IA IA - Elizabeth Collins, 8, & Lyric Cook, 10, Evansdale, 13 July 2012 - #34

[Grainne Dhu]

I am really torn on this case. A drug addict to me, indicates daily survival to get their drug in any manner necessary including selling your child. I haven't ruled that out, but I am not leaning that way. I don't think I will have an opinion until it has been confirmed IF they were sexually assaulted. It is extremely rare for two girls to be kidnapped, sexually assaulted & murdered, let alone not. That one horrific (missing) detail....is extremely important. Will ck in tomorrow to see if there is any news though.

Drug addicts vary, just as people without drug addictions vary. Some addicts will do anything to get their fix, some draw the line at certain activities. For example, I know a woman who turned to heroin after a horrific childhood full of sexual abuse from her stepfather (her mother refused to believe her and back then there was no such thing as mandated reporters). She would prostitute for heroin but refused to steal, to the point where she went through cold turkey withdrawal more than 20 times when she couldn't turn tricks for money.

I can also think of a couple cases of serial killers who seemed to have no sexual motivation, just the desire to kill. One such case involved a perp who would advertise a farm hand position on Craigslist to troll for victims who didn't have close family (and therefore no one to raise a fuss quickly if they disappeared). Another was a perp who would break into women's homes and just stab them, no sexual assault. The lack of sexual assault in both cases delayed apprehension due to no DNA evidence; particularly in the case of the perp who stabbed sleeping women, he may well have been deriving sexual satisfaction after he made his escape.

Bizarrely, the night stabber apologised to his last victim when he missed on his first stab and she started fighting back effectively. He ran for the door saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Even though he'd already killed five victims that way.

More and more I wonder if the reason Elizabeth and Lyric were targeted was for the most obvious: they were vulnerable and easy to control. Which would indicate a younger perp, maybe even a teenager and that this was a first time crime.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

I believe 10ish am CT if memory serves me correctly...with the first part of the hearing closed in judges chambers.

I still don't understand how todays sentencing is going to bring any new information to light. I guess I'm just missing something about the court process that others know.

For one...I don't understand why/how there is going to be "testimony" during a sentencing hearing. I thought a sentencing hearing was just that - you've been charged/found guilty - here's your punishment. Why is there still testimony being given from "investigators" at this point in the process?

Also...I have to assume that any revealing information or "bomb drop" is going to be disclosed behind closed doors, so we won't know what that is - nor would anyone else who isn't already privy to that information.

If any revealing information is there, LE already has it - I don't think anything would be revealed today by investigators that wouldn't already be known and worked through...JMO.

The sentencing hearing is when the judge passes sentence. The defence may bring in people to testify for leniency for the defendant, including investigators to testify that the defendant did indeed render the cooperation stipulated by a possible plea deal.

The reason why such testimony is given is partially to attempt to influence the judge's decision and partially to get it into the trial record so that when he comes up for parole, it can be taken into account.

For an unrelated example, say Sam Temper killed his grandmother in a fit of anger over being cut out of her will. The evidence against him is overwhelming, so he accepts a plea deal for 30 years to life; since Sam is only 25 years old it is likely that he will live to come up for parole but it's possible all of the investigators or prosecutors who worked on the case will have retired at that point. Getting their testimony as to the horribleness of the crime into the trial record will give that eventual parole board important information about Sam.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

How do we know he doesn't? Walter White on Breaking Bad has $40 million buried in the desert and lives the life of an average chemistry teacher in a modest house and his wife drives a mini van. I know that's TV, but it's possible....

Misty did testify against her boss, who was part of a very large meth enterprise, and put him in jail to avoid more jail time herself. They were definitely connected to very big, and very lucrative drug operations.

Here in Iowa, people who are cooking meth are generally very low level drug dealers. The rich drug dealers are the ones who do business with the Mexican cartels and do not touch any illicit drugs themselves.

Misty's former boss was what I'd call a mid-level guy. This was back when it was easy to buy or steal pseudoephedrine (cold medication) in bulk in Iowa and he had a relatively small number of people actually cooking meth for him. With the tight accounting now in place on pseudoephedrine sales, it's only low level dealers and dealer/addicts who actually cook it here.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

The article says DM can file an appeal within 30 days against the 90 year sentence. His lawyer says they will "likely" file the paperwork to do so. Did DM go back to the BHCJ? Does anyone know to which prison he would likely be sent ?

Obviously LE does not have any evidence DM had anything to do with the girls' abductions and murders. The answers lie in connecting a person or persons to the white "older model" SUV parked along Arbitus street last July 13, 2012. Somebody knows whose vehicle that belonged to, or who was driving it that day.

DM most likely will be sent to Oakdale (Iowa City) to be evaluated and processed for placement in the prison system. That's where every prison inmate first enters the system in Iowa. Depending on his evaluation, he will then be sent to a prison.

