In 1996, when he was 18, Steven Johnson was convicted for aiding and abetting criminal sexual conduct. Specifically, he and a friend of his handcuffed a girl in a car, then raped her.

During his trial, psychological testing indicated that Mr. Johnson was:

…particularly defective in his capacity for empathy.

He also indicated that he had:

…a pathological sexual adjustment that is not likely to be improved very much by the time he leaves prison.

You don’t say?

Steven R. Johnson was given a sentence of 17 years and two months for that, back in 1996. Of course, thanks to good time, he was released in February of 2008.

Shortly after walking out of prison, Steven met Manya. Mayna, as women will, fell in love with this pathologically maladjusted individual who undoubtedly masterfully crafted a persona good enough for the justice system to say, “What the hell, let him go early.”

Steven and his 32-year-old wife, Manya Johnson, lived in St. Paul, Minnesota. Regardless of what some of you who hate St. Paul are thinking, that’s not enough to send them to hell.

Married almost 4 years, Steven and his wife regularly disagreed about Steven’s drinking problem. Steven Johnson liked to drink. Mayna Johnson wanted him to stop.

When Mayna found a bottle of alcohol in Steven’s car on the morning of the 6th of January, she got a little upset, like many wives do. Like many husbands do, Steven got a little upset back.

Their marriage had been on the rocks since the birth of their son, and Steven’s propensity towards chasing the bottom of a bottle of alcohol didn’t help much. Something about alcoholics’ behavior under the influence sets people off. Especially new moms.

But, since his sister’s birthday lunch was planned for that day, Steven Johnson did that instead of staying with his wife at home and arguing.

(For all your married men out there, leaving the house during a fight with your spouse and going out to eat with your family is good practice.)

When Steven and his family came back to his house to unwrap presents, as was the plan, Mayna politely informed everyone that she and Steven had already made plans for dinner. Everyone took the hint and left, leaving the two lovebirds alone.

The two lovebirds proceeded to argue for about an hour and a half until Mayna told Steven that she was going to leave and that he’d never get custody of the baby.

Steven didn’t take this well.

According to the courtroom transcripts, Steven Johnson was asked:

Were you able to persuade her not to leave with Oliver?

No.

What did you decide to do?

I decided to stop her from leaving.

So he did.

A few vodka shots later, Mr. Steven R. Johnson went downstairs and got his pistol. He put it in his back pocket and went back upstairs. He stood in the doorway of the bathroom and pulled the gun out of his pocket as he heard his wife walking down the hall.

When his wife went past the doorway, he raised the gun to her temple and shot her.

The loud noise upset the couple’s 18-month-old son, who Steven heard crying in the other room.

A few minutes later, at 7:13, in order to keep up a daily phone routine that his mother-in-law and his wife enjoyed, he called his mother-in-law.

While Mayna was dead and bleeding from the temple in the couple’s bathtub.

That done, Steven drove to a nearby hardware store and, at 7:25, bought a saw.

The saw was used to dismember his wife’s body. Presumably with his son in the house. And, although I can’t really see how having someone watch his kid while dismembering his mother would necessarily make the situation any better, in some segments of society that’s kind of expected.

(For all of you married men out there, shooting your wife in the temple, dismembering her in the bathtub with a saw is not good practice. Don’t do this.)

After cleaning up the mess that dismembering your wife in a bathtub will make, Steven drove his wife’s car to the park-and-ride lot that she used on a daily basis as she went to work at Target. She worked in marketing operations, and was well-liked.

Under his wife’s car, he left her cellphone, neatly smashed. He figured that would indicate that she’d been abducted.

On Monday morning he played it like always, sending an e-mail to her a minute after 8. He dropped his son off at day care and went to work.

A friend of Mayna, at about 11:30, surprised that Mayna hadn’t shown up to work, texted Steven. According to Steven’s testimony:

Manya Johnson’s friend and co-worker texted Johnson about 11:29 a.m. concerned about her whereabouts.

I played along like I didn’t know where Manya was.

Right after getting texted, Steven sent another e-mail to his wife to keep up the game.

At 12:42 Mr. Johnson called St. Paul police to report his wife missing.

After calling the police, Steven called his friend Nathan Schram. He and Nathan had met in prison. Nathan was in prison serving time for helping his own mother cover up a murder that she’d committed, so Steven probably felt that this was practically like calling a contractor like an Omaha landscaping company and just getting some work done.

Steven let Nathan know that his wife had slipped in the shower and died, and instead of reporting the death as an accident, he had taken the much more reasonable choice and dismembered her.

Oh yeah, and he’d put her body parts in Nathan’s garage.

Oh yeah, and would Nathan mind renting a storage unit so that Steven could put the dismembered body there instead?

After that phone call, Steven Johnson joined the search for his wife. While he was searching, Nathan was on the phone with the police, letting them know that there may be some body parts in his garage and he didn’t do it.

In what would probably be the shortest CSI episode ever, Steven was arrested and charged with murder.

On the 9th of March, 2013, facing overwhelming evidence, Steven Johnson pled guilty to first degree murder.

