Nov. 1 CALIFORNIA: Killer Sought Solace Online----Before Orange County shootings, 19-year-old pleaded for help and pondered suicide. In the weeks before 19-year-old William Freund donned a cape and mask and went on a shooting rampage in his Aliso Viejo neighborhood, he reached out for help on the Internet. He wrote more than 2 dozen online messages in October, asking for a "real life" friend and saying he was contemplating suicide. He also threatened to start "a Terror Campaign to hurt those that have hurt me." The messages paint a portrait of a troubled young man struggling with Asperger's syndrome, a neurological disorder described as a variant of autism that hampers people's ability to interact socially. He revealed his anguish and frustration on a website, wrongplanet.net, used by people with Asperger's. In a prophetic message written Oct. 16, about the "Terror Campaign," he also said, "My future ended some time ago." Other postings included "Everybody hates me" and "I feel like I need to kill myself." He also disclosed that he had bought a 12-gauge shotgun and had gone online to buy ammunition. Members of the online community for Asperger's tried to reassure Freund and offer suggestions, and volunteer moderators tried to find his parents. Their efforts failed. On Saturday morning, Freund put on a dark cape and paintball mask and entered a neighboring house, killing Christina Smith, 22, and her father, Vernon, 45. He then shot at a house across the street and tried to fire at a neighbor, but the shotgun jammed. Then he walked home and killed himself with the shotgun. Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said investigators did not know what sparked the shooting or why Freund targeted the Smiths. "We're looking into his mental health at the time of the shooting," he said. An autopsy completed Sunday showed that Freund died of a single gunshot to the upper torso. Toxicology tests are being conducted, but Amormino said, "We don't expect drugs and alcohol set off his bizarre behavior." What may be the best clues to what set him off could be the messages Freund left behind in postings on wrongplanet.net. The website was created by people with Asperger's syndrome and intended as a place they could post comments, share experiences and talk to one another in online chat rooms. It also offers articles about the disease but is not intended to be a authoritative medical source. Those with the disorder are often described as loners who have trouble communicating and may not fit in socially. To the outside world, people with Asperger's are sometimes merely presumed to be rude, although the condition is caused by a neurobiological disorder. Depression and suicidal thoughts often afflict people with Asperger's, but violent behavior is rare. The syndrome affects more males than females, and although the number of people with Asperger's is unknown, some experts estimate that 1 in 250 people has at least a mild case. Experts agree that it is subtler than autism but can often be emotionally crippling. Freund tended to keep to himself, although he worked for a while repairing computers and fixing viruses, said his former employer, Forrest Fuster, 24, of Mission Viejo. "He was incredibly smart, but he lacked social skills severely," Fuster said. "He was a very deep thinker." In his online profile, Freund described himself as an only child of adoptive parents, a student at ITT Technical Institute in Anaheim who enjoyed "computers, role playing, fantasy, pugs, Food, guns." He graduated from Aliso Niguel High School in 2004, the same school as Christina Smith, who graduated in 2001. His online messages were filled with spelling and grammatical errors, alternately depicting a self-aware person desperately seeking help and a frustrated, angry man who wanted to lash out at others. On Oct. 15 he said he had tried suicide before. "Ive Tried Everythink from asphxia, To lethal gases, Inert Gases To full suspended hanging . my minds Sick With depression." The next day, he said that if he made it to Halloween, he planned to equip himself with body armor, an airgun and a laser to "just scare any little kids that try to destroy my pumpkin . and guess what I have A real shotgun. It's gona be a fun Halloween," he wrote. On Oct. 19, he asked for references to a mental hospital, saying that he needed counseling and social skills training. He also said he had no friends. He wrote that he wished he had some, emphasizing it with 75 exclamation points. Alexander Plank, 19, the founder of wrongplanet.net, said volunteer moderators who monitored messages had been concerned about Freund's postings and took action. "People at our site tried to contact his parents, but apparently there are a lot of Freunds in Orange County," Plank said. There are 38 Freunds registered to vote. Moderators also blocked Freund from posting links to pro-suicide websites, said Plank, a freshman computer science major at George Mason University in Northern Virginia. After seeing articles