Jurors took 95 minutes on Monday to decide Harve L. Johnson should die for fatally beating 2-year-old Darisabel Baez, in what they also decided was a case of torture.

It was about five minutes longer than they took to convict him on Friday of first-degree murder.

The six-man, six-woman jury rejected an impassioned plea by defense attorney Ari Weitzman to spare Johnson’s life, and also rejected the argument that Johnson’s own horrendous childhood should be taken into consideration when deciding his fate.

Jurors unanimously agreed Johnson should die for his crime. The only other possible punishment was life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Darisabel’s murder captured the attention of not only the York community, but the worldwide community, via online reports.

Chief deputy prosecutor Chris Moore said he saw at least 10 prospective jurors, who were ultimately rejected for the jury, attending Johnson’s trial last week simply to watch.

“That’s unheard of,” he said. “Everybody’s so invested in the case.”

He said the community didn’t forget Darisabel, and that the intense interest in the trial showed people were concerned Johnson might not be held accountable.

Police officers who initially responded to Darisabel’s 710 W. Philadelphia St. home on April 6, 2008 — the day she was beaten — as well as county workers and a York Hospital trauma nurse who photographed Darisabel’s injuries, crowded the courtroom on Friday for Johnson’s guilty verdict. Many returned on Monday to hear his punishment.

They cried and hugged on Friday. Nurse Patti O’Brien later said that while police and emergency responders regularly witness heartbreaking tragedies, Darisabel’s case left an indelible mark on all of them.

People walking and driving past the courthouse reacted to Johnson’s punishment by pumping their fists or exclaiming “Yes!” Some simply nodded, but all knew about the case and wanted the death penalty for Johnson.

Prosecutor Tim Barker acknowledged “it’s a very difficult thing” to ask a jury to impose the “ultimate sentence.”

“But we had to do that, because that’s what justice required,” he said. “Darisabel still died a torturous death … that’s forever a loss to society.”

Darisabel’s grandmother, Margarita Leon, did not comment as she left the courthouse. Weitzman and fellow defense attorney Rick Robinson also declined comment.

Last Friday, the same jury took less than two hours to convict Harve Johnson of that first-degree murder charge. Details are available on this video:

In case you’ve forgotten, Harve Johson beat 2-year-old Darisabel Baez with a video game controller back in April of 2008. He beat her because she had the nerve to keep waking up every day a 5:00am. He though a good whupping would teach her to sleep later, so he, Harve Johnson, could sleep undisturbed.

The highlight of Harve Johnson’s trial was the testimony of Nedia Benz, the mother of Darisabel Baez. Baez had already plead guilty to third-degree murder for failing to intervene while Johnson was beating her daughter to death. Here are some excerpts from a York Dispatch article detailing Baez’ testimony:

Baez, 21, recounted the minutes leading up to her daughter’s death in their former 710 W. Philadelphia St. home. She said she’d first awakened that day about 5 a.m., when Darisabel walked into the living room where Baez and Johnson slept.

Angered that his sleep had been interrupted, Johnson ordered Darisabel to stand in the corner. She was still there about noon, when the couple woke up for the day, Johnson said.

But Johnson was still angry, Baez said.

“(He) swatted her in the butt,” she said, “and her diaper popped.”

Feces and bits of diaper soiled the little girl’s clothing and the floor, the mother testified.

Baez — who has pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and is expected to be sentenced to five to 10 years in prison — said she cleaned up both her daughter and the mess on the floor.

“That’s when Mr. Harve Johnson grabbed her from me” and carried Darisabel to another room, Baez said.

‘She didn’t deserve it’: “He was hitting her … she was crying,” Baez recounted. “I told him … she didn’t deserve it. He told me to mind my business and go into the other room.”

Baez said she went back to the living room.

“I could hear the whistle of the remote control” as it whipped through the air and hit Darisabel, she said, and at times could see Johnson wielding the device. During the beating, Darisabel cried for her mother and Baez cried for Johnson to stop, she said.

She didn’t summon help because “I was scared, ’cause Harve threatened he would hit me too,” Baez told jurors.

Baez said eventually, Darisabel stopped crying, at which point she heard Johnson running the water in the bathroom. They’d just moved into the apartment a few days before, and had no heat or hot water, she said.

‘What did you do?’: “Harve brings Darisabel to me and she’s wet. She was limp. She wasn’t moving,” Baez said. “I was asking him, ‘What did you do to her?’

“I took her to the kitchen and started giving her CPR,” she said, during which Darisabel threw up blood and briefly began breathing again.

“She was wheezing … three times,” Baez said, and then the toddler stopped breathing.

At that point, Baez yelled for Johnson to call 911 and he went to a neighbor’s home and used their phone to do so. Police said he left the house as officers arrived, but returned later and was arrested.

