TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Author: Trench Reynolds

  • Police search Michelle Dohm’s house

    Police search Michelle Dohm’s house

    Police search accused Thurmont teacher’s home:

    It’s been a while since we talked about the case of Michelle Dohm. She is the teacher from Maryland who is accused of stalking and threatening students. On Friday, local police searched her house…

    Members of the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office on Friday afternoon searched the home of Michelle Dohm, a Thurmont school teacher accused of stalking students and making bomb threats in fall 2005.

    Police were looking for handwriting samples, according to Cpl. Jennifer Bailey. Officers with a search and seizure warrant began searching Ms. Dohm’s home, at 2 Furnace Court, about noon, said Frederick County State’s Attorney Scott Rolle.

    “We felt we needed the (handwriting samples) for comparative purposes,” Mr. Rolle said.

    Although Mr. Rolle could not comment on what was taken, he said all the information police obtained would be shared with Ms. Dohm’s defense lawyer.

    It seems that there have been further shenanigans in this case…

    At the same time as police were searching Ms. Dohm’s house, the Thurmont Police Department investigated a suspicious envelope mailed to a residence at Emmitsburg Road, about two miles away.

    Thurmont Police Chief Greg Eyler said he could not reveal what the letter inside the envelope said. However, the letter did have certain similarities to the letters Ms. Dohm allegedly left for students last fall.

    One of the letters Ms. Dohm allegedly wrote stated, “Tick tock, tick tock. Is it as bomb or is it a clock. You ignored the note on the van. Now I will carry out my plan.”

    “The occupant received an envelope that seemed suspicious,” Chief Eyler said. “It was heavy on the hand.”

    Thurmont Officer First Class Christopher McLoughlin responded to Emmitsburg Road and called in the bomb squad, Chief Eyler said. A deputy from the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office also responded.

    The envelope, postmarked April 20 and sent from Thurmont, was taken apart, and nothing was found, Chief Eyler said.

    “Everything is OK,” he said.

    The letter is being compared to the letters Ms. Dohm allegedly sent and being sent to a laboratory for further review, Chief Eyler said.

    This is the strangest case I’ve ever covered. It’s like watching a bad made for TV movie.

  • Red Lake under lockdown

    Red Lake under lockdown

    FBI assisting Red Lake police in investigation:

    The schools in Red Lake have been under lockdown since Tuesday while the FBI and Red Lake police investigate threats made against the schools…

    Paul McCabe, spokesman for the FBI, said today that the agents are assisting Red Lake police but said he could not comment on the situation. McCabe referred a Herald reporter to the Red Lake police.

    Interim Police Chief Pat Graves said, through a spokeswoman, that he would not comment to the news media about the situation.

    Tribal Chairman Floyd “Buck” Jourdain Jr., is out of town and unavailable for comment, said a tribal spokeswoman.

    A school employee said the schools, including a separate building for kindergarten and Head Start about a mile from the high school and middle school, have been in “lockdown” since Tuesday because of the reported threats.

    Superintendent Stuart Desjarlaits said school was in session today but refused to comment on the reported threats.

    Employees of the school said that reported threats from several students involving violence at the school lead to the lockdown being imposed. The lockdown means students are not allowed to leave the school building during the day, including no recess outdoors for elementary students, an employee said.

    More on this if any more information becomes available.

  • The Answer?

    The answer to bullies:

    I almost passed this article by because I thought it was going to be just another “feel good” article about bullying with no real solutions. I was wrong…

    In this post-Columbine, zero-tolerance world, Izzy Kalman is something of a revolutionary. He agrees that bullying is a big problem. But he contends that getting rid of bullies is not the solution (and, in fact, is not even possible). What we have to do, he says, is get rid of victims.

    “People have a knee-jerk reaction when they hear that,” said Kalman over lunch last month, while he was in West Palm Beach leading a seminar for school counselors and other mental health professionals. “They say I’m blaming the victims. I’m not blaming the victims, but I am saying that they are the ones who have the problem. Bullies don’t have the problem. They aren’t the ones committing suicide and shooting up schools. Those are the victims, and those are the ones whose behavior we need to change.”

    Kalman, who spent 26 years as a school psychologist and private psychotherapist, wants to make something clear. He is not saying bullying is good. He’s saying it’s inevitable, a natural byproduct of human nature. He’s also saying that, to the extent it helps teach kids resilience and self-sufficiency, it’s useful. And he’s saying that, unless it causes physical harm, it’s also legal, protected under the Constitution.

    “Our Constitution guarantees the right to free speech,” he says. “And that means the right to tell someone they are a big, fat idiot if we want to. Kids today are growing up with the idea that nobody can ever say anything mean to them. We are raising a generation of emotional marshmallows. We’re promoting learned helplessness. And I am really concerned that when these kids grow up, they are going to be unable to handle adversity of any kind, because we learn to handle adversity from dealing with the fairly simple difficulties of childhood.”

    Like being called a big, fat idiot by the class bully.

