TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Category: Crime

  • James Lewerke pleads guilty

    Lewerke pleads guilty in slashings:

    James Lewerke, the Indiana teen who was arrested for a 2004 slashing attack against his classmates, has pleaded guilty but insane to his charges. Under the plea, he could face a maximum of 10 years. Lewerke was to be tried as an adult when his trial was supposed to start next week. The sentence will be determined on February 23rd. Hopefully, the judge will take leniency on Lewerke because, in my opinion, he is one of the few cases where the suspect is legitimately mentally ill.

  • Christopher Penley’s father files lawsuit

    Slain boy’s father says he plans to sue Seminole sheriff’s office:

    For those of you who may have forgotten, Christopher Penley was the Florida teen who was shot and killed by police for brandishing a pellet gun in a threatening matter at Milwee Middle School. At the time of the shooting police were not aware that it was a pellet gun as it was altered to look authentic. An investigation by the state ruled that the shooting was lawful.

    Now Christopher Penley’s father, Ralph Penley, has filed a lawsuit in hopes the SWAT officer Lt. Michael Weippert will be fired. Weippert was the officer who shot and killed Penley.

    “The guy that murdered my son is still on the sheriff’s department squad,” Penley said, choking back tears in a telephone interview.

    “We’re gonna pursue this now because I’ve waited a long, long time,” he said.

    The civil lawsuit alleges that Weippert, the SWAT team member who shot Christopher Penley, violated the boy’s civil and constitutional rights and acted with premeditation, Keith Parker, a private investigator for the family said last week.

    “(Weippert) was not reacting to the assailant. He had already plotted out that he was going to shoot him,” Parker said. “They had that bathroom surrounded. They had enough fire power to start a war. That kid wasn’t going anywhere.”

    The family is also suing for one count of negligent retention, claiming Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger should have known that Weippert allegedly has a mental condition from past shootings and should not have been allowed to remain on the SWAT team, Parker said.

    I know that grief can cloud your judgment so I’m not trying to condemn Mr. Penley but this lawsuit is clearly in the wrong. None of this would even be an issue if Christopher Penley had not brought the pellet gun to school, taken another student hostage, barricaded himself in the bathroom, then threatened police with the weapon. The only person responsible for Christopher Penley’s death is Christopher Penley.

  • James Lewerke gets trial date

    Trial Underway for Teenager Who Attacked Classmates:

    A trial date has been set for James Lewerke. He’s the Valparaiso, Indiana teen who attacked his classmates with a machete. His trial is scheduled to start January 8th.

  • Casas pleads no contest

    Teen pleads no contest in school bomb plot:

    Johnny Alvarez Casas, one of the students arrested in the plot to attack Quartz Hill High School in California. has pleaded no contest to the charges. He’ll be sentenced to 5 years in prison.

  • Teenybopper Killa wanted to kill his mom

    “Killa” had mother on his hit list:

    Just doing some vacation clean up so the next few entries are going to be brief.

    To start it seems that the self-proclaimed Teenybopper Killa, Darren Thompson, wanted to kill his own mother too.

    When police searched Thompson’s home, Stone said, they found a diary in which he penned a to-kill wish list in that included “teenyboppers”, his mother Janet, with whom he lives, and his brother, who spends most of his time at U-Mass Amherst, where he attends college.

  • Malicious intent

    In our view: Memorial shooting:

    Over the years on this site, there has been a lot of debate about trying juveniles as adults for school shootings and the like. The latest debate rages over Memorial Middle School shooter Thomas White. To refresh your memory White brought his father’s MAC-90 assault rifle to school firing one round into the ceiling before the gun jammed preventing any bloodshed. A lot has been argued about his intent. I think this article should clear up his intent yet I’m sure the debate will still go on. This is from an editorial in the Joplin Globe which favors trying White as an adult but it reveals one fact that I didn’t know of until now…

    We will disagree in this case, though every instance must be looked at separately. If anyone doubts the intentions of this disturbed young man, they should re-examine testimony in last week’s hearing in which a juvenile detention officer reported a conversation between White and another boy on Oct. 10, the day after the incident.

    The boy remarked to White that he should have gone ahead and shot Principal Steven Gilbreth in the head.

    “I would have shot him in the head,” White reportedly replied, “but my f—— gun wouldn’t shoot.”

  • Patrick Armstrong pleads guilty to manslaughter

    Judge Accepts Plea Deal In Armstrong Case:

    It’s been almost a year since I’ve posted anything about Patrick Armstrong. The news out of Maine hasn’t been exactly forthcoming. With this story, we get a year’s worth of news all at once.

    For those of you who may have forgotten Patrick Armstrong was 14 at the time he was arrested for the murder of 14-year-old Marlee Johnston. During the investigation, police found a website made by Armstrong where he professed his admiration for serial killers and the Columbine killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.

    Today Patrick Armstrong pleaded guilty to manslaughter. In return for his plea, he’ll serve 25 years with 9 years suspended.

    Tell me if this sounds like manslaughter to you…

    Armstrong is accused of brutally beating 14-year-old Marlee Johnston to death. In testimony Friday in Augusta, a state police detective testified Johnston was beaten repeatedly on the head with an aluminum baseball bat. The detective also said Armstrong told a fellow inmate that he “loved every minute of it.”

    Detective Adam Kelley testified Johnston went to Armstrong’s house to see if she wanted him to join her in walking her dogs. They were neighbors in the town of Fayette.

    So Marlee Johnston befriends Patrick Armstrong and in return, he bludgeoned her to death. And now he’ll be out when he’s 30, possibly sooner.

