TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

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  • Hippies file charges in Dyleski search

    Hippies file charges in Dyleski search

    Dyleski’s roommates file claim against county:

    The residents of the “hippy commune” where the accused killer of Pam Vitale, Scott Dyleski, lived are filing charges against Contra Costa County saying that Contra Costa County Sheriff’s deputies did not have warrants at the time the residence was searched for Dyleski…

    More than 10 sheriff’s deputies burst into the Hunsaker Canyon Road residence of Fred and Kim Curiel on the evening of Oct. 19, 2005, looking for Dyleski, the claim says. Dyleski, now 17, was a suspect in the killing of his neighbor Pamela Vitale four days earlier.

    At least seven other people lived with the Curiels at the time. The deputies began searching the house for Dyelski, pointing their guns and screaming at each of the adults and children, aged 2 to 16, to get down on the floor, the claim says.

    Deputies threatened that if the residents did not cooperate, the deputies would “blow your head off.”

    One deputy pushed Fred Curiel’s face into the ground, breaking his eyeglasses. Another pressed her shoe against the back of Curiel’s 11-year-old daughter to keep her on the floor, the claim says.

    The housemates allege that the deputies entered without an arrest warrant for Dyleski or a search warrant for the home. The deputies presented a search warrant more than one and a half hours later.

    The residents, who seek unspecified damages, say that the experience has left them with nightmares, flashbacks, and other anxieties.

    I seriously doubt that in a high-profile case such as this that law enforcement would not have all their I’s dotted and their T’s crossed. To me, this sounds like just a bunch of hippies lashing out against “the man”.

  • Cops Catch Conn. College Creeper

    Cops Catch Conn. College Creeper

    CCSU student held in MySpace case :

    Is Conn. like the MySpace predator breeding ground?

    A Central Connecticut State University student was arrested Tuesday morning after police said they discovered he had made contact with a 12-year-old Newington girl on MySpace and used the connection to set up a sexual encounter with the girl and a 12-year-old friend. David Leonard of New Britain, was arrested by the Newington detectives at his home on charges of third-degree sexual assault and resisting arrest.

    Lt. Stephen Clark of the Newington Police Department said detectives first began investigating the incident after they received information from a Department of Children and Families worker about the victim’s encounter with Leonard.

    Police said the relationship first began in summer 2005 when one of the victims used her sister’s screen name and began corresponding with Leonard using the popular Internet profile and chat program, myspace.com. The relationship eventually led to phone conversations via cell phone and eventually he established a meeting time with the two girls, police said.

    According to the incident reports, Leonard proceeded to meet the girls at a local school and the three went into a wooded area together. Once they were in the area, Leonard proceeded to kiss and fondle both victims.

    Assistant State’s Attorney Louis Luba Jr. said that during investigations, Leonard indicated to police that he had believed the girls were actually 14 years old, stating that he was unaware of their actual age.

    This is the second time Leonard has been in trouble for possible involvement with a minor. He was scheduled to face charges of second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor for what is believed to be a similar case in Tolland Superior Court today, but the case was continued until April 19 because of Tuesday’s arrest.

    Several facts stated in Leonard’s MySpace profile indicate that he has had several other established Internet relationships with females under the age of 18 as well. His site, which was last accessed by the user on Monday, contains a list of 17 friends, of which nearly a dozen are females registered as under the age of 18.

    In his profile, Leonard admits to being a CCSU student from New Britain, but claims to be only 18 years old himself. His actual age is 22.

    So, telling the cops you thought they were 14 makes it right? For someone so dumb, how did you get into college?

    And Mr. A brings us Davey’s MySpace profile. Nothing is funnier than reading the comments of a MySpace creeper when his friends find out that he’s been busted.

  • Evidence Item No. 201

    Evidence Item No. 201

    Hiding in Plain Sight:

    This is a great article about the still yet to be released evidence that was seized from the Harris household after the Columbine shooting. It has the usual information about The Basement Tapes, and Harris’ writings, and an alleged police cover-up regarding their prior contact with Harris. But this article enlightened me to something I had previously not known about what was in that evidence, Evidence item no. 201…

    But the most intriguing, hush-hush item from the Harris home is probably evidence item No. 201, a green steno book found in a desk drawer. The book doesn’t belong to Eric or God but to Wayne Harris, who used it to write down various matters concerning his son’s mental health, errant behavior and interactions with neighbors and authorities. As a result of the confidential settlements reached in lawsuits brought against the Harrises and Klebolds by some victims’ families, virtually everyone who’s ever seen the steno book can’t comment on its contents.