Judge Lezlie Ott Marek didn’t seem to be particularly sympathetic to Mr. Johnson’s ordeal, addressing him with:

Mr. Johnson, your crime was heinous. It has shocked this community. By all accounts, Manya Johnson was a very fine human being, and she was a bright light to all those who knew her.

I’m sure those sentiments would have been repeated by the Johnson’s then 18-month-old baby boy. Since babies like to do things like grow up with an opportunity to see their mommy every now and then.

In his statement to the judge, Steven Johnson said that his wife:

…had a huge heart…

Well, I guess he’d know, wouldn’t he?

He’s a wonderful human being and was one of the more interesting Dating Game contestants.

There are photos that Huntington Beach Police would like to get out into the general public so people who may be able to identify the people who are featured on these photos, will be able to do so.

Take a look. If you know anything about these, contact Huntington Beach, California Police Detective Patrick Ellis at 714-375-5066 or pellis@hbpd.org.

More pictures can be found in this extremely inconvenient slideshow here.

Throughout the history of mankind, admirable deeds and tragic sacrifices have been made in the name of patriotism. We know there’s a reason why Russians call their country Mother Russia, why the 4th of July is a national holiday in the United States, and why Inter Milan and AS Roma soccer fans forget their differences for ninety minutes every time Italy is playing. For some, patriotism is a very clearly defined concept, and is symbolized by a uniform. For others, it’s more than that, and the definition stretches beyond just defending your land. But we all know homesickness when we feel it, and that sense of home, of belonging, is at the root of all patriotism, and the desire to defend what we hold close to our hearts.

However, for as long as man has existed, there have also been individuals more than willing to use patriotism as nothing more than an excuse to commit heinous acts of evil. Persons who justify their actions by waving a flag, thinking this will be enough to distract everyone from the truth – that they have just wiped their diarrhea-smeared ass with that flag, and now are trying to fling their shit all over everybody else. Anders Behring Breivik belongs to this category.

On the 22nd of July 2011 at 15:25 a bomb went off in central Oslo, the capital city of Norway, right outside the building complex housing, among others, the Norwegian Ministry of Justice. Just minutes before, Breivik had parked the van containing the bomb as close to the Ministry as he dared, and had made his way to the getaway car he’d left in the vicinity earlier. Eight people were killed in the blast, and many more were injured. But it could have been a lot worse.

July is one of the most popular vacation-months, and because of this the ministry was not operating at its full capacity. In addition, office hours in the summer months tend to favor the “early to work, early to leave” principle, which meant that many people had already left for home. At the time there was some speculation regarding the timing, and one theory was that Breivik had been planning for a bigger death-toll, but had apparently been stuck in traffic and thus delayed, ensuring that his bomb didn’t quite get the impact he was hoping for.

Not that this derailed him in any way. He might have been a little late, but he had a plan and he was sticking to it. As the citizens of Oslo were in shock, and as the media were frantically speculating who was behind this terrorist attack (al-Quaida being one of the favorite suspects), Breivik made his way towards the island of Utoeya. This was where the major political party of Norway, Arbeiderpartiet (directly translated this means the Worker’s Party, which to American ears probably sounds like a bunch of commies, but in fact they are more akin to your Democratic Party) had its annual youth camp.

Somewhere along the way he changed into a policeman’s uniform, and at around five in the afternoon he drove up to the ferry, M/S Thorbjoern, which would take him to the island. He showed an authentic-looking police ID to the ferry master, who had heard on the radio about the bombing incident in Oslo, and who had no reason to suspect Breivik’s story that he was there to inform the youngsters about the bombing and to ensure their safety.

At 17:17 he arrived on Utoeya, introduced himself as a policeman, and asked the group leaders to gather everyone in the main cafeteria on the island so that everyone could hear what he had to say. As the youths were arriving into the cafeteria, they heard the first shots, and as they looked out through the main entrance they saw what appeared to be a policeman approaching them. Once Breivik arrived at the building, he asked the youths to approach him, and when they did, he revealed his true self in a manner that beggars belief. With no hint of hesitation, and with a calm and determined expression on his face, Breivik took out his 9 mm Glock and his Ruger M14 automatic rifle and started shooting. At that range, he was hardly likely to miss, and according to eyewitness reports he at first shot indiscriminately as many as he could, and as people started running away in a total panic he calmly reloaded, even as he was telling people not to run, then slowly started to walk among the fallen, making sure they were dead. Some he prodded with his rifle, others he poked with his foot. If he was rewarded with any sign of movement, he took careful aim and shot his target in the head.

I will never forget the interview I saw on TV with one of the survivors, who was wounded in that initial shooting in the cafeteria, and who survived by pretending to be dead. What really stuck in my mind was when she described Breivik’s voice and words as she lay there on the floor. Even as he was shooting people he was shouting for those still alive, those trying to flee, to stay where they were, and not to be afraid as he was not going to hurt them. There was no malice, no hate, in his voice. He was like a robot, saying one thing but contradicting his own words through his actions.

