Slava Novorossiya

Slava Novorossiya

Friday, May 20, 2011

Waiting to Die


20 local inmates remain on death row
Updated: Friday, 20 May 2011, 12:07 AM CDT
Published : Thursday, 19 May 2011, 8:22 PM CDT
MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - There is no shortage of Mobile and Baldwin county prisoners awaiting execution.

According to the Alabama Department of Corrections , out of the 202 inmates in state's 3 death rows, 6 are from Baldwin County and 14 are from Mobile County. That's roughly 10 percent of those on death row.

They range from those who admit being cold blooded killers to those who insist they are innocent. But unless the courts intervene, all of their lives will end with a needle in their vein as a lethal cocktail of chemicals knocks them out then stops their heart.  The list includes:
  • Jarrod Taylor was convicted of the execution-style slaying of 3 people at a used car dealership on Government Boulevard right before Christmas in 1997.
  • Garrett Dotch, who in 2006, ambushed his former girlfriend outside the sandwich shop where she worked on Old Shell Road.
  • Donald Deardorff, who was convicted of the murder of Eastern Shore minister Ted Turner. Before his sentencing, Deardorff told the court, "Bring the death penalty. It doesn’t scare me. It's what the state wants, so bring the death penalty". Deardorff has been sitting on Death Row for 10 years.
  • Calvin Stallworth was convicted of killing 2 Baldwin County convenience store clerks in December, 1997.
  • Former Alabama State Trooper George Martin is still fighting his conviction. He was found guilty of killing his wife Hammoketh, whose body was found in a burned out car in 1995.
The case of Jeremy Jones was in the news for months. The self-professed serial killer was sentenced to die for raping and killing Lisa Nichols inside her Turnerville home. At Jones’ sentencing, he told Judge Charles Graddick that his attorneys wanted him to beg for mercy, but he said, "I don't know how to do that, and I'm not going to do that." He also threatened the judge saying, "If you put me to death then you too shall be put to death yourself."

And there was Lam Luong, who faces death for throwing his 4 children off the Dauphin Island Bridge. Judge Graddick also heard that case, and ordered that Luong be shown pictures of his children, every day, until the day he dies. Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson, Jr, told Fox 10 News, “I had not anticipated that. But the court was so moved by the facts of this case and those pictures are now law in this case."

Timothy Jones, who was sent to death row for the murders of his parents in Monroeville, is no longer there. He killed himself 4 years ago.

Gerald Patrick Lewis, sentenced to death for the murder of a Baldwin County woman, died on Alabama's death row in 2009.

There was also Samuel Ivery, who told our cameras, “I'm the sweetest, kindest, most caring person you'll ever meet in life or in all eternity, even though I killed three people”. Ivery, who beheaded a gas station attendant in 1994 and claimed that God told him to come to Mobile to kill her, committed suicide before he had a chance to be executed.
 

Monday, May 16, 2011

The death penalty in Ohio [Sunday, May 15, 2011 04:48 AM]

The Columbus Dispatch

What crimes are eligible for death?

Defendant must be over 18 and indicted on a charge of aggravated murder committed in one of the following circumstances:
  • assassination
  • for hire
  • to escape detection, apprehension, trial, or punishment of another crime
  • while in detention, or escaping detention
  • prior murder or attempted murder conviction, or multiple killings
  • knowingly killed a law-enforcement officer
  • defendant was also engaged in kidnapping, rape, aggravated arson, aggravated robbery or aggravated burglary.
  • a potential witness in a criminal case is killed to prevent testimony
  • killing a child younger than 13
  • terrorism
How is a death-penalty trial different?

A defendant has the right to a jury trial, but if he waives that, a three-judge panel decides guilt and sentence.

Jurors must be "death qualified," or, his or her views can't be so strongly pro- or anti-death penalty that they cannot abide by the oath.

A death-penalty trial has two parts, the guilt phase and sentencing phase.
  • Guilt phase: The jury, or panel of judges, must unanimously agree on the defendant's guilt to the murder, and the aggravating circumstance. Otherwise, it can result in an acquittal or a hung jury.
  • Sentencing/mitigation phase: Defense attorneys present mitigating factors, including: the nature and circumstances of the offense and the defendant's background. This can include that the defendant was coerced, lacked mental capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct, was young, lacked a criminal history, was not the principal offender in the murder or any other relevant factors.
If the jury unanimously finds that the aggravating circumstance outweighs the mitigating factors, the jury shall recommend a sentence of death.

If the jury doesn't, it can impose life without parole, life with parole after 30 years, or life with parole after 25 years.

Even with a death sentence from the jury, the court will review the evidence, and can impose one of the life-sentence options if the mitigating factors outweigh the aggravating circumstance.

 

Saturday, May 7, 2011

PRISON MURDERS IN AUSTRALIA (PART 2)

Prison in lockdown after death
By Maria Hatzakis
Posted Wed Dec 16, 2009 2:08pm AEDT
Updated Thu Dec 17, 2009 2:08pm AEDT
Capricornia Correctional Centre near Rockhampton in central Queensland. (ABC TV News)
A central Queensland prison is in lockdown as investigations continue into the death of an inmate this morning.

