Jan. 4 TEXAS: 'Railroad killer' scheduled to receive execution date Friday A Mexican drifter dubbed the "railroad killer" is scheduled to receive his execution date Friday in a Harris County state district court for the murder of a West University Place doctor. Angel Maturino Resendiz, 45, who has been linked to the deaths of at least 12 people in 5 states, was sentenced to die for the rape and slaying of Dr. Claudia Benton on Dec. 17, 1998 at her home. He was convicted of capital murder in 2000. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest criminal court, denied his appeal in 2004. Resendiz pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming "evil forces" had directed him to Benton's house and told him it was God's will that he kill her. Investigators determined that Resendiz hopped freight trains and crisscrossed the country, targeting victims who lived near railroad tracks. (source: Houston Chronicle) *************** Family's long wait----Suspect identified after 18 years Bonnie Bishop walked into her sister's bedroom 18 years ago and found a nightmare. Linda Donahew's nude body lay on the floor. The 41-year-old Arlington woman had been stabbed and strangled to death. It appeared that her killer had savagely cut the clothes off her body, raped her and then painted on her with her own blood. That was the evening of June 1, 1987. Donahew's case sat unsolved and untouched for years, until Arlington cold-case investigators decided last August to run DNA evidence collected from the scene against a nationwide database of known offenders. In December, they found a match. The suspect, police say, is a state inmate serving life in prison for the 1994 shooting death of his ex-girlfriend, Sandra Dumont of Austin. The former Dallas man also has a lengthy history of crimes against women across Florida and Texas, including kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault, Arlington police Sgt. Mark Simpson said. "I knew deep down in my heart that whoever did this couldn't know my sister well. If you knew her, you couldn't have done that to her," Bishop said. "I felt that from the very start he was a criminal, a serial killer." On Tuesday, Arlington police filed a capital murder case against Roger Fain Jr., citing DNA and other evidence. Fain, 51, remains in custody at the Eastham Prison Unit in Lovelady, about 200 miles southeast of Fort Worth. "Hopefully my sister can rest in peace now. I always knew somehow, someday they would find him," Bishop said. "I want him to pay for what he did to my sister." Donahew drove a Corvette, loved country-Western music and animals, especially her horse Hero, Bishop said. She was a real-estate agent, whose passion was remodeling and selling houses. Police believe Fain met Donahew at John B's bar on Arkansas Lane, near the southwest Arlington home she shared with her sister and near the stable where she kept her horse. The 2 may have dated briefly but were not seriously involved, Simpson said. Although Fain's name never surfaced as a suspect at the time, witnesses told police they saw an older-model white pickup parked at Donahew's house the day of her slaying. The description matches the white 1976 pickup that Fain was driving at the time, according to a police timeline. Fain's police mug shot also closely matches a suspect sketch that investigators released based on witnesses' descriptions of a man they saw Donahew riding with in the pickup, Simpson said. Investigators also linked a semen sample collected from the scene to Fain, who police said was accused of sexually assaulting two women in 1991. When cold-case Detectives Jim Ford and John Bell confronted Fain last month with the evidence linking him to Donahew's slaying, they said that Fain declined to talk and requested an attorney. "Once this case started coming together, it was like an avalanche," Simpson said. Fain was also a suspect in the 1994 death of Darlene Anderson, a Round Rock woman he knew, police said. Anderson, 38, and Fain's ex-girlfriend Dumont, 39, had gone missing a month apart from each other, according to the Austin American-Statesman. Fain participated in a search for Anderson's body that summer in a field where both women's bodies would later be discovered, the paper reported. Their clothes also appeared to have been cut from their bodies, like Donahew's clothing had been, police said. Fain was convicted in 1995 of Dumont's slaying, but police did not have enough evidence to charge him with Anderson's death. He is eligible for parole in 2024, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Bishop visited Donahew's grave site on Christmas Day, her heart heavy but filled with hope that her sister's killer would soon be brought to justice. "It was a hard thing to understand what happened. She was so young, and her life was all