about the weekend shooting, Plank said, he called the Orange County Sheriff's Department. By Monday evening, some of Freund's messages had been removed from the website. The sheriff's office declined to provide information Monday about how Freund obtained the shotgun. Freund's messages on the website reveal a fascination with guns and detail his purchase from "a bunch off old farts at a gun center." He also wrote about searching for "the most powerful specialized ammo," which most shops apparently wouldn't carry. Details of Freud's medical treatment were unavailable Monday. In the messages, however, he said his health was deteriorating because of a new medication. "I'm not getting any better and nobody can figure out what it is." He said he wanted his parents to switch doctors but that they were happy with his treatment. His parents were not home Monday, and employees at their Laguna Hills printing business said they had not heard from them. Members of the Smith family were also not home. Blake Melcher, 21, of Laguna Niguel said many students had picked on Freund since middle school. "It happens at all schools, where some kids are always picked on," he said. In one online message, Freund said he had "no friends, all enemies" and bought the shotgun for home defense. (source: Los Angeles Times) ******************* Must Tookie Be Executed? The state of California, backed by the U.S. Supreme Court, says, "Yes, the public is better off by killing Tookie Williams." If it has not already done so, California will set an execution date for Tookie Williams in a few days. I never met Tookie and haven't had the pleasure of reading any of the several books he has written, but as an Ex-death row prisoner myself, I feel a need to speak in his behalf. I got off death row 33 years ago and am still in prison. I, along with others who got off death row in 1972, but remain incarcerated, are living proof that public protection is not justified by state imposed murder. Even if he is guilty, must Tookie die? His case is unique because he has been convicted of murder and he is also credited with saving many from following the path of the crime violence that marked his early life. It is generally accepted that if one kills a person it is as if he killed the whole people. On the other hand, if one saves a life, it is as if he saved the life of the whole people. One of the things that gives justification to government's existence is that it protect the people, but not in any way it sees fit. It also has the responsibility of catering to the real needs of its citizens. The situation in the black communities in California and all across this land is desperate. People are living in a state of fear as gangs run rampant in seas of alcohol, crime, drugs, and violence. For a long time, people of these communities have been crying out for protection - help from anybody: police (who often turn out to be a bigger source of fear than the gangs they are asked to control), preachers, doctors, lawyers - anybody who can help turn the situation around. What I'm saying is not difficult to confirm. Turn on any news telecast on any given day and the painful message of another shooting death blares out a mother's agony at her child being blown away in another senseless act of violence. "Tookie the Terrible," from death row, the one held largely responsible for the gang violence, writes from his prison cell on San Quentins death row, pleading for young people to turn away from the lifestyles that lead to crime, drugs, and violence, and to turn to education and productive lives. So forceful have been his efforts that he was nominated more than once for the Nobel Peace Prize, the most prestigious award in the world today. Powerful people in the U.S. opposed the Nobel nominations. "It would be wrong to reward this guy. He is criminal!" they cried. That is an interesting argument because this nation embarked upon a program of slavery; there was genocide against Native Americans; and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, among other things, that depict an ugly part of its history. It insists that people learn to accept those facts and to "look at what America stands for today." If it's right for people to judge America by what it stands for today, isnt it right for Tookie to be judged the same way? Why is there such an obsession with the notion that people in Tookie's situation have no redeemable qualities? Richard Nixon and G. Gordon Liddy, etc. of the Watergate era could do it and so could Alabamas governor George Wallace, but for a nobody like Tookie, "he cant contribute anything to society." Thats why they execute people, they say. I think there are at least 2 other reasons California is in such a hurry to execute Tookie. One, the state has failed miserably in its own method of dealing with the gang/violence problems and it needs to make an example out of someone to cover up its own ineptness. The 2nd reason is that because he has the ability to reach out and help young