TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Blog

  • Zarate Sues Jail

    Zarate Sues Jail

    Man charged in teen neighbor’s killing sues jail:

    This is just great, another frivolous lawsuit clogging the courts…

    The Randolph man charged with stabbing and dismembering a teenage neighbor will be moved out of the Morris County jail after having filed a suit against the facility following two fights with correction officers there.

    Authorities had not yet determined where Jonathan Zarate will be sent but said it will most likely be the Essex County Jail.

    For those of you who may have forgotten, 18-year-old Zarate, is accused of having ambushed 16-year-old Jennifer Parks in Zarate’s home and stabbing her, bludgeoning her, and dismembering her body, then trying to dump her body into the Passaic River in New Jersey.

    Let me give you a quote from prison officials when he originally attacked a guard…

    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.”

    It would be a travesty if this lawsuit ever saw the light of day. Then again, this is New Jersey we’re talking about. He’ll probably be awarded a settlement.

  • More details in planning of Pine Middle Shooting

    Shooting planned, police say

    Police are now saying that James Newman was planning on shooting and killing his classmates for at least a week in advance…

    An eighth-grade student accused of opening fire in his middle school hallway, hitting one student, planned at least a week in advance to shoot and kill his classmates because he was tired of them making fun of him, according to court documents released Thursday.

    Police believe James Scott Newman, 14, was further inspired to go through with the Tuesday shooting at Pine Middle School after he researched the 1999 Columbine High School shooting rampage on the Internet, officers said in a court affidavit.

    Police said Thursday they found drawings in Newman’s locker of stick figures lying on the ground near guns with the words “die” and “kill” written on them. One note said that “no one will know me now, but tomorrow they will,” Reno Sgt. Randy Saulnier said.

    He obviously didn’t do his research well enough, or else he would have realized that the Columbine bullying was just a myth.

    And now we know how he obtained the gun and who it belonged to…

    Tuesday morning, Newman boarded his school bus with the revolver he took from his parents’ bedroom, along with three rounds he took from a bullet collection his father gave to him the day before. He tucked the gun into his notebook.

    Who gives their kids bullets? Not to mention what a great job of keeping your gun secure.

    Also, Newman did not target anyone specifically…

    Once inside Pine Middle School, Newman went into the bathroom and put the gun in his coat pocket. On his way out, he saw Alex Rueda, 14, walk by and “he decided he would start by shooting this person,” the affidavit said.

    One of Newman’s friends saw him pull out the gun and yelled at him to put it away, documents said. Newman then told the friend to run.

    “(Newman) aimed the firearm at (Rueda’s) back and pulled the trigger twice,” the affidavit said.

    Newman twice fired at Rueda, police allege, but his revolver did not fire as the hammer fell on two empty chambers.

    He then stood parallel to Rueda while still aiming the gun at his back, and shot at him three more times. Two of the rounds struck other objects but the third struck Rueda in the arm. One of the bullets ricocheted off the floor and grazed the leg of Kenzie McKeon, 14, who had been kneeling by her lower locker.

    So just like the Columbine scumbags, he planned to kill randomly. Luckily, he was a lousy shot.

    Prosecutors are still investigating the case to see whether or not Newman will be charged as an adult.

  • Ask Amy

    Ask Amy

    Mom finds MySpace a harmful disgrace:

    Check out this letter to an advice column called “Ask Amy”…

    DEAR AMY: I didn’t realize the harmful nature of MySpace.com until I received an anonymous copy of my 16-year-old daughter’s MySpace page. She thought it was “just fun and games” when she posted provocative pictures on her home page. I was shocked when I read her Web space, which was tame by comparison to other kids from our community who have posted lewd pictures with profane comments for the world to see! I’ll be monitoring my daughter’s activity, if not deleting it altogether, but what about the parents who are unaware of this Web site? What has our culture degenerated to when photos of girls imitating sexual acts and wearing bras in the midst of boys are posted online for anyone to see? No wonder we are so concerned about predators. Our children are making themselves targets for anyone to exploit.

