office Deputy William Smith transported Epps to the sheriff’s office after he was picked up walking on Broadwater Road.

He was being held in the conference room there when he insisted he had an urgent need to use the bathroom. Smith was instructed to take him.

Smith released one of the man’s handcuffs while in the bathroom. At that moment, he said, Epps shoved him into a wall and ran out the door.

Epps ran out the door of the building with Smith fifteen or twenty feet behind him. Smith said he deployed his Taser and Epps went down. He was again taken into custody.

“He made no bones about what he did,” investigator Thomas told the court, referring to Epps’ description of the day’s events. “He said it was not a robbery, that her people owed his people.”

www.easternshorenews.com

Son Ran Over His Mother On Purpose

BERLIN -- Police charged a Pennsylvania man with murder after he allegedly ran his mother over with a work van two to three times and tried to convince investigators it was an accident.

Police say 58-year-old Steven Frederick Molin of Darby, Pa., killed his mother, 85-year-old Emily Belle Molin, by running her over with a large work van on rural Carey Road, north of Berlin and west of Ocean Pines, late Tuesday night. The elder Molin, who was transported to Peninsula Regional Medical Center, died from injuries sustained from a motor vehicle.

Investigators from the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation said Steven Molin notified police around midnight Tuesday of a serious motor vehicle accident on Carey Road. He told them that as he and his mother were riding in his vehicle, which he was driving, his mother fell out. He told police that once he realized she had fallen out, he stopped and drove in reverse.

Accident reconstruction specialists looking at the scene could tell that the elderly woman had been driven over two to three times, police said. At that point, WCBI was notified and a criminal investigation ensued.

"He passed it off as, his mom fell out," WCBI Sgt. H. S. Brent said. "When the reconstructionist came out, things weren't adding up."

Based upon his interview with police and the forensic evidence from the scene, Molin was charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder and manslaughter. According to police, detectives "identified evidence that was not consistent with the reported incident."

Molin is being held in Worcester County Jail without bond, although a bond review hearing is scheduled for today.

Detectives continue to investigate the incident and are asking anyone who was traveling on Carey Road at the time who saw anything suspicious to contact WCBI at 410-352-3476, or the Sheriff's Office at 410-632-1111.

www.delmarvanow.com

Del. Man Accused Of Killing Officer Gets Trial Postponed

I can't help but feel sadness for the Spicer family. A trial postponement just IS NOT fair when lawyer's suddenly, after ONE year, seem to think this "animal" must be insane!


GEORGETOWN — The trial of a man accused of killing a Georgetown police officer last year has been postponed so his lawyers can do research for their client’s insanity defense.

Derrick J. Powell’s trial was scheduled to begin Oct. 11 in Georgetown. He is charged with first-degree murder in the September 2009 shooting of police officer Chad Spicer. The Attorney General’s office has said it will seek the death penalty.

Superior Court Judge T. Henley Graves and lawyers will meet Friday to discuss a new trial date.

www.delmarvanow.com

Son From Pennsylvania Arrested In Mother's Murder

BERLIN, Md.- Detectives with the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation have arrested a Pennsylvania man on murder and related charges after they say he intentionally ran over his elderly mother with a vehicle.

Steven Frederick Molin, 58, of Darby, Pa., is charged with first- and second-degree murder and manslaughter. He is being held without bond in the Worcester County Detention Center.

At around 11:57 p.m. Tuesday, deputies with the Worcester County Sheriff's Office responded to a reported motor vehicle accident on Carey Road in Berlin. When police arrived on the scene, 85-year-old Emily Belle Molin, also of Darby, was transported to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury where she died from injuries sustained in the reported accident.

Investigators learned that Steven Molin was the driver of the vehicle. According to police, Molin claimed that his mother fell out of the moving vehicle. He explained that he backed up after he discovered she had fallen out of his vehicle. Police say it was reported that Molin had driven over his mother two or three times before stopping the vehicle.

It was at that point that the WCBI was notified and responded to conduct a criminal investigation. Investigators interviewed Molin. Police say that in addition, a forensic detective identified evidence that was not consistent with the reported incident.

Based upon the interview and forensic evidence Molin was arrested on the aforementioned charges. Police have not yet released a possible motive.

Detectives are still actively investigating this incident. Anyone who may have been traveling on Carey Road between Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, and saw anything suspicious is urged to call the WCBI at (410) 352-3476 or the Sheriff's Office at (410) 632-1111.

www.wboc.com

Man Arrested and Charged With Premeditated Murder

Sheriff Jack Robbins reports that on August 28, 2010 at approximately 11:43 PM the Northampton County Sheriff's Office was called to respond to 20247 Cheriton Crossroads for a gunshot victim.

