TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Category: Crime

  • Robert Bonelli sentenced

    Robert Bonelli sentenced

    BONELLI GETS 32 YEARS IN PRISON FOR MALL SHOOTING:

    Robert Bonelli, the 26-year-old Columbine obsessed Upstate New York mall gunman, was sentenced yesterday…

    KINGSTON – Hudson Valley Mall gunman Robert Bonelli Jr. was sentenced on Friday to 32 years in state prison, the maximum allowed under the guilty plea he entered in March.

    State Sup-reme Court Justice Mich-ael Kavanagh handed down the sentence after Bonelli’s father tearfully pleaded for mercy and after a security camera video showing the shooting spree’s first moments was shown in court.

    The judge said Bonelli was “truly a disturbed, troubled man” but that the defendant clearly knew what he was doing when he opened fire in the mall on Feb. 13, 2005.

    “You had to know that you … placed lives in grave danger,” Kavanagh told the 26-year-old defendant, who was clad in orange jail garb. “You simply did not care what the consequences were when you fired that weapon.

    “What happened here was horrendous,” the judge said.

    BONELLI apologized during Friday’s court proceeding, which the two victims, Thomas Haire of Pine Plains and Stephen Silk of Kingston, attended.

    “I’m sorry that all this happened. This is not the kind of person that I am,” Bonelli said.

    Bonelli asked to address Haire directly, but Kavanagh said no.

    HAIRE, a 20-year-old National Guardsman who was manning a recruiting table at the mall on the day of the shooting spree, read from a prepared statement in court.

    “I wish there were mall security to protect us from Mr. Bonelli and to inform us of his whereabouts and what to do,” said Haire, who suffered a serious leg injury in the shooting. “I just don’t think he should have gotten as far as he did. But he did.”

    BONELLI’S attorney, Ulster County Public Defender Andrew Kossover, described his client as a man wracked with low self-esteem and deep depression and twisted by years of alcohol and drug abuse.

    All of those things taken together created a “perfect storm,” Kossover said.

    Bonelli, who lived in Glasco at the time of the shooting, said in court that he felt everyone was against him and that his life was doomed in the time leading up to the shooting spree. He also said he “should have got help” long ago for his substance abuse problem.

    “I just hope that this court forgives me for what I have done,” Bonelli said.

    “This man’s judgment was not impaired,” Williams said.

    To make his point, Williams read aloud a journal entry that Bonelli made in 2004: “The wolf within is crawling out of my skin. … The only one who can stop me is me. … I will kill as many as fate allows. … Hate is a terrible thing to waste.”

    Williams also quoted from a note found in Bonelli’s vehicle after the shooting: “The lonely man strikes with absolute rage.”

    Bonelli’s defenders, including psychiatrist Dr. Steven Price, noted that some of Bonelli’s writings merely were taken from song lyrics.

    BONELLI has said he tried to commit suicide in the hours before the mall shooting but couldn’t bring himself to do it. So he decided to open fire at the mall, he said, figuring he’d be killed by police – a practice commonly referred to a “suicide by cop.”

    Williams said that didn’t make sense because there typically are no armed police officers in a shopping mall.

    The prosecutor also noted that materials found in Bonelli’s home after the shooting indicated he had a “perverse” interest in the 1999 shooting rampage at Columbine High School in Colorado.

    Paul Fowler, a family friend, said the sentence was unjust.

    “This was a case where the court system failed,” Fowler said. “What it failed to do is to look at other aspects of this case.”

    Silk, who suffered superficial wounds in the shooting spree, said the sentence was correct.

    “He got the maximum, and that is just what he deserved,” Silk said.

    THE 32-YEAR sentence comprises concurrent 25-year terms for two counts of first-degree assault and two counts of criminal use of a firearm, and a seven-year term for one-count of second-degree assault.

    Bonelli also was sentenced for several less-serious counts. Those sentences will be included in the 32-year term. Bonelli will be eligible for parole in 26 years.

    Unjust? No. An unjust sentence would have been if no consequences came to a man who shot two people in a mall shooting spree.

  • Jennifer Parks remembered II

    Jennifer Parks remembered II

    Slain Randolph teen leaves legacy:

    Jennifer Parks, the 16-year-old New Jersey girl who was brutally murdered and dismembered by Jonathan Zarate, will be remembered by her high school…

    RANDOLPH — It’s closing in on one year since Laurie Parks’16-year-old daughter, Jennifer, was senselessly murdered.

    Parks, who attended Randolph High School, will be honored on May 13 by her classmates during the Pennies for Jen Memorial Walk, an idea generated by the student council that will raise money for a scholarship and memorial park at the school.

    “I thought it was a great idea,” Laurie Parks said on Thursday.

