TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

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  • New York cop unmasked as major drug dealer

    New York cop unmasked as major drug dealer

    Veteran cop unmasked as a major marijuana dealer:

    When I was but a lad in my 20s, I wanted to be a cop. I had cops as friends, I have cops as relatives, and I wanted to make a difference. However, two things prevented me from doing so. One, I didn’t possess the physical prowess it took to pass the physical test and two, I heard too many stories of guys who were just in it to collect a paycheck or worse. This is one of the stories about the worse.

    37-year-old Glen Smokler was a 13-year-veteran of the NYPD. He was arrested this past Wednesday and uncovered as a major marijuana dealer. He allegedly belonged to a ring that smuggled millions of dollars in reefer from Canada to Long Island. Police were tipped off when someone reported that Smokler robbed from the ring leaders.

    Apparently, he never figured that even criminals call the cops sometimes.

    Thanks to Jim for the link.

  • Mark Byers supports the WM3

    Mark Byers supports the WM3

    Father of Victim to Convicted Killer: ‘I’m Here for You’:

    For 14 years, Mark Byers was convinced that the West Memphis 3 killed his son Christopher Byers. For those same 14 years, the WM3 supporters have accused Mark Byers of being the “real killer”. Now at least half of hell has frozen over because now with the new DNA evidence that’s been released, Byers is now saying that the WM3 did not kill his son.

    “I didn’t want to see it,” he said of learning of the new evidence. “I felt like Benedict Arnold. I’m going against everything I believed for 14 years.

    “I want these three men to know I’m here for you,” said Byers, who had himself been suspected of involvement in the murders by some people in West Memphis. “I hated you for years. I believed with all my heart you killed my son — and I’m sorry for that.”

    Authorities have never called Byers a suspect.

    Byers told ABC News that he now wants “justice” for his son and the other boys.

    “They let down not just me and two other family members,” he said of the government officials who handled the case. “They let down every citizen who pays their salary.”

    I wonder how this is going over with the “Free the WM3” crowd. From what I’ve seen without going to the WM3 website, most supporters are still convinced that Byers did it.

    Now I’ve made my thoughts known on this case that the right men are in jail. However, Byers does have a certain air of suspicion swirling around him. I just don’t think it’s for killing those kids.

    Honestly, I don’t think Byers really believes what he’s saying. It seems like to me, since some of the suspicions have been taken off of him with the DNA evidence, he’s cuddling up to the WM3 supporters to get all the suspicion off him.

  • Dunbar Village suspect trying to cut a deal

    Dunbar Village suspect trying to cut a deal

    Suspect, 14, offers to tell all in West Palm Beach rape:

    One of the suspects in the Dunbar Village gang rape case is trying to cut a deal with prosecutors. 14-year-old Avion Lawson is trying to say that his life was threatened by one of the other suspects if he didn’t help rape the victim.

    Lawson, who was arrested July 3, denied involvement in the crime before DNA evidence on a condom linked him to the June 18 rape. In his letters he said he, too, was a victim and blamed the attack on another suspect, Tommy Lee Poindexter, 18.

    “He had a gun to my head and I couldn’t do nothing,” Lawson wrote. “If I would of ran I would of got shot or be dead. So I had no choice. He put it to my head and said ‘Do it.’ And when I stopped I tried to leave. He told me to get back down or he’ll kill me.”

    Lawson was apologetic in one of the letters to Belohlavek and said it was “stupid of me doing that.”

    “If you would of seen what happened, it’s like your worst nightmare,” Lawson wrote. “Especially what happened to the boy. And it seems like they were having fun. They were laughing and videoing.”

    Lawson wants to go home. He said in letters that he is only allowed three showers a week and stays in his jail cell 23 hours a day.

    “I cry every night,” he wrote. “I just want to go home. I just want to go home.”

    You should have thought of that before you and your friends decided to break in to that woman’s home.

  • Castillo gets trial date

    Castillo gets trial date

    Date set in Orange High shooting trial:

    You remember Alvaro Rafael Castillo, don’t you? He’s the nut case who shot and killed his father while his father slept, and then went to Orange High School in North Carolina and shot the place up.

    Luckily, only two students were injured. He is also a mutant of the highest order. Not only did he have an obsession with Columbine, but he also e-mailed Columbine principal Frank DeAngelis shortly before going on his spree.

    Anyway, he was in court yesterday to receive the date of his trial, which is set for May 5, 2008. And he did this to piss somebody off.

    After Morgan agreed to the date, Castillo smiled and tossed a slight wave over his shoulders to the courtroom before being led out of the back of the building to a sheriff’s car.

    It pissed me off anyway. People who are on trial for murder should not smile ever.

  • Arkansas says be patient to WM3

    Arkansas says be patient to WM3

    AG spokesman: Review in West Memphis appeal will take time:

    The Arkansas State Attorney General’s Office said that it would take some time for the DNA “evidence” that has been presented with regard to the West Memphis 3 case to be processed.

    In a statement, a spokesman for Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said state officials are seeing the evidence put forward by lawyers representing Damien Echols for the first time.

    “As litigation goes, this process will likely take months and possibly years,” spokesman Gabe Holmstrom said. “Indeed, counsel for Echols has taken years to develop these claims so it will take the state a fair amount of time to properly respond.”

    And for those of you that keep calling the trial a witch hunt…

    The state Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the Baldwin and Echols’ convictions in 1996, citing what it called substantial evidence of guilt.