Darisabel’s wounds were widespread and severe, including injuries to the brain, chest, heart, liver, neck, extremities and vagina, her autopsy report states. The report states that “the amount of beating is extensive and indicative of torture.

Now ol’ Harve Johnson will sit on death row and wait for his sentence to be carried out. Unfortunately, his life will end much more humanely than his victim’s did. Instead of hours and hours of vicious beatings by a bully and a coward, Harve will just go to sleep and never wake up. No matter how hard I try, I can never talk myself into believing that’s justice. I do believe this is the best justice a civilized society can give, however, and that I can live with.

Woops, I Almost Forgot To Thank Missy For Tipping Me Off About Harve Johnson’s Fate. Well Done Missy.

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On Saturday, December 15th, 2007, four bystanders rescued Michelle Lynn Kehoe, 33, of Coralville, Iowa and her two young sons after she drove her minivan into the icy Iowa River. Kehoe said she lost control of the car when she was distracted by her kids and drifted off the driving surface of the road onto the dirt shoulder.

No one suspected this was really her first attempt to kill herself and the two boys. There would be another, much more successful attempt approximately a year later.

On Sunday, October 26, 2008, Michelle Kehoe loaded Sean and Seth into her Volkswagen Eurovan and left her home in Coralville, Iowa for a trip to visit relatives in Sumner. They would never make it there.

Instead, Michelle Kehoe appeared at Littleton home near a pond owned by the Hook-N-Liner Sportsmen’s Club in a panic, bleeding from a bad cut to her throat. She collapsed on the floor of the home but police found a note which said she was hit in the head by a man after he snuck into the van while they were at a playground and tried to force them to take him to Chicago. Kehoe wrote she attempted to pepper spray him but he overpowered her and knocked her unconscious. When she awoke, Seth was dead and Sean was injured.

When cops located the minivan a short distance away, they found the youngest son, 2-year-old Seth, dead with his throat cut and his 6-year-old brother Sean locked in the car, still alive but with a similar wound. Both boys had their hands and eyes duct taped.

Needless to say, the police were a bit “skeptical” about the Michelle Kehoe’s story, especially after they were able to ask Sean what happened to him and his brother. Here is some testimony from the first day of Michelle Kehoe’s Trial for murdering her son Seth and attempting to murder her other son Sean:

Jurors this morning heard Sean Kehoe describe to Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Deputy Stephen Petersen what he saw when he pulled off the duct tape his mother, Michelle Kehoe, had placed over his eyes before cutting his throat.

“She was hurting my baby brother,” Sean said in a recording played for the jury Thursday morning.

Following the playing of the first part of Petersen’s interview with Sean, two photos Petersen took at Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo were displayed. The first depicted Sean, his face caked in dry blood, a breathing tube in his nose, facing the camera. The second showed the deep cut on the lower right side of his throat.

Various police, fire and medical personnel testified Thursday morning. When first responders found Sean Kehoe alive in his mother’s van last October, they asked him about the first-aid kit they had found nearby.

“He said the first-aid kit was from him trying to help his brother,” Sean Even, a firefighter who responded to the scene with the Jesup Fire Department, said.

But 2-year-old Seth Kehoe was already dead, Even testified.

Iowa State Patrol Trooper Jim Smith talked to Sean Kehoe at the scene. A recording from Smith’s patrol vehicle was played for the jury, though much of it was hard to understand.

“Who hurt your brother?” Smith asked.

“My mom,” Sean replied.

Later, Smith asked Sean who hurt him.

“Your mommy hurt you?” he asked.

“Yes,” Sean replied.

First responders testified that Sean was alert and articulate when speaking with them. However, Smith testified that Sean was often looking past him when he spoke and instead looked at the body of his brother.

Also at Michelle Kehoe’s trial, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Chris Callaway testified about her eventual confession during questioning the day after the murder:

Originally, Kehoe told Callaway that she and the boys were headed to Sumner to see her mother, who was in a nursing home there. They left Coralville around 11:15 a.m. She stopped in Jesup around 12:30 p.m., for snacks and to let the boys burn off some excess energy at the St. Athanasius School playground.

It was there, Kehoe said, the man likely climbed into the back of her van and hid. She said he was in his 50s, with a beard and long, graying hair under a stocking cap. He had two scars on his face and was wearing a trench coat. She didn’t see him until his head popped up in the rearview mirror, she said.

Kehoe eventually ended up at the Hook-N-Liner pond, where she said she tried to fight the man using pepper spray. She hoped to escape, but the man kicked the canister away.

“I was trying, trying, trying to get away,” she wrote. “He’ll have nasty bruises on his shins.”

The man banged her head against the van and knocked her out. When she came to, she was in the back of the vehicle. Her wrists and ankles were bound with duct tape.

She also found the boys injured. Sean was still bleeding. Kehoe tried to administer first aid. Seth’s lips were already purple.