Soon he was the only one left standing in the room, among the bodies of the dead. All in all, thirteen people lost their lives in the shooting in that cafeteria. For Breivik, this was probably a satisfactory start, if not a good one. But he didn’t panic. He knew he had plenty of time to spill even more blood, and that his victims had nowhere to go. The first casualties on Utoeya, the shots the youths in the cafeteria had heard as they were waiting for the policeman he pretended to be, had been the ferry master and the woman who’d remained behind to escort him to the cafeteria, and the only way to and from the island was effectively closed. This meant that the only way off the island was to swim, and that the police, once they were alerted, would have to find an alternative way to reach the island. In other words, he had every reason to feel confident. He was the only armed person on the island, he had two powerful allies in shock and surprise, and he would meet little or no resistance from his victims, who were completely unprepared for the evil they were about to encounter.

Inside the cafeteria he made a final inspection of the carnage, and headed outside to hunt for more enemies of the state. Those who hadn’t made it to the meeting on time, who had only heard the shots, were now approaching a scene that was not only horrifying but also extremely confusing – people were running in every direction, and even as they wondered why, they saw what they thought was a police officer emerge from the house. The scene made no sense, and not knowing what to make of it several of them froze in place.

To Breivik, this made them perfect targets, and with no hesitation he took aim and fired. Again, as people realized the truth of what was happening and began to flee, he told his victims not to be afraid, and that everything would be okay if they just surrendered. But by this time there was no-one who believed him anymore. There had been too much bloodshed for his words to have any credibility at all.

At 17:27 the police were notified about shots fired on Utoeya. At first the bombing and the shootings were treated as two separate issues. It was only later that the connection was discovered. But at the time, no-one knew what the hell was happening. Nor were the police – the real ones – convinced that there was only one shooter on Utoeya. A tactical decision was made to wait for more information as well as reinforcements before making any move. There was only one access route to the island, and the police had to assume that it would be booby-trapped. Utoeya was a political target after all, and the thought that it was nothing more than a slaughterhouse, that by giving Breivik time they played straight into his hand, didn’t enter anyone’s mind until it was far too late.

As the police were debating what to do – for which they received a fair amount of criticism later – Breivik continued his killing spree. He didn’t pick his targets in any way; he just shot at anything that moved. His objective was to kill everyone on that island, except himself, and as soon as he saw an object that resembled a human being, he fired. And he was nothing if not methodical in his madness. He had studied the island before making his attack, and he had a good idea of where people would try to hide, and where they would run.

He followed his victims like the monster he was, taking his time, reloading when necessary, and kept up a monologue about how everything would be so much better for everyone if those who had been sentenced to die would stop hiding and simply accept their fate. This is one of the creepiest aspects of the eyewitness accounts – how Breivik, even as he was murdering people in full view of everyone else, showed no emotion and kept trying to convince those who were hiding to give up by claiming he was not going to hurt them.

Many of the victims were found on the trail that went around the island, familiarly called the path of love (it’s a bad translation, but you get the idea). Breivik made one full revolution of this pathway, before concentrating on the shoreline, where he shot at youngsters trying to swim to safety. Most of the victims were teenagers; the youngest had just turned fourteen.

Finally, at 18:25, almost an hour after they received the first emergency call, the Norwegian SWAT-team landed on Utoeya. Minutes later, when faced with opposition of the armed kind and the possibility that he might actually get hurt, Breivik immediately surrendered, knowing that as long as he kept his hands visible and didn’t make any sudden moves, his life was in no danger. He was taken into custody, and the search for survivors could begin. By that time, he had killed 69 and wounded 60 people on Utoeya, most of them teenagers.

All in all, on July 22nd 2011, Breivik murdered 77 men, women and children, and physically wounded another 158. Those are the easy numbers. What is harder to calculate is the pain inflicted on the relatives and friends of the victims. And even as the truth of what he had done began to sink in, and the fact that the terrorist responsible for this insane and dastardly atrocity was a Norwegian man acting all alone, the question of why resonated loudly not only in Norway, but all over the world.

Breivik himself was more than willing to provide an answer. In his mind, he was a true crusader, fighting for the future of Norway, the perfect soldier just doing his patriotic duty. In the months and years leading up to the culmination of his plans, he had taken a book from the Adolf Hitler school of self-justification and had written his very own manifesto (or, rather, collected, as many of the ideas presented within were variations on old themes), 1500 pages of hate and racism describing how his beloved country was under attack from the growing hordes of Muslims in Europe, and how he had to do something about it before it was too late. He also called the ruling political party, Arbeiderpartiet, traitors, as they – according to him – did not act in the best interest of Norway.

From the very beginning he claimed that he had done nothing wrong. He admitted to the deed, but did not accept it being described as an act of terror or as murder. He was convinced that once he had presented his reasons for doing what he did, every patriotic Norwegian would nod their heads in understanding and hail him as the hero he claimed to be, and thus conclude that he had committed no crime, only fulfilled his role as a savior of Norway. When his presentation met with resistance and he received little to no sympathy from either the courts, the media or the Norwegian people – who, among many other things, could not understand why he had murdered Norwegian citizens in his war against Muslims – he gradually changed his position and claimed that sometimes tragic sacrifices were necessary for the greater good of the nation.

