Marine suspected of murdering toddler now in civilian hands

A New River Marine accused of killing a toddler last month in California has been transferred from base to the Onslow County Jail.

Joshua Kruzik, 21, is awaiting extradition on charges of murder and injury to a child resulting in death. He is accused of killing 18-month-old Audrey Allen, the daughter of Marines he was staying with while training at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms.

“Pursuant to an arrest warrant issued in San Bernardino County, Calif., and in accordance with Marine Corps policy, we transferred custody of Cpl. Kruzik to the Onslow County Sheriff’s Department,” New River spokeswoman 1st Lt. Kristin Dalton said. “There, he will be processed for extradition to California where he will face criminal charges brought by local authorities.”

While Kruzik is “in the hands of civilian authorities,” he has not been discharged from the Marine Corps, Dalton said, clearing up an erroneous report from California authorities that Kruzik had been dishonorably discharged.

Canadian archbishop in pedophile case

Canadian police have charged the head of the Archdiocese of Canada of the Orthodox Church in America with two counts of sexual assault on young boys.

Archbishop Kenneth William Storheim, who has held many Church positions in Canadian communities, turned himself in to Winnipeg police on Wednesday after being charged. He has since been released on bail and is waiting to appear in court on January 10.

Authorities launched an investigation into the allegations after Storheim resigned from his post in October.

Canadian media report that the archbishop sexually assaulted the boys while he was the rector of a Winnipeg parish from 1984 to 1987.

North Carolina County Seeks to Remove Public Officials from Online Property Database

Mecklenburg County wants the public to use an online survey to weigh in on a debate over access to public officials’ tax information online.

Arguing that it is too easy for violent criminals to find out where public officials live, some North Carolina county and federal officials sent a letter to county commissioners asking them to allow law enforcement employees to remove their names from the county’s online database.

But officials say the property search tool would have to be removed in its entirety, instead of selectively removing a few names. Property would have to be searched online using only addresses or parcel numbers, but not owner names if the search tool were removed.

Read more here.

Marine scum Cesar Laurean: murder trial to move

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — A former North Carolina-based Marine accused of killing a pregnant colleague has been granted a change of venue for his murder trial.

Onslow County Superior Court Judge Charles Henry issued an order Monday, saying the trial of Cesar Laurean should be moved because pretrial publicity surrounding the case might influence jurors. Laurean’s attorney had requested a different venue, and prosecutors did not object.

Laurean is charged with murder in the death of 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach of Vandalia, Ohio. He fled to Mexico shortly before her charred remains were found buried in his backyard in Jacksonville in January 2008. He was arrested in April 2008 and extradited to North Carolina last year.

A judge has scheduled the trial to begin June 28.

North Carolina State Senator, a gun control advocate, shoots intruder

What would you think if a long-time gun control advocate ended up shooting someone?  Might the word “hypocrite” come to mind?

It did for me, and apparently for many others.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports North Carolina state senator R. C. Soles shot one of two intruders who attempted to break into his house.

But it gets even more interesting than the mere hypocrisy of a gun control activist shooting somebody.

The New York Times reports Soles won’t be seeking re-election, which is not a surprise since state prosecutors have said they plan to charge Soles because “he acted criminally when he shot a former law client.”

www.dakotavoice.com

Mexican Who Tried to Stop Cop from Fondling Woman May Be Deported

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – An undocumented Mexican immigrant is facing possible deportation after he was arrested for trying to defend his girlfriend from a Charlotte police officer accused of sexual assault on three women, two of them Hispanic.

Police in North Carolina’s largest city revealed on Wednesday that a third victim, a 37-year-old Mexican woman who was not identified, filed a complaint against Marcus Jackson, 25, because he had sexually assaulted her.

Jackson has been under arrest since Dec. 30 in the Mecklenburg County jail, with bail set at almost $500,000, for two previous accusations by a Latina and an African-American woman of kidnapping, extortion, assault, sexual abuse and indecent exposure.

The third victim, who is undocumented, said that on Dec. 29, when she was going home at night, Jackson stopped her in the parking lot of the apartment complex where she lives.

