TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

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  • Change of venue requested in one of the Marshfield trials

    Change of venue requested in one of the Marshfield trials

    Nee trial is going through motions:

    The ever-humorous attorney of Joseph Nee, Thomas Dreschler, appeared in court today with his client in an attempt to get the venue changed. He complains that media scrutiny has been too intense against his client. I’ll have to take his word for that, since I’m not there. However, I do have to take issue with this statement made by Mr. Dreschler…

    Drechsler also said that the media has maintained too strong a focus on Thomas Nee, Joseph’s father who is president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association. He said Nee has been frequently referred to as “the son of a powerful police patrolman.”

    “He’s (Nee) an extremely visual person for reasons completely unrelated to this case,” Drechsler said. “He has no relation to this case other than that of a concerned parent.”

    I disagree, Mr. Dreschler. I think he has a lot of relation to this case, actually. Well, at least the fact that he’s not only a Boston cop but also the head of the Patrolmen’s Association is very relative to the case.

    Mr. Dreschler keeps saying how Tobin Kerns has a criminal record, but Joe Nee does not. Yet, I’ve heard rumors of alleged criminal behavior that was swept under the rug due to people in a position of authority.

    I’m sure it has been, but if it hasn’t, it needs to be investigated to see if Joe Nee ever received special treatment by law enforcement because of his father’s position.

    No date has been given on when the judge will decide.

  • Eric Schorling sentenced

    Eric Schorling sentenced

    Judge hands Romeo teen who stabbed ex-girlfriend stiff sentence:

    Eric Schorling, the teen who was convicted of stabbing Nicole Lambert in the back at Romeo High in Michigan, was sentenced yesterday to 10–15 years in adult prison…

    “In one respect you are fortunate,” Maceroni said. “Either one centimeter up or down or to either side, and Nicole wouldn’t be here today and you, young man, would have spent the rest of your life in the Michigan Department of Corrections. That’s how lucky you are.”

    You have to love a judge who tells it like it is.

    Of course, we had some humorous shenanigans from the defense attorney during the trial…

    During the trial, Garton tried to introduce evidence about the differences between the brains of adolescents and adults. He also sought to include testimony that the bullying Schorling received after he broke up with Lambert helped lead to the attack.

    “This didn’t happen in a vacuum,” Garton said of the stabbing. “If they had just separated and gone their own ways, and there wasn’t this name-calling, this never would have happened.”

    You know what the name-calling was? “Nazi”. Eric Schorling had a swastika tattoo. It’s hard to muster up any sympathy for a Nazi psychopath.

    At least the prosecuting attorney has some sense…

    Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith disagreed.

    “Sorry if I appear harsh,” Smith said. “But this girl almost died. Kids are teased every day, but they don’t go out and try to kill someone.”

    Now, where have I heard that before?

    However, the 10–15 years is not the only sentence Schorling will receive…

    Schorling still faces an additional charge relating to his escape from Macomb County’s Juvenile Justice Center. Schorling, now 17, had already pleaded guilty and was slated to be sentenced to less than seven years in prison, but that plea was withdrawn after the escape.

    You should have taken the plea, Einstein, but I’m so glad you didn’t.

  • Henderson pleads not guilty

    Man pleads not guilty to 4 deaths:

    Say what now?

    Yesterday, a grand jury handed down a four-count indictment on Richard Henderson Jr. for first-degree murder. Henderson previously confessed to the crimes.

    Then Assistant Public Defender Carolyn DaSilva entered a plea of not guilty. Again, I say, “huh?”

    I realize that they are probably going to try an insanity defense with Henderson, but I think it’s an extreme long shot.

    If he had pleaded guilty, it probably would have spared him the death penalty. Now, it’s possible that prosecutors will seek the death penalty. But hey, it’s his funeral.

  • Marshfield trials to start soon

    Marshfield trials to start soon

    Nee, Kerns heading to trial:

    This is the first news we’ve hard out of Marshfield in a while. It basically just states that both Joe Nee and Toby Kerns are due back in court shortly for the charges filed against both of them for planning a Columbine-like attack against their school. But again, what kills me is what defense attorneys have to say. In this case, Joe Nee’s defense attorney, Thomas Drechsler…

    Drechsler pointed out that while Toby Kerns has a criminal history, having been arrested on breaking and entering charges, and has been treated in a psychiatric facility, Nee has never been in trouble with a law or treated for mental illness.

    Like I’ve said before, that’s great that Joe Nee doesn’t have a “criminal record”. His dad is a Boston cop. As much respect as I have for the police, I know that there is special treatment for family members of cops. It’s not that much of a stretch to think that Joe Nee has gotten out of trouble by saying his dad was a Boston cop.