The man came back and assaulted her. He cut her throat and then she blacked out, she said. The next day, she managed to make it to Debra Hinde’s house a quarter-mile up the road. Hinde called 911, and first responders discovered the van.

Kehoe appeared worried in the interview about what family members said during hospital visits.

“When Aunt Colleen was here yesterday, Sean said I was trying to hurt him,” she said. “(I was) trying to stop the bleeding.”

Story Unravels

Callaway told jurors details of the story didn’t match up with the evidence they already had, including a statement from Sean Kehoe that Michelle cut him.

“The mystery assailant, we didn’t think was true,” he said.

He confronted her in the same interview, and she confessed she hurt the boys. She couldn’t say why.

“I want to die. I can’t explain this to anyone. Just kill me,” she wrote.

Kehoe said she intended to kill the boys and herself. She drove them out to the pond and told them she had to take care of something. She then bound Sean with tape and covered his eyes. She chose him first because he was older, she said. She killed Seth next, she wrote.

“I knew they would go up to heaven, and I would go to hell,” she said.

She cut her throat about 5 minutes later. Michelle Kehoe went to the road and curled up in a ball and “waited to finish dying.” In the meantime, Sean had crawled into the van to hide, though Kehoe didn’t see him.

Several family members had gathered at the hospital, though Kehoe declined the offer by Callaway to have them come into her room.

“I don’t want to see anyone, I don’t want to face anyone, once they know I’m not OK,” she said.

On Thursday, October 29th, 2008, Michelle Kehoe was officially charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and child endangerment causing serious injury. To view a copy of the Complaint & Affidavit for all three charges, click on the following three links:

Murder in the First Degree
Attempt to Commit Murder
Child Endangerment Resulting in Serious Injury

On October 28th, 2009. almost exactly one year to the day since Michelle Kehoe slit the throats of her two sons, he trial began. As is usually the case when the prosecution has a defendant cold, and the crime is so unbelievably heinous, Michelle Kehoe had pled insanity.

Her attorneys pointed to the previous attempt at suicide, when Michelle Kehoe drove her minivan into the Iowa River, and to an even earlier attempt when she was growing up. Besides, they argued, what mother in her right mind tries to kill her own children?

Unfortunately for them, and for Michelle Kehoe too, investigators found evidence that she had planned the murder of Sean and Seth almost a month in advance. Part of that evidence was receipts that proved she had bought the duct tape and the knife several weeks before making her move.

The jury didn’t buy the insanity defense. On November 5th, 2009, after only 2 hours of deliberation, Michelle Lynn Kehoe was convicted on all counts:

Coralville mother Michelle Kehoe cried and her family sobbed as a jury found her guilty of first-degree murder in the death last fall of her 2-year-old son in a remote area of northeast Iowa.

Kehoe used a white handkerchief to stem her tears as the jury of eight women and four men also found her guilty of attempted murder and child endangerment causing serious injury to cap the week-long trial.

It took jurors only two hours to come back with the three guilty verdicts against Kehoe, 35, who had been accused of killing her son, Seth, near Littleton on Oct. 28, 2008, and then trying to kill her then 7-year-old son, Sean, before also cutting her own throat. She had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

In a statement read by B.J. Franklin of the Cedar Rapids-based Horizon Survivors Program, the family said the ordeal caused them “a great sadness” and that they did not know the extent of Kehoe’s mental illness.

“This situation has been extremely traumatic for all involved,” Franklin read.

The family said they will now focus their attention on Sean Kehoe.

“There are no winners in this case,” Franklin read. “Lives have been irreparably damaged.”

As the verdict was read, Michelle Kehoe’s husband, Eugene, looked straight ahead and showed no emotion.

Defense attorney Andrea Dryer left the courtroom shortly after the verdict was read and was not immediately available for comment; her office said she would not be in for the rest of the day. Iowa Assistant Attorney General Andy Prosser, who prosecuted the case, said all homicide trials are difficult and “this one had its issues that were very tragic.”

Michelle Kehoe will be sentenced Dec. 15 in Independence; the trial took place in Grundy Center on a change of venue because of pretrial publicity.

Michelle Kehoe and her family seemed to predict the outcome of the short deliberation as they filed back into the courtroom and cried before the jury entered. Eugene Kehoe sat with his hands clasped and looked forward.

In closing arguments earlier in the day, attorneys for both sides argued whether Michelle Kehoe was mentally capable of distinguishing right from wrong at the time of the attacks.

Dryer said there was no contesting what Kehoe had done. However, her mental state at the time of the attacks prevents her from being held accountable, she said.

Dryer also reiterated what defense witnesses testified earlier about Michelle Kehoe’s reasons for attacking her children, attempting to kill herself and blaming it on a fictitious attacker — she would save her children the burden of losing a parent and living with mental illness and they would go to heaven. That was fixed, delusional thinking, Dryer said.

“There is absolutely no reason for this other than what she said,” Dryer said. “She wanted to die, she thought it was right. She thought it was right for the kids, too.”

