Tag: charged as an adult

  • Hainstock’s lawyer wants records thrown out

    Hainstock’s lawyer wants records thrown out

    Hainstock’s Lawyer Fights School Records Seizure:

    Eric Hainstock’s attorney, Debra O’Rourke, is trying to get school records subpoenaed by the prosecution excluded. She claims that the records are confidential, and the subpoena does not show how they are relevant to the murder of Weston Schools principal John Klang.

    District Attorney Pat Barrett is arguing that the records are relevant, stating that Hainstock had issues with numerous students over the past three years and that he was going to “see” them the day he killed Klang.

    O’Rourke also said that the school did not fulfill her request for the records, even though she had permission from the family.

    Judge Patrick Taggart will rule on the matter in two weeks.

  • Day late, Dollar short

    Day late, Dollar short

    School ‘security’ is wrong response:

    This is a letter to the editor of a Wisconsin newspaper about new security measures being put in place after the killing of Weston Schools principal John Klang…

    Dear Editor: I have great sympathy for those affected by the Weston school shooting last week, particularly the family of John Klang.

    That said, the new “security measures” in place as students return to school seem to be a prime example of the wrong sort of response, the kind Americans are so good at these days, of putting good people on lockdown in the wake of a singular act by a single person. One very troubled youth commits a horrific act, and now the rest of the school is subject to armed surveillance and the registration of outsiders?

    What sort of message is that intended to send we are trying to prevent further armed attacks by bringing in more arms and suspecting everyone?

    I urge the School Board to consider intelligently and rationally addressing root causes here, even in the wake of a very irrational and heartbreaking incident, before initializing knee-jerk measures that can only result in more fear and anguish.

    Not to mention the fact that the steps they seem to be taking are like closing the barn door after the horses are already out.

  • Hainstock’s bail set

    Hainstock’s bail set

    Judge Sets Bail For Accused Teen School Shooter:

    (AP) BARABOO, Wis. A judge set bail at $750,000 Monday for a 15-year-old boy accused of killing his high school principal after prosecutors said the teen may have been looking for others to attack as well.

    Sauk County District Attorney Pat Barrett told the judge there were other “persons of interest” for Eric Hainstock when he went to Weston Schools in Cazenovia Friday morning and shot Principal John Klang. She told reporters after the five-minute hearing that Hainstock may have had additional targets picked out.

    “There were potentially other people that he had a beef with at the time,” she said, but did not elaborate.

    Hainstock’s attorneys asked for $10,000 bail, saying the teen has lived in the Sauk County area his whole life and has no convictions.

    But Circuit Judge Patrick Taggart agreed with Barrett.

    “It goes without saying the public does need protection in this matter,” he said.

    $10,000 bail for shooting a man at point-blank range in cold blood? Defense attorneys never fail to crack me up.

    Search warrants show deputies found a note at Hainstock’s house from him to his father, along with boxes of ammunition, discipline reports from Weston Schools and a photo of a girl with her eyes poked out. Klang gave Hainstock a disciplinary notice for having tobacco in the school Thursday, the day before the shooting, according to the criminal complaint.

    Court records also say Eric Hainstock had a medical condition that affected his behavior but he was not receiving treatment because the family could no longer afford drugs or counseling.

    It seems like to me, they just were too lazy to get him treatment or didn’t care. There are state agencies and programs designed to help people like this. Not that any of this is an excuse for killing.

  • Hainstock’s claims a ‘total joke’

    Hainstock’s claims a ‘total joke’

    Jailed teen drew teachers’ concern since preschool:

    One teacher at Weston High School says that Eric Hainstock’s claims of harassment are bogus…

    The gunfire that killed Principal John Klang early Friday seemed to echo through the rolling hills of rural Cazenovia as residents absorbed the shock of the slaying and the first-degree murder charges.

    Some said they were repelled by reports that Hainstock – being held in the Sauk County Jail in Baraboo – told investigators he just wanted someone to listen to his complaints about being tormented by classmates who rubbed up against him and called him “fag” and “faggot.”

    His special education teacher on Saturday called the claims a “total joke.” James Nowak said Hainstock didn’t give his anger management counselor a clue of what was to come.

    But Nowak, one of three special education teachers at the school, said Hainstock had just finished serving a three-day suspension. Nowak said that about two weeks ago, the student swore at him and, when he fled, threw a stapler at him.

    “He said something to me and scared me,” Nowak said. “I backed out of the room and got out of there and ran. The stapler flew past my head and hit the wall. He had the stapler open – it cracked the cement.”

    Police were called, and they released him to the custody of his father, Nowak said.

    Hainstock told police he gunned down Klang before classes began Friday because he was upset with a reprimand Klang had given him. He was facing an in-school suspension for having tobacco in school Thursday, the criminal complaint said.

    He told police he was also upset because he felt teachers didn’t stop students who harassed him, the complaint said.

    But Nowak said the youth was unlikely to have been the butt of jokes. “He wasn’t picked on,” he said. “He was the one who would have picked on people.”

    The description of Hainstock as victimized is “a total joke,” he said. “We stand up for these kids (special education students) as much as possible. We are advocates for the kids. If they are being picked on, we try to stop it.”

    The ultimate bullies are the ones that have to resort to guns to resolve their own issues.

  • Hainstock charged as adult

    Hainstock charged as adult

    Wisconsin teen charged in deadly school shooting:

    September 30, 2006 – A 15-year-old Wisconsin boy has been charged as an adult for murdering his principal. Police say Eric Hainstock went to his Cazenovia school armed with a pistol and a shotgun Friday morning where he shot the principal, John Klang, three times during a struggle. Klang later died at the hospital.