Officers say a 30-year-old man was involved in an incident with another prisoner, at the Capricornia Correctional Centre north of Rockhampton, just after 9am AEST.
He was pronounced dead after being taken to the centre's medical facility.

Inmate's death sends jail into lockdown

CHRISTINE KELLETT
December 16, 2009
A central Queensland jail is in lockdown following the alleged bashing death of a prisoner this morning.
The 30 year-old man was being held in Capricornia Correctional Centre, north of Rockhampton, when it is believed a fight broke out with another inmate just after 9am.
The injured man was taken to the prison's medical centre for transfer to Rockhampton Base Hospital but passed away.
Police were called to the jail this morning and have set up a crime scene.
Corrective Services will also investigate the incident.
A spokesman said all prisoners were being held in their cells while preliminary inquiries were completed.
Inmate death sparks investigation
By Maria Hatzakis
Posted December 17, 2009 09:21:00
Updated December 17, 2009 09:35:00
The inmate died from significant head injuries. (ABC TV News)

Police are yet to lay charges over the death of an inmate at a central Queensland prison yesterday.

Authorities say a 30-year-old man was assaulted by another prisoner at a walkway inside the Capricornia Correctional Centre on Rockhampton's northern outskirts just after 9:00am (AEST).
A post-mortem examination will be conducted today on the body of the 30-year-old man from Gladstone, who was serving a six-month sentence on break and enter charges.

He had been due to be released in May next year but died after being assaulted by another prisoner. 

The inmate died from significant head injuries.

The centre was placed in lockdown after the incident. 

An officer from the Corrective Services Investigation Unit has arrived in Rockhampton from Brisbane to help police detectives with the investigation.

Queensland Corrective Services Commissioner Kelvin Anderson was at the facility to present long service awards to staff when the incident happened.


Con enters third day of rooftop protest

A DANGEROUS prisoner armed with scissors is still on the roof of a high-security Queensland prison, sending the complex into lockdown for a third day. 

Convicted murderer Alex Richmond-Sinclair climbed onto the roof of Borallon Correctional Centre, on the outskirts of Ipswich, west of Brisbane, on Monday morning.

At 6.30am (AEST) today he was still on the roof, armed with scissors, while police were monitoring him closely.

"We are still negotiating with him to see if he will come down," a police spokeswoman said.
Richmond-Sinclair has rolled out three signs on top of the roof, with protest slogans such as "prisoners get inadequate medical care".

Ross McSwain from the office of the Commissioner of Queensland Corrective Services said it was believed Richmond-Sinclair, 25, had the signs prepared before scaling the roof.

"How the prisoner got the materials and got onto the roof will be investigated," Mr McSwain said.

He said the prison has been in lockdown since Monday, with visitors turned away from the 490-bed complex.

Richmond-Sinclair is serving a 12-year sentence for killing another prisoner at the Woodford Correctional Centre, north of Brisbane, in July 2006.

He was sentenced in August 2008 and would have been eligible for parole in May 2016.


Murderer armed with scissors in prison siege

07:30 AEST Tue Mar 23 2010
A convicted murderer armed with scissors looks set to spend his second night on the roof of a high-security Queensland prison after he climbed up there in protest on Monday morning. 

Dozens of police have been unable to get Alex Richmond-Sinclair, 25, down from the roof of the Borallon Correctional Centre in Ipswich after spending a day negotiating with the inmate by mobile phone. 

Sinclair had not eaten or drunk anything since his escape to the roof and had spent much of the day pacing back and forth, a Corrective Services spokesman told ninemsn. 

Richmond-Sinclair, who is serving a 12-year sentence for killing another prisoner at the Woodford Correctional Centre north of Brisbane in July 2006, also threatened to jump off the roof. 

The spokesperson said it was not yet clear how the prisoner had escaped from custody or what he hoped to achieve with the standoff. 

Aerial photographs of the roof show Richmond-Sinclair standing next to large handwritten signs complaining about the state of health care for prisoners. 

"Prisoners get inadequate medical care," one sign reads, while another claimed the lack of quality care was equivalent to torture. 

Borallon remains in lockdown and prisoners have been isolated in their cells.
Richmond-Sinclair was sentenced in August 2008 and would have been eligible for parole in May 2016.

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Revealed: the man charged with Carl Williams' murder
Steve Butcher
October 19, 2010
Carl Williams' accused killer named

Matthew Johnson, the man accused of murdering Carl Williams, can be named after court orders suppressing his identity are lifted.

THE identity of the man charged with the jailhouse bashing murder of gangland boss Carl Williams can now be revealed.

He is Matthew Charles Johnson, 37, who is accused of attacking Williams in a day room in the maximum security Acacia unit of Barwon Prison in April.