    In 2002, the state Supreme Court authorized further DNA testing in the case. In 2005, the high court rejected an effort by Echols to reopen the case so he could argue that his trial lawyers mishandled his defense.

    The State Supreme Court isn’t a bunch of country bumpkins that got their law degrees from a box of Moon Pies. But since most of y’all have a prejudice against the south, you think they are. Little Rock is a far cry from West Memphis.

    But hey, keep drinking the Kool-Aid if it makes you feel better. Just know that you’re giving a convicted killer exactly what he wants.

  • Death penalty sought in burning death

    Death penalty sought in burning death

    Man Who Allegedly Set Girlfriend On Fire Could Get Death Penalty:

    It’s been over a year since we’ve heard anything about Dane Abdool. He’s the man, and I use that term loosely, from Florida who is accused of killing his girlfriend, Amelia Sookdeo, by setting her on fire.

    The last we heard, the State’s Attorney’s Office was more than likely considering the death penalty for Abdool. That consideration is now a reality as they have made it official that they are seeking the death penalty. The trial is set to start in February.

  • More on the WM3 DNA evidence

    More on the WM3 DNA evidence

    West Memphis Three: Defense Attorney Says New Evidence Clears His Client:

    A press release was issued yesterday by the public relations firm that represents the defense team for convicted killer Damien Echols, he of the infamous West Memphis 3. Click the link if you want to read the entire release; otherwise it basically just talks about the DNA evidence that was originally made public back in July.

    Apparently, the lawyers got around to filing the papers about the DNA and felt that it was so important they needed a PR firm to issue a press release about it. What’s next? The next time Echols drops a deuce, are they going to issue a press release about it? It just screams of attention whoring. Hey, remember us, we have this DNA stuff that, we think, will set a killer free. Please look at us. Then again, the WM3’s best weapon has been the media, and they wield it well. I mean, look at how many sheep they’ve collected in the past 15 years.

    Like I discussed before, they’re now claiming that the DNA evidence points to Terry Hobbs, the step-father of one of the victims. However, the WM3 supporters pointed the finger so long at Mark Byers, it’s almost like they can’t be taken seriously.

    As I’ve also discussed before, the press release states that Hobbs’ ex-wife and mother of one of the victims thinks that Hobbs is capable of the murders. Like she wouldn’t have a reason to lie.

    Basically, the WM3 team is grasping at straws while trying to make themselves look like they just found Jimmy Hoffa. As far as I’m concerned, the highly lauded DNA evidence neither proves nor disproves anything.

    ***

    I’m writing this part up a couple of hours after I wrote the above part. I just went to two different threads on two different websites about the WM3. One was a respected blog that had a handful of commenters, and the other was a huge site devoted to news links. In both threads, WM3 supporters are still hanging on to Mark Byers just because he looked guilty in the documentaries. If you’re going to support a cause, do some research people. At least pay attention to the latest news.

  • New Dio/Sabbath album

    New Dio/Sabbath album

    Heaven And Hell To Record Album:

    There’s been much speculation of a forthcoming Black Sabbath reunion with the original line-up with Ozzy Osbourne at the helm, but founding member Geezer Butler has adamantly denied such rumors.

    Heaven and Hell are currently in discussions with various record labels about recording a brand new studio album in 2008,” says Butler.

    Good because we all know who the best Black Sabbath vocalist is.

    All hail his name m/
  • Suspect held on $1M bail in the death of Katherine Ann Olson

    Suspect held on $1M bail in the death of Katherine Ann Olson

    Bail set at $1 million for suspect in craigslist killing:

    Bail was set at $1M for suspected craigslist killer Michael John Anderson. He’s the suspected killer of Katherine Ann Olson, whose body was found a day after she responded to a phony employment ad on craigslist. It’s alleged that Anderson was the one who took out the ad.

    An additional detail mentioned in the article is that they believe that Anderson shot her in the back of the head with a .357 Magnum.

    Police believe Olson was killed in Anderson’s house sometime after she arrived Thursday morning. Investigators found blood splatters in the man’s bedroom and on his mattress, as well as bloody drag marks down the stairs of the home.

    They also discovered a .357 Magnum and a shell casing from the gun in his room.

    During Olson’s autopsy, a bullet was found in her stomach.

    Authorities said there is no initial evidence of a sexual assault, but final results are not in, police said.

    The man initially denied having contact with the woman, but eventually admitted to being present when she was killed. He said a friend killed Olson because he “thought it would be funny.”

    At a press conference after the bail hearing, police claimed that only Anderson was involved in the killing.

    More details as they become available.

  • Craig himself on the murder of Katherine Ann Olson

    Craig himself on the murder of Katherine Ann Olson

    Charges expected Tuesday in Craigslist killing:

    Craig Newmark, the founder of craigslist, had the following to say about the murder of Katherine Ann Olson.

    The founder of Craigslist.org believes that Olson’s death is the first killing ever linked to the website.

    “I can’t recall a single case like it,” Craig Newmark told KARE 11 News. “This is the worst that I can recall.”

    “I’d just like to express my condolences,” Newmark said by phone from California Sunday. “This is a real tragedy and we’re more eager than ever to help deal with the bad guy.”

    Newmark says Craigslist works closely with authorities to investigate crimes tied to the website. Those crimes include identity theft cases, scams, robberies and sex crimes.

    Does he not see anything wrong with the fact that these crimes are happening on his website?