Category: Crime

  • Now it’s because he wasn’t an astronaut

    Arrested St. John’s Student Dreamed of Navy:

    Before I get to the headline police are saying that the single shot-gun carried by Omesh Hiraman on to the St. John’s campus was loaded and ready to fire.

    Now on to the headline. Hiraman’s lawyer, the amusing Anthony Colleluori, has added another part to the story of why Hiraman brought the gun to campus.

    “My client is suffering badly from health issues — both mental and physical,” Mr. Colleluori said.

    “His big dream was to join the Navy and become an astronaut, and his dream was crushed,” he added.

    Mr. Hiraman has suffered from scoliosis since childhood, the lawyer said, which forced him to drop his plan to enter the Navy. He then became depressed, left Cornell University, and was diagnosed with schizophrenia, Mr. Colleluori said. After a year off, Mr. Hiraman was trying to restart his academic career at St. John’s this fall.

    “The pain, I don’t think he was up for it,” Mr. Colleluori said, adding about his purchase of a gun last week: “My thinking on that is it was a protective action, but I can’t rule out suicide.”

    Ok, for those keeping score we’ve had schizophrenia, unmedicated schizophrenia, bad reaction to pain meds, 9/11, and now broken dreams of becoming an astronaut as possible reasons that Mr. Colleluori has given for the reason Hiraman took the gun on campus.

    As far as going for the suicide defense I’m not buying it. Granted it was a single shot-gun but then why wear a mask as well?

    I really want to give Omesh Hiraman the benefit of the doubt. I do believe he was legitimately mentally ill. But the more his lawyer speaks the more I fear for Hiraman’s well-being.

  • SJU Gunman’s lawyer says 9/11 made him do it

    Lawyer: 9/11, mental illness affected St. John’s student:

    This may just be the lowest thing a lawyer has ever tried in the 7-year-history of this website.

    The lawyer for St. John’s gunman Omesh Hiraman is claiming that 9/11 caused Hiraman’s schizophrenia which caused him to take a gun onto the St. John’s campus.

    Moments before the Sept. 11 terror attack, Omesh Hiraman and his classmates at nearby Stuyvesant High School gathered outside to take their senior class pictures, his lawyer said Thursday.

    The subsequent mayhem, with Hiraman running north for two miles until he was lost, sent him on a downward spiral from which he’s never recovered — an argument likely to be made in court now that he has been accused of carrying a loaded rifle onto the campus of St. John’s University.

    “It’s 9/11 aftermath,” said his lawyer, Anthony Colleluori, of Woodbury. “He changed after 9/11 and went downhill. It’s not Columbine. This is not Virginia Tech. This is something that goes on every day on the streets of America, someone who is mentally ill and needs help.”

    This bottom feeder is not only disrespecting the victims of 9/11 he’s also disrespecting his client. If he thinks a 9/11 defense is going to fly with a New York City jury he’s dreamin’.

    I’m actually a little sympathetic towards Hiraman. So far it sounds like he may have had legitimate mental and medical problems. His lawyer would do better if he used that as a defense instead of pulling the 9/11 card.

    Hiraman’s family seems like they care about him an awful lot. If they care that much they may want to look into getting him new representation.

  • St. John’s gunman showed no signs of violence

    Campus Suspect Showed No Warnings of Violence:

    According to the NY Times article St. John’s gunman Omesh Hiraman showed no previous signs of wanting to commit violence. However, he was rather eager to procure a firearm.

    One thing Mr. Hiraman may have signaled was his intention to acquire a gun, if not to use it. In June — several weeks before his back surgery — he walked unannounced into a lawyer’s office in Jackson Heights, introduced himself as a student doing research on gun control, and asked what procedures he must follow to obtain a gun.

    Hiraman, later on, bought the single shot .50-caliber “black powder” rifle that he was eventually arrested with without a permit. Could someone with a better knowledge of firearms than me give me the lowdown on this gun?

    His lawyer seems to be inferring that his pain meds from his back surgery may have interfered with his psych meds for schizophrenia…

    Mr. Hiraman’s mental condition was aggravated in recent weeks after he had back surgery, Mr. Colleluori said. In an adverse reaction to pain medication, he said, Mr. Hiraman vomited repeatedly, and had difficulty digesting the medication that he needs to control the symptoms of his mental illness.

    “I believe he has been undermedicated for the schizophrenia,” said Mr. Colleluori, who was joined at the news conference by Mr. Hiraman’s parents, Pat and Vejai Hiraman.

    The surgery was a month ago and he bought the gun a week ago so that’s not out of the realm of possibility. Maybe some of the blogging doctors out there can give us an opinion.

    The one thing that gets me is that he contacted the lawyer back in June. Was he off his meds then? That remains to be seen. But for right now I’m reeling back my opinion that he was crazy and should have been locked up for now.

  • Tobin Kerns found guilty

    Marshfield teen found guilty of helping to plan Columbine-style attack:

    Today Tobin Kerns was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and threatening to use deadly weapons. After the verdict, Tobin was remanded to a juvenile facility. His sentencing is scheduled for November 5th.