In his closing, Prosser countered that “thinking it’s right is not the same as losing the capacity to tell right from wrong.”

Legal insanity does not have a cause and effect relationship with Kehoe’s mental illness nor does the incomprehensibility of her acts mean Kehoe is legally insane, Prosser said.

“Failing to comprehend why she did it does not mean she’s legally insane,” he said.

Michelle Kehoe will be automatically be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

This was another story that took me several days to finish, because it was just too difficult to keep my anger in check for more than a hour or two at a clip. People who choose to take their children with them when they commit suicide – especially the ones who fail miserably at their own attempt to end their life – have earned special status in the place in my mind where I store my rage. What gives them the right to take the lives of these children before they’ve even had a chance to start living it? Who are they to make that choice?

I hope Michelle Kehoe spends the rest of her life in abject misery. I hope she never, ever finds the peace she is looking for in this life. Most of all, I hope that life is a long one, full of painful memories of Seth.

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Lillington, N.C. — Harnett County prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against the mother of an 11-month-old girl whose remains were were found in the attic of a Spring Lake home two years ago.

Johni Michelle Heuser, 27, of 1680 Ray Road, was indicted in September on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Harmony Jade Creech.

Deputies found the toddler’s remains in her mother’s attic on Oct. 20, 2007. The indictment states the child was killed between Aug. 31, 2007, and Sept. 30, 2007.

You guys remember Johni Michelle Heuser, don’t you? Sure you do. Well, one of the problems with Johni’s case was that the prosecution couldn’t identify a cause of death for little Harmony. Heuser claimed that she panicked when she found the child dead in her crib and hid the body in her attic. They no longer have that problem.

The decision (to go for the death penalty) was made official Tuesday during a hearing in Harnett County Superior Court for Johni Heuser, 27, during which possible causes in the death of 11-month-old Harmony Jade Creech were revealed for the first time.

Ms. Heuser was charged with first degree murder in October 2007 after a search of her home revealed Harmony’s remains stuffed in a plastic-wrapped diaper box hidden in the attic of her Ray Road home.

The decision to try Ms. Heuser with a capital offence came during a Rule 24 hearing. In a Rule 24 hearing the state must show mitigating circumstances in the crime in order to raise it to the level of a death penalty offense.

In Ms. Heuser’s case, the mitigating circumstance, Prosecutor Davis Weddle said, was the way in which Harmony died, a cause of death determined in part by a study conducted by an anthropologist from UNC-Chapel Hill who studied the child’s bones. The death was a slow one, he said. “It takes a long time for bones to become stunted,” Mr. Weddle said. “She (the anthropologist) relayed to me that this child, Harmony Creech, died of starvation or chronic severe malnutrition.”

During his response, co-defense counsel Phil Fusco argued the state medical examiner officially sets the cause of death. Mr. Fusco said the medical examiner who conducted the autopsy said he could not determine starvation conclusively and chronic malnutrition could be caused by natural causes such as SIDS and pneumonia..

So it appear the State’s theory will be that Johni Michelle Heuser was obsessed with the online video game “Final Fantasy” to the point that she ignored the basic needs of 2-year-old Harmony Jade Creech. Things like food. And water. As a result of Heuser’s obsession, little Harmony Creech starved to death.

Afterwards, Heuser wrapped the body in plastic, placed it in an empty diaper box, and hid it in her attic. When Harmony’s father, Sgt. Ronald Creech II, a member of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, returned from a 15-month deployment in Iraq, Heuser initially claimed the baby had been abducted. Later, when the remains were discovered, she changed her story and told police she found the baby dead in her crib.

A Big Thank You Goes Out To Starr Harper And Lanie For Their Tips On The Latest Developments.

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It’s been just over 7 years since Lee Boyd Malvo and John Allen Muhammad were arrested, sleeping in their 1990 Chevrolet Caprice Sedan. The murder weapon the two had used to kill ten people, a Bushmaster .223 rifle was found inside the car, and was later conclusively linked through ballistics to 8 of the 10 shootings, though the eventual conviction that led to Muhammad’s death sentence relates to only a single shooting, that of Dean Harold Meyers, a 53 year-old man who was just pumping his gas.

At the time, in the post 9-11 aftermath of fear and conspiracy, systematic murders by a man named Muhammad and his young disciple added fuel to the fire of religious hatred and disjointed relations that colored the character of national and international decisions. Was Muhammad and the young Malvo a dastardly duo on a mission from Allah?

No, Muhammad was angry at one woman, his ex-wife, who had estranged him from his children. His killing spree, shooting 10 other people and basically scaring the piss out of everyone and anyone living near the Beltway, was his “clever” cover for his plans to murder his ex-wife.

Yeah, this guy killed 10 people, in order to hide the fact that he was going to kill his ex-wife….How does this make sense?