Williams, 39, who was serving multiple life sentences for a series of Melbourne gangland murders, suffered massive head injuries and a heart attack.


Matthew Johnson. 

It is alleged that Johnson used the stem of an exercise bike in the attack on Williams, who was seated, which chief commissioner Simon Overland has said was captured on CCTV footage.

At the time of his death, Williams was sharing the unit with Johnson and another inmate, Thomas "Little Tommy" Ivanovic, who was present.

Two suppression orders that have prevented Johnson's name being published were lifted today.
Williams, who was jailed for a minimum of 35 years by Justice Betty King in 2007, is believed to have been dragged into his cell after the attack where he was found about 20 minutes later by prison officers.

Johnson first appeared unrepresented on the murder charge in Geelong Magistrates Court soon after Williams' death.

He appeared again in July in the same court where his solicitor Christopher Traill announced that his client's defence to the charge was likely to be "defensive homicide".

The heavily-built and head-shaved Johnson was in court again this week, flanked by five prison officers seated behind security glass.

He is also listed to appear this Friday in Geelong on the murder charge where a witness list for a later contested committal is expected to be finalised and to discuss subpoena issues.

Williams' father George Williams and former wife Roberta Williams are expected to be called as witnesses at the committal, presently booked for next month, along with a number of prison officers.

Three separate investigations have been launched into Williams' death.

He was jailed after pleading guilty to the murders of Lewis Moran, his son Jason and Mark Mallia and for conspiring to murder Mario Condello.



PRISON MURDERS IN AUSTRALIA (PART 1)

I watched a 1995 movie, “Dead man walking”. I remembered a quote from a victim’s father played by Ronald Lee Emery, he said, "It is the only way (death penalty) we can be sure that they will not kill again. Life without parole. Oh, sure! How many prison guards and prisoners do they have to kill before it's over?"
            Some might argue that this quote is only from a movie but in reality it is true. That is why I support the death penalty for violent criminals, they are a danger to everyone, even those in prison. There are even prison murders in Australia. Here are a few examples:

Bashed prison guard dies in hospital

Dylan Welch
January 26, 2007

Guards at Silverwater Correctional Facility have locked down the jail today in a mark of respect for colleague Wayne Smith, who died from his injuries yesterday after being bashed in prison.

Mr Smith, a father-of-two and a prison officer of 17 years, was allegedly attacked by Carl Edward Little, 37, on December 11.

Little is also accused of assaulting another person, Rashmi Goel, around the same time.

Mr Smith died in Westmead Hospital after suffering a broken jaw and serious head injuries.

Corrective Services Commissioner Ron Woodham wrote to the Smith family, saying he was "deeply saddened to hear new of the tragic death of senior correctional officer Mr Wayne Smith".

“... the thoughts and prayers of the Commissioner, of the officers who served with Mr Smith and all departmental staff are with the Smith family, who have been maintaining a constant vigil by his bedside.

"Wayne Smith was a highly regarded officer and he will be sadly missed by his colleagues at Silverwater Correctional Facility."

An internal investigation is underway into the incident. In December, a spokesman for the union, Greg O'Donoghue, said the attack was in part due to overcrowding in the NSW prison system, which meant some inmates were being reclassified to lower security levels too early.

"We are concerned that [Little's minimum security classification] may have been on the basis of classifying an inmate to a bed rather than classifying an inmate in terms of the actual risk assessment," he said.

In a written statement Minister for Correctional Services Tony Kelly denied the claim.

"I am advised there are more than 100 [beds] available across the State," he wrote.

Little is serving a term for parole violations, and had been due for release in April. Since the attack he has been moved to the high risk unit of Goulburn jail, known as "SuperMax".

He was due to face Burwood Local Court on February 21, charged with grievous bodily harm. It is expected the charge will now be upgraded to murder.

The last time an officer died as a result of a prisoner attack was in 1998, when Geoffrey Pearce succumbed to the AIDS virus after being stabbed with an HIV infected needle eight years before.

Pearce, a probationary officer, had been on the job for only three months when he was attacked by prisoner Graham Farlow in July 1990.

NSW Correctional officers killed in the line of duty
2007: Wayne Smith, Silverwater. Allegedly bashed by Carl Edward Little while escorting him to a new cell. Succumbed to his injuries six weeks later.

1997: Geoffrey Pearce, Long Bay. Stabbed with a HIV-positive needle by Graham Farlow in 1990 and died from AIDS eight years later.

1979: John Mewburn, Long Bay. Bashed to death by convicted murderer Peter Schneidas. Prison officers still hold a yearly memorial for Mewburn.

1978: Carl Faber, Parramatta. Bashed to death by a group of prisoners during an unsuccessful escape bid.

1959: Cecil Mills, Emu Plains. Bashed to death by prisoners during an attempted escape.

1959: Albert Hedges, Berrima. Bashed and locked in a shed during an escape attempt. He survived and after rehabilitation returned to work. However he injuries were so severe he was medically retired and passed away several years later.