Funny, but I distinctly recall reading a quote by Adolf Hitler saying something in a similar vein.

Immediately after he was caught, the police and prosecutor got busy collecting the evidence and building up a case. Breivik was so convinced of himself (and, as a layman, I cannot help but wonder if a perverse part of him was also proud) that he more than happily helped. On the 13th of August 2011 the police investigators returned with Breivik to the island of Utoeya for a re-creation of that fateful day when he murdered 69 teenagers and their adult minders. Completely calm, and showing no emotion what so ever, Breivik walked the investigators through the events, showing them where and how he had murdered his victims. All in all it took a little over eight hours. Not once did Breivik break down, or show any kind of remorse. I kindly ask you to think about that for a while. Then remind yourselves that the vast majority of his victims were teenagers.

On the 5th of March 2012 Breivik was formally charged with committing an act of terror and with the murder of 77 people. On the 16th of April, the trial began. Now, the trial itself was full of drama and I could write an entire book about it, but if you have read this far, you are probably thinking “when the fuck is this fucking story going to end?” so I will try to keep it short, and focus on the one thing that has stolen most of the attention – the issue regarding his sanity. By the time the trial was well underway, he had undergone two separate psychological evaluations, and the opinions were divided. The first study found him legally insane. The second one contradicted the first one by concluding that, during the time of the attacks, Breivik was legally sane. The keyword here is “legally”, and what it denotes is the question whether or not Breivik was fully aware of what he was doing when committing the murders. The dispute was important, because it determined what kind of sentence Breivik would receive.

If declared legally insane, he was looking at incarceration in an asylum for an indefinite amount of time. Theoretically, this alternative contained the risk that he might one day be set free, assuming a doctor were to change the diagnosis and declare Breivik rehabilitated, though the odds of that happening were extremely small. On the other hand, if he were to be deemed legally sane, he would receive the maximum penalty under Norwegian law and spend 21 years in prison, though this could be extended for a 5-year period if he, after serving 21 years, were still considered a danger to society. The five-year extension can be renewed indefinitely, which means that in this case, he would spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Not surprisingly, Breivik vehemently denied that he’s in any way insane. He has, through his manifesto, built up a fantasy of himself as an intellectual thinker and a crusader against the threat of Islam, and if deemed legally insane, this fantasy would crumble to pieces. For Breivik, this was unacceptable, and from the very beginning his sanity was in question, he told the court that he would appeal the verdict if he were declared legally insane. But where there’s a stick, there’s also usually a carrot. If the court were to find him legally sane, Breivik said, he would accept the verdict and go to prison without any fuss.

This case once again highlights the differences between legalese and English, and I would like to point out that “legally sane” is NOT the same as “sane”. Sane means you’re playing with a full deck, legally sane means you understand what game you’re playing. In my mind, there is no doubt Breivik was missing all the aces and kings, and most of the queens and knights as well. But to help you make up your own minds whether or not Breivik is a few steps short of a full ladder, here are a few examples of the comments given by him during the trial:

“I have committed the most impressive and civilized attack in Europe since the Second World War.”

“They weren’t innocent children, they were political activists.”

“These deeds are based on kindness, not evil.”

“It was a touching video. It reminded me that my country is dying. That is why I began to cry.” – Note: the only time during the entire trial that Breivik showed any emotion was when a propaganda video, made by Breivik and featuring Breivik, was shown. Pictures of the victims in situ, of the brutality of the attack, elicited at most a tiny smile from Breivik. But when he saw himself on the screen, he began to cry. This was his explanation for it.

“I was born in a prison, and grew up in a prison. A prison where I was not allowed to express my opinions. That prison is Norway.”

“It is as wrong to call me evil as it is to accuse the military leaders of the USA of evildoing during the Second World War. They killed 300 000 innocent people to save millions. It was a good deed, not an evil one, even though it was brutal.”

“I would do it all again.”

There are many more, but I think this will suffice. If you see, in your mind’s eye, a ladder you’d gladly climb, there is nothing I can do but hope you hurt yourself before you hurt someone else.

The trial was formally concluded on the 22nd of June, and on the 24th of August the verdict was in. Judge Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen, one of the five judges presiding over the case, began by saying that the judges were unanimous in their decision, before she read the ruling. Despite the prosecution’s wishes that Breivik would be declared insane, the judges ruled Breivik sane enough to be held accountable for both the bombing in Oslo and the murders on Utoeya. Upon hearing this, Breivik couldn’t hide the smile of satisfaction that revealed him as the monster he is. This meant he was going to jail, which was exactly what he wanted. And all through the reading of the verdict Breivik looked more than pleased, a self-satisfied smirk playing on his lips.