people change their lives around it makes the state's ineptness even more apparent. Former governor and so-called liberal, Jerry Brown wants to run for the State Attorney Generals Office. It would be interesting to see what he has to say on the issue of whether under the circumstances of Tookie turning his life around the way he did, executing him would be more beneficial to the people of California and the nation than commuting his sentence to life in prison. (source: Kalima Aswad (A Political Prisoner in California); SF Bay Area Indymedia) < ************************ Videotape Shows 1 in a Series of Killings A suspected Los Angeles serial killer appears to match the physical characteristics of the attacker caught on camera raping and strangling one of 10 victims, a police officer testified Monday. During a preliminary hearing for Chester D. Turner, Los Angeles Police Sgt. Mark Pompano testified about videotape footage recorded by a surveillance camera that showed the 1998 slaying of 31-year-old Paula Vance. He said the tape shows a "husky, muscular man" gripping Vance by the neck before forcing her to the ground and raping her. At one point, Turner was asked by the prosecutor to stand so the officer could gauge whether the physical appearance of the assailant - who appears as little more than a silhouette in the grainy videotape - was similar to that of Turner, sitting nearby at the defense table. "It's consistent with the build of Mr. Turner," Pompano answered. In all, 10 police officers testified during Monday's hearing, with each providing brief descriptions of the slayings linked to the suspect by DNA evidence. Although the bulk of the case against Turner is expected to focus on scientific evidence, Deputy Dist. Atty. Alan Jackson called officers who responded to each of the 10 homicides, which occurred between 1987 and 1998. All of the victims were raped and strangled. In addition to Vance, Turner is accused of killing Annette Ernest, 26; Anita Fishman, 31; Regina Washington, 27; Mildred Beasley, 45; Andrea Tripplett, 29; Desarae Jones, 29; Natalie Price, 31; Brenda Bries, 31; and one unidentified woman who appeared to be in her 20s. The onetime pizza-delivery man and cook was serving time in state prison for a rape conviction when he pleaded not guilty to charges in the strangulation killings. Prosecutors said they have not decided whether to seek the death penalty. Defense attorney John Tyre, who is expected to attack the LAPD's handling and storage of DNA evidence, pointed out that Pompano gave a different description - of a suspect with medium to large build - in initial crime reports. Tyre, who asked the officers about prevailing weather and whether the crime scenes were properly secured, also suggested that the murders could have been the work of others. The crimes of which Turner is accused took place mostly in a 30-block stretch of motels and apartments along the Figueroa Street corridor next to the Harbor Freeway, an area notorious for prostitution, drug crime and violence. Testimony before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William R. Pounders could conclude as early as today. Witnesses are expected to include the detective who obtained the DNA swab from Turner, 2 criminalists and a medical examiner. (source: Los Angeles Times) US MILITARY: US probe recommends possible death for sergeant A U.S. military probe recommended on Tuesday that a sergeant charged with murdering 2 colleagues in Iraq face a possible death sentence at a court martial for the 1st such crime since the 2003 invasion. Investigating officer Colonel Patrick Reinert, in the non-binding recommendation, said he found "aggravating factors" that could permit possible capital punishment for Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez. The No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, Army Lt. Gen. John Vines, will make a final decision on the case. "I recommend trial by a general court martial," Reinert said a day after ending the investigation at Camp Arifjan, a U.S. military base 60 km (37 miles) south of Kuwait City. Reporters were allowed to watch the proceedings, held in Kuwait rather than Iraq due to security concerns, through closed-circuit television. "There was no evidence that the accused was not mentally responsible at the time of the crimes," Reinert said. "There is reasonable grounds to believe he (Martinez) committed the offences alleged... there is reasonable cause to believe he had the motive and the opportunity to commit these offences." Martinez was charged with the premeditated murder of company commander Captain Phillip Esposito and Lieutenant Louis Allen in a blast in Iraq in June. All 3 served in the headquarters company of the 42nd Infantry Division, a reserve unit drawn from the New York Army National Guard. The murder, which took place in one of ousted President Saddam Hussein's palaces in Tikrit, was the first of its kind among U.S. troops in Iraq, where insurgents are inflicting almost daily