1958: Alan Cooper, Bathurst. Bashed to death by two prisoners at the front gate of the jail during a failed escape.

1908: John Sutherland Brown, Cootamundra. Killed by an axe blow to the head from a prisoner.

Guards protest bashing death of prison officer

January 27, 2007
INMATES at Sydney's Silverwater prison were confined to cells yesterday in a silent protest by guards over the death of a fellow officer who died from wounds received in a bashing in the jail.

Police are expected to charge convicted armed robber Carl Edward Little, 37, on Monday over the death of a senior prison officer, Wayne Smith, 57, who died on Thursday.

Little, who was serving the balance of a breach of parole sentence and was due for release on Anzac Day, allegedly assaulted the father of two on December 15.

Mr Smith suffered a broken jaw and serious head injuries in the assault in which Little is also alleged to have bashed another inmate, Rashmi Goel.

After the attack Little was transferred to the high security Supermax prison at Goulburn where he has been kept in isolation pending his appearance in Burwood Local Court on February 21, charged with grievous bodily harm.

Mr Smith, a prison officer of 17 years' service, died on Thursday afternoon in Westmead Hospital.

The NSW Corrective Services Commissioner, Ron Woodham, wrote to the family, saying he was deeply saddened. "Wayne Smith was a highly regarded officer and he will be sadly missed by his colleagues at Silverwater Correctional Facility," he said.

An internal investigation is underway. In December a spokesman for the prison officers' union, Greg O'Donoghue, said the attack was in part due to overcrowding in the NSW prison system.

Les Kennedy, Dylan Welch
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/guards-protest-bashing-death-of-prison-officer/2007/01/26/1169788693344.html

1500 pay tribute to fallen prison guard

Dylan Welch
February 9, 2007 - 2:44PM

NSW prisons were locked down today as 1500 NSW prison officers attended a Sydney memorial service for Wayne Smith, the guard bashed to death by an inmate at Silverwater jail last month.

Held at the Brush Farm Corrective Services Academy at Eastwood in Sydney's northwest, the service was also attended by Mr Smith's wife Rhonda, mother Kathleen and his two sons Nigel and Gavin.

They all laid wreaths at a memorial for the nine prison officers who have died from incidents at work.

Mr Smith's family also accepted the Exemplary Conduct Cross on his behalf - the first time the honour has between awarded posthumously.

Mr Smith, a 57-year-old father-of-two and prison officer of 17 years, was allegedly attacked by Carl Edward Little, 37, on December 11.

Little is also accused of assaulting another person, Rashmi Goel, around the same time.
Mr Smith died in Westmead Hospital two weeks after the attack, which had left him with a broken jaw and serious head injuries.

Today the memorial service opened with an eight-man honour guard, led by Department of Corrective Services Commissioner Ron Woodham.

Mr Woodham then addressed the audience, including representatives of corrective services from Western Australia, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and the ACT.

"Senior Corrective Officer Wayne Smith paid the ultimate price for the people of NSW," he said.
Today's service was also the annual ceremony to commemorate prison officers who died as a result of their jobs. Normally the ceremony was in November, but had to be brought forward because of Mr Smith's death, the Commissioner said.

"It's most unfortunate and saddening to realise that we have had to come early this year."
Mr Woodham described Mr Smith as a man of conviction who loved a joke and "always had a smile on his face".

"He strove to make a difference and the attendance here today proves that he did," he said.
Prayers were read by Reverend Rodney Moore and then wreaths were laid by COmmissioner Woodham, Mr Smith's mother, wife and two sons, and about 100 corrective services officers, administrators and union representatives.

By the end the memorial, containing plaques of all nine men who have died during their work as prison officers, was covered with wreaths, small notes and single wrapped roses.

The Last Post was played and then Mr Woodham lead the honour guard away.

A private funeral for Mr Smith was held last week, at Rookwood cemetery.

The man charged with Mr White's murder, Little, is serving a term for parole violations, and had been due for release in April. Since the attack he has been moved to the high risk unit of Goulburn jail, known as "SuperMax".

He was due to face Burwood Local Court on February 21, charged with grievous bodily harm. It is expected the charge will now be upgraded to murder.

The last time an officer died as a result of a prisoner attack was in 1998, when Geoffrey Pearce succumbed to the AIDS virus after being stabbed with an HIV infected needle eight years before.

Pearce, a probationary officer, had been on the job for only three months when he was attacked by prisoner Graham Farlow in July 1990.

NSW Correctional officers killed in the line of duty
2007: Wayne Smith, Silverwater. Allegedly bashed by Carl Edward Little while escorting him to a new cell. Succumbed to his injuries six weeks later.

1997: Geoffrey Pearce, Long Bay. Stabbed with a HIV-positive needle by Graham Farlow in 1990 and died from AIDS eight years later.

1979: John Mewburn, Long Bay. Bashed to death by convicted murderer Peter Schneidas. Prison officers still hold a yearly memorial for Mewburn.

