TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Author: Trench Reynolds

  • Roid rage inconclusive

    Questions still loom in Benoit case:

    Again, if you won’t believe me that roid rage in the deaths of the Benoit family is not a foregone conclusion then how about Georgia’s top coroner?

    Pro wrestler Chris Benoit had more than 10 times the normal level of testosterone in his system when he hanged himself in his home after killing his wife and 7-year-old son last month. But did that have anything to do with the slayings?

    “I think it’s an unanswerable question,” said Dr. Kris Sperry, Georgia’s top medical examiner.

    Test results released Tuesday neither bolstered nor entirely debunked speculation that anabolic steroids might have led Benoit, a wrestler with a family-man image, to commit the shocking crimes. Some experts believe steroids can cause paranoia, depression and violent outbursts known as “roid rage,” but Sperry noted that there is no consensus on the issue.

    Even the high levels of testosterone should not be overanalyzed, Sperry warned. They could indicate the wrestler was being treated for “testicular insufficiency,” he said.

    Well, I think we know that Chris Benoit had “testicular insufficiency” because only a nutless coward is capable of killing his family but I digress.

    In the end, he said, authorities will never know whether the steroid could have caused the murderous outburst.

    Not only that but if roid rage is as prevalent as some people falsely claim then how come there isn’t a murder a week coming out of Major League Baseball or the NFL?

  • craigslist job interview gone wrong

    Woman: Craigslist Ad Leads To Inappropriate Interview:

    This is a new one on me since people who place employment ads with craigslist have to actually pay for the ad. I guess you can’t even trust employment ads on the internet’s hive of scum and villainy.

    PHILADELPHIA — A Conshohocken woman said she was just looking for work when an online ad on Craigslist caught her eye.

    Aleshia Endy, 22, said she now hopes police catch the man who ran the ad.

    “I thought it was a legit position. I really thought it was something, but now I’m grossed out,” Endy said.

    Endy said the job ad on the nationwide Web site, Craigslist.com, appeared to be perfect for her.

    “I responded to it, said apply for personal assistant/office manager, so I sent my picture and resume,” Endy said.

    Endy said she later found out that when the author wrote “female preferred” and “obey instructions” in the ad, he meant it.

    After responding to the ad, Endy called her potential employer, Eber Devine.

    Endy said Devine told her he was moving from one office to another, so he wanted to set up the interview at the University of Pennsylvania campus at the Van Pelt Library.

    “He met me outside. We went upstairs to where there’s, like, conference rooms,” Endy said.

    Endy said, at first, everything seemed fine. She filled out an application and agreed to a background check, and he promised her a generous salary.

    But right in the middle of the interview came the shocker.

    “He told me, ‘I want you to stand up. Go walk around the room. Go stand in the corner. I want to look at your ass,’” Endy said.

    Endy said she told him no, and when she started to walk away it became uncomfortable.

    “He stood up. He came over and started touching my shoulders and my chest and got real close and started breathing on me heavily,” Endy said.

    Endy said she pushed him away and left, but Devine had Endy’s cell phone number from the application and apparently was not finished talking.

    “Yeah, Aleshia, I think you are an excellent candidate,” one message said.

    “He called me about six times. I have it in my call log,” Endy said.

    Endy contacted the NBC 10 Investigators and the police.

    NBC 10’s Harry Hairston started looking into Devine’s background and found pages and pages of court records.

    Court documents show Devine’s criminal history goes back as far as 1986.

    NBC 10’s investigation turned up five different mug shots, some of which were taken between 2002 and December 2006.

    The self-proclaimed CEO also has a laundry list of guilty pleas.

    Records show he pleaded guilty to theft of leased property, unlawful use of a computer, forgery, and criminal conspiracy.

    NBC 10 went to Devine’s Philadelphia home. The 38-year-old self-styled entrepreneur lives with his father.

    Hairston asked Devine’s father if he knew anything about the ad on Craigslist.

    “That’s something he’s doing. He’s a grown man. I don’t know anything about it,” Devine’s father said.

    Hours after the visit, Devine called NBC 10. He wouldn’t go on camera, but he did admit to placing the ad on Craigslist, claiming to be the CEO of his own company and interviewing Endy.

    Devine denies anything inappropriate happened during the interview,

    That may be for a court to decide. The district attorney’s Office has issued a warrant for his arrest.