ahead of her. He took our lives, too," said Bishop, who has 2 brothers and a younger sister. "Finally after 18 years, we have some kind of closure." Arlington police cold-case investigators have cleared 13 cases since the unit was created in November 2004. Five cases were cleared through arrests, and 8 cases were cleared through the suspects' deaths. The unit has 55 remaining unsolved cases. CHRONOLOGY Timeline of events leading to the arrest of Roger Eugene Fain Jr., 51: June 1, 1987 -- Linda Donahew, an acquaintance of Fain's, is found stabbed and strangled inside her southwest Arlington home. She had also been sexually assaulted. Aug. 17, 1994 -- Fain is arrested in the shooting death of ex-girlfriend Sandra Dumont, 39, of Austin. Fain, who received a life sentence for the murder, is also a suspect in the 1994 slaying of another acquaintance, 38-year-old Darlene Anderson of Round Rock. The bodies of both women, who went missing one month apart, were discovered Aug. 12, 1994, lying near each other in a cow pasture in Round Rock. Fain was never charged in Anderson's slaying. Aug. 30, 2005 -- 18 years after her death, Arlington police cold-case investigators reopen Linda Donahew's case. Investigators submit DNA evidence found on Donahew's body for testing to identify a possible suspect. 4 months later, the DNA sample is positively matched to Fain, a Texas prisoner who had been previously arrested for sexual assault. Tuesday -- Arlington police charge Fain with capital murder in connection with Donahew's slaying. He remains in custody serving a life sentence at the Eastham Unit in Lovelady, about 200 miles southeast of Fort Worth. (source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram) ******************* What's good for other public servants should be good for judges It may seem nearly suicidal for an attorney who spends much of his time in federal court to argue against raising the salaries of federal judges, as U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts recently recommended to Congress. However, Roberts' proposal raises the issue of how much we should reward public service, especially that of judges who have great power and prestige. Federal trial judges earn $162,500 annually; appellate judges, $175,100 per year. These are not puny salaries. And there is more here than meets the eye. Federal judges have job security (lifetime tenure), good office staffs and excellent medical and pension benefits. They have law clerks (who are attorneys) to assist them. There is also a topnotch "senior status" (semi-retirement) plan whereby a retired judge can continue to work at a reduced caseload. Not bad. Roberts argues that even a 30-% raise would be insufficient to get federal judges close to what they would earn if they left the bench for private practice. He calls their current pay scale "a direct threat to judicial independence" because money entices some judges to the private sector. I am of the old-fashioned view that as long as federal judges make a comfortable living compared to the rest of us, they should view their job as a public service. If they wish to make more money, they should return to private practice. There is no logic to the idea that taxpayers should pay them what they would make if they were not judges. We don't accept that argument for other public servants; why do it for judges? There is a groundless assumption here: Higher pay attracts better judges. But there is not a shred of evidence to support this startling proposition. I know scores of highly competent and dedicated lawyers all across the country, many already in public service, who would make excellent judges and currently draw salaries in the $40,000-$70,000 range. These lawyers may even have a greater sense of the day-to-day struggles of common people than do judges from the politically powerful, silk stocking law firms. But Roberts is not talking about these dedicated and decent public servants; he is talking about maintaining a legal system (oligarchy, if you will) that is elitist. Nowhere does Roberts offer a plea to increase funds for legal services programs for critically under-served poor and low-income people. Nor does he mention establishing pro bono programs to encourage highly paid lawyers to do more community service. And he is silent about providing funds to shore up the country's abysmal public defender system. At a time when Congress is slashing food stamps, Medicaid, education and other assistance for the poor, is the chief justice's priority to take that money and raise the salaries of judges? Until the chief justice and Congress focus on improving the legal system for all the people, we should leave the salaries of federal judges where they are. A federal judgeship is a great honor and a public service; not a vehicle through which to pay