    Remember kids, no matter how big and bad you think you are because you have a gun, there is always going to be someone bigger and badder than you when you’re spending the rest of your life behind bars. It’s not worth it.

  • Dyleski gets life

    Dyleski gets life

    Dyleski gets life in prison without parole:

    Scott Dyleski has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the murder of Pam Vitale.

    Some words from the sentencing judge…

    “The one time I saw you show any emotion is during autopsy photos,” Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Barbara Zuniga told the Dyleski as she sentenced the teenager.

    “I saw you, sir, lean forward and your mouth fell open. And that’s the position you remained in. You were absolutely fascinated by your handwork. You don’t deserve to live among decent people.”

    The pleas for leniency by Dyleski’s lawyer obviously fell on deaf ears, and took the brutal way Pam Vitale was killed into consideration rather than Dyleski’s youth and “troubled upbringing”.

    Personal responsibility wins a rare victory.

  • Dyleski lawyer asks for leniency

    Dyleski lawyer asks for leniency

    Defense asks for leniency for Dyleski:

    Citing his unstable childhood, the attorney for convicted murderer Scott Dyleski has asked a judge to consider handing down the lightest possible sentence for killing his neighbor, Pamela Vitale.

    Dyleski deserves a sentence of 25 years to life in prison, which would give him the opportunity for parole, deputy public defender Ellen Leonida wrote in her sentencing memo to Superior Court Judge Barbara Zuniga.

    “All he is asking for is an opportunity to demonstrate — many, many years from now — that he can change,” Leonida wrote.

    He showed no leniency on Pam Vitale, so the state of California should not show him any.

  • Dyleski found guilty

    Dyleski found guilty

    Dyleski weeps as jury finds him guilty:

    MARTINEZ – Scott Dyleski put a hand over his eyes, leaned over and wept Monday afternoon as he heard a jury’s verdict finding him guilty of first-degree murder and a special circumstance that will send him to prison for the rest of his life.

    The jury deliberated about 18 hours before deciding Dyleski, 17, murdered 52-year-old Pamela Vitale on Oct. 15, 2005.

    With the conviction on the special-circumstance count of murder in the commission of a burglary, Dyleski will be sentenced to state prison without possibility of parole. He was 16 when he killed Vitale.

    The prosecutor said at trial Dyleski killed Vitale in connection with a scheme to purchase marijuana-growing equipment with stolen credit cards.

    Prosecutor Harold Jewett argued that Dyleski may have killed Vitale mistakenly believing that she was another neighbor. He was angry at the other neighbor for thwarting his plan to purchase the equipment and for running over his dog a month earlier.

    However, jurors did not believe that theory, said 55-year-old Concord resident Peter DeCristofaro, the single juror willing to speak with reporters.

    “That didn’t even come up,” he said. “We didn’t buy that.”

    He said all but one juror was certain from the first day of deliberations about guilt, but it took three days to decide that it was premeditated murder.

    “As far as guilt, we got that nailed down pretty quick,” he said.

    Sentencing is set for Sept. 26.

  • Dyleski jury deliberates

    Dyleski jury deliberates

    Dyleski Jurors Begin New Week Of Deliberations:

    The jury in the trial of Scott Dyleski has been deliberating, and on Friday had requested the following items…

    E-mail correspondence between Dyleski and his friend who is accused of taking part in a marijuana growing scheme

    The emergency contact list of the Hunsaker Canyon Road residents

    Aerial photos of the Hunsaker Canyon neighborhood, where Vitale lived

    Photo of mansion Daniel Horowitz and Vitale were building at the time of her death

    Photos of the content of Dyleski’s red backpack. The items in the backpack were eventually turned over to police by Dyleksi’s mother.

    Hernandez said the jury started deliberations ten minutes ahead of schedule on Friday. Hernandez said by midday, jurors requested even more items submitted into evidence. They included a photo of Scott Dyleski after his arrest, as well as photos from his room. They also asked to see the tape lift of shoe print and a photo of shoe print on a plastic lid.

    As soon as I hear anything about a verdict, I will let you know.

  • Closing statements in Dyleski trial

    Closing statements in Dyleski trial

    Prosecutor: Dyleski misidentified Vitale:

    Scott Dyleski killed Pamela Vitale mistakenly thinking she was another neighbor who had accidentally killed his dog and foiled his plan to buy marijuana-growing equipment, a prosecutor said Tuesday in closing arguments at Dyleski’s trial.

    “It doesn’t make sense any other way,” Harold Jewett said.

    In her closing, Dyleski’s defense attorney referred to her client a half dozen times as “a 17-year-old boy” and a kind teenager, and said somebody else killed Pamela Vitale.

    Jewett portrayed Dyleski as dismal and depressed, blaming the defendant, but also his parents and teachers for allowing a killer to brew.

    “You left me to die in the dark streets with nothing more than broken dreams. … You raised me to hate, and hate I will, because now I live, I live for the kill,” Jewett read from a school poem Dyleski wrote.

    The prosecutor added that influential people in Dyleski’s life did not intervene.

    “That’s really cool,” Jewett read from comments written by a teacher about the poem.

    Deputy public defender Ellen Leonida reminded the jury how her client’s friends testified he was a non-violent vegan who cared about people.

    I don’t know if it’s the way the media is reporting it, but this trial sounds like a complete clusterfuck.

    I won’t be surprised, no matter what verdict is announced.