    The article refreshes our memory again on the whole situation…

    Toby Kerns was arrested on Sept. 17, 2004 after Nee and two other teens, Joseph Sullivan and Daniel Farley, went to the police and said Kerns had hand drawn maps of the school, had looked up how to make bombs on the Internet and was trying to order guns. Nee told police that most of the information was kept in a black binder in a spare room at the Kerns home.

    Police found the 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.. Nee was arrested Oct. 18, 2004 after other students came forward with information implicating him in the plan.

    Nee lived in the Kerns home for several weeks late last spring, and Toby’s father, Ben Kerns said he noticed the older boy seemed fascinated with Nazism and appeared to be a bad influence on his son. Ben Kerns said Nee stayed in the spare bedroom where the black binder was found.

    Kerns claims Nee, not his son, created the maps of the school and looked at bomb making Web sites while he was staying in their home. But Nee’s attorney argued that the plan was Toby’s and his client went to police to prevent him from carrying it out.

    What the article leaves out is that Joe Nee wore a t-shirt to school that had pictures of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold that said: “Remember the Heroes”. Joe Nee went to school for Halloween one year dressed as Eric Harris. Joe Nee was witnessed bringing a gun to school, even though it’s in doubt whether or not the gun was real.

    The reason Joe Nee was staying at the Kernses’ was that he assaulted his father and his father threw him out. Toby Kerns did nothing like that. Like I’ve said before, it sounds like to me that Joe Nee went to the police before Toby Kerns could. It also sounds like to me that Joe Nee was the one planning this attack, and Toby decided to bail on the plan after he got help.

    Not only that, but I received an e-mail today from someone in the Marshfield area who said there’s a rumor going around that a friend of Joe Nee’s was arrested for having a hit list and hand-drawn maps of Marshfield High.

    As far as I’m concerned, Toby Kerns’ only crime was trusting Joe Nee and talking his dad into letting Joe Nee stay at their house. I only hope a jury can see that as well.

  • Prophetic Patrick

    Capt. Fantastic over at The Cellar found a plethora of information about Patrick Armstrong, the 14-year-old accused of killing Marlee Johnston.

    CF found a LiveJournal by an alleged friend of Patrick Armstrong. It seems like they were writing some kind of zombie story together. Sound familiar?

    Anyway, check out this entry that was allegedly written by Patrick Armstrong…

    This is also by Patrick.

    There would be no heroic moment for (name removed, see update below). She did not get a chance to fight the good fight against the zombies. For the zombie of Patrick had laid in wait in their pond, until the moment was just right, at which point he thrust out one hand, grabbed (name removed) by the ankle, and pulled her into the water. She died a soggy death, and was quickly forgotten.

    Kind of eerily prophetic, considering Marlee Johnston’s body was found in a pond.

    CF also found that Patrick Armstrong’s LiveJournal used the screen name “saintmaggot”. The LJ has since been deleted, but CF was able to find Armstrong’s interests through LJVIZ where some of his interests listed are Columbine, Satanism, serial killers, Anton Lavey, deviant behavior, and shotguns. And this is the kid that his defense attorney says is well-adjusted.

    If you want to see more of the “zombie story” you can go here, here, here, and here.

    Again a huge TOF to Capt. Fantastic.

    UPDATE: I had to remove the name of one of the characters in the zombie because it turns out it’s the name of an actual person. Thanks again to CF for the info. Both CF and I are now thinking could it have been possible that he was planning on killing this other person instead of Marlee?

  • Defense attorneys say the stupidest things, II

    Defense attorneys say the stupidest things, II

    Lawyer asks for delay on freeing suspect:

    The ever funny defense attorney Walter McKee strikes again. To refresh your memory, McKee is representing 14-year-old Patrick Armstrong who is accused of killing 14-year-old Marlee Johnston. Some more gems from Mr. McKee…

    McKee said Thursday that he has received new information from the investigation into Johnston’s death, and about Armstrong’s character, that could affect the decision on whether Armstrong should be returned to his parents’ care.

    McKee said Armstrong has no criminal record and should be released to his parents’ custody while the case moves through the system. In the days since his arrest, a more troubling picture of Armstrong has emerged, as Web sites believed to have been produced by Armstrong profess his admiration for the Columbine school shooters and a notorious serial killer.

    McKee downplayed the significance of the material on Thursday.

    “There are a lot of things that 14-year-olds say to other kids that would be disturbing if you took it out of context,” he said.

    Out of context? Are you kidding me? How is claiming Columbine killer Eric Harris as your hero considered out of context? The thought process of criminal defense attorneys astounds me sometimes. And they went to law school to learn how to come up with this crap.

    Some not so funny stuff came out of this article too…

    Armstrong will face different penalties depending on whether he is charged as a juvenile or an adult. Because he is younger than 18, he could be committed to a juvenile detention center until his 21st birthday. If convicted as an adult, he would face 25 years to life in prison.