1974: Carl Faber, Parramatta. Bashed to death by a group of prisoners during an unsuccessful escape bid. Died from his injuries four years later.

1959: Cecil Mills, Emu Plains. Bashed to death by prisoners during an attempted escape.

1959: Albert Hedges, Berrima. Bashed and locked in a shed during an escape attempt. He survived and after rehabilitation returned to work. However his injuries were so severe he was medically retired and passed away several years later.

1958: Alan Cooper, Bathurst. Bashed to death by two prisoners at the front gate of the jail during a failed escape.

1908: John Sutherland Brown, Cootamundra. Killed by an axe blow to the head from a prisoner.

1869: George Spinks, Windsor Jail. Attacked by a prisoner.

 
Bashed to death...Nigel Smith holding a photograph of his father Wayne. Photo: Ben Rushton

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/family-feels-left-in-the-dark-over-jail-guards-death-20100325-qzzw.html

Family feels left in the dark over jail guard's death
Geesche Jacobsen CRIME EDITOR
March 26, 2010


''IT WAS hard to imagine a worse example of a determined effort to kill a man for no real reason'', a judge once said of the horrific attack on Wayne Smith, a prison guard, by an angry inmate.

The inmate, whose assault left Mr Smith with severe brain damage and head injuries, has long pleaded guilty.

Last week, more than three years after the attack and Mr Smith's subsequent death - prison authorities finally took some responsibility for allowing it to happen, acknowledging they failed to provide a safe workplace for the experienced prison officer. But his family is still waiting for an explanation and an apology.
Advertisement: Story continues below

His son Nigel says they have been left in the dark. No-one has explained to him, his mother or brother how the inmate, Carl Edward Little, a convicted armed robber, came to be at Silverwater, the minimum security jail where the attack occurred.

Little, who had a history of violence and drug use, had been reclassified from a maximum to a minimum security prison in one step - something so extreme it now requires the signature of the commissioner or a deputy.

A prison officer has been disciplined over her role in the reclassification, but the family has not been given any details.

Once at Silverwater, Little was allegedly standing over and assaulting other inmates, and authorities decided to return him to a medium security prison.

It was Mr Smith's job to tell him of the decision. Straight afterwards, when the escorts which were to return him to his cell failed to show up, Little snapped, king-hit Mr Smith, before punching and kicking the unconscious officer and repeatedly stomping on his head.

Guards at Silverwater do not have firearms, batons or capsicum spray.

Mr Smith, a fit 57 year old who had to be revived on the way to hospital, was unrecognisable, so swollen was his face. He clung to life for six weeks before dying in January 2007. While his neurosurgeon believed it was the 80 per cent brain injury that killed him, the post mortem said his death ''may'' have been related to a pre-existing heart condition.

The family insists he had no heart problems.

The Department of Corrective Services pleaded guilty before the Industrial Relations Commission to breaches of occupational health and safety laws, exposing officers to injury, and failing to handcuff Little and to provide two escorts.

The Public Service Association, which represents prison officers, had instigated the private prosecution after WorkCover had decided not to act; but by then, time to prosecute over Little's reclassification had run out.

''WorkCover should explain to the family how it is they saw nothing wrong and the department has now turned around and pleaded guilty,'' said the union's senior industrial officer, Stewart Little. But Nigel Smith blames the union for failing to prevent the delay.

In a plea bargain the Public Service Association last week withdrew charges the department had also breached its obligations when reclassifying Little as a minimum security inmate, failing to segregate him, failing to have a rapid response team available and to have security cameras at the centre.

Mr Little says that Mr Smith's death is a reminder of the dangerous job that prison officers do, and that lessons have been learnt. There have been changes to reclassifications and segregations, and restraint of dangerous inmates, and the setting up of armed immediate response teams.

When the case returns to court for sentencing this month, the question of whether the department's failures - or a mysterious heart condition - caused Mr Smith's death will be examined further.

The department's plea, while welcomed by the union, caused dismay to Nigel Smith. He just wanted the witnesses to explain what happened.

Already the convict's plea - to a charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to murder, after charges of attempted murder were dropped - has deprived the family of finding out the truth.

''I don't feel justice has been done,'' Mr Smith said. He said he felt angry and betrayed by the union, the department and the criminal justice system. ''Had there been a trial there would have been a lot more things revealed.''

And their wait for closure continues as Little is plan to appeal against his minimum 15 year sentence. An inquest into Mr Smith's death is still to be held.

gjacobsen@smh.com.au


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Qld Nats criticise security after prison murder

Posted Fri Oct 10, 2003 9:02am AEST

The Queensland Opposition says it is hard to believe a man was killed in what is supposed to be the state's most secure prison.

Opposition leader Lawrence Springborg's comments follow the murder of 30-year-old violent career criminal Mark Walter Day.

Day was found bashed to death inside the Maximum Security Unit of the Sir David Longland Correctional Centre on Wednesday.