losses on Iraqi and foreign forces. During the probe, the prosecutors said a court martial should try the case since the crime was committed at a time of war but the defense disagreed, saying the United States was not engaged in hostile activities in Iraq. CRIME IN TIME OF WAR Reinert, who listened to the testimony of nine prosecution witnesses during Monday's pre-trial probe, said he had based his recommendation on several factors including the use of a mine in a confined area, that the offence was carried out at a time of war and that Martinez was charged with both killings. Reinert also recommended Martinez be charged on 4 additional counts including the use of a weapon of mass destruction against a U.S. citizen abroad and larceny. An ordnance expert who had inspected the site of the blast had told the probe that he had seen the remains of a Claymore mine in Esposito's room along with hand grenade spoons. As staff sergeant, Esposito had access to such weapons. Military legal expert Major Matthew Ruzicka said testimony showed that Esposito had relieved Martinez of his duties as a supply sergeant and that relations between them were sour. Martinez is being held in a military jail in Kuwait and was represented by 2 military lawyers. In April, another U.S. sergeant, Hasan Akbar, was convicted in April of murdering 2 officers by rolling grenades into their tents and opening fire while they were in Kuwait on the eve of the 2003 invasion of Iraq that toppled Saddam Hussein. Akbar has since been sentenced to death, the 1st U.S. soldier convicted of murdering a colleague in war since Vietnam. (source: Reuters) ILLINOIS: Police question ex-cellmates of freed death row inmate about '86 Paris killings Authorities have been questioning former cellmates of a 54-year-old freed death row inmate as part of their reinvestigation into the 1986 killings of 2 people in east-central Illinois, prosecutors said. Illinois State Police have been asking the inmates whether Gordon "Randy" Steidl or his one-time co-defendant Herb Whitlock ever admitted to any involvement in the deaths of newlyweds Dyke and Karen Rhoads of Paris. Steidl was the 18th person since Illinois reinstated the death penalty in 1977 to be freed because of a wrongful conviction after serving time on Illinois' death row. A federal judge ruled in June 2003 that the jury that convicted him of the murders did not hear all the evidence. Steidl - who spent 17 years in prison, including a dozen on death row - has requested a pardon based on innocence, but prosecutors have said he is still a suspect in the couple's deaths. During a hearing before the Illinois Prisoner Review Board on Oct. 21, Steidl referred to a letter dated Sept. 10 from an inmate who wrote that detectives had questioned him and other former cellmates about Steidl and Whitlock. Whitlock - who is serving a life prison sentence for the murder of Karen Rhoads - is awaiting an Edgar County judge's decision on whether he will reconsider his ruling to deny Whitlock's request for a new trial. Karen Daniel, one of Steidl's attorneys and a lawyer with Northwestern University's Center on Wrongful Convictions, said the attempt to find a jailhouse informant is a "very desperate investigative tactic." But David Rands, a special prosecutor with the Illinois Appellate Prosecutor's Office, said the questioning of former cellmates is a reasonable investigative method and is part of a "very detailed and painstaking" investigation. "I'm well aware of the shortcomings of (jailhouse snitch) testimony," Rands said. "We are leaving no stone unturned." State Police spokesman Lt. Lincoln Hampton said his agency does not comment on ongoing investigations. The Appellate Prosecutor's Office has said it needs 2 to 3 months more months to determine whether it wants to retry Steidl. (source: The Tribune Star) ALABAMA: Judge bars death penalty in 3rd trial A man facing a 3rd trial for the 1992 killing of a 6-year-old boy will not face a possible death penalty if convicted again, a judge has ruled. State District Judge Wilford Carter made the ruling Monday in the case of Ricky Joseph Langley, who is accused of murdering Jeremy Guillory in the Calcasieu Parish community of Iowa. Prosecutors had argued that since Guillory's previous trial and conviction was nullified on appeal, they could seek the death penalty again. A prosecutor said the decision would be appealed. Langley was convicted and sentenced to death in 1994, a verdict that was overturned after the state Supreme Court ruled that the method of selecting grand jury foremen in the parish in 1992 was racially discriminatory. A retrial resulted in a 2nd-degree murder conviction and a life prison sentence, but that verdict was tossed by the high court because the presiding judge, Al Gray, left the courtroom during parts of jury selection and closing arguments. Carter said that because Guillory was convicted of 2nd-degree murder, he had, in essence, been acquitted of capital murder. (source: Associated Press)