Here’s a list of Muhammad’s victims:

James Martin, age 55, shot and killed, October 2, 2002
Premkumar Walekar, age 54, shot and killed, October 3, 2002
Sarah Ramos, age 34, shot and killed, October 3, 2002
Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, age 25, shot and killed, October 3, 2002
Pascal Charlot, age 72, shot and killed October 3, 2002
Caroline Seawell, age 43, shot and seriously wounded, October 4, 2002
Iran Brown, age 13, shot and seriously wounded, October 7, 2002
Dean Harold Meyers, shot and killed October 9, 2002
Kenneth Bridges, age 53, shot and killed October 11, 2002
Linda Franklin, age 47, shot and killed October 14, 2002
Jeffrey Hopper, age 37, shot and seriously wounded, October 19, 2002
Conrad Johnson, age 35, shot and killed October 22, 2002

Well, soon we won’t have to worry about him. Governor Kaine over in Virginia, whatever your feelings about his politics has stepped out of the way, and barring some rather lofty judicial intervention or some other major event, Muhammad will be executed by lethal injection this evening at 9:00 PM.

John Allen Muhammad, age 48, was pronounced dead a 9:11pm on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009. He was executed by lethal injection at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, Virginia. Relatives of his victims, his attorneys, members of the media and official state witnesses watched as Muhammad’s sentence was carried out.

You can bet the fires of hell burned a little brighter the moment Muhammad’s soul arrived.

Note: “The Final Report – The DC Sniper” is from a CNN special report on the sniper attacks. There’s a lot of opinion mixed in with the facts, so don’t let yourself get sidetracked by the producer’s spin on things. I chose to use the videos because it contained the most thorough examination of the facts surrounding Muhammad’s and Malvo’s killing spree.

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Lake Tapps Pilot Pleads Guilty to 35 Counts of Production of Child Pornography, Sex Traveling, and Obstruction

April 24, 2009 — Weldon Marc Gilbert, 48, of Lake Tapps, Washington, pleaded guilty yesterday evening to 35 counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor in the Production of Child Pornography, Transportation of a Minor to Engage in Illegal Sexual Activity and Obstruction of Justice.  U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez remained at the Seattle federal courthouse into the evening hours to conduct the plea hearing, to ensure GILBERT knowingly and voluntarily entered his guilty plea.  GILBERT remains detained at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac, and will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle in Tacoma on August 17, 2009.  Under the terms of the plea agreement, GILBERT must be sentenced to between 19 years and 25 years in prison.  Prosecutors will ask for a 25 year prison term.  The plea is also dependent upon GILBERT’s guilty plea to charges in Pierce County Superior Court.  He will serve both sentences concurrently.

“With this plea agreement we ensure that Weldon Marc Gilbert will not have any access to children for a long, long time,” said U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Sullivan.  “Resolving this case now allows the victims to continue the healing process, without reliving in court the horror Gilbert inflicted upon them when they were young boys.”

According to documents filed in the case, GILBERT’s activities first came to light in October 2007, when two brothers reported to the FBI the long term sexual abuse of their relatives by GILBERT.  A court-authorized search of GILBERT’s Lake Tapps home revealed a studio-type set-up with cameras, and numerous videos showing minor boys being sexually molested and sexually spanked by GILBERT.   In the plea agreement GILBERT admitted that the thirty-one videos he produced show 17 different victims, the youngest being 10, 12, 13 and 14 years-old.  GILBERT pleaded guilty to two counts of Transportation of a Minor to Engage in Illegal Sexual Activity, related to trips to Canada in 2005, and 2006.  On these trips GILBERT produced child pornography.  Finally, the obstruction of justice charges related to his actions when he learned he was under police investigation in 2007, and after he was charged federally and was in custody in 2008.  By telephone in 2007, and by letter in 2008, GILBERT tried to get one of his victims to lie about what happened in the investigation.

As part of the plea agreement, GILBERT forfeits to the government property and high end goods he used to lure his victims including his Lake Tapps property, two cars, a helicopter, a float plane, and a boat.  GILBERT also forfeits camera and computer equipment.  The government, in turn, agrees to seek a way to ensure that those forfeited funds go to victims who have filed civil lawsuits, rather than to the government.  GILBERT waived his right to appeal the sentence imposed by the court.

The case represents a terrific example of cooperation between state prosecutors, local law enforcement, federal law enforcement, and the United States Attorney’s Office.  The case was investigated by the FBI and the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Roger Rogoff and Mike Dion.

Weldon Marc Gilbert will be sentenced on November 16th, 2009.

According to his plea deal, Weldon Marc Gilbert cannot receive less than 19 years or more than 25 years in a Federal Prison. The magic words in that sentence are “Federal Prison”. They’re important words because, no matter what Gilbert’s sentence is, he will server every single day of it – In the Federal Prison System, there is no such thing as parole.