    He’s facing charges of sexual harassment, false imprisonment, indecent assault, unlawful restraint and burglary.

    “I just want him off the streets. I want the women out there to know what kind of person he is. I want him off the streets,” Endy said.

    Police said they are looking for Devine.

    And a spokeperson for Craigslist said illegal activity is forbidden on Craigslist by the company’s terms of use, and is not welcome on the site.

    I can almost see the craigslist spokesperson winking as they say that.

  • The Fry Cooks weren’t even supposed to be here today


    The Fry Cooks weren't even supposed to be here today

    Cops: Plot went beyond school:

    This is definitely a new one on me. It seems that the 15-year-old accused in the plot to attack Connetquot High School referred to himself as Dante and referred to Michael McDonnough as Randal. If those names don’t mean anything to you they’re the main characters in the movie Clerks. They’re probably referring to Clerks II though since that movie takes place at a fast food restaurant. Except Dante and Randal never intentionally plotted to kill somebody.

    Anyway, more details are emerging including Michael McDonnough’s role in the plot.

    One of the teens — Michael McDonough, 17, of Holbrook — said that at a June 30 sleepover, he and his 15-year-old friend made a video talking about using pipe bombs to destroy the McDonald’s on Veterans Highway, according to McDonough’s statement. At about midnight, they headed to the restaurant carrying three eggs, which they threw at the building as a “rehearsal” for what would happen next, he told the Suffolk detective.

    In a written waiver of rights that accompanies each statement, the teens declined legal counsel before providing the statements last Tuesday to the detective, who wrote down their accounts. The mother of the 15-year-old was present when he gave his account.

    The younger of the two, a 15-year-old Connetquot High School student whom police would not identify because he is charged as a juvenile, said he “had angry thoughts about killing people at Connetquot High School because I don’t feel they’ve done right by me.” People taunted him for living in a trailer park, the statement said.

    The 15-year-old said he shared his plan to attack McDonald’s with McDonough, but said he didn’t remember telling his friend about the school plot: “I mention killing people and shooting up the school quite a bit in my journal, but I don’t remember saying it to Mike.”

    In McDonough’s statement, he says that depression and suicidal thoughts led him to go along with the 15-year-old. He said the two hatched the plot against Connetquot High in February while they were on a school break.

    McDonough told the detective he “didn’t care where life was going to leave me next. I told [the 15-year-old] that I was on board and would help him shoot up the Connetquot High School.” He said the 15-year-old talked about “killing his whole school, hundreds of people.”

    And we’re getting more proof of the 15-year-old’s mutancy…

    The two aimed for a date for the school attack — calling it J-Day, short for judgment day — April 20, 2008, the ninth anniversary of the Columbine High School killings. The younger teen seemed to model his plan after Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who carried out the Colorado attack, McDonough said.

    Now let’s give the excuses…

    The younger of the two, a 15-year-old Connetquot High School student whom police would not identify because he is charged as a juvenile, said he “had angry thoughts about killing people at Connetquot High School because I don’t feel they’ve done right by me.” People taunted him for living in a trailer park, the statement said.

    The 15-year-old said he shared his plan to attack McDonald’s with McDonough, but said he didn’t remember telling his friend about the school plot: “I mention killing people and shooting up the school quite a bit in my journal, but I don’t remember saying it to Mike.”

    In McDonough’s statement, he says that depression and suicidal thoughts led him to go along with the 15-year-old. He said the two hatched the plot against Connetquot High in February while they were on a school break.

    McDonough told the detective he “didn’t care where life was going to leave me next. I told [the 15-year-old] that I was on board and would help him shoot up the Connetquot High School.” He said the 15-year-old talked about “killing his whole school, hundreds of people.”

    So we have depression and a trailer park as excuses. As time goes by the excuses keep getting more pathetic. I’ve seen pictures of the trailer park. In Long Island that might be a trailer park but in the rest of the country it’s more like a housing development. Come to North Carolina sometime and I’ll show you some scary trailer parks. As far as the depression goes I have two words. Get help. It really isn’t that bad. But I’m sure we’ll hear the excuse that he was either on or wasn’t on meds. You really can’t go wrong, either way, these days.

    Here is a copy of the statements they gave to police.