judges what they might earn if they were in private practice. A sense of public purpose will do more to improve our legal system than raising the salaries of those who already earn 5 to 6 times more than the average American - with a nice pension and health insurance besides. (source: The Amarillo Globe-News - James C. Harrington is director of the Texas Civil Rights Project) **************** HPD crime lab report: 40 % of DNA cases have problems Early Wednesday morning, the 4th report on the Houston Police Departments embattled crime lab was released. The latest report enters the 2nd phase of the investigation. The 1st phase looked at problems in the crime labs culture. The new report looks into specific cases, a total of 2,700. So far, about 4 % of the cases have been reviewed. The investigation revealed that high quality work was done regarding the departments of firearms contamination, toxicology and questioned documents examination. But another part of the report discussed what it referred to as severe and pervasive problems. Those sections included serology, a type of forensic test done in the early 1990s before DNA testing replaced it. According to the report, when DNA profiling was introduced, the problems from serology just transferred over when the switch was made to DNA profiling. So far in the investigation, the Office of the Independent Investigator has found major issues in 22 % of the serology cases and 40 % of the DNA cases. That 40 % includes death penalty cases, such as the cases of Franklin Dewayne Alix and Juan Carlos Alvarez. The report said the outcome of those 2 cases may have been changed if the evidence was correctly examined. In Alixs case, it was clear that his DNA was not in the sample that was tested, and yet the crime lab called it inconclusive. In the Alvarez case, evidence from a firearm was tested that showed he was not included in the sample. Because of the problems detailed in reports, the DNA lab was closed in 2002. Read the complete report : http://www.hpdlabinvestigation.org/reports/060104report.pdf (source: KHOU News) ***************** Crime lab commission two months overdue----Perry aide says appointments are in works. A state commission designed to clean up the tarnished image of Texas' state laboratories that test crime evidence - evidence that can send people to prison or clear their names - was supposed to have been established by November. But 2 months later, none of the 9 members has been named. On Tuesday, the first anniversary of hearings on the issue convened by Texas legislators, officials with the New York-based Innocence Project prodded Gov. Rick Perry to get moving with appointments to the Texas Forensic Science Commission. "Texans deserve to have faith in the evidence used in their criminal justice system to investigate, prosecute, convict and acquit," wrote nationally known attorney Barry Scheck, a director of the Innocence Project. "The Texas Legislature recognized the urgency of this need. We now respectfully ask that you delay not a moment longer in naming" the commission. Last year, lawmakers approved establishing the commission composed of 4 gubernatorial appointees, three selected by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and 2 by state Attorney General Greg Abbott. Legislative leaders said at the time the law was passed that the commission was to ensure the quality of forensic evidence in Texas after a series of scandals that involved the Houston Police Department's crime lab and questions that surfaced about testing procedures at several state crime labs. In his letter, Scheck noted that supporters of the change thought that the commission would be created Sept. 1, when the new law took effect, and then on Nov. 1, the deadline Perry aides indicated that the governor had to make the 1st appointments. "That deadline has come and gone," Scheck said. Kathy Walt, Perry's press secretary, said Tuesday that the commission has not been forgotten. Appointments will be forthcoming "very soon," she said. "We are in the process of reviewing options for appointments," Walt said. "The law spells out the qualifications for each of the governor's appointees. . . . They are very specific." She said Perry must name 2 people with forensic experience, one prosecutor whose name is among 10 recommended by the Texas District and County Attorneys Association, a statewide prosecutors' group, and 1 defense attorney from a list of 10 recommended by the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. She cautioned against anyone concluding that the delay in appointments means quality crime labs are any less of an issue for Perry. "It's just a matter of making sure we get the right people, qualified people," she said. (source : Austin American-Statesman) *************** Forensics panel short by 7----Only 