TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Author: Trench Reynolds

  • Another guilty plea in ‘Mortal Kombat’ death

    Teen in Johnstown ”Mortal Kombat’ child death pleads guilty:

    19-year-old Lamar Roberts has pleaded guilty to child abuse and recklessly causing the death of 7-year-old Zoe Garcia.

    This is the so-called ‘Mortal Kombat’ killings because Roberts and his girlfriend and Zoe’s sister Heather Trujillo, beat Zoe to death while allegedly mimic moves from Mortal Kombat.

    Roberts is looking at 16-48 years behind bars. Trujillo had previously pleaded guilty.

    Again this had nothing to do with video games. If it wasn’t Mortal Kombat it would have been pro wrestling or some movie that they would have blamed it on. They were just two violent kids, nothing more.

  • Nebraska safe haven fallout

    A Not-So-Safe Haven:

    I wonder how long it took them to come up with that headline.

    Anyway, this is an article from Newsweek about what’s happened in Nebraska since they changed their safe haven law to only include children up to 30 days old.

    I’d like you to read the article and offer your opinion. Are some of these mothers too quick to in depending on the government to help them out or do they have legitimate concerns?

    Thanks to Stormey for the tip.

  • Buckmaster: No amount of criminal activity is acceptable

    Craigslist gets strict on erotic listings:

    This is another article about the alleged craigslist crackdown on prostitution.

    One of the problems with craigslist that it shows that the people who are flagging the ads in the erotic services section are competing ‘escorts’. How’s that user policing working out?

    The other thing is yet another quote from craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster and his alleged disdain for criminal activity…

    Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster said preventing site misuse and improving public safety is the company’s highest priority.

    “The incidence of crime on Craigslist is actually exceedingly low, considering the tens of millions of legitimate ads posted each month by well-intentioned users,” Buckmaster said. “But no amount of criminal activity is acceptable, and as Craigslist has grown, we have become aware of instances where our free services were being misused to facilitate illegal activities.”

    You’ve become aware? That sounds like you’ve just found out about it. I know someone who has been following the criminal activity on your site for almost 3 years. And if the crime on craigslist is so unacceptable why haven’t you taken any real measures to curb it?

    Just more lip service.

  • Reader sends in PayPal scam

    I received the following e-mail from reader Caleb about the amount and frequency of scams he encountered on craigslist.

    I have a Laptop that I am selling on craigslist, And I read this site everyday, so needless to say, i’m not new to scams. I received 3 scams in a matter of hours, and they just made me laugh. I actually got two identical scams from 2 different people. But thanks to your site, as soon as I read that I needed to send money overseas, I knew it was a scam. Thank You…

    This One was sent from Nick and Nate about 30 minutes apart.

    Thanks for your response. I will not be able to pay cash right now, as I am not here in town at this moment. I would like to get your item as a gift for someone and would appreciate it you will allow me to pay for it thru Paypal. I will add $100 to cover your costs of shipping it. If you send me your paypal email address, I will make the payment.If you don’t have paypal just log on to www.paypal.com and set up one. Is free and secure,IT GUARANTEES TRANSACTION SAFETY.

    Please get back to me ASAP so I can know for sure if I will be getting your item.

    And finally this one, they wanted me to send the product to Michigan, without looking, negotiating or even talking about the product. They were willing to give me extra money for my trouble = SCAM.

    Hello am still interested in the item i will want you to get to me with your paypal so i could make your payment and i want you to ship it to Michigan for my distance friend for a xmas gift and i will pay you $70 for the shipping i guess that is ok…Hope to read from you soon

    Hello am still interested? Apparently Cookie Monster has become a Nigerian scammer.

    You’d think that since the scammer was using PayPal that it wasn’t a scam, however this article from the Inquirer shows that scammers could end up with both their money and the item.

    Thanks, Caleb for bringing this to my attention.

  • Attorney for Dillard shooter claims mental illness

    Attorney: Mental health issues may have played role in case of teen charged in school shooting:

    The defense attorney for Teah Wimberly notified the court today that he may be pursuing a mental health defense in his client’s trial for the shooting death of classmate Amanda Collette.

    Attorney Larry S. Davis said that a psych eval indicated mental illness.

    She is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday and could face life in prison if convicted for 2nd-degree murder.

  • Pro-Ana rears it’s ugly head

    ‘You can’t save people from themselves’:

    This about just one of the many scourges on the internet that I talk about but this one has nothing to do with crime per se. This has to do with websites that proclaim that eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia are not diseases but ‘lifestyle choices’.

    That’s right. You heard me correctly. There are people out there who actually believe that disorders like anorexia are not only good but are a viable alternative to…you know…eating.

    The article sort of poses the question should pro-ana and pro-mia sites be censored? Now if you mean censored in the way that they should be outlawed by the government then no. If you mean censored in the way that webhosts like Livejournal, MySpace, and Xanga should shut them down for violating their TOS then yes.

    But places like MySpace, LiveJournal, and Xanga do not want to shut these groups down. They claim that it’s free speech but we all really know what it’s about. They don’t want to alienate a part of their userbase that clicks on their advertisements which in turn makes them money. Never mind if a few people end up killing themselves over what they call a lifestyle choice, there’s money to be made from those skeletons.

