TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

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  • A parent who gets it

    A parent who gets it

    I’ve said before I don’t do this for the recognition. Every time I get some kind of national recognition, it’s usually bad. I don’t do this to become a Higher Being on The Ecosystem. I’m very happy being a Flappy Bird. I do this mostly to get a message out. A message to parents to be mindful of their children’s activities, online and in the real world. How many stories have we seen from Columbine to the present day where the parents had absolutely no clue what was going on in their own house? That’s why I switched the site from the black background to the beige background to make it more appealing to parents.

    Some days I feel like banging my head against the wall after reading story after story where it seems like parents were oblivious to their kids’ activities. But then every once in a while I get an e-mail like this…

    I discovered your site after the recent murder of the parents by the 18 yo in PA. I read their online blogs, which I then followed their links to other online blogs and discovered a very frightening world used by todays youth. My only thought is the same i have read several times in your writings…where are their parents? As a parent of young children this has left me feeling a range of mixed emotions from extreme saddness, to anger, to disgust, to utter hopelessness. I have always known these things existed but to read personal diaries and blogs from first hand perspectives of todays youth really brought it front and center for me. I have read things about drug use, girls with eating disorders, sex….you name it. And not only the words….but the images!!! These kids actually have their pics up!!! I would never keep a diary growing up because I KNEW my mom would find it….not “IF”. I am just thankful to have found this now….my kids computer use is still limited to the Jumpstart games thank God! But not knowing is no excuse for parents. This is their JOB as PARENTS!!

    I gave up my career to be a full time mom to my kids and after reading this I feel insanely guilty by gambling with their lives everyday that I send them off to school…..to SCHOOL for crying out loud!! It is not supposed to be this way.

    Anyway, my main reason for writing this is to APPLAUD you for what you are doing. People need to be informed and as painful as reading these stories are they need to be read and burned into EVERY parents brain….they certainly are mine.

    Thank You!
    Gina

    No Gina. Thank you. Thank you for letting me know what I’m doing is actually making somewhat of a difference and that I’m not doing this in vain. Hopefully, your e-mail can serve as a wake-up call to even more parents.

  • Esmie Tseng revisited

    Esmie Tseng revisited

    Friends argue 16-year-old girl needs help, not prison, following her mother’s murder:

    This is another story that I’ve been following here. It’s the story of Esmie Tseng, a 16-year-old Kansas girl who is accused of stabbing her mother, Shu Y. Tseng, to death. Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten a chance to post the previous entries since The Great Website Meltdown of 2005.

    What makes this story attention-getting is the support she is getting from friends and strangers alike who do not want her tried as an adult, which is basically what this article is about.

    I have yet to hear an official motive for the killing, but it may be because I haven’t researched too hard. I just post dribs and drabs of what I get through the media. However, Esmie’s mom has been portrayed as this overbearing mother putting way too much pressure to succeed on her daughter…

    “Her mom leaves a note on her bed that basically said, ‘If you don’t take the state championship, we’re taking the piano away,’” Horwitz said. “(Esmie) puts in (her journal) a couple times that the only thing that defines her is piano and her escape from life is to sit down and play Bach for a few hours.”

    While her mother sounds like a control freak, it’s still no reason to stab her repeatedly if that is, in fact, the motive.

    Unless I hear a better explanation of why she killed her mother, I have no problems at all with her being tried as an adult.

  • Campbell County Victims Update

    Campbell County Victims Update

    School shooting victim’s home burglarized:

    How bad does this suck? On the day assistant principal, Jim Pierce was shot by Ken Bartley Jr. that night his house was broken into and an ATV, a rifle, an air compressor, and several tools were stolen.

    “We have several leads; the detectives have worked extensively ever since that happened, fingerprinted the residence and tracked down many leads,” said Campbell County Sheriff Ron McClellan.

    There’s a special place in hell for thieves like that.

    Campbell Co. principal released from hospital:

    At least we have some better news here. Principal Gary Seale was released from University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.

  • Zarate accomplice pleads guilty

    Zarate accomplice pleads guilty

    Teen accomplice pleads guilty in body dump case:

    One of the teen accomplices of Jonathan Zarate pleaded guilty to improperly disposing of human remains and hindering apprehension.

    This is the 16-year-old accomplice known as “V.B.” the friend of Jonathan Zarate’s brother who is only identified as “J.Z.”.

    “V.B.” faces up to four years in juvenile detention. “V.B.” and “J.Z.” allegedly tried to help Jonathan Zarate dispose of Jennifer Parks’ body in the Passaic River.

  • Bartley to undergo psych exam

    Bartley to undergo psych exam

    Mental exam ordered for school shooter:

    Ken Bartley Jr. has been ordered to undergo a mental evaluation before a judge will decide if he is to be tried as an adult. According to the article, this is standard procedure in trying to decide if a minor should be tried as an adult.

    The article had some other interesting information…

    Sheriff Ron McClellan said the investigation is continuing, more interviews were being conducted and evidence collected, including Bartley’s home computer.

    Asked if a motive has been determined, the sheriff said, “We are getting more details as we go, but we couldn’t release anything on that because of the pending case.”

    So still no official motive.

    Nod to commenter Jack.

  • Court rules Columbine materials can be released

    Court rules Columbine materials can be released

    High court rules on Columbine case:

    The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that items seized from the homes of Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold can be released to the public if Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink deems it a benefit to the public…

    The Denver Post is seeking notes written by Wayne Harris about his son Eric and Dylan Klebold; medical records of the teenagers; the audio and videotapes they made; and their writings, including school papers, notations in the Columbine yearbook and the diaries.