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But this time I thought I’d handle things differently. Many updates are inspired by comments from supporters of on of our featured members, protesting one of our stories on their friend or family member and claiming their innocence. That forces me to dig into their friend or family members case.

That’s exactly what happened here, only I had to do quite a bit of research in Randy P. Aaser’s case. Not because it was difficult to find, but because there was so much of it, all pointing directly at his guilt.

Now before we continue, I should refresh people’s memories on what Randy P. Aaser actually did. According to the Criminal Complaint, after a night of partying to celebrate his wife Meg Lundeen’s birthday, Randy slashed her throat during an argument over Meg smoking a cigarette. The crime happened during the early morning hours of June 13th, 2007, in the Minneapolis, MN suburb of Brooklyn Center. This video will provide all the details for you:

Anyway, after I posted my reply, I thought it might make a pretty good update too, so I came up with this format. I hope you guys enjoy it.

Carrie H says:
November 7, 2009 at 12:26 am

I know Randy personally. I’ve known him for 14 years. When we first heard what happened we thought the psycho bitch did it to herself! She is THAT crazy! I hope SHE rots in hell! This is NOT the whole story.

Max The Cat says:
November 7, 2009 at 2:48 am

So please, enlighten us Carrie H. Explain to us how a woman can slash her own throat so badly she severs her tongue.

Because I gotta be honest, it’s not her I’m thinking is the psycho bitch right this minute.

From what I’ve found out, he admitted he did it. According to the official Criminal Complaint against him, Aaser called a friend around 3 a.m. and said Lundeen had pulled a knife on him. he said he grabbed and then cut her neck. He said he was sorry, the complaint said. Police arrested him around 3:20 a.m. Police found a bloody 8-inch knife in the couple’s kitchen.

BTW Carrie, have you seen you seen Randy lately? I have.

Minnesota Department of Corrections – Offender Information

And wait just a minute. It looks like Randy pled guilty to Assault in the First Degree. He got himself 12 and a half years.

Behold, Randy P. Aaser’s Court Records:

Case No. 27-CR-07-037701
State of Minnesota vs RANDY PAUL AASER
Case Type: Crim/Traf Mandatory
Date Filed: 06/12/2007
Location: Hennepin Criminal/Traffic/Petty Downtown

Party Information

Lead Attorneys:

NELSON, ERIC JOHN
BARRY, LEE W, III

Defendant:

AASER, RANDY PAUL
BROOKLYN CENTER, MN 55429
Male, DOB 10/05/1973

Charge Information

1. Assault-1st Degree 609.221.1 Felony 06/09/2007

2. Attempted Murder in the Second Degree -Intentional (Attempt to Commit – GOC) 609.19.1(1) Felony 06/09/2007

Events and Orders of the Court

DISPOSITIONS

08/01/2007 – Plea (Judicial Officer: Oleisky, Allen)

1. Assault-1st Degree – Not guilty
2. Attempted Murder in the Second Degree -Intentional (Attempt to Commit – GOC) – Not guilty

01/08/2008 – Amended Plea (Judicial Officer: Oleisky, Allen)
Reason: Court Order, Plea agreement

1. Assault-1st Degree – Guilty

02/20/2008 – Disposition (Judicial Officer: Oleisky, Allen)

1. Assault-1st Degree – Convicted

2. Attempted Murder in the Second Degree -Intentional (Attempt to Commit – GOC) – Dismissed

02/20/2008 – Sentenced (Judicial Officer: Oleisky, Allen)

1. Assault-1st Degree – Commit to Commissioner of Corrections – Adult: MN Correctional Facility – St. Cloud 150 Mo

Report on: 02/21/2008
Credit for Time Served: 28 Days
Departure: Dispositional
Status: Active 02/20/2008
Condition: Adult

1. Restitution reserved, 02/20/2008, Active 02/20/2008

Trust me girlie, he’s guilty as hell. Now don’t you regret coming on this website and accusing the victim of faking the crime just to frame this asshole, without any proof whatsoever that things happened the way you say they did? People like you make me physically ill. Meg Lundeen has already suffered enough without some jackass like you starting rumors about her sanity and her integrity, based in absolutely nothing.

Now shut the fuck up.

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A Galveston County jury deliberated for more than fours hours today before finding Royce Clyde Zeigler II guilty of capital murder in the death 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers, who became known as Baby Grace.

Prosecutors portrayed Zeigler as helping his wife kill his stepdaughter during a cruel disciplinary session and then concocting elaborate lies to help cover up the slaying and disposal of the body.

The defense countered in final arguments that Zeigler, 26, was a good man who had nothing to do with the death of Riley Ann Sawyers, but loved his wife so much that he helped her pack Riley’s body in a box and eventually toss it into the Gulf of Mexico.

The arguments on the eighth day of Zeigler’s capital murder trial before District Judge David Garner were made with dramatic flourishes by both sides before the nine men and three women on the jury began deliberations.