2 members have been named to the commission that is to monitor crime labs in state More than 2 months after the deadline for filling its 9 seats, a new commission created to monitor crime labs in Texas still has 7 vacancies. Neither Gov. Rick Perry nor Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has made any appointments to the Texas Forensic Science Commission, which is empowered to investigate possible misconduct or negligence in crime labs. The panel was created last year in response to the exposure of flawed work in crime labs across the state, including the Houston Police Department's facility. The only two members named to the commission thus far were appointed by Attorney General Greg Abbott on Nov. 1, the deadline for choosing members. One of the sponsors of the bill creating the commission said Tuesday that he is troubled by the delay. The commission was a legislative compromise that followed months of heated debate over reforming troubled crime labs. "It seems that if they don't get pressure from the public, it is sort of a back-burner issue," said state Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen. "I am disappointed." Hinojosa said he is preparing to send letters to Perry and Dewhurst reminding them of their obligation. A Perry spokeswoman said the commission is a priority for the governor, but she added that choosing candidates who meet the requirements for each position "has been a process." Dewhurst's office said appointments "were pending." One impediment may be finding funding, said state Rep. Joe Driver, R-Garland, who helped write the legislation to create the panel. "As I understand it, it is a logistical issue of identifying the funds, and not a lack of interest in the commission," Driver said. "We are not going to let it be a lack of interest. (The commission) is something we need." State Sen. John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat who chairs the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, launched hearings about the HPD crime lab in January 2004 after revelations that its errors extended to the property room, where thousands of pieces of evidence had been misplaced. Interest from Whitmire, Driver and other lawmakers sparked competing pieces of legislation, each aimed at installing safeguards to prevent future problems at crime labs. The HPD DNA lab was shuttered in December 2002 after problems with its work were revealed. Since then, errors have been exposed in the work of that division and 4 other crime-lab disciplines, and 2 men have been released from prison based on the faulty work with evidence. An independent team began investigating the lab last year and is expected to release its latest report today. Lawmakers created the Forensic Science Commission after scrapping proposals to replace local labs connected to police agencies with an independent state lab or to create a powerful oversight body in charge of accrediting and investigating crime labs. (source: Houston Chronicle) VIRGINIA: Searching for truth through DNA----Gov. Mark Warner could have ordered retesting in the Coleman case years ago, and he should at last dispel lingering doubts. The truth has been on ice for far too long. That truth can no longer set Roger Keith Coleman free. Even if modern DNA testing of evidence that has been sitting in a California freezer for the past 15 years could exonerate him in the 1982 rape and murder of his sister-in-law, Coleman is beyond justice. Virginia executed him in 1992 after primitive DNA testing in 1990 failed to exonerate him. Coleman maintained his innocence to the end. For more than 5 years, Centurian Ministries, a group opposed to the death penalty, has been petitioning for the remaining evidence in the case to be retested using techniques unavailable before Coleman's execution. Since November 2003, the decision to retest has rested with Gov. Mark Warner. Warner has had more than enough time to think about this. It is past time to act. Warner has called this a "tough issue," but there is nothing tough about it, unless his concerns about the political implications for his long-speculated run for the presidency in 2008 outweigh his commitment to the truth. Coleman may well be guilty, and the tests could confirm the state's judgment. But Virginia should not hide from the possibility that an innocent man was executed. Warner should not let politics impede the search for the truth. Warner has delayed his decision for far too long, even as DNA retesting has proved its value many times recently. Clearing the wrongly executed is just as important as exonerating the living in maintaining the integrity of Virginia's system of justice. Surely Warner recognizes that. Surely, Virginians want to know whether their government executed the wrong man. But, after sitting on the request for