She also said that eight weeks earlier the same officer had fondled her breasts.

In the Dec. 29 incident, police say, the boyfriend of the victim tried to stop the abuse by calling 911 but Jackson seized his telephone and arrested him for resisting a police officer.

The Mexican man spent six days in the Charlotte jail and was subjected to the 287g program, which determined that he entered the country without the proper papers.

2 Lejeune Marines charged in triple shooting

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Two Camp Lejeune-based Marines have been charged in a triple shooting here earlier this week.

Sgt. Michael Sabestian Haridat, 28, and Lance Cpl. Erwin J. Rodriguez Jr., 21, both riflemen with 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, were charged Thursday with one count each of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.

Authorities say the Marines were involved in an early Sunday morning scuffle outside of a restaurant that ended with three men shot. All three victims, Christian Onate, 29, Jonni Aidoo, 27, and Enation Roney, 27, were taken to area hospitals.

Haridat allegedly shot Onate, and Rodriguez was charged with allegedly shooting Aidoo. They were treated and released earlier this week. Roney remains in critical condition at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville.

Haridat, of the Bronx, N.Y., was arrested earlier this week on charges of possession with intent to manufacture, sell and deliver marijuana, manufacturing marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

More than 12% of youths in juvenile prisons are sexually abused while in custody

More than 12% of youths in juvenile prisons are sexually abused while in custody there, according to a Justice Department study out Thursday, and the vast majority of cases involve female staff and boys under their supervision.

In the worst facilities surveyed — in Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina and Texas — more than 30% of youths reported they had been sexually victimized. The study, the first of its kind, shows a rate of sexual assault more than seven times higher than that indicated by a 2008 Justice Department report that collected sexual abuse claims to juvenile facility administrators. It is also higher than a similar study of adult prisons because of the “very high rate of staff sexual misconduct,” said Allen Beck, who directed the survey for the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

The survey of 9,198 youths ages 13 to 21 — all in custody by order of a juvenile court — included methods to eliminate interviews considered unreliable. The survey covered 195 facilities, at least one in each state. Approximately 26,550 juveniles — 91% of them boys — are held in more than 500 such facilities around the country.

REPORT: Ohio guard dies after horseplay with teen

Iraqis outraged as Blackwater case thrown out

In this Oct. 2007 image, Mohammed Hafiz holds a picture of his 10-year-old son, Ali Mohammed, who was killed when guards employed by Blackwater allegedly opened fire at Nisoor Square in Baghdad. Iraqis responded with bitterness and outrage Jan. 1 at aU.S. judge’s decision to throw out a case against Blackwater guards accused in the killings.

BAGHDAD — Iraqis seeking justice for 17 people shot dead at a Baghdad intersection responded with bitterness and outrage Friday at a U.S. judge’s decision to throw out a case against a Blackwater security team accused in the killings.

The Iraqi government vowed to pursue the case, which became a source of contention between the U.S. and the Iraqi government. Many Iraqis also held up the judge’s decision as proof of what they’d long believed: U.S. security contractors were above the law.

“There is no justice,” said Bura Sadoun Ismael, who was wounded by two bullets and shrapnel during the shooting. “I expected the American court would side with the Blackwater security guards who committed a massacre in Nisoor Square.”

What happened on Nisoor Square on Sept. 16, 2007, raised Iraqi concerns about their sovereignty because Iraqi officials were powerless to do anything to the Blackwater employees who had immunity from local prosecution. The shootings also highlighted the degree to which the U.S. relied on private contractors during the Iraq conflict.

Blackwater had been hired by the Department of State to protect U.S. diplomats in Iraq. The guards said they were ambushed at a busy intersection in western Baghdad, but U.S. prosecutors and many Iraqis said the Blackwater guards let loose an unprovoked attack on civilians using machine guns and grenades.

“Investigations conducted by specialized Iraqi authorities confirmed unequivocally that the guards of Blackwater committed the crime of murder and broke the rules by using arms without the existence of any threat obliging them to use force,” Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement Friday.

He did not elaborate on what steps the government planned to take to pursue the case.