Convicted of terrorism and premeditated murder, Breivik received a sentence of “preventive detention”, a special prison term for criminals considered dangerous to society, which was set at a minimum of ten years and a maximum of twenty-one, from which the time he’s already been sitting in jail will be deducted. However, as mentioned earlier, these kinds of sentences can be extended for an indefinite period of time, as long as the inmate is considered a continued threat. But this did not seem to bother Breivik in the least. He was going to get his very own trio of cells, isolated from the rest of the inmates, with his very own gym, a TV and – most important of all, and a privilege he would have lost had he been sent to the funny farm – his very own computer with internet access.

My first reaction was, what the fuck? And I’ll admit, I was a little disappointed that he got exactly what he wanted. Then I heard the collective sigh of relief all the way from Norway, and started to read the comments from the survivors of Utoeya, and the relatives of the victims, who were all pleased with the verdict. And you know what? I changed my mind. Had the judges listened to the prosecution and ruled Breivik legally insane, they would have been forced to go through the procedure of a whole new trial, with all that entails. But in declaring him legally sane, they ensured that this sordid tale received its final chapter, and that Breivik received a punishment that most Norwegians seem to be happy with.

More than anything, the words of one of the survivors of that horrible day, Tore Sinding Bekkedal, struck a chord with me: “I think it was a proper verdict. I have a hard time matching the diagnosis of him being insane, and especially of him suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, with what actually happened. He was completely aware of what he was doing.”

Now the survivors and the relatives of the victims can finally move on, safe in the knowledge that Breivik is locked away. But in this case I cannot help but think that it is a pity that Norway does not have the death-penalty. That would have been the surest way to ensure the elimination of one monster that will remain a thorn in every Norwegian’s side for as long as he lives.

How can I be so sure of this?

Well, the first hint that Breivik is still at war came once the verdict was read, and he was given the word. He began by once again stating that he does not consider the verdict – or the entire trial – to be legal, as he does not recognize the current administration as the rightful representatives of Norway, but that he accepts his punishment and will not appeal the verdict. Notice how he softens the blow of that comment by showing some mock humility at the end? He still thinks he did nothing wrong, and personally I am convinced he will never change his mind about this.

The second hint – and this is the clincher – came when he continued by saying he would like to end with an apology:

“I would like to apologize to all militant nationalists in Norway and in Europe for not having killed more.”

Yes, I’m happy with the verdict. But only because I have nothing but respect and admiration for the Norwegian people, who have weathered an unprecedented tragedy with bravery, dignity and a show of true patriotism, the kind you can be proud of. But did Breivik get what he deserved? No. Not even close. And because there is no punishment sufficient enough in this life, I can only hope there is a hell, and that there is a very special and fitting place reserved for him down there.

Source: Finnish newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet

By Dennis Romero – LA Weekly (The Informer)

In one of the more heinous crimes we’ve ever come across, a drunk driver hit and dragged a baby girl in her toy wagon all the way to his home. She died.

Now the man, 35-year-old Neely Lejon Dinkins, will be dragged through the state prison system, but maybe for not as long as you’d like.

He was sentenced today to nearly 37 years behind bars, the District Attorney’s office announced.

Dinkins had a strike on his record — a 1994 robbery conviction — prosecutors say.

The collision happened Sept. 11, 2009, when authorities said he ran into the wagon on Redondo Avenue 10th Street in Long Beach.

Kaylee Alvarez, 1, and brother Oscar, 2, were being pulled across the street by their parents when Dinkins struck.

Both were dragged for a half block by Dinkins’ SUV before the boy was able to roll out when the driver stopped momentarily. The toddler survived. He continued on, dragging the girl all the way to his Long Beach home a mile away.

For that he was convicted of “second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence with injury, driving with a blood alcohol level of more than .08 with injury and leaving the scene of an accident,” according to the D.A.

Thanks go out to Susan for giving us the heads up on Dinkins’ conviction.

from the article by Mark E. Crepp – The Beaver County (PA) Times

Jordan Brown will be in a secured juvenile treatment facility until his 21st birthday, a Lawrence County judge ruled Friday morning in a closed-door hearing.

But one of his defense attorneys, Dennis Elisco, said he plans to file an appeal of the adjudication, which found Brown delinquent of first-degree murder and criminal homicide of an unborn child — the juvenile court equivalent of a guilty verdict.

The appeals process has to start within 30 days. The appeal will be forwarded to the state Superior Court to set a date for oral arguments, which will be about two months. Elisco said he also plans to ask for a new trial for Brown.

Lawrence County Judge John Hodge determined a treatment plan for Brown, the 14-year-old convicted of killing his father’s fiancée more than three years ago.

Hodge approved a recommendation from the Lawrence County Juvenile Probation Department for Brown’s placement and treatment, but the specifics would not be released to the public by Hodge’s order, said Anthony Krastek, senior deputy attorney general, after the hearing.

While Brown could remain in custody until he is 21, his rehabilitation process is required to be reviewed every six months.

On April 13, Brown was adjudicated delinquent in the Feb. 20, 2009, murder of Kenzie Houk, 26, at the New Beaver home she shared with Jordan Brown, his father, Christopher Brown, and Houk’s two daughters. Houk was killed by a shotgun blast to the back of her head as she slept. At the time, she was engaged to Christopher Brown and pregnant with his son, who also died.