more than 2 years, Warner is running out of time to do anything about it. Political observers think he is deliberately waiting until the end of his term to order the tests. That way, he gets to say he wanted the truth revealed, but his successor will have to deal with the ramifications if the truth turns out to be the death of an innocent man. Whatever Warner's motives may -- or may not -- be, it is time for the truth to be taken off the ice. (source: Editorial, The Roanoke Times) ARIZONA: LeRoy Nash...No compassion from Death Row Warden We, at TNC, have written much about inmate # 47754 Viva LeRoy Nash, currently, aged 90, the oldest man on death row in the USA, and probably a man who should be out and about, breathing fresh air. LeRoy writes frequently to us at TNC; he even sent a Christmas card to our publisher, Chris, and Christopher decided to phone ASP Eyman, with the intent of having a short, 4-second message passed onto this old guy, who is now half blind, in poor health, and whose only pleasure comes from writing to us using the refill of a ballpoint pen. We spoke to Warden John Ontiveros's secretary, a likeable and helpful lady who put us through to the Deputy Warden on death row. This was his response: "We have serious funding and staff shortages-we don't have the manpower, nor time (despite the fact that guards walk past LeRoy's cell every 5 minutes) to pass on a message and, if we do this for you, we will set a precedent for other callers." "Please, can you simply just tell Mr Nash that we will be writing soon, and wish him good health for 2006?" "I am sorry, we just don't have the time, manpower or funding. Thank you, and yall have a good day." Of course, we all know that LeRoy has been something of a rascal in his time, and sure, he shot a cop, dead - at least, this is what a corrupt District Attorney spoon-fed the jury at a totally biased trial. However, as we all know, the US Justice system is not all that it is cracked up to be, and our professional opinion, here at TNC - and we are supported by hundreds of professionals in US law enforcement and legal system - is that Mr Nashs conviction is totally unsafe. Anyway, the good news for LeRoy is this: Bro, you will know these names from the past. Ilene, Beth, Robert and Amy. Amy has written to us with fond thoughts for you. She wants to write to you, but is unsure what to say. Now that should bring a smile to your face, LeRoy, and everyone sincerely wishes you all the very best for 2006. Eyman-let's get real. At the time of Festive seasons, a little compassion can go a long way. (source: New Criminologist) NEW JERSEY/PENNSYLVANIA: Search for more victims delays Cullen's sentencing Tomorrow's scheduled sentencing of Charles Cullen, a nurse who has admitted murdering 29 patients in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, has been postponed so investigators can keep looking into possible cases in 2 New Jersey counties, authorities said yesterday. No new date was set. Cullen, formerly of Bethlehem, Pa., agreed in 2004 to help authorities solve the crimes he committed during a 16-year nursing career. In exchange, he will avoid the death penalty. Cullen, 45, worked at hospitals and nursing homes in five counties in New Jersey and two in Pennsylvania from 1987 to 2003. He was to be sentenced in Somerset County to life in prison for each of the 22 murders in New Jersey to which he has pleaded guilty, but authorities said investigators in Essex and Morris Counties needed more time to figure out whether he had more victims there. Cullen will later be sentenced for his crimes in Pennsylvania. As part of his plea agreement, he will be assigned to a prison in New Jersey. (source: Associated Press) *********************** Con man's latest career: Therapist CONVICTED fraud who spent years passing himself off as a death-penalty expert in the Criminal Justice Center is now posing as a licensed psychotherapist. Although Richard Gottfried, 48, is under grand jury investigation for his stint as a legal expert, the inquiry has dragged on long enough for him to reincarnate himself. Gottfried took the scam so far that even the online directories at the National Mental Health Association and Psychology Today listed him as a legitimate therapist. Within minutes of receiving inquiries yesterday from the Daily News, both organizations spiked the listings from their sites. When reached by phone yesterday, Gottfried, 48, declined to talk with this reporter. "What do I want to tell you about it?" he asked before hanging up. Subsequent calls to Gottfried's "office" numbers - including one with a recorded message that sounded suspiciously like Gottfried faking a female receptionist's voice - were not returned. In the past, Gottfried said he had never intended to deceive anyone. "The work I've done has been