    And go figure…

    Release of the items was strongly opposed by the Harris and Klebold families and by Mink, who must now decide whether to release the records.

    Hmm, I wonder why. 🙄

    Judy Brown, parent of former Columbine student Brooks Brown, applauded the ruling.

    “I think the people affected by the Columbine tragedy have every right to see every piece of information out there,” she said. “I think the court’s made the right decision.”

    Now maybe we can finally get the real story. The ball is in your court, Sheriff Mink. Will you be a man, or will you continue to hide the facts?

  • Bartley hearing delayed

    Bartley hearing delayed

    Campbell County school resumes, teen’s hearing delayed:

    Suspect Ken Bartley Jr., 14, remained held without bond in a detention center in Knoxville, some 34 miles south, as court officials searched for a judge to hear a prosecutor’s petition to move Bartley’s case into adult court.

    Judges Joseph Ayers of Campbell County and Patricia Hess of Anderson County recused themselves because they know the victims. Judge Michael Davis of Morgan County agreed late Monday to preside over the juvenile court hearing.

    And according to the article, authorities are still not discussing a motive even though I’ve had several people who claim to be from the Campbell County area say that Ken Bartley allegedly brought the gun to school to sell for drugs. Why he would bring a loaded gun is beyond me if he was just going to sell it.

    Anyway, the article also states that Bartley is ineligible for the death penalty under Tennessee state law because he is under 16. I’m on the fence on whether or not he would deserve the death penalty. I’m leaning towards no, since conventional wisdom is leaning towards the fact that this wasn’t premeditated.

    However, it remains to be seen if the “gun for drugs” motive is the actual motive or not.

  • Zarate attacks prison guard

    Zarate attacks prison guard

    ‘Trunk killer’ teen erupts, blackens jail guard’s eye:

    This is a story that I’ve been following here for a while.

    Unfortunately, I haven’t reposted any of the previous entries since the Great Site Meltdown of 2005. Let me bring you up to speed.

    18-year-old Jonathan Zarate invited his 16-year-old neighbor Jennifer Parks over to watch TV. He killed her by bludgeoning her and repeatedly stabbing her. He then dismembered her body, stuffed her in a trunk, hid the trunk in his parents’ Jeep for 24 hours, then solicited his teenage brother and a friend to help him dump the body into the Passaic River.

    At the time of the original postings, I got a lot of comments saying that either he couldn’t have possibly killed her or comments that attacked the victim. Well, Zarate’s latest escapade is that he attacked a prison guard unprovoked…

    Jonathan Zarate, 18, of Randolph, allegedly punched a 26-year-old corrections officer three times in the face and head as he was being escorted back to his cell after a shower Thursday at 8:30 a.m., Warden Frank Corrente said.

    “This was unprovoked. He has issues with authority and has been a management issue since his arrival,” Corrente said of Zarate. “He shows violent behavior.”

    Yeah, someone with this kind of rational behavior couldn’t have possibly killed someone. Yeah, right.

  • Intent

    Intent

    While I’ve been doing entries about Ken Bartley Jr. and the Campbell County High shooting, some people have been saying that Ken Bartley did not intend to shoot Ken Bruce and that they can’t prove intent. These people are either confused or unclear on the word “intent”.

    Their main argument is that Ken Bartley did not take the loaded gun to school with the intent of killing Ken Bruce or shooting Gary Seale and Jim Pierce. That may, in fact, be true. However, if when Ken Bartley was approached about the gun, then he decided to raise the gun, aim it at Ken Bruce, and pull the trigger, killing Ken Bruce then he did, in fact, intend to kill Ken Bruce.

    What you’re thinking of is premeditation. If Ken Bartley did not take the gun to school with the intent of killing Ken Bruce, then it wasn’t a premeditated killing. However, that doesn’t mean there was no intent.

    If rather than going to jail, Ken Bartley decided to shoot his way out of the situation, then that shows intent, In my opinion, the only way to show there was no intent was if the gun discharged accidentally. Since the gun fired repeatedly, striking four different people, I doubt that can be called an accident. Hopefully, I’ve cleared this up for you because that was my intent.

  • Victims’ families shut out of Jourdain trial

    Victims’ families shut out of Jourdain trial

    Shut out of trial, families frustrated:

    I am no longer torn on the decision to keep the trial of accused Red Lake accomplice Louis Jourdain closed to the public. Yes, he is a minor. No, the media does not have the right to be in on every little thing. However, I do believe the victims’ families of the Red Lake shootings should be entitled to attend the proceedings.

    A day after a federal judge ruled court proceedings for the only person charged in the case will remain closed to the public, the father of one victim said he and other families have hired an attorney to seek access. A victims’ rights group says getting answers is an important step in the healing process.

    “If nobody is going to go into the courtroom, we will all have unanswered questions,” said Al Thunder, a cultural coordinator and Red Lake tribal courts judge, whose grandson Cody Thunder was one of seven people injured in the March 21 shootings. “All the ruling is going to bring is frustration.”

    “We have never had access to any evidence gathered,” said Francis Brun, a retired tribal administrator and the father of Derrick Brun, a security guard slain at the high school. “I would like to know what exactly happened and whether people could have done something to prevent what happened.”

    Hopefully, they will allow the victims’ families to attend while keeping the vultures of the press at bay.