  • Benoit family toxicology report released

    GBI: Benoit had steroids in system:

    Yeah yeah yeah. Chris Benoit had steroids in his system. No big shock there. He was a professional wrestler after all. But before all of you roid rage zealots start pointing fingers at me with your “I told you so” attitudes you may want to unbunch your panties for a second. Chris Benoit also had Xanax and Hydrocodone in his system, a sedative and a pain-killer. Now I’m not a doctor, I don’t even play one on the internet, but I’ve been prescribed both drugs, luckily not at the same time. Taking either one has pretty much knocked me on my ass. I’m not a small guy either. I’m over 6 feet tall and I hover around the 200 lb. mark. Not as big as Benoit but not a small guy either. So in my estimation, I think the inclusion of the Xanax and Hydrocodone pretty much precludes any ‘roid rage’ that so many of you have been shouting from the rooftops.

    Nancy Benoit also had Xanax and Hydrocodone in her system as well. Daniel Benoit had Xanax in his system which leads me to believe that Chris Benoit sedated his son before killing him. What a freakin’ humanitarian.

  • Hainstock may face additional charge

    Teen may face another charge:

    Prosecutors are trying to get an additional charge of attempted murder pressed against Eric Hainstock. Hainstock is accused of shooting and killing Weston Schools principal John Klang.

    Prosecutors allege that Hainstock also pointed the gun at his own special education teacher, James Nowak, prior to the death of Klang. Nowak is the same teacher who Hainstock allegedly threw a stapler at.

    Of course, the defense is not happy…

    “We have eight business days between now and the day we pick a jury and go to trial,” said Rhoda Ricciardi, one of the Madison-based attorneys representing 16-year-old Hainstock. “And now we are also supposed to defend against an attempted homicide? If that’s not prejudice, sir, I don’t know what is.”

    The prosecution offered this explanation…

    Sauk County District Attorney Patricia Barrett said she previously mentioned the possibility of additional charges to Hainstock’s defense team, but only recently received the transcripts of prior testimony necessary to go forward with the additional charge. She said there is no new evidence defense attorneys must study.

    As much as I’d like to see Hainstock get as much time as possible I doubt the attempted murder charge will stick or even be allowed.

    The trial is set to start on July 26th.

  • Fry cook may be charged as adult

    Teen in bomb plot case may be indicted as adult:

    The 15-year-old accused of plotting to attack Connetquot High School may be charged as an adult. This coming after the other teen accused in the plot, 17-year-old Michael McDonnough, signed a four-page confession of his involvement in the plot. Again his exact involvement is still yet unknown to the public.

    McDonough’s family had hoped to gain supervised release for him, saying he had no previous criminal history, and his lawyer said he was not guilty of the charges.

    But Jeremy Scileppi, chief of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s major crime bureau, told the judge that bail should not be reduced because authorities have a four-page confession from McDonough admitting to conspiracy to buy weapons and explosive powder. “The bail is not a punitive matter, but it’s an issue for the security of the community,” Scileppi said in court. “The evidence at this time is getting better.”

    More on this as information becomes available.

  • Versace not the only victim

    Versace’s mansion, 10 years after murder:

    This is something that’s been sticking in my craw for 10 years now.

    Back in 1997, serial killer Andrew Cunanan went on an interstate killing spree. It started in Minnesota when he killed his friend Jeffery Trail. Two days later he killed architect David Madson also in Minnesota. According to Wikipedia police recognized a connection, as Trail’s body had been found in Madson’s Minneapolis loft apartment, and started an intensive nationwide manhunt. This barely made a blip in the national media.

    Next Cunanan killed 72-year-old real estate developer Lee Miglin in Chicago. Cunanan escaped Chicago in Miglin’s car. His next murder kind of hit home for me. Cunanan’s next victim was William Reese from Pennsville, New Jersey. In 1997 I was living one county over from Pennsville. The local media exploded all over the story but still hardly anything on the national front.

    Cunanan stole Reese’s truck with which he drove to Miami where he claimed his most famous victim, fashion designer Gianni Versace. That’s when the story blew up on the national media. Yet all the focus was on Versace. Very little mention was made of Cunanan’s other victims. Eight days later Cunanan killed himself in a Miami houseboat.

    All I saw on the national media at that point were stories about other celebrities who lived in the Miami area who feared for their ‘lives’ while Cunanan was on the loose after Versace’s murder. Again little to no mention of Cunanan’s other victims.