    We do know one thing about item No. 201: It documents more contacts between the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the Harrises over their son’s behavior years before the shooting than the sheriff’s office has ever acknowledged. In 2004, investigators working for the state attorney general’s office used the steno book to track a complaint against Eric that dated back to 1997, a case for which the department paperwork had disappeared. The deputy on the case, Tim Walsh, was the same officer who arrested Harris and Klebold for breaking into a van in 1998; interviewed by investigators after the shootings in 1999, Walsh made no mention of the 1997 case.

    Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink said he will make a decision about releasing the materials after the anniversary of Columbine.

  • Is MySpace finally getting serious?

    Is MySpace finally getting serious?

    MySpace.com hires child safety czar from Microsoft:

    News Corp. is set on Tuesday to name a security czar to oversee child safety measures on MySpace.com, the popular teen dating and music site that has provoked an outcry among parents who fear they have not done enough to thwart sexual predators.

    Hemanshu (Hemu) Nigam, now director of Consumer Security Outreach & Child Safe Computing at Microsoft Corp., will head up safety, education, privacy and law enforcement oversight programs for MySpace and other Fox Web properties.

    The appointment is effective May 1, News Corp.’s Fox Interactive Media, the parent of MySpace, said in a statement.

    The move is one of several responses MySpace and its owners have taken in recent months to respond to harsh criticism by parent groups, legal authorities and politicians.

    Nigam brings strong credentials to his new role. He has more than 15 years of experience in online safety, including serving as a Federal prosecutor against Internet child exploitation for the U.S. Department of Justice.

    He was also an advisor to a Congressional commission on online child safety, and an advisor to the White House on cyberstalking.

    Prior to Microsoft, Nigam was vice president of worldwide Internet enforcement at the Motion Picture Association of America, where he oversaw the global strategy to combat online video piracy for seven major Hollywood studios.

    Impressive credentials outside of that stint with the MPAA.

    MySpace reaching out to parents:

    MySpace has also hired more employees to handle security and customer care–roughly 100 people, or one-third of its workforce, scout out inappropriate content or underage members.

    Again, that is rather impressive, but will it be enough? Only time will tell.

  • MySpace getting serious about safety?

    MySpace getting serious about safety?

    National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the Advertising Council and MySpace Partner to Promote Online Safety:

    The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children(R) (NCMEC), the Advertising Council and News Corporation, parent company of Fox Interactive Media and MySpace, announced today a joint effort to promote online safety through the deployment of a series of national public service advertisements (PSAs). The PSAs, part of an ongoing Ad Council campaign, will begin running today through News Corporation’s broad network of distribution channels, and are designed to raise awareness about Internet safety and education.

    Sponsored by NCMEC and created pro bono by ad agency Merkley + Partners, the PSAs are designed to educate parents and guardians about measures they can take to better protect their children online, and to educate teens on how to be smart and maintain safe online relationships. The PSAs direct parents, guardians, and teens to visit www.cybertipline.com to learn about safe and responsible use of the Internet, as well as how to report threats.

    The PSAs will air on primetime on FOX, and across Fox Interactive Media’s network of websites including MySpace, FoxSports.com, IGN.com, Fox.com, AmericanIdol.com, Rotten Tomatoes and AskMen. The PSAs will also air on the 28 Fox Networks Group broadcast, cable and satellite services. Fox broadcast and cable networks running the campaign will include FOX, FX, National Geographic channel, Fox Movie Channel, Fox Reality, FUEL TV, FSN, SPEED, Fox College Sports Atlantic, Fox College Sports Central, Fox College Sports Pacific, Fox Soccer Channel and (in Spanish) on Fox Sports en Espanol. All Fox-owned-and-operated regional sports networks will likewise televise the PSAs. Additionally, Fox All Access radio and the New York Post will run the campaign.

    Normally, I would say this is just a PR move on Newscorp’s part, but I have tremendous respect for the NCMEC.

    Hopefully, this will make parents more aware of what’s going on online, but excuse me if I don’t hold my breath.

  • Home Room

    Home Room

    A while back, a reader recommended I see the movie Home Room.

    I just finally got around to watching it. It’s about the aftermath of a fictional school shooting. Without going into too much of the story, I thought it was a great movie.

    On the surface, it looks like a movie made for teens, but this is something that parents with school-age kids should definitely watch just for the last 20 minutes of the movie alone.

