TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Author: Trench Reynolds

  • Campbell County Victims Update

    Campbell County Victims Update

    School shooting victim’s home burglarized:

    How bad does this suck? On the day assistant principal, Jim Pierce was shot by Ken Bartley Jr. that night his house was broken into and an ATV, a rifle, an air compressor, and several tools were stolen.

    “We have several leads; the detectives have worked extensively ever since that happened, fingerprinted the residence and tracked down many leads,” said Campbell County Sheriff Ron McClellan.

    There’s a special place in hell for thieves like that.

    Campbell Co. principal released from hospital:

    At least we have some better news here. Principal Gary Seale was released from University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.

  • Zarate accomplice pleads guilty

    Zarate accomplice pleads guilty

    Teen accomplice pleads guilty in body dump case:

    One of the teen accomplices of Jonathan Zarate pleaded guilty to improperly disposing of human remains and hindering apprehension.

    This is the 16-year-old accomplice known as “V.B.” the friend of Jonathan Zarate’s brother who is only identified as “J.Z.”.

    “V.B.” faces up to four years in juvenile detention. “V.B.” and “J.Z.” allegedly tried to help Jonathan Zarate dispose of Jennifer Parks’ body in the Passaic River.

  • Bartley to undergo psych exam

    Bartley to undergo psych exam

    Mental exam ordered for school shooter:

    Ken Bartley Jr. has been ordered to undergo a mental evaluation before a judge will decide if he is to be tried as an adult. According to the article, this is standard procedure in trying to decide if a minor should be tried as an adult.

    The article had some other interesting information…

    Sheriff Ron McClellan said the investigation is continuing, more interviews were being conducted and evidence collected, including Bartley’s home computer.

    Asked if a motive has been determined, the sheriff said, “We are getting more details as we go, but we couldn’t release anything on that because of the pending case.”

    So still no official motive.

    Nod to commenter Jack.

  • Court rules Columbine materials can be released

    Court rules Columbine materials can be released

    High court rules on Columbine case:

    The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that items seized from the homes of Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold can be released to the public if Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink deems it a benefit to the public…

    The Denver Post is seeking notes written by Wayne Harris about his son Eric and Dylan Klebold; medical records of the teenagers; the audio and videotapes they made; and their writings, including school papers, notations in the Columbine yearbook and the diaries.

    And go figure…

    Release of the items was strongly opposed by the Harris and Klebold families and by Mink, who must now decide whether to release the records.

    Hmm, I wonder why. 🙄

    Judy Brown, parent of former Columbine student Brooks Brown, applauded the ruling.

    “I think the people affected by the Columbine tragedy have every right to see every piece of information out there,” she said. “I think the court’s made the right decision.”

    Now maybe we can finally get the real story. The ball is in your court, Sheriff Mink. Will you be a man, or will you continue to hide the facts?

  • Bartley hearing delayed

    Bartley hearing delayed

    Campbell County school resumes, teen’s hearing delayed:

    Suspect Ken Bartley Jr., 14, remained held without bond in a detention center in Knoxville, some 34 miles south, as court officials searched for a judge to hear a prosecutor’s petition to move Bartley’s case into adult court.

    Judges Joseph Ayers of Campbell County and Patricia Hess of Anderson County recused themselves because they know the victims. Judge Michael Davis of Morgan County agreed late Monday to preside over the juvenile court hearing.

    And according to the article, authorities are still not discussing a motive even though I’ve had several people who claim to be from the Campbell County area say that Ken Bartley allegedly brought the gun to school to sell for drugs. Why he would bring a loaded gun is beyond me if he was just going to sell it.

    Anyway, the article also states that Bartley is ineligible for the death penalty under Tennessee state law because he is under 16. I’m on the fence on whether or not he would deserve the death penalty. I’m leaning towards no, since conventional wisdom is leaning towards the fact that this wasn’t premeditated.

    However, it remains to be seen if the “gun for drugs” motive is the actual motive or not.

  • Zarate attacks prison guard

    Zarate attacks prison guard

    ‘Trunk killer’ teen erupts, blackens jail guard’s eye:

    This is a story that I’ve been following here for a while.

    Unfortunately, I haven’t reposted any of the previous entries since the Great Site Meltdown of 2005. Let me bring you up to speed.

    18-year-old Jonathan Zarate invited his 16-year-old neighbor Jennifer Parks over to watch TV. He killed her by bludgeoning her and repeatedly stabbing her. He then dismembered her body, stuffed her in a trunk, hid the trunk in his parents’ Jeep for 24 hours, then solicited his teenage brother and a friend to help him dump the body into the Passaic River.