    It could be that the Johnston family may just want to put it all behind them. If that’s true I respect them for that. However, in my opinion, not enough justice was served.

  • Thomas White to be tried as an adult

    Seventh-grader to stand trial as adult in middle school incident:

    Thomas White will be tried as an adult. The 13-year-old who fired a MAC-90 assault rifle inside of Memorial Middle School in Joplin, Missouri has been certified by Jasper County Circuit Court Judge William Crawford to stand trial as an adult.

    Crawford said he based his decision on the seriousness of the offense and the apparent violent nature of the boy’s actions.

    Juvenile officer April Foulkes testified Wednesday that she recommended certification of White to stand trial as an adult because if he was tried in juvenile court, he could be released within six months to a year. She said if he was prosecuted as an adult and convicted, White could be sentenced to a dual-jurisdiction program of the state and placed at a secure-care center in Montgomery City until he turns 18.

    Now let’s hear from the “He’s old enough to fire a gun but not old enough to go to prison” crowd…

    White’s lawyer, Chuck Lonardo, argued at the hearing that the boy is too young to be certified for trial as an adult. He said while treatment of the boy is needed, such treatment could best be accomplished by adjudicating him as a juvenile.

    He also said the court could order that White be kept in custody until he turned 18.

    Lonardo called clinical psychologist Kevin Whisman to testify about a psychological evaluation of the boy that he conducted after the incident. Whisman said in the weeks leading up to the shooting, White was feeling increased pressure to improve his grades, mostly coming from his father, who the boy said had threatened to beat him with a belt if his grades did not improve.

    As we know now the father is no prize either but suck it up, kid. My dad threatened me with a belt all the time and I was bullied too. But just because your dad and other kids at school are assclowns it’s no reason to kill other people. Now you’ve basically thrown your life away and you must be held responsible for your actions.

  • Teenybopper Killa’s lawyer says charges are an overreaction

    Lawyer: Threat charges ‘overreaction’:

    Remember Darren Thompson? He’s the self-proclaimed “teenybopper killa” who made threatening remarks on a fan site for teen celebrity Jesse McCartney. Well, in true criminal defense attorney fashion his attorney is claiming that the charges against his client are an ‘overreaction’…

    Mr. Thompson appeared in court yesterday for a bail hearing with his lawyer, Anthony M. Salerno. Mr. Salerno said he appealed the bail amount and wants it reduced, because the case is an “overreaction and over-prosecution.”

    “After my initial review of the preliminary evidence, I would categorize this as a situation where it’s more about attention versus intention,” Mr. Salerno said. “He (Mr. Thompson) certainly got attention for it, but not the way he was seeking.”

    Mr. Thompson did not post threats to anyone in particular, Mr. Salerno said, and his Web postings were likely a call for attention. Mr. Thompson was not charged with threatening to commit a crime, which is a charge police can file if someone makes a verbal threat to kill or harm another person.

    “I assert that there is a strong difference and a bright line between intentions and someone looking for attention. There is absolutely no evidence that he harbored any specific intentions,” Mr. Salerno said. “I would not consider him dangerous to the point where he should be held on excessive bail.”

    Mr. Thompson has no prior record. Mr. Salerno would not allow his client to be subjected to a mental health evaluation, which was discussed at the initial hearing Friday. “I wouldn’t let them do that because at this time, no mental health defense has been raised,” Mr. Salerno said.

    Let me refresh your memory on some Mr. Thompson’s threats…

    He even gives out his Whitehall Circle address and warns that he’ll be “waiting” with his SKS assault rifle, the same type of gun police confiscated from his home.

    “This anger I have towards the types of people I hate is only gonna get more intense as I get older,” he writes. “So yeah, I think I will hurt and kill at least one disgusting preppy teenybopper before the decade is over. I can only hope. Watch, I’ll be the guy at the top of the clock tower.”

    Just because a name wasn’t used in the threat doesn’t mean that Thompson isn’t a danger to himself and others.

    And let’s not forget the illegal weapons in his possession…

    Police searching Mr. Thompson’s bedroom closet Thursday recovered an SKS 7.62 x 39 mm rifle, 22 rounds of ammunition, and a nail-studded baseball bat Mr. Thompson called the “ugly stick,” according to court records.

    Mr. Thompson works at the Beechwood Hotel, according to court records. During the police interview, Mr. Thompson said he purchased the assault rifle for $200 from a friend at work, and the ammunition for it while on a hunting trip in Vermont in late October.

    And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention his mutant tendencies…

    Police also recovered a diary from his bedroom in which he wrote of his admiration for Eric Harris, one of the two high school students involved in the Columbine High School massacre in Jefferson County, Colo., on April 20, 1999.

    When state and Shrewsbury police interviewed Mr. Thompson, he allegedly told state Trooper Matthew D. Murphy that he was picked on in elementary school and high school.

    Overreaction? Hardly. As a matter of fact, I believe the judge underreacted by setting Thompson’s bail at $25,000.

  • Like father like son

    Joplin middle-school student could stand trial as adult:

    Authorities in Joplin Missouri are seeking to have Thomas White tried as an adult. White is the 13-year-old who brought a MAC-90 assault weapon to Memorial Middle School and fired a round into the ceiling. The gun luckily jammed before any bloodshed could occur.

    In related news White’s father, Gregory has pleaded guilty today to firearm possession. Since the elder White is a convicted felon he is not permitted to own firearms. He’s looking at a maximum of 10 years and a possible $250,000 fine.