    A personal note to Judge Louis Coffin. You have made a tragic mistake and imprisoned an innocent kid.

    Tobin, I’m sorry.

  • Family defends gunman

    Parents, Neighbors Rush To Defense Of SJU Suspect:

    The family and neighbors of Omesh Hiraman, the alleged St. John’s gunman, are now trying to explain what led to what they say was out of character for Hiraman.

    The parents of the alleged gunman left the 107th Precinct stationhouse in earlier Wednesday evening and pleaded for understanding for their son, who they say is sick and reacting poorly to medication.

    “We believe this is a misunderstanding,” father Pat Hiraman said. “Our son has always been a good boy and has never been in any sort of trouble. He would never harm anyone.”

    According to police and witnesses, he was wearing a rubber Halloween mask at the time. His lawyer says doctors recently operated on Omesh for scoliosis. He was said to be in serious trouble with his pain medication.

    “He’s lost over 35 pounds since the surgery a month ago and he’s been throwing up the meds a lot,” attorney Anthony Collelouri said. “He’s been throwing up actually all food, so it is possible he had a reaction to the meds, absolutely. And that’s one of the things I’ll be looking into.

    “I think he is still confused right now.”

    I’ve never heard of a bad reaction to pain meds that makes someone go postal. I’m not saying it’s not possible just unlikely.

  • Odgren’s trial date set

    Trial date set in Sudbury high school slaying:

    You have got to be kidding me.

    A trial date has been set for John Odgren. Odgren is the teen accused of stabbing his classmate James Alenson to death at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School in Massachusetts. The thing is the trial date is almost a year away…

    Middlesex Superior Court Judge Isaac Borenstein yesterday set a Sept. 15, 2008, trial date for John Odgren, 16. Odgren is charged with the Jan. 19 murder of classmate James Alenson, 15, inside the high school.

    Not that I give a damn about Odgren but why so long for a trial? Whatever happened to the speedy part? I want to see this kid get put away as soon as possible.

    Odgren is also one of the kids that the Helen Lovejoy’s are rallying around not only because he was charged as an adult but he also has Asperger’s.

  • Teenybopper Killa sentenced

    Teenybopper Killa’ jailed for online threats:

    It’s been a while since we’ve heard about ‘Teenybopper Killa’ Darren Thompson. The last we heard he was being held without bond. To make a long story short he’s a 24-year-old hotel banquet chef who held a long-standing grudge with people going back to grade school. He’s a mutant who made various violent threats on the internet. When the police finally caught up with him he had a cache of weapons. Check the link above for all the details.

    Well, apparently he was found guilty because he was sentenced to up to three years in prison on Tuesday.

    The self-proclaimed “Teenybopper Killa” was sentenced yesterday to prison after admitting in Superior Court that he made online threats against people who had picked on him when he was in high school.

    Darren Thompson, 24, of Shrewsbury was sentenced by Judge Kathe Tuttman to 2.5 to 3 years in MCI-Cedar Junction after pleading guilty to a litany of weapons charges.

    On Nov. 30, 2006, police searched Thompson’s home at 12 Whitehall Circle in Shrewsbury and seized from his bedroom an SKS assault rifle, ammunition, knives, “A List of People to Kill” (which included his mother) and a homemade “ugly stick” – a baseball bat with protruding nails to be used, in his words, for “bashing people until they are ugly.”

    Thompson threatened online to “kidnap, cut up” and “blow off” the heads of what were described as preppies and teenyboppers who bullied him at Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School in Marlborough and in New Castle, Del. On the Internet Movie Database and other Web sites last fall, he also claimed he was stockpiling weapons.

    Thompson made 250 printed pages of postings on the IMDb Web site between Oct. 10 and Nov. 27, 2006.

    Assistant Attorney General Wendoly Ortiz Langlois yesterday read Thompson’s Sept. 26, 2006, posting on IMDb that stated, “I wanna take my hate off-line and bring it into the real world.”

    Langlois urged Tuttman to sentence Thompson to five years in prison, followed by 10 years probation.

    The prosecutor said she found it “disturbing that a kid so young could have such demonic views.”

    According to authorities, Thompson’s hit list was categorized by school grade, starting in the sixth grade and ending with classmates at Assabet Valley. Thompson’s mother, Janet, and brother, Liam, were also on the list, according to court documents.

    You know, there really comes a time when you have to let go. Like the day you get out of high school, not 5 years after the fact. Plus he had a hit list that people on it going back to grade school? Grow up already.

    Police also found Thompson’s diary, which included a list of people he likes and dislikes, drawings of guns and violent scenes and pages where he showed his admiration for Columbine High School student Eric Harris, who, along with Dylan Klebold, killed 13 students and a teacher at the Colorado high school in 1999.

    Thompson said little in court yesterday. When Tuttman asked him if Langlois’ description of the facts was correct, he replied, “Yes, ma’am.”

    Thompson’s probation includes not contacting those on his hit list, electronic monitoring, mental health evaluations and not owning any weapons.

    I hope these won’t be Cho Seung-Hui type mental health evaluations. You know the kind, where if the court ordered visits aren’t followed through there are no repercussions.