Police say a 33-year-old prisoner is expected to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court this morning via video link charged with murder.

Mr Springborg says Day's murder raises serious questions.

"Well I think that it is absolutely astounding that this should happen in the first place," he said.

"Now as the minister himself admitted today they only go out to exercise in pairs, they are generally the most dangerous of criminals and one would have thought they should be supervised better than what happened in this case."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2003/10/10/963917.htm

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AAP General News (Australia)
01-05-2004
Vic: Former inmates charged over Barwon Prison murder

MELBOURNE, Jan 5 AAP - Two former inmates appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court
today charged over the 1998 stabbing murder of a fellow prisoner at Victoria's Barwon
Prison.

Brian Edwards died from injuries after a stabbing at Geelong's Barwon Prison on March 2, 1998.

Nathan Daniel Berry and Stephen Mathew Wenitong made a brief appearance in Melbourne
Magistrates Court today, after they were both charged with one count of murder on January
2.

Berry, 25, of Mt Eliza, is also charged with possessing a firearm …

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-89084615.html
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The evolution of the Queensland prison serial killer had its beginnings on March 24, 1993 when 29-year-old armed robber and prison enforcer, Bart Hans Vosmaer, was murdered inside the gym at the Sir David Longland Correctional Centre.

Rumours of Vasmaer’s impending demise had been circulating within the prison days before his murder. Those rumours compelled the SDL CC prison guard in charge of the gym to take sick leave on the day of the murder and inadvertently allow the murder to occur in an area where there should have been custodial supervision and presence. There was none on March 24, 1993 and the murder occurred free of any intervention by prison guards.

Vosmaer’s death spawned the “Angry Gang”, a prison gang of young men who had graduated through Queensland’s juvenile institutions and banded together for self preservation within Queensland’s maximum security prisons.

Two members of the gang, Lee Garrett and Jason “Waxy” Nixon, pleaded guilty to Vosmaer’s murder and received life sentences. Garrett and Nixon were previously catapulted into public prominence in 1991 when they escaped with Harry McSweeney after crashing a garbage truck through the main gates at Boggo Road Jail. Nixon did a repeat performance in 1997 when he and three others escaped with Brenden Abbott from SDL CC. He was recaptured a short time later and was confined with the Maximum Security Unit at Woodford prison.

The Angry Gang multiplied and gradually took control of the drug, gambling and extortion rackets inside Queensland prisons. Young prisoners eager to enhance their prison reputations and cloak themselves with the prison gang’s protective mantle queued for membership. Among those were Mark Day and Andrew “Mugwah” Kranz. Both men had graduated through the Queensland juvenile justice system and were imprisoned for crimes of violence. They were the first of the Queensland prison serial killers.

Day earned admission to the gang with his 1994 conviction for the prison murder of Dung Van Nguyen at Mareeba CC. Nguyen was stabbed with a screwdriver and a pitchfork blade after he failed to pay nine packets of White Ox tobacco for a gambling debt.

In 1997, Day was convicted for unlawfully wounding another prisoner and the following year he was convicted of strangling 22-year-old Scott Topping at Woodford prison. Topping, imprisoned for $1,200 worth of unpaid traffic fines, had three weeks left to serve when Day raped and murdered him.

On October 8, 2003, Day was murdered by Jason “Waxy” Nixon inside the MSU at SDL CC. At the time of that prison murder a guard assigned to monitor the 24-hour CCTV surveillance cameras failed to alert other guards that a murder was occurring because he was reading a book and making personal phone calls. Another disturbing aspect of the Day murder emerged when it was reported that two staff from the Queensland State Ombudsman’s Office were leaving the MSU when they saw Day pinned to the ground by Nixon but they left without telling MSU guards. That uncaring attitude reinforces the restrictive legislation that prevents media access to Queensland prisons.

It was September 28, 1994 when 21-year-old David Smith begged prison guards to place him in protective custody because he feared for his life. Prison guards refused Smith’s request and then revealed his intentions to other prisoners. Smith’s body was found a short time later in his B5 cell with multiple stab wounds. For the next 10 years Smith’s murder remained unsolved.

On September 12, 1997 Michael James “Micky” Adams, 23, was found hanging in his B7 cell at SDL CC. There was no indication Adams had been contemplating suicide but prison authorities listed his death as suicide anyway.

Prison deaths fall into two categories - natural and unnatural death. An unnatural death can be defined as murder, suicide or drug overdose. All deaths by drug overdose and suicide by hanging remain questionable because prison murders can be staged to look like suicides or drug overdoses. The term “unnatural death” is more appropriate than the official version of suicide or drug overdose.

The “sleeper hold” which cuts off blood to the brain by exerting pressure on the carotid artery is a legacy that resulted from practices employed by guards to control unruly children in Queensland juvenile institutions.

The products of state-run juvenile institutions carried the practice into the adult prison system where it is now used as a weapon for murder - a technique employed to render victims helpless before they are strung up to give the appearance of suicide by hanging.