“If you’ve never seen the face of a man who killed a child, get a good look,” Galveston County District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk said as he pointed to Zeigler at the defense table.

“We don’t have a video of what Royce Clyde Zeigler and the co-defendant did in the house that day,” Sistrunk told the jurors.

Causing a loud bang by kicking the blue, plastic box that Riley’s body was found in on Oct. 29, 2007, and scattering dirt from it onto the courtroom floor, Sistrunk said, “It’s not the state’s fault that there was 12 pounds of rotting flesh in this box.”

Assistant District Attorney Kayla Allen held up a photo of the blond, blue-eyed girl, saying, “This is the Riley that came to Texas. Then Allen held up a second photo of Riley’s skull showing three fractures. “In six weeks, this is what they reduced her to,” she said.

It took the jurors exactly four and a half hours to decide the guilt of Royce Clyde Zeigler II. I wonder what took them so long? I guess there was a juror or two who wanted to look at all the evidence before making a decision, as if they weren’t in the trial for the past week. No matter, they got it right. Royce Zeigler will now spend the rest of his life in a Texas state prison without the possibility of parole. That the only sentence available to the judge, since the Death Penalty is not on the table.

I don’t understand why that is. Royce Clyde Zeigler II, along with his wife, Kimberly Dawn Trenor, Beat, tortured and killed two-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers in an attempt to teach her manners. Little Riley suffered this abuse for a full 8 hours – she was beaten with a leather belt. Her head was held under water until she nearly passed out, allowed to recover, then dunked again, over and over. She was slammed against a bathroom wall so hard her head left an indentation. This is cruel and heinous treatment by adult standards, but Riley Ann Sawyers was just a baby.

As far as I’m concerned, both Royce Clyde Zeigler II and Kimberly Dawn Trenor should be thinking about a date with the needle. Kimmy should already have her appointment, and Royce should be worrying about when his will be. But none of that will happen, for reasons only the District Attorney understands.

Thanks To insaneinthesfv For The Tip On The Verdict

TRIAL OF ROYCE CLYDE ZEIGLER II BEGINS FOR MURDER OF “BABY GRACE”
by Harvey Rice – The Houston Chronicle

October 28th, 2009 — Royce Clyde Zeigler II was portrayed alternatively today as a killer who lied repeatedly to cover up the death of 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers or a man so in love with his wife that he tried to protect her even after learning that she had slain her daughter.

The prosecution and defense presented those contrasting portraits during opening statements on the first day of Zeigler’s capital murder trial before District Judge David Garner.

Zeigler, 26, and his wife, Kimberly Dawn Trenor, 21, both of Spring, concocted an elaborate web of lies that began unraveling when a fisherman discovered Riley’s body in a blue plastic box that washed onto an island in West Galveston Bay on Oct. 29, 2007, Assistant District Attorney Kayla Allen told the nine men and three women on the jury.

Allen told jurors that investigators called the then-unidentified girl Baby Grace.

Zeigler attorney Neal Davis II countered that his client was guilty of nothing more than helping his wife conceal evidence. Davis said that on the day Riley died, Zeigler walked into the living room and found Trenor with Riley, who already was unconscious.

“There is not one iota of evidence that Royce Zeigler knowingly, intentionally or in any way caused the death of Riley Sawyers,” Davis said. “He is not only not guilty, He is innocent.”

Don’t you just love defense attorneys? Every one of them has an innocent person for a client. Unfortunately for them, this time the prosecution has a pretty good case against their client, including the testimony of his wife and convicted co-defendant Kimberly Dawn Trenor.

Of course, Royce Clyde Zeigler II is claiming that Kimberly Dawn Trenor killed her daughter Riley by herself, and Royce only did what any good husband would have done and helped her cover up the crime. What a guy, eh folks? Even if he’s a disgusting fat bastard.

Oh I’m sorry, that was pretty biased of me to say that. Well, this time I don’t care if I come across as biased and unfair. Royce Clyde Zeigler II and Kimberly Dawn Trenor whipped Riley Ann Sawyer with a leather belt because, at 2-years old, she would sometimes forget to say “Yes sir”, “No Sir”, and “Please”. When that didn’t produce the results they were looking for, they filled the bathtub with water and held Riley’s head under water, effectively “waterboarding” a two-year-old girl. Finally, frustrating because Riley forgot what little she had learned about etiquette because of the torture, slammed he against the bathroom wall, fracturing her skull in three places and killing her.

And as if to add insult to injury, these two bullies, these two sacks of human excrement, put her battered, broken body in a plastic box and threw her into the Gulf Of Mexico, denying Riley even a proper burial, until her decomposed remains were found months later washed up on the shore of an island off Galveston, TX.

So yeah, I’m biased against this fat fuck. In fact, I hate his ever living guts. If anyone has a problem with that, feel free to debate me about it in the comments section.