    At the time of the original postings, I got a lot of comments saying that either he couldn’t have possibly killed her or comments that attacked the victim. Well, Zarate’s latest escapade is that he attacked a prison guard unprovoked…

    Jonathan Zarate, 18, of Randolph, allegedly punched a 26-year-old corrections officer three times in the face and head as he was being escorted back to his cell after a shower Thursday at 8:30 a.m., Warden Frank Corrente said.

    “This was unprovoked. He has issues with authority and has been a management issue since his arrival,” Corrente said of Zarate. “He shows violent behavior.”

    Yeah, someone with this kind of rational behavior couldn’t have possibly killed someone. Yeah, right.

  • Intent

    Intent

    While I’ve been doing entries about Ken Bartley Jr. and the Campbell County High shooting, some people have been saying that Ken Bartley did not intend to shoot Ken Bruce and that they can’t prove intent. These people are either confused or unclear on the word “intent”.

    Their main argument is that Ken Bartley did not take the loaded gun to school with the intent of killing Ken Bruce or shooting Gary Seale and Jim Pierce. That may, in fact, be true. However, if when Ken Bartley was approached about the gun, then he decided to raise the gun, aim it at Ken Bruce, and pull the trigger, killing Ken Bruce then he did, in fact, intend to kill Ken Bruce.

    What you’re thinking of is premeditation. If Ken Bartley did not take the gun to school with the intent of killing Ken Bruce, then it wasn’t a premeditated killing. However, that doesn’t mean there was no intent.

    If rather than going to jail, Ken Bartley decided to shoot his way out of the situation, then that shows intent, In my opinion, the only way to show there was no intent was if the gun discharged accidentally. Since the gun fired repeatedly, striking four different people, I doubt that can be called an accident. Hopefully, I’ve cleared this up for you because that was my intent.

  • Victims’ families shut out of Jourdain trial

    Victims’ families shut out of Jourdain trial

    Shut out of trial, families frustrated:

    I am no longer torn on the decision to keep the trial of accused Red Lake accomplice Louis Jourdain closed to the public. Yes, he is a minor. No, the media does not have the right to be in on every little thing. However, I do believe the victims’ families of the Red Lake shootings should be entitled to attend the proceedings.

    A day after a federal judge ruled court proceedings for the only person charged in the case will remain closed to the public, the father of one victim said he and other families have hired an attorney to seek access. A victims’ rights group says getting answers is an important step in the healing process.

    “If nobody is going to go into the courtroom, we will all have unanswered questions,” said Al Thunder, a cultural coordinator and Red Lake tribal courts judge, whose grandson Cody Thunder was one of seven people injured in the March 21 shootings. “All the ruling is going to bring is frustration.”

    “We have never had access to any evidence gathered,” said Francis Brun, a retired tribal administrator and the father of Derrick Brun, a security guard slain at the high school. “I would like to know what exactly happened and whether people could have done something to prevent what happened.”

    Hopefully, they will allow the victims’ families to attend while keeping the vultures of the press at bay.

  • Bartley’s parents removed him from help program

    Bartley’s parents removed him from help program

    Parents of alleged Campbell County shooter sought help:

    This is an article I briefly touched on Friday. It’s about the school for troubled kids that Ken Bartley’s parents placed him in when he was 12. It’s called the Kingswood School, and it’s a private Christian home that is funded purely by donations.

    Ken Bartley was there for a year and a half. The article doesn’t say why he was there, but it states that counselors were teaching him how to handle problems like drugs and alcohol. But administrators said that Bartley was not doing well enough to go home when his parents removed him from the school…

    Helton says parents initially agree that therapists will decide when a child is ready to go home.

    “They thought he was ready to leave and we did not,” Helton said. “So he did leave against our recommendations because we felt he had not completed our program.”

  • Jourdain trial to remain closed

    Jourdain trial to remain closed

    Judge rules Red Lake trial will stay closed: (Log in info)

    A federal judge ruled on Friday that the trial of Louis Jourdain, the teen being tried in connection with the Red Lake shootings, will remain closed. The AP and other local media had sued to open up the trial.

    Like I said before, I’m torn on this decision because, on one hand, I think a trial of this magnitude should be opened up to the public. On the other hand, Jourdain is a minor, and it galls me when the media thinks they have the God-given right to have to know everything.