Andrew “Mugwah” Kranz was a product of the Queensland juvenile justice system where he, and others like him, became conversant with the qualities of the sleeper hold. Kranz was also one of the first prison serial killers released back into the community after completing his sentence without being detected for committing at least two prison murders. Another suspected prison serial killer, Wayne “Spider” Fyfe, was also released from prison but died from a heroin overdose shortly after his release.

Kranz was returned to prison for rape and kidnapping. In 2004 he stabbed two prison guards at Townsville prison in an effort to remain there and not be transferred to a Brisbane metropolitan prison, where he feared members of the Angry Gang would kill him after hearing he had raped one of their women.

Shortly after the Townsville stabbing Kranz confessed to the murder of Smith and Adams. In June 2005, Andrew “Mugwah” Kranz was sentenced to double life. Without Kranz’s confession, Adams’ death would have remained listed as suicide and Smith’s death would have remained unsolved.

It is a combination of the current legislation that restricts media access and transparency of the Queensland prison system, in conjunction with the capacity for prison murders to remain undetected, that has fostered the evolving phenomenon of the prison serial killer in Queensland.

The Queensland Department of Corrective Services and its minister have an ethical responsibility that is subverted by continuing cover-ups of unexplained deaths and unsolved prison murders.

If the Queensland prison system remains shrouded in secrecy and continues to produce serial killers like Day, Nixon, Kranz and Fyfe, then it also has the capacity to create many more who could remain undetected until they are back on the street. It is that capacity that makes society a far greater killing field than those killing fields already contained within the Queensland prison system.

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=4505&page=1


Friday, May 6, 2011

7 QUOTES AGAINST ABORTION

Here are 7 quotes from different people that agree that pro-life means pro-death penalty: 

"A related fallacy is that the pro-lifer who defends the right to life of an unborn baby in the mother's womb, but who does not defend the right to life of a convicted murderer on death row, is being morally inconsistent. But there is no inconsistency here: The unborn baby is innocent; the convicted murderer is not. It is the proabortion/anti-death penalty liberal who is morally inconsistent, since he supports putting to death only the innocent.” - Thomas R. Eddlem is the editor of the Hanson Express in Hanson, MA, and is a regular contributor to The New American and Point South magazines. 

“Pro-lifers deceive themselves if they imagine abolishing the death penalty will lead to abolishing abortion or a greater respect for life. To the contrary, nations with the death penalty generally restrict abortion more than nations who have abolished the death penalty. Islamic nations and African nations have the death penalty and also have the most prohibitive abortion laws. By contrast, European nations have abolished the death penalty and have liberal abortion laws. Do pro-lifers really want to follow the example of Europe?" - Thomas R. Eddlem is the editor of the Hanson Express in Hanson, MA, and is a regular contributor to The New American and Point South magazines. 



God is the Giver of life. He created it, and He may take it. Death is the result of sin. God requires death–both physical death and spiritual death–as the just punishment for sin (Romans 6:23). Christians recognize the pervasive depravity which permeates the human soul. God may delegate to human governments such things as He wills to maintain societal order. He has delegated to all human government the authority to require one’s life in a certain, limited circumstance–the murder of another human being. Capital punishment is not on a par with abortion or euthanasia, for the latter involve the taking of “innocent” life, while the former is carried out in relation to those who have been duly convicted and made lengthy appeals. - Craig Alan Myers is the pastor of Blue River Church of The Brethren. He and his wife Laura have four children, whom they educate at home. He is a graduate of The Pennsylvania State University and Ashland Theological Seminary. He also received ministry training through the training program of the Western Pennsylvania District. Bro. Myers is chairman of the Brethren Revival Fellowship and president of the Whitley County Ministerial Association. He has served on the Northern Indiana District Board, and was chairman of the District Ministry Commission. He is moderator of the Northern Indiana District Conference, and preaches revivals and Bible Conferences around the country. 


University scholar Dr. Paul Ramsey fully concurs: "abortion and capital punishment are two different questions. There is no inconsistency between moral disapproval of unnecessarily killing the innocent and the judicial execution of the guilty." (Haven Bradford Gow, "Religious Views Support The Death Penalty", The Death Penalty: Opposing Viewpoints, Greenhaven Press, 1986, p. 81- 82 & 84). - Paul Ramsey (1913–1988) was an American Christian ethicist of the 20th century. He was a Methodist. Paul Ramsey undertook his doctoral studies at Yale where he was mentored by H. Richard Niebuhr. He subsequently taught Christian Ethics at Princeton. He has been credited with re-introducing just war theory into Protestant ethical reflection. His popular text book Basic Christian Ethics was reviewed by a young John Rawls. 