    Saddened by Complacency

    Rather than give the whole answer away, I’ll just post the best part that should be common sense…

    DEAR SADDENED: If your daughter is demonstrating such poor online judgment, then it’s time to take the “car keys” away until she figures out that those photos could affect her life now and haunt her well into the future.

    Is that so hard for parents?

  • No Guarantees

    Parents seek assurances:

    I’m surprised at the level of honesty school officials are using towards parents regarding the fallout of the Pine Middle School shooting…

    Washoe County school officials told hundreds of anxious Pine Middle School parents Wednesday they didn’t know how to prevent shooting incidents such as the one that wounded two eighth-graders the previous morning.

    “We cannot guarantee we can make this school 100 percent safe, just as you cannot guarantee your child’s safety when he or she gets in a car,” Superintendant Paul Dugan told more than 500 students, parents and teachers. “Metal detectors are not a guarantee for safety.”

    He’s right. Red Lake High School had metal detectors, and that didn’t stop Jeff Weise. I would also say that liability lies more with the parents than it would with the schools. Most school shooting plots are planned in the home rather than at school. So, in this case, whoever owned the gun that James Newman used should have been responsible for keeping the gun secure and keeping it out of the hands of a 14-year-old.

    Also, according to the article, Newman had been planning this for a while…

    “You can see he had been thinking about this and considering it,” Lt. Ron Donnelly said after detectives interviewed the suspect, found drawings and writings in his locker and talked with his family and friends.

    “Students who heard him talk about bringing the gun to school thought it was just talk,” Rusk said. “Now they feel very guilty and wonder what they should have done. They felt (his comments) were just middle school bravado and that he wasn’t serious.”

    When will kids learn that when someone talks about bringing a gun to school that it might not be a joke? Luckily, no one was killed this time.

  • Gun used at Pine Middle School shooting belonged to family

    Gun used in Reno school shooting belonged to suspect’s family:

    The .38-caliber pistol used in the Pine Middle School shooting by James Scott Newman belonged to an unidentified family member and was obtained without permission. The owner of the gun may also face charges. It hasn’t been determined yet whether or not Newman will be charged as an adult or not…

    That’s because the Nevada Supreme Court recently required that the state must prove a juvenile had a specific intent to kill in order to bring an attempted murder charge, he said.

    Yeah, I’m sure he brought the gun to school to use as a party favor.

  • Bonelli pleads guilty

    Bonelli pleads guilty

    Bonelli pleads guilty to all counts in mall rampage:
    Bonelli pleads guilty in mall shooting spree:

    I haven’t talked about Robert Bonelli in a really long time. He was the 24-year-old gunman in the Hudson Valley Mall shooting in Ulster, New York that wounded two people. When his home was searched, police found what they called “Columbine Memorabilia”. Bonelli pleaded guilty today to all charges against him…

    In entering his plea, Bonelli said that he had gone to the mall with the intention of committing “suicide by cop,” hoping to get killed by police officers.

    Ulster County District Attorney Donald Williams said Bonelli’s handwritten notes showed that he’d planned for months to conduct an armed rampage no later than April 20 of last year.

    Williams also maintained Bonelli had a lurid fascination with the shootings in Columbine.

    Personally, I don’t buy the “suicide by cop” theory. I think he luckily lost his nerve by the time he got to the mall, but I think his original intention was to kill.

    Between his fascination with Columbine and the fact that he planned for months to conduct some kind of assault with an April 20th deadline lead me to believe that his original intention was to kill as many people as possible.

    Anyway, he’s looking at a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of 40.

    Sentencing is set for May 19th.

  • Mr. A Reports

    mra

    Mr. A comes through again and in a huge way as he has brought us a plethora of information.

    First, he brings is the story of 13 men who were arrested in a sting operation conducted by the Orange County California D.A.’s office back in February…

    NEWPORT BEACH Thirteen men, ages ranging from 19 to 51, were charged after an internet sexual predator operation was conducted in cooperation with the Laguna Beach Police Department, Orange County Probation and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. A citizen group called Perverted-justice.com helped gather the internet chats from the accused sexual predators. All of these men were charged with attempted lewd acts upon a child under the age of fourteen. In addition, one was charged with possession of methamphetamine and a pipe. Another was charged with sending an explicit image over the internet. The child molestation charge carries a maximum penalty of four years in state prison.