Trenor was convicted of capital murder in February and sentenced to life in prison. As in the Trenor case, Galveston County District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk is not seeking the death penalty for Zeigler.

The prosecution will try to convince jurors that Zeigler killed Riley during a July 25, 2007, disciplinary session in which she was beaten with belts, her head held under bath water and a pillow placed her face. Trenor said in a videotaped statement played during her trial that Zeigler hurled Riley onto a tile floor. The medical examiner testified that any one of three cracks in Riley’s skull could have killed her.

Allen said Zeigler helped pack Riley’s body in a plastic box and later tossed it off the Galveston Island railroad bridge.

The prosecution will challenge Zeigler’s assertion that Trenor alone killed Riley with testimony from Riley’s paternal grandmother. Sheryl Sawyers of Mentor, Ohio, will testify that Trenor never beat Riley while the family lived with her, Allen said.

Allen said evidence will show that Zeigler was party to deceptions that included telling his parents that Riley was with one of Trenor’s relatives, inventing a story about Riley being abducted by an Ohio welfare worker and forging an Ohio welfare document.

The prosecution rested on Tuesday, November 4th, and the defense began their case Wednesday. Most of the testimony appears to be about how great a guy Royce Zeigker III is and what an evil bitch Kimberley Trenor was when Riley was alive. If we believe the witnesses for the defense, Royce Zeigler II doted over Riley Ann Sawyers as if she was the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he was the only thing that stood between the toddler and Kimberley Trenor’s anger and jealousy.

Yeah, we’ll get back to you guys on that.

If you’d like to follow the trial on a day by day basis, The Police News has the most thorough coverage of the courtroom proceedings. Here are the links to each days coverage of Royce Zeigler II trial:

Royce Zeigler II Trial, Day 1

Royce Zeigler II Trial, Day 2

Royce Zeigler II Trial, Day 4

Royce Zeigler II Trial, Day 5

Royce Zeigler II Trial, Day 6

Royce Zeigler II Trial, Day 7

I’ll let you know as soon as there’s a verdict in this case.

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June 12th, 2009–State prosecutors will unveil the crux of their case against accused murderer Leon Davis in a hearing next month, although the hearing essentially has nothing to do with proving him guilty or innocent.

Circuit Judge Michael Hunter ruled Friday that prosecutors must prove that they have enough evidence to keep Davis in jail. When he was arrested on Dec. 13, 2007, the day two women were fatally burned during an attempted robbery at a Lake Wales insurance office, prosecutors had 21 days to officially charge him with those crimes.

Hunter ruled Friday that the state missed that deadline, which means Davis is eligible for a preliminary hearing on the allegations against him.

Prosecutors must prove there’s reason to believe Davis committed the murders he’s charged with, but at this point, that proof doesn’t have to meet the higher reasonable-doubt standard, which will come at trial.

If Hunter rules that the state didn’t prove its case to hold Davis in custody, Davis will be eligible for release, but the criminal charges against him will stand while prosecutors continue to build their case.

Assistant State Attorney Paul Wallace said Friday that he’s certain the state has enough evidence to keep Davis in custody.

“I have no doubt that we can prove probable cause at this point,” he said.

During Friday’s hearing, Wallace argued that the 21-day period began when each of the victims died, which happened several days after the failed robbery on Dec. 13.

Davis’ court-appointed lawyer Bob Norgard argued the 21-day period began the day Davis was arrested, which was Dec. 13.

Prosecutors allege that Davis, 31, walked into the Headley Nationwide Insurance office that December afternoon and demanded money. When the two employees said they had none, he ordered them into the bathroom, splashed gasoline on them and set them afire.

Yvonne Bustamante and Jane Luciano, who was five months pregnant, died from injuries related to their burns. Luciano’s son, who was delivered prematurely the night of the crimes, died three days after his birth.

Davis also faces two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of two convenience store clerks at a BP station on County Road 559 near Interstate 4 in Lake Alfred six days before the Lake Wales attacks. Both Pravinkumar Patel and Dashrath Patel died of gunshot wounds to their heads.

The killings have been described as the worst murder rampage in Polk County history.

Davis is being prosecuted separately on the two crimes, and the state is seeking the death penalty in each case.

He’s scheduled to stand trial on the two cases later this year. The trials have been delayed repeatedly because Davis has changed lawyers. He represented himself last summer.

Leon Davis Junior’s Criminal Records

Wow, this guy’s crimes left me stunned. And speechless. How cold and heartless does a person have to be to shoot two innocent men in cold blood? How evil was Leon Davis when he poured gasoline on two helpless women, one of them very pregnant, set them on fire, and watch them writhe and scream in agony as they burned? Who does that?

1. Leon Davis Jr.
2. from left to right – Pravinkumar Patel and Dashrath Patel
3. from left to right – Jane Luciano and Yvonne Bustamante

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