Twentynine Palms Marine solicited and procured the sexual assault of Casper woman

“Enlisted in the Marines in 2001, went to Cherry Point NC, then to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom, then back for OIFII, and in about 2 weeks I’m going back for a 3rd time. Married to a beautiful woman from Washington. Have 2 beautiful boys who are the lights of my life. I am getting out of the Marines in July and going up to Washington to be the town sheriff.” – Jebidiah James Stipe

Jebidiah Stipe Feb 03 2005
“NEW SON!!!  Born on March 19 2004, 6lbs, 7 ounces, red hair, blue eyes, GORGOUS!!”

Rawlins, WY
Yakima, WA
Sinclair, WY
Havelock, NC

Twentynine Palms, CA TWENTYNINE PALMS – A marine stationed at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms is behind bars at the West Valley Detention Center in San Bernardino County, charged with setting up the rape of a woman in Casper, Wyoming.

Prosecutors in Natrona County, Wyoming, say 27-year-old Jebidiah James Stipe (photo above) “solicited and procured the sexual assault of an adult female” in the Casper area through the use of Craigslist, an Internet site that allows users to post classified ads at little or no charge.

“All charges in this case stem from a series of activities alleged to have begun by Mr. Stipe by the use of the Internet site Craigslist,” said Natrona County District Attorney Michael Blonigen.

A Casper man has been arrested for the actual rape of the woman on December 11, and faces a preliminary hearing on December 29.  Ty Oliver McDowell, a 26-year-old, is jailed with $250,000 bail.

Problems for Stipe may not be confined to his native Wyoming.

A Casper newspaper points out eerie similarities between the Wyoming case and a North Carolina case, where a man hired someone to rape his wife while he watched.

The Marine Corps. couldn’t comment on Stipe’s performance on-base, other than to say Stipe was being processed for administrative separation as a result of a pattern of misconduct at the time he was arrested for the Wyoming case.

America’s Secret ICE Castles

“If you don’t have enough evidence to charge someone criminally but you think he’s illegal, we can make him disappear.” Those chilling words were spoken by James Pendergraph, then executive director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement‘s (ICE) Office of State and Local Coordination, at a conference of police and sheriffs in August 2008. Also present was Amnesty International‘s Sarnata Reynolds, who wrote about the incident in the 2009 report “Jailed Without Justice” and said in an interview, “It was almost surreal being there, particularly being someone from an organization that has worked on disappearances for decades in other countries. I couldn’t believe he would say it so boldly, as though it weren’t anything wrong.”

ICE agents regularly impersonate civilians–Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors, insurance agents, religious workers–in order to arrest longtime US residents who have no criminal history. Jacqueline Stevens has reported a web-exclusive companion piece on ICE agents’ ruse operations.

• ICE Agents’ Ruse Operations

• Secret Courts Exploit Immigrants

  Jacqueline Stevens: You don’t need to go to Iran or North Korea to find secret courts. Try attending a US immigration hearing.

Pendergraph knew that ICE could disappear people, because he knew that in addition to the publicly listed field offices and detention sites, ICE is also confining people in 186 unlisted and unmarked subfield offices, many in suburban office parks or commercial spaces revealing no information about their ICE tenants–nary a sign, a marked car or even a US flag. (Presumably there is a flag at the Department of Veterans Affairs Complex in Castle Point, New York, but no one would associate it with the Criminal Alien Program ICE is running out of Building 7.) Designed for confining individuals in transit, with no beds or showers, subfield offices are not subject to ICE Detention Standards. The subfield office network was mentioned in an October report by Dora Schriro, then special adviser to Janet Ann Napolitano, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, but no locations were provided.

States change police lineups after wrongful convictions

Police are dramatically changing the way they conduct suspect lineups after a mounting number of wrongful convictions based on mistaken identifications.

At least five states — Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina and West Virginia — and some major U.S. cities have either revamped or started changing the way law enforcement officials use photographic lineups to identify suspects. Since changing its policy in April, Dallas Police Department Lt. David Pughes says the department has conducted 1,400 lineups and believes “we’re bringing a stronger piece of evidence to court.”

Analysts say the changes are transforming the way police investigate crime.