honest and forthright," he said at the time. Gottfried has been under grand jury investigation in Philadelphia since 2004, two years after a Daily News investigation exposed his criminal past and the misrepresentations on his resume. Before the story appeared, the charming man with blond hair and flashy suits worked on several major criminal cases, even testifying under oath about his qualifications as an expert. Gottfried's work as a mitigation specialist involved interviewing murder defendants and researching their backgrounds to find reasons jurors should spare them from the death penalty. He duped defense attorneys, prosecutors, judges, defendants, spectators and even an Inquirer reporter. With unflagging confidence, Gottfried continued to be a regular fixture at the Criminal Justice Center for years after his ruse was revealed. During that time, sources familiar with the grand jury investigation said, he allegedly submitted fake invoices to receive city money for work on criminal cases. One source estimated the billing irregularities could go as high as "hundreds of thousands of dollars." Cathie Abookire, spokeswoman for the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, said yesterday that she could not comment about the grand jury investigation. According to his latest resumes, Gottfried has worked for more than 11 years as a "vocational counselor," as a"psychotherapist in private practice working with personal and family issues, and as a lecturer for major companies on stress reduction and self-esteem." While passing himself off as a court expert, Gottfried claimed to have spent those same years working as a "sentencing, dispositional and mitigation specialist" who prepared "Comprehensive Support Plans (CSP) in criminal cases, and the preparation of dispositional plans and reports in cases involving White Collar Crimes, Political Corruption, Sexual Offenses, Drug and Narcotic Violations and juvenile cases." He failed to list his closest relationship with the criminal-justice system: 20 months spent in a federal penitentiary for an elaborate fraud he and his father perpetrated against a New Jersey mortgage company. He pleaded guilty to the crimes in 1996. His online resumes listed his educational degrees as "an MED in Counseling and Education, an "EdDML" and an "MCJ," all from St. Joseph's University. A university spokeswoman said yesterday that Gottfried had earned three master-of-science degrees from the school: 2 in education and 1 in criminal justice. She said she has never heard of a degree with the initials, "EdDML." Gottfried also claimed to hold a Pennsylvania license to practice. He even listed the license number on his sites: 0479046. Brian McDonald, deputy press secretary for the Pennsylvania Diepartment of State, said yesterday that the license number is invalid. Gottfried does not hold a license as a psychologist, psychotherapist or doctor in Pennsylvania, McDonald said. An official from Psychology Today said yesterday that Gottfried's listing immediately was removed after the magazine "reviewed the license information and found it wasn't up to our standards." The National Mental Health Association, which relies on Psychology Today's verification for its listings, removed Gottfried's name from its site, too. (source: Philadelphia Daily News) OHIO: Condemned inmate says he won't ask governor for clemency A man scheduled to die next month for raping and murdering 2 women 20 years ago says he won't ask Gov. Bob Taft for clemency. Condemned inmate Glenn Benner says he doesn't believe the clemency process takes into consideration whether an inmate has changed in prison. "I know that I have changed, and I am now a new person, but sadly I am unable to change the past, so there does not seem to be point (sic) in participating in such a hearing," Benner said in a Dec. 28 letter to Michael Collyer, a state assistant attorney general. Benner also says he doesn't want to cause further pain to the families of his victims. Messages were left Wednesday with Taft and the Ohio Parole Board seeking comment. Benner, 43, of Summit County, has been on death row since 1986 for the killings that took place during a 5-month stretch in 1985 and 1986. Benner was convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering Cynthia Sedgwick, 26, in August 1985 in woods at the Blossom Music Center near Akron where she had attended a concert. He also was convicted of raping and murdering 21-year-old Trina Bowser in Akron in January 1986. Benner's execution is set for Feb. 7 and his attorney says she expects it to proceed. In September, condemned prisoner Willie Williams Jr., also refused to ask for clemency. Williams, convicted in the 1991 killings of 4 people at a Youngstown housing project, was executed by injection in October. (source: Associated Press)
