Tag: Pam Vitale

  • 911 call will not be heard at Dyleski trial

    911 call will not be heard at Dyleski trial

    Daniel Horowitz’ 911 Call Will Not Play During Trial:

    MARTINEZ, Calif. — The anguished 911 calls Daniel Horowitz made after he found his wife’s body won’t be played for the jury in the upcoming murder trial of the couple’s teenage neighbor.

    A Contra Costa County judge ruled Monday that the tapes are too “disturbing” and prejudicial to defendant Scott Dyleski.

    Horowitz called authorities on Oct. 15th after finding the bludgeoned body of 52-year-old Pamela Vitale in their Lafayette home.

    The defense has suggested that Horowitz played a role in her death.

    Prosecutors sought to play the tapes, arguing that an “almost primordial scream” by Horowitz would prove to jurors that he didn’t kill his wife.

  • Gag order remains in Dyleski trial

    Gag order remains in Dyleski trial

    Allred loses bid to lift gag order in teen murder trial:

    California attorney and all-around shrew Gloria Allred has lost her bid to have the gag order removed from the Scott Dyleski trial…

    California attorney Gloria Allred lost an emergency appeal Tuesday to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to lift a gag order in the case of a teenager accused of killing a prominent lawyer’s wife.

    Justice Anthony M. Kennedy refused without comment to lift the order preventing Allred from publicly discussing the upcoming trial of Scott Dyleski, 17, who is accused of murdering Pamela Vitale, wife of television legal analyst Daniel Horowitz.

    Allred represents an undisclosed witness in the murder case, which is set for trial July 17 in Contra Costa County Superior Court.

    Why does she want the gag-order lifted? So her client can make the talk show rounds to make some money? Not to mention tainting the jury pool in the process.

    I, personally, think Dyleski is guilty, but I want to see him receive the fairest trial possible, so there will be no question of his guilt.

  • Hippies file charges in Dyleski search

    Hippies file charges in Dyleski search

    Dyleski’s roommates file claim against county:

    The residents of the “hippy commune” where the accused killer of Pam Vitale, Scott Dyleski, lived are filing charges against Contra Costa County saying that Contra Costa County Sheriff’s deputies did not have warrants at the time the residence was searched for Dyleski…

    More than 10 sheriff’s deputies burst into the Hunsaker Canyon Road residence of Fred and Kim Curiel on the evening of Oct. 19, 2005, looking for Dyleski, the claim says. Dyleski, now 17, was a suspect in the killing of his neighbor Pamela Vitale four days earlier.

    At least seven other people lived with the Curiels at the time. The deputies began searching the house for Dyelski, pointing their guns and screaming at each of the adults and children, aged 2 to 16, to get down on the floor, the claim says.

    Deputies threatened that if the residents did not cooperate, the deputies would “blow your head off.”

    One deputy pushed Fred Curiel’s face into the ground, breaking his eyeglasses. Another pressed her shoe against the back of Curiel’s 11-year-old daughter to keep her on the floor, the claim says.

    The housemates allege that the deputies entered without an arrest warrant for Dyleski or a search warrant for the home. The deputies presented a search warrant more than one and a half hours later.

    The residents, who seek unspecified damages, say that the experience has left them with nightmares, flashbacks, and other anxieties.

    I seriously doubt that in a high-profile case such as this that law enforcement would not have all their I’s dotted and their T’s crossed. To me, this sounds like just a bunch of hippies lashing out against “the man”.

  • Dyleski facing life

    Dyleski facing life

    Dyleski could serve life without parole:

    Contra Costa County prosecutors have filed a special circumstance allegation against 17-year-old murder defendant Scott Dyleski, subjecting him to a life term without the possibility of parole if he is convicted.

    Prosecutors allege that Dyleski committed murder during a residential burglary.

    In court documents filed Wednesday, deputy district attorney Harold Jewett said Dyleski entered the home of Pamela Vitale with the intention of stealing, counterfeiting or fraudulently using access card information.

    Dyleski is accused of killing Vitale on Oct. 15, 2005. Vitale’s husband Daniel Horowitz found her stabbed and bludgeoned to death that evening.

    Dyleski cannot get the death penalty due to his age. Which is more consideration than Pam Vitale got.

  • Dyleski to stand trial

    Dyleski to stand trial

    Judge orders Dyleski to stand trial in Vitale murder:

    A judge has ruled that there is a sufficient amount of evidence to reasonably try Scott Dyleski for the murder of Pam Vitale, and he will be tried as an adult…

    During the first three days of testimony Contra Costa County prosecutor Harold Jewett presented evidence painting Dyleski as a disturbed young man.

    He showed Dyleski’s drawings, that included a figure holding a bloody knife who was wearing a ski mask and a trench coat. Jewett pointed out that some of the clothes found by detectives during their investigation included a bloody ski mask and a trench coat that he believes Dyleski wore during the killing.

    Jewett also presented drawings and printed examples of symbols found in Dyleski’s bedroom that were similar, but not identical, to the mark found on Vitale’s back. Defense attorney Ellen Leonida of the public defender’s office argued against allowing Dyleski’s artwork in, saying a lot of artwork is disturbing and is not evidence of murder. But the judge disagreed, and will allow certain of Dyleski’s drawings to be used by prosecutors in a trial.

    Witnesses who lived with Dyleski at his home about a mile down Hunsaker Canyon Road from Vitale and Horowitz testified that on the morning of Oct. 15, Dyleski came home with scratches or “gouge-like” marks on his face.

    Witnesses also testified that Dyleski became paranoid on the day before his arrest on Oct. 19, and began talking about his fear that his DNA might be found on Vitale’s body. He told a story of a woman who pulled over in a car and grabbed his arm while he was on a walk in the neighborhood as the reason for his concern.