    Fast forward to today. Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of the death of Gianni Versace and nothing has changed. No disrespect intended to the Versace family but again the article I linked to above made no mention whatsoever of Cunanan’s other victims.

    So what’s my point? Well besides the fact that the national media obviously doesn’t really care about murder victims unless they’re famous, my point is that not everyone has forgotten the names of Jeffery Trail, Dave Madson, Lee Miglin, and William Reese.

  • More on the Fry Cook Plot

    Police case against alleged plotters took patience:

    Just a couple of more details in the plot to attack Connetquot High School in Long Island.

    Police said that the notebook wasn’t enough for arrest but needed an overt act to make the arrest. So when they searched the 15-year-old’s computer and saw the attempted purchases of black powder and weapons they had the information they needed for an arrest.

    Now I’m still not sure exactly what Michael McDonnough’s part in the whole scheme was but according to police, both teens made some kind of admission to the plot.

    The 15-year-old is being charged as a juvenile. No word if McDonnough is being charged the same.

  • 7 arrested in MySpace sting

    Seven men arrested in Twiggs County child Internet sting:

    Seven men from Twiggs County, Georgia have been arrested in an internet child predator sting.

    Deputies teamed up with a group called Perverted Justice, whose workers posed as 13- and 14-year-old girls on Web sites such as Yahoo.com and Myspace.com. The men, ages 24 to 64, live in various parts of the state and are charged with a variety of charges such as computer child exploitation online and obscene Internet contact with a child. One man was a former high school coach, and another was a youth mentor at a church, investigators said.

    Here is a link to their names and mugshots. For historical purpose, their names are Jeffrey Pansino, Shaharyar Rashid, James Ronald Cosby, Daniel Eric Bowman, Robert Elton Hill, Casey Dykes, and Kenneth Mack Smith.

    If there are that many predators in such a small area I shudder to think how many must be in a big city.

  • American Teens Gone Wild

    Voyeurs ‘R Us: What parents need to know about Stickam:

    This is a great article from Amy Tiemann at Wired about every parent’s worst nightmare on the internet, Stickam.

    Common sense tells most parents that the whole idea of live video chats involving minors is a ridiculously risky business to start out with. As Stickam’s corporate relationships are being untangled in the press, a parent’s visit to the site reveals that there is already plenty to be worried about.

    My first question is where did the “age 14 and older” guideline come from? What possible reason could there be for anyone under age 18 to interact in live, unfiltered audio/video chat with online strangers or “friends?” No matter where the age restriction is set, it is blatantly unenforced. Stickam’s FAQ says, “While Stickam has established rules keeping children under the age of 14 from becoming a member, it is easy for children to lie about their age and thus gain access to content which may be inappropriate and unintended for them. It is up to parents to properly supervise their children’s online activities.”

    A close reading of Stickam’s privacy policy suggests that the video content that users post to the site can be recorded, repurposed, and commercialized by anyone. To quote the policy, which spells out the agreement between the user and Advanced Video Communications:

    “Any Personal Information (including video content) that you disclose on the Website (for example, on message boards or chat rooms, or within your personal profile page) becomes publicly available and can be collected and used by others. Your account name and other profile information (but not your email address) is displayed to other internet users when you upload videos or send messages through the Website, and you can be contacted by other users who send you comments. Any videos or other content that you submit to the Website (including any Personal Information contained therein) may be distributed through the internet and other media.”

    Does this mean that a 14-year-old’s Webcast make-out session (or worse) can be incorporated into an “American Teens Gone Wild” video sold worldwide? Could Stickam channels be fed to paying customers on DXLive or other adult sites? Think of all the stupid things each of us did as teens that thankfully faded into the past. Now in a highly sexualized environment, young teens are giving up their personal privacy to create online videos that will live on indefinitely to be used by anyone, for any purpose.

    As far as protection goes, it seems that families are on their own.

    I agree wholeheartedly with everything she says concerning Stickam. My wife and I never allowed our kids to have webcams and I always looked funny at the parents that did. And now with Stickam’s alleged ties to porn if they were still underage would be even more reason for them not to have one.

    And like I’m fond of saying, where are the attorneys general now regarding Stickam? It’s always better to stop a problem before it happens.