Upon arrival by Northampton County Sheriff's Office ad Emergency Rescue personnel, Harold Moses, 48 of Cheriton, was found deceased.

After a brief search, Trawn Stratton, 30 of Cheriton, was arrested and has bee charged with willfully, deliberately, and with premeditation, the murder of Harold Moses in the first degree; use, or attempting to use or displaying in a threatening manner, a firearm while committing to attempting to commit murder; and while armed with a deadly weapon, entering in the nighttime the dwelling house of adjoining occupied outhouse of Harold Moses with the intent to commit murder, rape, robbery or arson.

Stratton is currently being held in the Eastern Shore County Regional Jail with no bond.

The Northampton County Sheriff's Office was assisted by the Exmore Police Department, the Cape Charles Police Department and the Virginia State Police.

The Northampton County Sheriff's Office will not be releasing any further information regarding the case.
www.shoredailynews.com

14 Year Old Girl Charged With Murder In Suspected Gang Initiation

A 14-year-old girl was being charged Tuesday night with first-degree murder for a shooting in East Baltimore earlier this month, a spokesman said.

Arteesha Holt was processed at the Central Booking Intake Center late Tuesday and would be charged in the shooting death of Jose Gonzales, Agent Donny Moses, a department spokesman, said late Tuesday.

Police said the incident was an attempted robbery and may have been part of a gang initiation.

Holt tried to rob two men Aug. 13 in the 100 block of N. Linwood Ave, about a block north of Patterson Park, police said. When the men resisted, police say the girl shot them both.

One man survived, but Gonzales died Saturday from a gunshot wound to his head. The survivor's name has not been released.
www.baltimoresun.com

Court Testimony Shows Strands Family Found His Slain Body

ACCOMACK — Murder charges against a man accused of killing Johnny Strand, a popular local restaurant manager, were certified to a grand jury at a preliminary hearing in General District court here.

Fernando Carrillo Sanchez, a 23-year-old immigrant from Guatemala, stands charged with killing Strand, 49, the manager of the Onley Pizza Hut.

Commonwealth’s attorney Gary Agar presented evidence that showed that the black Ford Expedition that was stolen from Strand’s Melfa home was found several days later near the residence of the accused man.

He said also that Carrillo Sanchez made and signed a confession the night he was picked up by the police and that there was a previous unspecified relationship between the two men. Investigators found Strand’s telephone number on the defendant’s cell phone.

Gladys Church, a relative of Strand’s, answered Agar’s questions about May 1, the day she found Strand lying naked, face-down and covered with blood in his bed at his Melfa home.

Church said she became concerned about Strand when he failed to pick her son up from his late- night job at Perdue. She picked up her son herself and drove to Strand’s house.

“We went there at about 2 a.m.,” she said. There were no lights on and his SUV was not there.

“The next morning, we kept calling and calling and he didn’t pick up,” Church said, adding she was nervous because Strand never missed work.

Church told the court she made repeated calls to Strand’s telephone and went to talk to some of his friends to ask if they knew where he was. No one did, she said.
At about 1 p.m., Church said she went to the police.

“I told them my Uncle Johnny was not answering his phone.” Church and her son drove to Strand’s home again.

The door was locked and his vehicle was not there. She said she and her son used a credit card to gain entrance to the trailer.

She began to sob almost uncontrollably as she described the horrific scene.

“We walked in. I got halfway down the hall.” Her son, ahead of her screamed, “‘Oh, no, Don’t come in here.’ I said, ‘I am coming in.’”

“He was lying on his stomach, face to the wall,” she said. “I could see blood splattered up the headboard, up the wall and on the floor.”

“I was screaming. We went back outside. I said, ‘Somebody killed him. Why, why.’”

Beverly Jacks, a volunteer emergency technician with the Melfa Fire and Rescue, was the next to arrive on the scene.

Jacks described the scene just as it had been told by Church. She said it looked like Strand had been dead for some time.

Tom Hedge, an investigator for the sheriff’s department at the time, described the murder scene. He said Strand had trauma to his head from multiple blows.

There were no signs of forced entry or a struggle, he said.

He said the wounds were consistent with the victim being killed where he lay, describing him as “unaware.” He found a blue Little League baseball bat covered in blood under the bed where Strand lay.

Strand’s vehicle was not located until four days later. The sheriff’s department received a tip that it was in Dreamland One mobile home park. They found the vehicle and asked neighbors to which trailer it belonged.

A person was seen running to that trailer, he said, and then refused to answer the door when police knocked. Finally three men came out and all were taken into custody.

Investigator Anthony Bright, with the help of an interpreter, questioned the suspect for several hours. He described Carrillo Sanchez as “very calm.”