    The judge would consider the seriousness of the crime, as well as the likelihood that Armstrong would benefit from treatment. In Maine, no one has been tried as an adult in the last 40 years for a crime committed when they were 14. Several defendants have been charged as adults for crimes committed when they were 15.

    Let’s hope Maine decides to end the streak. 7 years in juvenile detention is not nearly enough for a killer.

  • A question for Danielle

    Murders in Myakka: ‘I knew he would snap someday’:

    Right off the top, my site was mentioned in this article…sort of. As of the time I’m typing this, they called it trenchcoat.com. Which is all well and good but as most of you know this (used to be -2018 Trench) thetrenchcoat.com. Trenchcoat.com, if I’m not mistaken, is a porn site, so the joke’s on The Herald.

    Anyway, the article basically states that those closest to Richard Henderson Jr. had no idea that he would bludgeon his own family to death…

    Zach Anderson said he always thought Richard E. Henderson Jr. was crazy, but he never thought he would kill members of his own family.

    “I figured he’d be a 35-year-old serial killer, going state to state,” said Anderson, 21, a long-time friend of Henderson’s. “He’s been crazy ever since I knew him. He’s always been out there.”

    The crime has since become a hot topic in cyberspace, with everyone from strangers weighing in on sites such as trenchcoat.com, to Henderson’s most recent girlfriend writing on her personal Web site.

    In her blog, Henderson’s girlfriend, Danielle Kelvin, said the young man was “broken.”

    “All I want you to know is I loved him and he loved me, and I had no idea or help in this,” Kelvin wrote. “I don’t believe in any way what he did was right. He was completely wrong . . . He was a good person with a good heart, he was just broken and I couldn’t change him.”

    In addition to the blog on Kelvin’s Web site, there is also a collage of pictures of Kelvin and Henderson, both alone and together. One shows Henderson’s bare back, covered in a marijuana leaf tattoo.

    Kelvin recently began dating Henderson and spent the weekend in an Ellenton hotel room with him before he was arrested. She had no idea he had killed his family, according to an investigator’s reports.

    “I knew he would snap someday, but why the people that cared about you – the only people in the world who truly care about you. None of us saw this coming. Rich did love his parents. I wish I could have warned his parents,” Anderson said.

    I think the girl mentioned in the article has been leaving comments here since a lot of the phrases she posted on her blog match almost exactly to what someone posting as “ex-girlfriend” left on mine.

    If anybody has the address to her blog, let me know, please. I’m not going to harass her or anything, I just want to take a look at it. And since I believe Ms. Kelvin is posting here, I have a question for her, if she would be so kind as to indulge me.

    Did you know of Henderson’s previous criminal record before you started dating? And if yes, why did you date him? And I’m calling off the dogs for this too. I will keep my commenters in check while awaiting your answer. And to my commenters, please be polite and let’s keep the insults non-existent in this thread.

    I await your reply.

    A huge nod to T-Rock.

  • More details in Jennifer Parks’ murder

    More details in Jennifer Parks’ murder

    Pal’s statement: Zarate brothers plotted to slay Randolph teen:

    More information on the case of Jonathan Zarate and his younger brother, who killed and dismembered Jennifer Parks…

    Two brothers plotted to lure teenager Jennifer Parks to their father’s house in Randolph, where they beat, stabbed and shared the grisly task of cutting off her legs, according to a statement given to police by a friend who tried to help the siblings dump the body.

    Recktenwald said that V.B. told her and another detective that the brothers confided on July 31 that Jonathan Zarate was communicating with the 16-year-old girl next door over the Internet and invited her over.

    “They were planning to kill her,” Recktenwald quoted V.B. as saying.

    V.B. said the brothers told him they killed Parks because she had gotten the younger brother in trouble so that he had to pay some fines. Recktenwald said the Clifton teen gave the following account, based on what the brothers told him:

    Jonathan Zarate talked a few minutes with Parks after her arrival at his home around 2 a.m. on July 30. Zarate started choking the girl. His younger brother, who was hiding in a basement closet, jumped out, started punching Parks all over her body, and then grabbed a knife and started stabbing her. The elder Zarate put a bandanna over her face to stifle her screams. Both brothers then shared the job of cutting off Parks’ legs so they could fit her body into a trunk that normally held camping equipment.

    “They cut her legs off and put her in, like, a box,” V.B. related, Recktenwald said.

    Authorities have said the Zarate brothers — who allegedly used to bully Parks over her weight and appearance –recruited the help of the Clifton friend to help them try to toss a trunk containing the girl’s body over a bridge in Rutherford into the Passaic River.