Kenzie’s mother, Debbie, and sister offered victim impact statements Friday, said her father, Jack Houk, as television cameras and reporters surrounded him.

“It was very emotional,” he said when Debbie and Jennifer addressed the court. “They talked to Jordan — not to cut him down — but to let him know what we lost.

“I hope a treatment facility rehabilitates him and helps him.”

Brown will be placed in one of the best juvenile facilities available and “they will make sure to help him the best they possibly can,” Jack Houk said.

“I had hoped that they tried Jordan as an adult and then he would have either been sentenced to prison for the rest of his life or set free,” Jack Houk said. “I’m not sure five or six years (of treatment) will be enough. I don’t think it’s enough time to help him.”

When asked if Brown should be released before he reaches the age of 21, Jack Houk replied, “I hope not.”

During testimony from the juvenile probation department, it was noted that each of the last five juveniles treated at the facility have gone on to have “a good life,” Jack Houk said.

“In my heart I hope (Brown) is not released real soon,” Jack Houk added.

“We’ve been through a lot. My wife cries every day and visits the cemetery every day.”

Jack Houk said his life now is devoted to Kenzie’s two daughters, whom he and Debbie now raise. Jack Houk’s 7-year-old granddaughter wrote about what her mother meant to her. The letter was given to the judge to enter into the record, but it was not discussed in court.

“I help keep their (his grandchildren’s) spirits alive,” he said.

Kenzie’s sister, Jennifer Kraner, said she prays that Brown gets the help he needs. She said she spoke to the court on how Kenzie’s death affected herself and the family.

“How could you do this?” she asked Brown, noting that he remained unemotional. “You took so much from us. I hope time, healing and prayer will move us past this.

“We were crying, but he showed no remorse,” she told reporters. “I hope and pray that there is some sort of forward motion (when it comes to Brown’s rehabilitation).”

Krastek said that a great deal of attention was paid by the juvenile court to get Brown help.

“It was clear when (the attorney general’s office) took over prosecution of this case our position was the best interest of child,” Krastek said.

Stephen Colafella, one of Brown’s defense attorneys, said he was pleased with the research and dedication that the Lawrence County Juvenile Probation Department had shown toward Brown.

“They performed a great deal of work and put in a great deal of effort looking at treatment facilities,” said Colafella, a Beaver County attorney.

To keep it short, back on Labor Day of last year I found myself with a bad case of pneumonia. I ended up passing out, and on the ambulance ride to the hospital, my heart stopped (Again? This is getting very old). Fortunately, the Docs managed to get it going again, but I was out for long enough to cause some brain damage.

I was lucky. In spite of a period of no oxygen to my brain, I still know who I am, can still see, speak and hear, and still possess most of my memory. Unfortunately, what I did lose was most of my computer skills. In fact, it was just this week that I managed to restore my system (it crashed and burned too). I also lost most of my passwords, including the one for this website. In addition, I still can’t remember much about how I ran this website.

I won’t bore you all with a long, drawn out tale of woe. I will tell you that I’ve lost nearly 100 pounds & have quit smoking. But the memory loss is VERY frustrating – It’s like I’m starting all over again. I’m better than I was six months ago, but it’s going to be a long road to where I was, if I ever get there at all.

So have some patience with me, and don’t hesitate to point out the multitude of fuck ups that I’ll inevitably make. I’m truly grateful to admin for giving me a shot at this, and I’ll need all the help I can get to not let him and you guys down.

Any of my old running buddies out there can contact me at editorpysih@comcast.net.

Have you ever met someone and within the first few moments of getting to know them you knew you would eventually read about them doing something heinous and disgusting? Some vibe about the person gave you the total impression that they have the capability of committing an evil act?

Meet Shanna Dawn Lanham and her pedophile piece of garbage boyfriend Jason Michael Wells. These two ensured that Shanna’s beautiful 2 year old Addison did not get to open presents under the tree this year, or have a 3rd birthday. Addison will never go to school, ride a bicycle or go to the prom. You see, Addison is dead. And no, she just didn’t die peacefully in her sleep, she died a slow agonizing death drug out for weeks , and was hidden from anyone to tried to stop her mother and new boyfriend from having their fun at Addison’s expense.

Miss Shanna was only 13 years old, but already a lifelong drug addiction to everything under the sun. While other teens thought they were so racy as to take a sip of a wine cooler, Shanna had moved from home by 14, and was snorting cocaine and in love with Ecstasy. By age 20 she was stripping to feed her habit and finding old men who would house her until she robbed them blind.

Then, back out into the streets she would go, looking for love, drugs, and a good time.
She gave birth to a little boy five years ago, but never took the child in as her own, according to court documents. A friend of the family picked up the drug-addicted baby from the hospital and later adopted him as her own.

Lanham was arrested several times on drug and larceny charges. She was branded a felon.