    Webhosts like MySpace and the like need to be more personally responsible instead of financially responsible. If these groups were to be shut down would it really hurt the bottom line?

    If there was a pro-suicide group would the webhosts allow those? Because claiming that eating disorders are a choice is basically the same thing.

  • Zarate guilty

    Zarate found guilty of murder; jury rejects ‘psychotic state’ defense:

    It’s a word that the parents of Jennifer Parks have been waiting over three years to hear. Guilty.

    After three years and many delays, a jury has finally found Jonathan Zarate guilty in the murder of Jennifer Parks. The jury only took two hours to reach their verdict.

    In July of 2005 a then 18-year-old Zarate of Randolph, NJ invited his 16-year-old neighbor, Jennifer Parks, to come over and watch TV. At some point, she said something about Zarate’s brother James. Jennifer had previously had the younger Zarate brother removed from school because he was bullying her. whatever she said sent Jonathan Zarate into a rage. He beat her with a metal pole until she choked on her own vomit then stabbed her repeatedly. To hide what he did he dismembered her body and hid it in a footlocker. He then hid the footlocker in his family’s Jeep for 24 hours while he attended a birthday party for a relative.

    The next day Zarate, his brother, and a friend were caught by police trying to dump the footlocker that contained Jennifer’s body into the Passaic River.

    Zarate was far from what you would call a model prisoner. He had to be transferred out of the Morris County prison for assaulting a guard. While in his new prison he inquired to other inmates on how to fake an insanity defense.

    During the trial, Zarate’s attorney tried arguing that Zarate was in a ‘psychotic state’ when he killed Jennifer Parks. A psychologist even testified to that. Luckily today the jury had no part of that and did the right thing by sending a brutal killer to prison.

    Zarate’s brother will be tried separately for his part in the murder.

    This was one of the first stories I started following when I first opened the News of Doom site. NoD opened officially on July 31st, 2005, the day after Jennifer was killed. I have been in contact with Jennifer Parks family and I have exchanged e-mails with Laurie Parks. Even though I can’t even imagine how Mrs. Parks’ emotions have been since her daughter’s murder I actually felt butterflies in my stomach when I read the headline that Zarate had been convicted.

    My prayers and thoughts constantly go out to the Parks family.

    Speaking of which I wanted to post this comment Jennifer’s father, David Parks, gave to The Daily Record about Zarate’s alleged psychotic state of mind…

    “I don’t care what his state of mind was, it will never bring my daughter back,” father David Parks said. “Conversations at the grave suck. It’s one-sided.”

    I’m glad that was remembered by the jury that Jennifer Parks was the real victim in all of this.

    No word on sentencing yet. Anything less than life without parole would be a travesty.

    Thanks to Helen and Keb for the tip.

  • Amanda Peet speaks out for vaccination with backup

    Defending Vaccines: Actress Dispels Link To Autism:

    My newfound respect for Amanda Peet keeps increasing.

    Instead of spreading fear and junk science about vaccinations like Jenny McCarthy, Amanda Peet us speaking out in favor of vaccinating children and actually has a prominent doctor backing her up.

    After her baby was born in early 2007, she decided to speak out publicly. Since then, she’s been advocating vaccination through interviews, talk show appearances, and public service announcements.

    But Peet says parents shouldn’t look to her as a scientific expert. She defers scientific questions to Offit, who directs the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital.

    And who does Jenny McCarthy have backing up her ridiculous claims?

    *crickets*

    That’s what I thought.

  • More on Sean Brown’s parole

    Those who want to fax their letters to the Texas Parole Board to keep Sean Huston Brown in jail can fax them at…

    512-406-5482
    Attention: Susan
    Re: Sean Brown TDCJ# 1491487

    Don’t forget the case number as that is critical.

    You can also e-mail the Parole Board at victim.svc@tdcj.state.tx.us

    Remember to keep it professional. It won’t help anybody to have a lot of ranting and raving and cursing.

    For those of you who just joined us Sean Brown was an accomplice in the murder of Ashton Glover. Matt McCombs shot her in the head out of ‘morbid curiosity’. Brown helped McCombs dispose of Ashton’s body and trying to cover up the crime. Both of them tried to flee the country.

    If Sean Brown is granted parole he could be out in January which isn’t nearly enough. Brown was sentenced to 10 years last year but if he were to get out in January that would be less than one year in prison for Ashton’s death.

    Thanks to Chon for the information.

  • Giovanni Gonzlaez news

    Cops searched Gonzalez’ home after confession:

    Just a quick update on the story of Giovanni Gonzalez.

    His father, Ernesto Gonzalez, has pleaded not guilty to the latest charges against him of charges of parental kidnapping and willfully misleading police in the disappearance of his son.

    And while police are remaining tight-lipped about the November 28th search after Gonzalez ‘confessed’ to the Boston Globe a neighbor of Gonzalez’s said that police searched Gonzalez’s house again. The neighbor said that they heard police sawing in the bathroom.