    Read the rest of the article. It’s definitely worth it.

  • Correction of facts in Marshfield

    Correction of facts in Marshfield

    Teens tied up in court:

    This another article about how the trial of Tobin Kerns has been delayed yet again due to the immunity situation of the two witnesses, Daniel Farley and Joseph Sullivan. Nothing new that we haven’t talked about already, but I want to point out some things in the article…

    Kerns, 18, and another student, Joseph Nee, 20, were charged with promotion of anarchy, conspiracy to commit murder and threatened use of a deadly weapon in fall, 2004, after Marshfield Police found materials at Kerns’ home outlining a planned attack on Marshfield High School with a list targeting groups of students, teachers and administrators.

    Acting on a tip by Nee and other students, police found a binder and evidence that Kerns’ computer had been used to look at Web sites like the Anarchist’s Cookbook, which explains how to make explosives leading to Kerns’ arrest in September.

    According to a source that’s very close to the proceedings, there was no list found at the Kerns’ house. The source says that the only list of names was the one Joe Nee gave verbally to police while trying to implicate Tobin.

    And lastly, according to the source, witnesses have stated that Nee, Farley, and Sullivan were still talking about their plan after Tobin Kerns had broken ties with them and was in Oregon. And let’s not forget that Joe Nee had stayed at the Kerns’ residence, and the evidence seized could have belonged to Joe Nee himself.

    But as usual, let’s not let facts get in the way of journalism.

  • Underwood gag order issued

    Underwood gag order issued

    Gag Order Issued in Murder Case:

    A gag order has been issued in the ongoing case of Kevin Ray Underwood, who murdered 10-year-old Jamie Rose Bolin…

    A McClain County District Judge has ordered a gag order be put in place in the case against Kevin Ray Underwood.

    Underwood is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Jamie Rose Bolin.

    Special Judge Gary Barger met with attorney’s from both the defense and prosecution Monday and ordered them to refrain from making any statements regarding the case.

    In his order, the judge stated that both parties be prohibited from discussing evidence, potential evidence, anticipated evidence, opinions on evidence already obtained or evidence obtained in the future.

    The judge will allow all involved to discuss general information regarding procedure, hearing dates, and anticipated trial dates.

    The preliminary hearing for Underwood has not been set. Attorneys from both sides will meet on May 3, 2006, for a preliminary hearing conference, that’s when a preliminary hearing date will be set.

  • Underwood pleads not guilty

    Underwood pleads not guilty

    1st Degree Murder: Kevin Ray Underwood in Jamie Rose Bolin Case:

    Everyone’s “favorite” scumbag du jour, Kevin Ray Underwood appeared in court…

    Kevin Ray Underwood, 26, was led into McClain County Court with his hands and feet shackled and spoke softly as he told the judge he needed a public defender. Underwood has been formally charged in the case of the murder of Jamie Rose Bolin.

    Authorities believe Underwood killed Jamie Rose Bolin last week when she disappeared after going to a library. Her funeral was scheduled for Thursday.

    The body of Jamie Rose Bolin was found in a storage bin in the bedroom closet of Kevin Underwood, 26 – in Purcell about 40 miles (64 km) south of Oklahoma City – said Tim Kuykendall, district attorney for McClain County.

    During the arraignment, a man in the hall outside the courtroom yelled, “Let’s string him up. Let’s string him up, baby killer, and hang him.” Police led the man away.

    The man, identified as Bruce Shwartz, 48, was arrested on complaints of obstructing an officer and obstructing the peace.

    Prosecutors filed first-degree murder charges Monday in court. McClain County Judge Gary D. Barger entered a not guilty plea for Underwood and appointed an attorney for him, whose court-appointed attorneys requested a gag order. He has no criminal record nor any history of mental illness.

    Court-appointed attorneys for Underwood complained that officials had made “inflammatory, prejudicial and conclusory statements” to the media that had helped fuel widespread interest in the case, reports the AP. A hearing on the gag order was to be held Tuesday.

    A not guilty plea? I can’t wait to see the defense on this one. Maybe they’ll try to blame it on Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal. That’s not meant as a joke or disrespect towards Jamie Rose Bolin. It means that I can’t imagine a legitimate defense for Underwood. But since he did plead not guilty, hopefully a jury will convict him and give him the death sentence.

  • The shy quiet type

    The shy quiet type

    If you want excellent coverage on the murder of Jamie Rose Bolin by Kevin Ray Underwood, please go to Look Who’s Tattling Now or Huff’s Crime Blog. If you want crappy coverage with a lot of loudmouthed opinions, keep it here.

    Suspect blogged about cannibalism:

    The article mainly deals with the fact that Underwood had blogged before about cannibalism, which is covered in detail in the previous two blogs I mentioned. However, I want to talk about the reaction from Underwood’s family and the people who knew him.

    I mean it’s the old “joke”, if you will, of when they catch a serial killer or some other usually white violent killer it’s always the same thing. “He was the shy, quiet type”. Kevin Ray Underwood was no exception.