Out of jail and looking for love, she has a very short affair with another drug addict, Raymond May. She quickly gets pregnant with a beautiful daughter Addison. Raymond May, 36, is being held in the Central Prision in Raleigh, NC with a dozen beautiful convictions. The charges include promoting drug sales by a minor, trafficking heroin and conspiring to sell and deliver cocaine, according to arrest records. With Ray in jail, its time to look for a new boyfriend/dealer.

What does a drug addict mother to do all alone with a baby to raise? Get a sex offender boyfriend of course! This was a gem of a man named Jason Michael Wells. She was by his side when he stood trial for taking indecent liberties with a minor.

Wells eventually took a plea of sexual battery and was required to register as a sex offender. Wells inappropriately touched the 12-year-old girl on a chance encounter at a grocery store. Shanna stood by his side and called all the charges lies! The trial was under way when Wells agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge. But child molesters don’t do a very good job paying for Coke, so its back to stripping. Too bad for Shanna, working at strip clubs was not going to work for Shanna anymore-the drugs were ruining her appearance to the point where even the sleaziest club in town would not employ her. NOt even the nasty ones want the girls with the Meth scabs on their faces.

When Wells started coming around and the woman Shanna was living with learned that he was a registered sex offender, she told Lanham she didn’t want the man around her three children .Lanham decided to move out. She was urged to leave Addison with her, but the couple decided to take the little girl with them.
Homeless once again, the couple decide to move in a pay-by-the-week Hotel in Bessemer City, NC. Wells, took odd jobs roofing to pay the weekly hotel rent. Lanham was a “Stay At Motel Mom”.

As the drug abuse got worse, and it looked as if the baby wasn’t being fed. The child was no longer allowed to come out her hotel room. Not even employees had seen Addison for weeks. Family members begged for help. Even several members of the sex offender’s family stepped in , left several messages at the Gaston County Probation and Parole Department in early June, saying they had saw her abusing drugs.
Since the family never received a return phone call, they reached out to Shanna’s probation officer on Facebook, begging for help.On June 13, wrote “I don’t know if that baby is eating. Shanna is strung out on crack and Xanax. She is selling all her pills. Addison, her daughter, doesn’t have any clothes and I’m not sure she is eating. I called DSS on her and her cousin called the cops. Please help Addison.”

The social worker, who has stepped down from DSS because of investigation into Addison’s death, asked for proof. Lanham’s cousin, Stacey Drewery, said she called DSS twice in June and said she was fearful for Addison’s safety. She also said she called police several times.

“I actually called 911 and asked them what would happen if I took Addison out of the hotel room, and they said I could be cited for kidnapping, even though I knew she was being abused. And that’s gotta change,” Drewery said.

A complaint of neglect against Lanham was filed in June. The basis of the claim was because Wells, a convicted sex offender, was reportedly living with the Lanham’s in a hotel. The couple also smoked marijuana and did cocaine around the child, according to the report.

That claim dictated an in-home visit within 24 hours, according to Cheryl Harris, program administrator with Gaston DSS.

On June 9, two social workers visited Lanham at the Express Inn in Bessemer City where she and the child were living.

Lanham denied accusations that Wells was living there, but social workers saw men’s clothes and shoes in the room. Lanham said that the clothing belonged to her brother. The social workers reported “Addison to be appropriately dressed, clean and no apparent well-being issues were observed.”
Social workers told Lanham that Wells was not allowed to live with a child and that they planned to return in a week.

That second visit never happened.

In the weeks to follow, Lanham called DSS and said she and Addison were taking a trip to the beach. She refused to give phone numbers and addresses, saying her phone was broken and that she didn’t have the address of where she was staying. Social workers returned to the hotel where the Lanham’s had been living on two occasions. She had apparently moved out.

Wells told social workers in July that he and Lanham had broken up. Convicted of sexual battery in 2010, Wells was added to the sex offender registry and therefore isn’t legally permitted to live with children. Friends, family and prosecutors say that Lanham and Wells lied about living together.

Lanham told social workers during her June 9 interview that she knew about Wells’ criminal record, but that she didn’t know that meant he couldn’t be around her child. Lanham said that she didn’t believe Wells was guilty of the sex offense and that she planned to marry him right away.

Both Lanham and Wells continually told social workers during follow up phone calls that they were not living together, but police have determined that Wells was living with the Lanham’s.

Wells was babysitting Addison the night she died. Wells, tried wake little Addison up from a nap, but could not get her to stir. When the child wouldn’t wake up, Wells called Lanham who returned to the America’s Best Inn and Suites and ultimately called 911. Lanham called 911 that night from her room at America’s Best Hotel in Bessemer City, frantically describing the injuries on her unresponsive child’s body.

She repeatedly tried to explain away the cuts to the toddler’s private parts as injuries from falling in a bathtub. She would go from uncontrollable sobs to quickly and soberly defending her boyfriend and explaining away any signs of abuse of little Addison.

Link to 911 call is here: http://richmedia.onset.freedom.com/gaston/lp0fb8-addison911call.mp3

Addison died of sepsis, an infection that entered her blood stream and overtook her body. She had bruises on her arm and back and a several weeks old broken leg. She was swollen and covered in boils and had been sexually assaulted and sodomized. Her arm and back were bruised; her eyes swollen from infection. Little Addison was covered in boils stemming from MRSA all over her body. Some had burst, exposing her brain and skull. Her hair was falling out.