“He began to cry and then made a confession,” Bright said. The accused man said he was forced into sex with Strand, Bright said. He claimed that Strand hit him with the baseball bat. Bright said he saw no wounds or bruising on the defendant’s body.

Carrillo Sanchez was defended by attorney Garrett Dunham.

www.delmarvanow.com

Yoko Ono Opposes Parole For Lennon's Killer

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- Three decades after John Lennon's death, Yoko Ono said she opposes his killer's parole because he remains a potential threat.

Ono said she was trying to be "practical" in asking that Mark David Chapman remain behind bars for fatally shooting the pop legend on Dec. 8, 1980, outside Lennon's Manhattan apartment building. Chapman, who has been repeatedly denied parole, is up for review again this month in New York State.

Lennon's widow said Chapman might be a danger to her, other family members and perhaps even himself. She did not elaborate.

At his last parole hearing, Chapman said he was ashamed and sorry for gunning down the former Beatle. He told the parole board he understood the gravity of his actions and was a changed man.

Ono, 77, made her remarks at a meeting Thursday of the Television Critics Association. She was discussing a new PBS documentary on Lennon's family and artistic life in New York in the 1970s.

"LennonNYC," airing Nov. 22 as part of the "American Masters" public TV series, includes rare studio recordings, concert film outtakes and home movies, producer Susan Lacy said. Ono provided access and was among those interviewed for the documentary.

Reviewing her life with Lennon was "painful" at times, Ono said, but provided the chance to show him as a "three-dimensional person" and to explore his ultimately tragic affection for New York.

The film "is about New York, the city he was in love with and strangely, the city that he loved so much, it killed him," Ono said. "It was his love, and it was his death."

Lennon would have been 70 in October.

www.ap.org

Johns Hopkins Researcher Buried In Florida

North Palm Beach, Fla. —

The wooden pews were filled Friday morning as friends and family remembered slain Hopkins researcher Stephen Pitcairn as a young man with an "intense" and "inquisitive" nature.

"He grabbed you and you just wanted to be where he was," said Chris "Suds" Southard, youth director at First Presbyterian Church in North Palm Beach, Fla., where the funeral was held.

Standing behind the pulpit, Rev. Ronald Hilliard tried to comfort the grief-stricken, still reeling from the death of the Jupiter, Fla., native who was robbed at knifepoint Sunday night while walking to his Charles Village apartment.

In North Palm Beach, the reverend urged that the family not to lose sight of the vibrant life Pitcairn was able to lead.

"The value of life is not in longevity … the value of life is based on the quality of the chapters that God has written," he said.

The funeral brought together those who knew Pitcairn throughout his life, cut short just two days before his 24th birthday: graduates from The Benjamin School, which Pitcairn attended for 14 years; classmates from Kalamazoo College in Michigan; and colleagues from Johns Hopkins medical center in Baltimore.

"We are just devastated as a school community," said Robert Goldberg, head of school at The Benjamin School. "Our heart is just so heavy for the Pitcairn family."

Pitcairn, a researcher at a cell engineering laboratory on the Johns Hopkins medical campus, was on the phone with his mother, Gwen Pitcairn, around 11 p.m. Sunday when he was confronted by a man and a woman in the 2600 block of St. Paul St., police say. His mother listened as he pleaded with the robbers and was stabbed in the chest.

Authorities have charged John Alexander Wagner, 34, and Lavelva Merritt, 24, who police say were "hunting to rob someone," with first-degree murder in his death.

During the 90-minute service, Hilliard urged the family not to focus on the tragic circumstances surrounding Pitcairn's death. He suggested that the family may be wondering what would have happened if circumstances had been different.

"We may be sad about the book ending before we were ready," said Hilliard, but that sadness should not overshadow the value and impact that Pitcairn's life had.

"The reality is that in God's eyes, Stephen's life was complete," he said.

Speakers largely avoided discussing the tragic circumstances surrounding Pitcairn's death, instead paying tribute to his Christian faith.

Emily and Elise Pitcairn remembered their brother as intelligent and tenacious. Nancy Reugg, Pitcairn's former fourth-grade teacher, said that many details about the young man had faded from her memory over the years, but his curiosity remained in sharp focus.

The service, held inside First Presbyterian's flower-filled sanctuary, featured a number of quotations from Psalms. Those in attendance sang "Amazing Grace" and watched slides of pictures of Pitcairn, accompanied by music played by his former guitar teacher.

Some of the photographs of Pitcairn as a small child elicited sniffles, tears and even momentary laughter. One photograph featured a young Pitcairn wearing oversized sunglasses, and, momentarily, people laughed.

www.baltimoresun.com

This murder didn't have to happen if the court system cared about who they released back into society.