    From his mother…

    Underwood’s family was shocked.

    “This is something that I don’t know where it came from,” Underwood’s mother, Connie, said through tears in a brief telephone interview Sunday with The Associated Press. “He was always a wonderful boy.

    “I would like to be able to tell her family how sorry we are. I just feel so terrible.”

    From his former employer…

    Underwood worked for nearly seven years at a Carl’s Jr. restaurant, where shift leader Bill Verdan described him as a quiet person who kept to himself. “He did a good job,” Verdan said Sunday.

    However, he said Underwood, who quit about a year ago, was a “boring” man who rarely smiled.

    “Just his tone of voice, he just sounded dull,” Verdan said. “Trying to get a smile out of him took an act of Congress.”

    Verdan said he and his wife and young daughters never suspected anything unusual.

    “He gave my wife rides home from work numerous times,” Verdan said. “We never felt uncomfortable. I talked to my girls after this happened, and they said they felt comfortable around him.”

    For those of us that live east of the Mississippi, Carl Jr’s is the same as Hardee’s.

    From his current employer…

    His most recent job was as a stocker at a Griders Discount Foods grocery store in Oklahoma City, where he arrived early for his shift Friday, said a manager at the store, Jerry Castro.

    “He was the same as always,” Castro said. “He was quiet and kept to himself. He didn’t interact with people. It just didn’t dawn on you that this was something he’d do.”

    I really don’t have much of a point, except maybe that these statements just go to show how cold and unemotional Underwood was. Because only someone who is dead inside like Underwood could commit such a heinous and brutal crime on such an undeserving victim.

    I said it before, and I’ll say it again. My message to Kevin Underwood is still, rot in hell.

  • Clarification in immunity situation

    Clarification in immunity situation

    Ok, I’ll admit it. I totally screwed the pooch in my last entry about the trial of Tobin Kerns. I was under the assumption that Daniel Farley and Joseph Sullivan were given immunity in both the trials of Tobin Kerns and Joe Nee. That is not the case. An astute commenter pointed me in the direction of this article, which states the following…

    Juvenile Judge Says ‘No’ to Immunity

    They’ve been granted immunity in one trial, but a juvenile court judge did not grant Joseph Sullivan and Daniel Farley immunity in the trial of Toby Kerns of Marshfield. Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz says his office will appeal that decision to the Supreme Judicial Court. Kerns is one of two facing separate trials for allegedly planning to attack Marshfield High School. Kerns is being tried in juvenile court. Sullivan and Farley have been granted immunity in Joseph Nee’s trial, the alleged co-conspirator in the Columbine style plot, Nee is being tried in Superior Court.

    So Farley and Sullivan were granted immunity in the trial of Joe Nee but not the trial Of Tobin Kerns because immunity can’t be given in a juvenile court. The DA is appealing that, which is causing the trial of Tobin Kerns to be delayed once again.

    In my opinion, this is a desperation act on the part of the DA because his case is falling apart before his eyes.

  • Underwood meant to eat his victim

    Underwood meant to eat his victim

    Man planned to eat murder victim: police:

    This is unbelievable. It sounds like it’s straight out of some bad horror movie, yet here we are. This is a follow-up to the story about scumbag Kevin Underwood, who murdered 10-year-old Jamie Rose Bolin…

    Apr 16, 2006 OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) – A man in the Oklahoma town of Purcell has been arrested on suspicion of murdering the 10-year-old daughter of his neighbor and planning to eat her body, police said on Saturday.

    Kevin Underwood, 26, was arrested on Friday in the murder of Jamie Rose Bolin, who was reported missing after she failed to return home on Wednesday from a public library in Purcell, 36 miles south of Oklahoma City.

    “Regarding a potential motive, this appears to have been part of a plan to kidnap a person, rape them, torture them, kill them, cut off their head, drain the body of blood, rape the corpse, eat the corpse, then dispose of the organs and bones,” Purcell Police Chief David Tompkins told a news conference.

    It doesn’t even seem real. And to make matters even worse, not only did Underwood blog after he killed her, but he also joined in the search for her…

    Underwood was among many Purcell residents who participated in a search for Bolin, but police said he acted strangely when pulled over at a Highway Patrol checkpoint.

    I have no words to describe the amount of disgust and disdain I have for this piece of human filth. My only hope is that your days leading up to your inevitable execution are filled with as much pain, torture, and misery you inflicted on Jamie Rose Bolin.

    Rot in hell.

  • Question about Pamela Rogers

    Question about Pamela Rogers

    Pamela Rogers

    I have a question. Why is it that Pamela Rogers is not being viewed as a predator like any other teacher that would have sex with a 13-year-old student?

    If it was a male teacher and a female student, we’d all be crying out for his blood. But since she’s an attractive female and the student is male, it’s considered “no big deal” and brings cries of “I wish I had teachers like that when I was 13”.

    Pamela Rogers is a predator, plain and simple. No different from any of the other scumbags that have been profiled here.