"Abortion is absolutely prohibited. It is always evil. No one can ever abort a ‘guilty’ baby, so the act can never be right. This is not the case, however, with either capital punishment or a just and defensive war.  It is only murder, along with its subdivisions suicide and abortion, which God’s law absolutely prohibits. The upshot of all this is that trying to put abortion, capital punishment and war in one package makes chaos of Catholic morals and can lead one to misinterpret God’s Law.“ - Father Richard Roach was born in Seattle on October 12, 1934, and baptized as an adult at Blessed Sacrament Church on April 18, 1955, toward the end of his undergraduate years at the University of Washington. Shortly after graduating, he joined the US Air Force as a jet pilot, serving for three years before he entered the Jesuit novitiate in Sheridan, Oregon, in September of 1958. He pronounced his first vows as a Jesuit in 1960, studied philosophy at Mount St. Michael's in Spokane, taught for three years at Jesuit High School in Portland, OR, and began theology studies in Toronto in 1966. Fr. Roach was ordained a priest by Archbishop Thomas Connolly at Seattle on June 14, 1969. As a newly ordained priest, he began doctoral studies under the noted moral theologian Dr. Jim Gustafson at Yale University. Fr. Roach returned to the Jesuit theology program in Toronto, this time as professor of moral theology. He taught at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for almost 20 years, and then spent a year as scholar-in-residence at Columbia University's Catholic Campus Ministry before returning to Seattle where he has been pastor of St. John Vianney Parish since 1998. Fr Roach brought his great learning and intellectual energy to bear in the carefully prepared homilies he delivered each week at St. John Vianney, always providing longer written versions for those who wanted them. Fr. Roach deeply loved his parishioners, and they returned his affection, caring for him and supporting him during the long months of his illness. He loved the Catholic liturgy and looked forward to the opportunities to gather his parishioners at the daily Eucharist and especially at the weekly Saturday and Sunday Masses. One of his favorite ways of being with parishioners was a weekly discussion group during the time between Sunday Masses. Father Roach died on Friday, November 7, 2008.

"There are certain moral norms that have always and everywhere been held by the successors of the Apostles in communion with the Bishop of Rome. Although never formally defined, they are irreversibly binding on the followers of Christ until the end of the world." "Such moral truths are the grave sinfulness of contraception and direct abortion. Such, too, is the Catholic doctrine which defends the imposition of the death penalty." - John Hardon A.K.A John A. S. A. Hardon, S.J., Servant of God (June 18, 1914 – December 30, 2000) was a Jesuit priest, writer, and theologian. He is the founder of The Holy Trinity Apostolate. Hardon was born into a devout Catholic family in Midland, Pennsylvania, and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He obtained his bachelor's degree at John Carroll University before entering the Society of Jesus in 1936. He obtained a master's degree in philosophy at Loyola University Chicago, studied theology at West Baden College in West Baden, Indiana, and was ordained a priest on June 18, 1947 on his 33rd birthday. He received his doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Father Hardon was a very prominent member of the Jesuit community, which is known for its academic rigor, and wrote dozens of books on religion and theology, including: The Catholic Catechism (1975), a defining volume of Catholic orthodoxy; and the Modern Catholic Dictionary (1980), the first major Catholic reference dictionary published after the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). Hardon was also a major contributor to Catholic newspapers and magazines and was executive editor of The Catholic Faith magazine. Hardon had a close working relationship with Pope Paul VI, engaging in several initiatives at the Pope's request, including his authoring of The Catholic Catechism. Father Hardon's Catholic Catechism was a significant post–Vatican II work in the sense that it essentially brought modern Catholic teaching and faith into one book, unlike any other before, and was a precursor to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is the official codified teaching of the Catholic Church, promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1992. Hardon served as a consultant for the drafting of that document. Father Hardon died in Clarkston, Michigan, on December 30, 2000, after suffering from several illnesses. Having been known throughout his life as a holy man, there is interest among some Catholics for his beatification and a Church-sanctioned prayer for that cause has been written. According to Church law, Father Hardon could have his cause for beatification opened by the Church as early as December 30, 2005. If that happens it would place him on the path towards possible sainthood. An effort is underway to establish a Father Hardon library and study center at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisconsin. ... father John Hardon is beatified, and has been for a few years now. 



“Now, having said that, there are those who say, "How can you be pro-life and believe in the death penalty? Because there's a real difference between the process of adjudication, where a person is deemed guilty after a thorough judicial process and is put to death by all of us, as citizens, under a law, as opposed to an individual making a decision to terminate a life that has never been deemed guilty because the life never was given a chance to even exist.” – Mike Huckabee (born August 24, 1955) was the 44th Governor of Arkansas, serving from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won (behind both John McCain and Mitt Romney). He won the Iowa Republican caucuses. Huckabee exited the race as McCain became the presumptive Republican nominee after winning the delegate winner-take-all states of Florida, California, and New York State. Huckabee is the author of several bestselling  books, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, musician and a public speaker. He is also an ABC Radio political commentator. He and his wife, Janet, have been married for 36 years and have three grown children: John Mark, David, and Sarah. Janet Huckabee was an unsuccessful candidate for Arkansas Secretary of State in 2002. Huckabee currently hosts the Fox News Channel talk show Huckabee.