    The trio was caught by passing police officers around 3 a.m. on July 31 before the trunk could be heaved. Jonathan Zarate confessed, saying that he alone invited Parks over to watch television around 2 a.m. on July 30, after which he flew into a rage, beat her with a pole, stuffed a bandanna down her throat, stabbed her and cut off her legs. The younger Zarate –whose full name has not been publicly released because he is a juvenile — told police he learned of the murder after the fact. The Clifton teen originally gave two statements: in one, he denied any knowledge of the killing; in the second, he claimed Jonathan Zarate did the murder. His story changed on Sept. 20.

    Authorities said that the younger Zarate got in trouble several years ago when he damaged Laurie Parks’ car by throwing rocks at it. School officials also rearranged his classes in Randolph so that he and Jennifer Parks did not run into each other. The 15-year-old wound up leaving Randolph a few years ago to live with his biological mother in Garfield but was visiting his father on Old Brookside Road the weekend Parks was slain.

    Jonathan Zarate was transferred last week out of the Morris County jail to a psychiatric facility after two episodes of punching corrections officers and relieving himself multiple times on the floor of his cell. His lawyer said Jonathan Zarate admits the killing and a psychiatric defense is being pursued.

    Try the younger brother as an adult and send them both to the needle.

  • 12/8/05 From The Mail Sack

    12/8/05 From The Mail Sack

    Let’s dip into the old mail sack, shall we? Today’s offering is from one of my banned mutants named Edgar…

    Enough of the Defense-Attorney bashing

    This is from Ed

    they’re just doing their job. Besides, there are worse things than a greedy lawyer. Like, how about, a blogger who makes a living by being a cyber-bully? Yeah, I’m talking about you.

    I’ll take this in order.

    First, I’ll stop bashing soulless defense attorneys when they stop trying to get murderers released into the custody of their parents.

    Secondly, I am hardly making a living doing this. It would be nice if I did, but I’m not. I got my first payment from advertisers last week for a whole $19. Considering how much I’ve paid over the years for web hosting and domain names, it’s not even close to making a profit.

    And lastly, how am I a cyber-bully? Have I threatened you? No, of course, I haven’t. You’re pissed because I’ve banned you. That’s my prerogative. I own this site. I pay for it so I can do with it what I want.

    Think of it as any business you might go to during the course of your day. Most businesses have the right to refuse service to anyone they choose within reason. And with some of the comments I’ve received, I’m well within reason. If you don’t like it, you can always go somewhere else.

    Hell, you can even start your own blog, and you can ban whomever you want.

  • Defense attorneys say the stupidest things

    Attorney: Suspect had normal upbringing:

    Defense attorneys continue to make me chuckle. Take, for instance, defense attorney Walter McKee. He’s representing 14-year-old Patrick Armstrong of Fayette, Maine, who is charged in the murder of 14-year-old Marlee Johnston. He’s trying to portray Armstrong as your average American boy next door…

    The boy charged last week with killing a 14-year-old girl grew up with pets, laughed as he sat on a sled and learned to ride a horse.

    Family photographs supplied by defense attorney Walter McKee show typical childhood poses of Patrick Armstrong, now 14, of Fayette, who was arrested in the Nov. 26 death of Marlee Johnston, a neighbor.

    “People have seen a picture of him going to court and made incredible judgments about who he is and what he did. There’s far more to it than that,” McKee said. “He led a very normal, small-town life, nothing unique or out of the ordinary or disturbing. He was just a boy growing up in central Maine. He didn’t torture animals.

    “Children at 14 years old, young teenagers, often have conflict with their parents. They think bad things and they say bad things; it doesn’t mean they’re going to do it,” said McKee. “We wouldn’t expect they would act on those things. He’s a 14-year-old, not a 24-year-old.”

    Let me refresh your memory on what this all American boy allegedly said on his website…

    “I hate this society and I hate most people within it,” the site reads. In a list of general interests, the site mentions skateboarding, hanging out with friends, serial killers and Columbine High School, among others. A list of heroes mentions Eric Harris, one of the gunmen in the 1999 Columbine shootings in Colorado.

    “I am very interested in serial killers and school shootings and I find it hilarious that this fact bothers people,”

    Here’s what McKee said about that…

    “These are things people say off the cuff thinking it’s funny. When you’re 14, you don’t realize how inappropriate it is when you say certain things,” said McKee.

    No, I think when you list serial killers as your heroes even at the age of 14 you know how inappropriate it is. It galls me to see people like this list killers as their heroes. When I was a kid, the first serial killings I remember hearing about on the news were the Son of Sam killings. I couldn’t imagine, even at that age, going around saying, “Yeah, David Berkowitz is cool. He’s my hero. I want to be just like him.”

    But this was the funniest thing of all…

    He also said he plans to ask that Armstrong be released in the custody of his parents.

    He can’t be serious, can he? Stay tuned and I guess we’ll find out together.