    The facts on each of these cases are similar in nature. All of them engaged in internet chats with fictitious 12 or 13-year-old girls. Some of these chats stretched for hours and hours and multiple days. The chats detailed explicit, graphic sex talks including oral sex, masturbation, and intercourse. One man sent pornographic pictures. Others exchanged regular photographs. One brought a pornographic DVD. Many of them worried about being detected by law enforcement and parents. Many of them brought sexual paraphernalia, cameras, food, flower, and alcohol. One of the men left his own 13-year-old daughter to have sex with a fictitious 13-year-old girl. These men came from all over Southern California and held many jobs, including a law enforcement officer.

    And of course, Mr. A brings us the MySpace profiles of some of those arrested. Like Jimmy Miguel Varela. How prophetic that the song playing on his MySpace is “American Idiot”. Then there’s Robert Carlos Alarcia. And lastly Deep Arora.

    Welcome to the Rogues Gallery boys.

    ***

    Then Mr. A brings us the Google cache of the deleted MySpace profile of one “dragon7025”. Here’s what he had to say on his profile…

    i am mainly attracted to boys ages 12 and under-yes i do have a small sexual attraction towards them, but i am against sex in an actual relationship with a boy-boys just need true love from the heart and thats what im here to give them-pure love like almost all parents should give their children

    It is unknown if he deleted the profile himself or if it was deleted by MySpace. Either way, he is just one of many pedophiles that inhabit MySpace.

    ***

    Mr. A is almost 100% positive that these are the internet habits of Bruce Chute who I told you about here.

    ***

    This next gem from Mr. A would almost be funny if it wasn’t for the crimes the suspect is being accused of. His name is Keith and here is his profile. And below that is a comment from his ex-fiance…

    hi some of you might know me as Keith’s fiance well that is no longer the case he has been convicted of crimes that have to do with ellicting sex from a minor. Currently we are trying to find if Keith has bothered anyone else online in similar cases in order to press charges. Currently he is serving time in the navy’s jail. Anything you say to me will not be seen directly by him so if you have any information please send me a message.
    thanks
    Patti

    I feel really bad for Patti honestly. Imagine finding out that your fiance or spouse is a pedophile.

    Again we salute you Mr. A for all your hard work.

  • Pine Middle Shooter named

    Pine Middle Shooter named

    Reno teacher hailed as hero after shooting:

    This article is basically about how a gym teacher who wishes to remain anonymous was able to stop the Pine Middle School shooter from doing any more harm. However, in the article, the shooter is named, and he is one James Scott Newman, an eighth-grader.

    Here’s how it went down…

    The teacher at Pine Middle School heard three shots just before 9 a.m. and rushed out of a room to find the alleged shooter, James Scott Newman, standing outside the school cafeteria.

    “She empathized with him, tried to be understanding and de-escalated the situation. She was successful in having him place his gun on the ground which is pretty amazing,” Reno police Lt. Ron Donnelly told KKOH Radio.

    After he dropped the gun, the teacher “bear hugged” Newman until additional staff arrived on scene, Donnelly said. “It was an heroic job done by the school teacher,” he said.

    Still no word on how the gun was obtained.

  • More from Pine Middle School

    More from Pine Middle School

    USATODAY.com – Police: Boy opens fire with handgun, injures 2 students:

    The shooter was an eighth-grade student who has no known connection with the two victims…

    “It appears he decided to engage in school violence,” the officer said. “He brought a gun to school today and randomly targeted these two students.”

    The shooter is being charged as an adult and is being held on $150,000 bail on attempted murder charges.

  • School Shooting in Reno

    School Shooting in Reno

    Reno School Shooting Update:

    There was a school shooting at Pine Middle School in Reno, Nevada today. Two students were injured when a seventh or eighth grader opened fire in a hallway with a .38-caliber pistol…

    Reno Police Lieutenant Ron Donnelly says a boy was wounded in the upper arm and taken to Washoe Medical Center for treatment. A girl received a superficial wound to the leg from shrapnel and was treated at the scene.

    No word on a motive or how the gun was obtained.

    More on this as information becomes available.