Again, she was 2 years old.

At trial, it was determined that Lanham and Wells made doctor’s appointments for Addison, but they decided to cancel them and borrow Tylenol from a neighbor in the hotel instead. Who knew Tylenol was such a wonder drug it could heal sepsis, a broken leg, sexual assault, sodomy, and hair loss!

Wells’ bags were packed and he was gone before police arrived. He was picked up a short time later at a nearby gas station and charged with failing to register as a sex offender.

Before being charged, Lanham went on the defensive and conducted several local news interviews which can be found here:

http://www.gastongazette.com/video/?videoId=1070855210001&lineupId=1155327132&play=now

Much of the account of the child’s death came not only from neighbors but from Lanham and Wells. Each of the defendants offered details and agreed to testify against the other. Funny how Shanna put her boyfriend above her child’s life, but not over her precious hide!

Shanna Lanham took a plea for second degree murder-only nine years to 11½ years in prison. Then she is free to breed and kill again.

Jason Wells was sentenced to 10 years to 13 years in prison. His conviction also includes baby-sitting for a child while being a sex offender. His attorney, Cindy Letorney, asked that Wells be kept separate from Addison’s biological father who is also incarcerated at Central Prison in Raleigh. Hopefully, someone will forget about the last part and make them roomies.

Pop quiz time. If your child steals from his sibling, what do you do?
a) Deprive him of television.
b) Deprive him of video games.
c) Deprive him of toys.
d) Deprive him of the necessities of life.

Unhappily for 10-year-old Jonathan James, his f*cktard father Michael Ray James and his hellbeast stepmother Tina Maria Alberson chose option (d).

After accusing this loving, good-natured boy of taking guitar strings from a sibling, this pair of murderous morons decided to punish him by making him stand at the window of a room that lacked air conditioning. What’s bad about that? They made him stand there for five days. In the full sunshine. With degrees reaching 106°F. Without water. For five days. No water.

Jonathan’s twin brother Joseph knew he was getting sick. He knew Jonathan needed water, and he was only 10. How could Michael James and Tina Alberson not know? They knew. Living in Dallas, Texas they knew about heat, yet they deprived this young boy of water to the point of death and beyond.

Damn them to hell.

Jonathan dreaded his court-ordered visit with his father and stepmother. He had called his grandma Sue Shotwell in late June to tell her he was afraid. He wanted to live with her instead. He told her, “I know I’m going to be in trouble while I’m there because I always am.”

But court-ordered visits are court-ordered visits, and there was nothing to be done but allow the boys to spend the summer with that monstrous pair in their Red Bird home.

There had previously been complaints and investigations against both Michael Ray James and Tina Maria Alberson but nothing that resulted in charges or the removal of the children from their home.

Grandma Sue Shotwell never heard from Jonathan again. The next time she saw him he was unconscious and dying in hospital.

“I told him I loved him,” she said. “He was precious, and I told him where he was going.”

It was later that she learned what had happened to him. The world would learn what had happened.

Jonathan’s fraternal twin Joseph, the poor kid, witnessed the torture and death of his brother.

“They put an X on the floor and an X on the window and the sun was coming straight through it and there was no air conditioning there,” explained Joseph.

Joseph had wanted to help, he had wanted to offer water, but he was afraid.

“But I didn’t do nothing because I would get in trouble. I wanted to do something, I just did, but I couldn’t.”

And Joseph was right to fear the wrath of those monsters.

“The day that he died, they made him eat a PBJ, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and the peanut butter got stuck in his throat and they still wouldn’t let him have water,” continued Joseph.

Finally Jonathan collapsed and hit his head on the floor.

“When we picked him up and leaned him over the kitchen chair he was shaking and moaning,” said Joseph. “I couldn’t do nothing about it because if I said something I would end up getting in trouble too.”

10-Year-Old Victim’s Twin Wanted to Help: MyFoxDFW.com

So what did the brilliant pair of f*cktards do? Michael Ray James and Tina Maria Alberson decided to put him in an ice cold bath. Much too little much too late.

Next they lied and told the medics and the doctors that he’d been feeling ill for a number of days and they had been cooling him off in the tub. The boy was dying and they refused to tell the doctors what had really happened!

Shortly after his arrival to hospital and the goodbye kiss from Grandma Sue, young Jonathan James was dead.

Gone was the fun-loving cub scout, the student of the month, the loving brother, son and grandson. Gone forever for no good reason.

Michael Ray James and Tina Maria Alberson were charged with injury to a child causing serious bodily injury. Apparently it’s an easier charge to prove than murder and carries the same penalty — 99 years in prison. But you know and I know they are guilty of murdering a fine young boy.

I pray that Joseph James has a good future and feels no guilt over what was out totally beyond his control.

And I trust that Michael Ray James and Tina Maria Alberson will rot in hell after a lifelong stint of rotting in jail. Good riddance to the pair of hellbeasts!