    “(I’m) really proud of what they’re doing. They’ve done so much for me and my husband.”

    Parks said the scholarship fund already has $900, and that she and her husband, David, will award the scholarship to a student who wants to study editing or journalism in college.

    “That’s what my daughter loved to do,” Parks said. “She wanted to be an editor or in journalism when she graduated.”

    The walk will begin at 9 a.m. at the Randolph High School parking lot and will wind through a nearby trail system that connects the township.

    The event is sponsor- and donation-driven, said Kimberly Standridge, 17, a junior who also is treasurer of the student council’s executive board.

    Proceeds will go toward the scholarship, as well as a memorial garden.

    Standridge said Jennifer Parks’ mother didn’t want the garden to be only about her daughter.

    “She didn’t want the memorial garden just to be for Jen, so it’s going to be dedicated to Jen and other high school students who lost their lives during their high school careers,” Standridge said.

    The walk is open to anyone and donations will be accepted on the day of the event. Standridge hopes the event is held every year.

    I’m working on getting an address to send donations to.

  • Supporters react to Esmie Tseng’s sentence

    Supporters react to Esmie Tseng’s sentence

    Friends stand by Tseng, call sentence poor:

    Some supporters of Esmie Tseng react to her sentencing…

    “Nobody’s really better served by this (sentence),” Horwitz said. “When the judge talks about rehabilitation in the prison system … She needs help (after) years and years of challenges and what many argue to be abuse in the home situation.”

    Another Tseng family friend, Grant Mallett, said his daughter used to play with Esmie. He said Esmie would not be forgotten.

    “We’re committed to stay in touch and help her out as best we can,” Mallett said. “I saw her last week. Her spirits seemed to be quite good, and I was pleased and impressed with how she seems to be doing personally.”

    Horwitz said real friends would not abandon Esmie.

    “Everybody wants to visit her and write her. She has a lot of true friends,” he said. “She’s been in the community since kindergarten and the people who have known her her whole life know that this is a really good kid and a terrible set of circumstances.”

    I am neither a supporter nor detractor of Esmie Tseng, but I can sympathize with Esmie. I really do. I also grew up in a house of abuse, so I know to some extent what she went through.

    However, it doesn’t change the fact that she stabbed her mother with a kitchen knife and when her mother got the knife away from her, Esmie picked up another knife and stabbed her again. I have to agree with what the assistant D.A. said…

    Assistant District Attorney Richard Guinn said the sentence, considering all factors, represented a “fair and just outcome.”

    “We feel for the family, we feel for the dad, we feel for (Esmie) in terms of her situation at home,” Guinn said. “But we are also taking a very strong position here.”

    Guinn said stabbing someone multiple times should draw prison time as opposed to the shorter sentence, perhaps three years, available through the juvenile justice system. With good behavior and considering time already served, Esmie faces about seven years in an adult prison, he said.

    In prison, Esmie could advance herself academically through college classes, Guinn said.

    “It’s up to her what she chooses to make of this time,” he said. “My impression in talking with her attorney is that she has put this chapter of her life behind and is now doing everything she can to make a worthwhile life for herself.”

    I know I said I would never do one again, but I may have a special podcast on this sometime this weekend.

  • Esmie Tseng sentenced

    Esmie Tseng sentenced

    Esmie Tseng sentenced to prison:

    The Overland Park teen-ager who pleaded guilty to killing her mother was sentenced today to eight years and four months in prison.

    Esmie Tseng, 17, declined to say anything during the brief hearing in Johnson County District Court. She had pleaded guilty in March to voluntary manslaughter.

    The sentence imposed by Judge Brenda Cameron was recommended by both sides last month as part of a plea agreement.

    Esmie’s mother, 55-year-old Shu Yi Zhang, died after being stabbed to death on Aug. 19.

  • Esmie Tseng not eligible for juvenile detention

    Esmie Tseng not eligible for juvenile detention

    Esmie ineligible for youth prison:

    Supporters of Esmie Tseng, the Kansas girl who pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the stabbing death of her mother, had their hopes raised and summarily dashed last week…

    Supporters of Tseng who lost their fight to have her tried as a juvenile were still lobbying last week for the judge to show mercy.

    They were encouraged briefly when they learned the Kansas Department of Corrections was researching whether state law would allow Tseng to be placed in the state’s juvenile facility for females, in Beloit in north central Kansas. Then they were disappointed to find out Friday that she was not eligible to go there.

    Esmie Tseng agreed to a plea of voluntary manslaughter, an adult charge, and a recommended sentence of 8 years and 4 months. The judge is not bound to follow the agreement.

    Sentencing will take place later this month.

  • 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.