  • Possible violence averted at St. John’s

    Student Arrested For Carrying Gun On St. John’s Campus:

    A possible Virginia Tech or more likely a possible University of Texas was averted today at St. John’s University in New York.

    22-year-old Omesh Hiraman was apprehended by a public safety officer and a police cadet. Hiraman was in possession of a 50-caliber Wolf rifle and allegedly had a mask in possession as well.

    Local news sources are reporting that Hiraman is of Guyanese descent and has a history of mental health problems.

    There’s a shock. Another crazy person with a gun. Thank God for the police cadet…

    The cadet, Christopher Benson, 21, says he followed Hiraman to a nearby building, where he later helped police restrain him. Benson says Hiraman looked suspicious from the start.

    “I always think about what they tell always me, stay back observe, make as many observations as you can,” said Benson. “But by then he turned the corner, action needed to be taken, and I took it.”

    “We are all indebted to one very observant and very brave police cadet,” said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

    No shots were fired and no one was injured.

    More on this as details are released.

  • Ashton Glover’s parents confront her killer

    Parents of murdered Sugar Land teen face killer in court:

    The parents of Ashton Glover got to address their daughter’s killer in court. The quotes themselves are more powerful than anything I could write.

    “Your curiosity has cost me a big part of my life,” said Terry Glover, the father of Ashton Glover, 16, who was killed more than a year ago.

    “You have brought more pain to my life and my family than anything in the world,” Glover told Matthew R. McCombs, 19.

    Glover and Ashton’s mother, Sue Smith, made statements from the witness stand Tuesday as their daughter’s killer sat motionless before them.

    “After you were caught and I heard your reasoning for doing this to Ashton, I felt like I had been shot,” Smith said. “I can’t even say the words you used because they cut me to the bottom of my soul and will haunt me for the rest of my life.”

    Terry Glover read his statement first as he stood just a few feet from McCombs, accompanied by his lawyers, Ira Chenkin and Ralph Gonzales.

    “I will not get to see my daughter graduate from high school or college, I will not get to walk her down the aisle at her wedding,” Glover said. “Or be able to see her bring a child of her own into this world.”

    Glover also said to McCombs: “Try to think how you would feel if you were in my shoes. Enjoy your new life and just remember this, there is no one to blame but yourself. May God have mercy on you.”

    Then Ashton’s mother stepped to the witness box and gave McCombs a steady stare as she sat down.

    Smith talked about singing a song, You Are My Sunshine, to Ashton and her older sister, Terica, when they were little girls.

    “You, Matt McCombs, took my sunshine away,” she said.

    Smith recalled the days after her daughter went missing when hundreds of people helped with the search effort. Smith said that 15 months after her daughter’s death people are still leaving messages on MySpace saying how much they miss the teen, who was also a student at Clements.

    “Ashton was loved by so many, I lose sleep at night wondering how someone could do such a horrible thing to her. Why her? Why my baby?” Smith said.

    She then concluded her remarks.

    “I want you to know that as long as there is a breath in my body I will fight every appeal to make sure that you stay behind bars where you belong.”

    From another article

    Mother Sue Smith demanded that McCombs look her in the eye.

    “I never knew I could hate someone so much,” she said. “I lose sleep at night wondering how someone could do such a horrible thing. Why my baby?”

    The worst part is my gut tells me it had no effect on the little bastard what so ever.

  • Tobin Kerns to finally learn his fate?

    Kerns hearing set for Thursday:

    Could there finally be a resolution to the case of Tobin Kerns? Could his long nightmare finally be over or has it just begun? For those of you knew to the party Tobin Kerns was arrested back in 2004 for allegedly plotting against his high school, Marshfield High in Massachusetts. At the time of his arrest, I thought he was just another mutant. However, after receiving comments and e-mails from his family and friends and doing a little research on my own I am convinced that Tobin is innocent. There have been many delays in reaching a resolution for this case. We just may find out tomorrow what Tobin’s fate is.

    Plymouth Juvenile Court Judge Louis Coffin has scheduled a hearing for Thursday, Sept. 27, at 2 p.m. in the case of former Marshfield High School student Toby Kerns, accused of plotting a Columbine-style attack at the school.

    Kerns, 19, was tried as a youthful offender in juvenile court last October, but Coffin did not issue a verdict while waiting for a ruling from the Supreme Judicial Court on the validity of one of the charges against him.

    The SJC ruled Aug. 9 that Kerns should be charged on the basis of a state law passed in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, after Coffin had indicated he might apply a different statute.

    Kerns was indicted in 2004 on charges of conspiracy to commit murder, promotion of anarchy and the threatened use of deadly weapons at a school, which was the disputed charge. Coffin dismissed the anarchy charge during the trial.

    While this is all going on the man who I believe to be the true culprit, Joe Nee, son of the head of the Boston Police union, has barely even sniffed a courtroom…

    Alleged co-conspirator Joseph Nee, 21, was indicted on the same charges, but his case has not yet gone to trial. He will be tried as an adult.

    No word on when Nee’s court date is yet.

    I encourage you to read the archives about this case.

    Good luck Tobin.