    It was a little too Breakfast Club for me overall, but it was much better than the bore fest that was Elephant.

  • Roseburg trial delayed

    Roseburg trial delayed

    Leodoro trial moved to June so lawyers can prepare:

    The trial for Vincent Leodoro, the gunman in the Roseburg High School shooting in Oregon, has been pushed back until June 27…

    Defense attorney Bruce Tower filed a motion recently indicating he intended to prove Leodoro was suffering from a mental disease or defect at the time of the Feb. 23 shooting. Senior Deputy District Attorney Rick Wesenberg told Millikan he would need to schedule Leodoro for an examination at the Oregon State Hospital in Salem as a result of the defense motion, which could not be done before the originally scheduled trial date of April 18.

    Ah yes, the old insanity defense. Because it’s worked so many times in the past. That was sarcasm in case you didn’t know.

  • Letavec pleads not guilty

    MySpace suspect pleads not guilty of sex with teen:

    One of our earliest inductees to the Rogues Gallery, Stephen M. Letavec, pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges of traveling across state lines to molest a 14-year-old girl in Conn. that he met through MySpace. But here’s where it gets weird…

    He has been in custody since his arrest in Pennsylvania in February. The teenage girl’s mother and a girlfriend met Letavec and even welcomed him into their homes.

    The girlfriend’s mother allegedly allowed him to spend 13 hours with the alleged victim and her daughter in their home while the mother wasn’t there, according to court documents.

    Huh?

    What parent would let their 14-year-old daughter be befriended by a 39-year-old father of four that she met on MySpace?

    His MySpace has since been deleted and the cache has expired, however the always intrepid Mr. A has a mirror of it here.

    Mr. A also found this, where Letavec offers some kind of defense, stating that the girl claimed she was 18, and he was trying to help her out with family problems. Surprisingly, I’ve had commenters leave comments on my site about another man accused of traveling across state lines to engage in sex with a minor, who said the exact same thing.

    Will this become the MySpace molester’s mantra? That remains to be seen.

  • Pine Middle shooter denied release

    Accused teen shooter’s release denied:

    James Scott Newman, the 14-year-old Pine Middle School gunman in Reno, Nevada, had his request for release denied by a Nevada juvenile judge…

    Juvenile Court Master Janet Schmuck said Friday that she ordered the detention of 14-year-old James Scott Newman during his initial hearing on March 20 because he was considered a danger to society.

    “And I have not heard anything to change that,” Schmuck said.

    Get your giggles out now over the judge’s name.

    Of course, the defense and the prosecution have differing opinions…

    Two psychologists, one appointed by the state and another hired by the family, evaluated Newman to determine whether he’s a safety risk. They came to different conclusions. The state-hired psychologist said Newman was a threat, while Earl Nielsen said the boy could safely be released.

    Nielsen, who had been hired by the family, told the judge he had met with Newman several times and reviewed school reports and community letters. He found that although the boy may suffer from anxiety and depression, he does not suffer from any psychological disorders suggesting any new violent behavior.

    “I don’t believe that James presents a high risk to the community,” Nielsen testified. “I don’t think he’s a danger to himself. I don’t think he’s a danger to others.”

    Houston told the judge Newman’s family has outlined a plan for complete care and supervision round-the-clock should he be released, including therapy for the boy and his family, medical care, help from neighbors, education, and exercise.

    But Wickes argued that Newman’s behavior before the incident, and the shooting itself, shows that he can’t be trusted.

    Newman told one evaluator he had tried to get his brother to buy a carbon-dioxide cartridge for an air rifle, “so that (James Scott Newman) could harm more people when he ran out of bullets,” she said. And he had read information on the Internet about the Columbine High School shootings because “it helped inspire him.”

    “He rejected using a .45-caliber because it was too complicated, and he described the 38 as his favorite gun,” Wickes said. “He rejected stabbing someone because he didn’t want all that blood on him.”

    The trial has been set for June 22nd.

  • Red Lake survivor honored at NYSE

    Red Lake survivor honored at NYSE

    Red Lake survivor Jeff May rings closing bell :

    Red Lake survivor Jeff May rang the closing bell yesterday at the New York Stock Exchange in honor of being named Reader’s Digest hero of the year.

    May was selected for his actions in the Red Lake school shooting by tackling Jeff Weise and saving at least a dozen people from being shot.

    May was shot in the face by Weise. Jeff May suffered a stroke while recovering from the gunshot. May was selected by the readers of Reader’s Digest in an online poll. His story in Reader’s Digest can be read here.