    All that even after Dyleski’s mom destroyed evidence

    After Dyleski’s Oct. 19 arrest, authorities arrested Fielding as an accessory to murder after the fact for destroying a red writing journal of her son’s, a box of disposable gloves and a written list of the names and credit card information for a number of her and her son’s neighbors. The charges were dropped after Fielding agreed to testify for prosecutors against Dyleski.

    Not only that but Pam Vitale’s DNA was found on Scott Dyleski’s belongings

    Prosecutors concluded the hearings Friday with testimony from David Stockwell, a DNA expert who said Vitale’s DNA was found on the boy’s duffel bag, with a statistical probability that 1 in 13 quadrillion other Caucasians would share the same profile.

    Detectives discovered the duffel, which was affixed with Dyleski’s nametag, during a search of the property where the teen lived with 11 other individuals.

    The bag contained bloody clothes that prosecutors believe Dyleski wore when he allegedly killed Vitale, and a mixture of both their DNA was found on a ski mask, shoes, and the bag itself.

    Dyleski is ineligible for the death penalty because he was under 18 at the time of the murder.

  • Scott Dyleski’s Checklist

    Scott Dyleski’s Checklist

    Dyleskis ex-roommate finds disturbing checklist:

    I get a lot of comments from people who say that Scott Dyleski is a great kid and couldn’t possibly be capable of killing Pam Vitale. Oh yeah? Well, what do you have to say about this?

    It was in late January that David Curiel — who lived with Dyleski and two other families in a Hunsaker Canyon home about a mile down the road from Vitales — found a number of index cards that included detailed personal and financial information about other Hunsaker Canyon residents who were victims of credit card fraud. The handwritten cards included the dates of birth, frequent flier numbers and passwords to eBay and Amazon.com accounts.

    And prosecutors say one of the cards included this checklist:

    – Knock out/kidnap

    – Question

    – Keep captive to confirm PINS (personal identification numbers)

    – Dirty work

    – Dispose of evidence

    – Cut up and bury

    Things that make you go hmmm?

  • Friend dropped the dime on Dyleski

    Friend dropped the dime on Dyleski

    Friend casts suspicion on Dyleski:

    It turns out that it was Scott Dyleski’s close friend and partner in the alleged credit card fraud/marijuana growing scheme that tipped off investigators to Dyleski in the brutal slaying of Pam Vitale…

    According to sources close to the case, a teenage friend of Dyleski saw him hours after the killing with scratches on his face. Dyleski told his friend he got scratched while walking in the woods.

    A few days later, as the case attracted media attention, Dyleski told his friend he was worried investigators might find his own DNA on Vitale. He told his friend that Vitale saw him in the woods and grabbed him.

    The story made the friend suspicious about Dyleski. He also was worried because he and Dyleski were involved in a scheme to use fraudulent credit cards to purchase marijuana-growing lights and have them sent to the homes of neighbors.

    Originally, it was thought that Dyleski killed Pam Vitale because he was caught having the marijuana growing equipment sent to Vitale’s house, but that has since been abandoned since no evidence has been found substantiating that.

    The friend will testify against Dyleski in exchange for credit card fraud charges being dropped.

  • Dyleski enters plea

    Dyleski enters plea

    Dyleski pleads not guilty: (Log in info)

    Nearly four weeks after his arrest, Scott Dyleski pleaded not guilty Wednesday to murder in the killing of Pamela Vitale, a former high-tech executive and the wife of a well-known local defense attorney.

    The 17-year-old, who has been charged as an adult in the crime, entered his plea as he stood in “the cage,” a metal and glass structure that is reserved for defendants in custody.

    The District Attorney’s Office has charged Dyleski with murder and assault with a deadly weapon. He faces up to 26 years to life in prison if convicted.

    Outside the courtroom Wednesday, three friends of Dyleski said they had showed up to support him. Immediately surrounded by cameras and reporters, they described him as kind and said they were shocked when they heard about his arrest.

  • Scott Dyleski Round Up

    Scott Dyleski Round Up

    I’m technically still on vacation, but I’m on some downtime right now, so I thought I’d post updates on the Scott Dyleski situation. One report states that Scott Dyleski went to his girlfriend’s to have sex after the murder. So if he did commit the murder of Pam Vitale that would go a long way in showing his callousness towards the crime.

    Then Scott Dyleski’s mother, Esther Fielding, was arrested on accessory to murder charges. Then the charges were dropped after Fielding agreed to testify against her son. Which leads me to believe that there must be something to the charges against Dyleski, since his own mother has agreed to truthfully testify against him.

    Another report states that one of Esther Fielding’s acquaintances, Kim Curiel, says that Scott Dyleski committed the murder because Dyleski’s 13-year-old border collie was struck and killed by a driver in the area and that Dyleski may have mistaken Pam Vitale for the driver that killed his dog. Even if that is true, that’s even worse than the marijuana equipment/stolen credit card allegations prosecutors are using. A mistaken identity revenge killing over a dog makes him an even more mentally disturbed and dangerous individual than the original accusation.

  • Evidence Found at Scott Dyleski’s home

    Evidence Found at Scott Dyleski’s home

    MORE DETAILS RELEASED IN VITALE CASE:

    I know I’m supposed to be on vacation, but I thought this was important…

    Detectives found a blood-stained glove in a vehicle parked in front of the home of Scott Dyleski, the 16-year-old charged with murder, court documents say.

    The county crime lab determined Oct. 17 that Vitale was stabbed and bludgeoned by somebody wearing gloves. Investigators found the glove after Dyleski’s arrest Oct. 19.

    The warrants say investigators also found clothes soaked in “red-tinted” water in the home of a neighbor, Gerald Wheeler. He and another neighbor, Joseph Lynch, gave investigators samples of their hair.