Filing an appeal does not mean he would stay in BHCJ, that's not how the system works. Once someone is sentenced, they are processed into the prison system while their appeal (if any) goes through the court system.

When I belonged to a kennel club in Iowa City, we would do an obedience demo twice a year at Oakdale. What stands out in my memory is how hungry those prisoners were to just pet and sweet talk our dogs. It was easy to see that for them, that demo was a big event.

 

[justamama]

I know he didn't, because as a "loving parent" he would have provided everything he could for his kids, just like the rest of us.

I have seen no indication Lyric grew up being materially well provided for, in fact somewhat the opposite.


Opinion only of course. They may have gazillions packed away...:dunno:

BTW, did he pay a fancy lawyer or go public?

:waitasec:

:cow:

According to Iowa Courts Online, he appeared to max out the $$ allowed for public defense recently. I'm not sure what that limit is . . . Anyway, he was ordered to pay 50% going forward, I assume, and put on a payment plan.

 

[Bootsctr]

DM most likely will be sent to Oakdale (Iowa City) to be evaluated and processed for placement in the prison system. That's where every prison inmate first enters the system in Iowa. Depending on his evaluation, he will then be sent to a prison.

Filing an appeal does not mean he would stay in BHCJ, that's not how the system works. Once someone is sentenced, they are processed into the prison system while their appeal (if any) goes through the court system.

When I belonged to a kennel club in Iowa City, we would do an obedience demo twice a year at Oakdale. What stands out in my memory is how hungry those prisoners were to just pet and sweet talk our dogs. It was easy to see that for them, that demo was a big event.

Thank you very much for your response Grainne Dhu! I hope you are still feeling better. It is wonderful that your former kennel club would do demonstrations for the prisoners at Oakdale. I believe there is a show (I have not seen it) where prisoners are allowed to rehabilitate pit bulls and/or other dogs to be adopted. Animals can have such a positive effect on people's lives. I'm not sure prison is what DM needs at this point, although, he has built up a huge debt to society with such a long rap sheet . I do find it sad that he was not able to find help earlier on his life that made a positive change for him and that his family has and will ultimately pay that price.

 

[Dr. Know?]

I just wanted to point out that on Dan's arrest earlier this year he plead guilty to this charge

ONGOING CRIMINAL CONDUCT - CRIMINAL NETWORK (FELB) Iowa Statute 706A.2(2)

You can read the statute here

http://coolice.legis.iowa.gov/cool-ice/default.asp?category=billinfo&service=iowacode&input=706A

https://www.iowacourts.state.ia.us/ESAWebApp/DefaultFrame

 

[Dr. Know?]

I just keep finding more charges for JC, this one is held open for review per the record.

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF 5TH DEGREE (SMMS)

HELD OPEN FOR FURTHER REVIEW GEER TODD A 09/03/2013 09/03/2013 09/03/2013
CRIMINAL COMPLAINT GEER TODD A 09/03/2013 09/03/2013 09/03/2013
Comments: W13-90372

https://www.iowacourts.state.ia.us/ESAWebApp/TIndexFrm

 

[iamnotagolem]

Drug addicts vary, just as people without drug addictions vary. Some addicts will do anything to get their fix, some draw the line at certain activities. For example, I know a woman who turned to heroin after a horrific childhood full of sexual abuse from her stepfather (her mother refused to believe her and back then there was no such thing as mandated reporters). She would prostitute for heroin but refused to steal, to the point where she went through cold turkey withdrawal more than 20 times when she couldn't turn tricks for money.

I can also think of a couple cases of serial killers who seemed to have no sexual motivation, just the desire to kill. One such case involved a perp who would advertise a farm hand position on Craigslist to troll for victims who didn't have close family (and therefore no one to raise a fuss quickly if they disappeared). Another was a perp who would break into women's homes and just stab them, no sexual assault. The lack of sexual assault in both cases delayed apprehension due to no DNA evidence; particularly in the case of the perp who stabbed sleeping women, he may well have been deriving sexual satisfaction after he made his escape.

Bizarrely, the night stabber apologised to his last victim when he missed on his first stab and she started fighting back effectively. He ran for the door saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Even though he'd already killed five victims that way.

More and more I wonder if the reason Elizabeth and Lyric were targeted was for the most obvious: they were vulnerable and easy to control. Which would indicate a younger perp, maybe even a teenager and that this was a first time crime.

BBM, when Elizabeth and Lyric went missing I would have disagreed wholeheartedly. But since then we've had Jessica Ridgeway, Autumn Pasquale, Alanna Gallagher, and Willow Long. However, Jessica, Autumn, and Alanna were all found quite close to home which steers me away from a young killer for E and L. But I still think it is possible, especially if it was someone known to L & E who they could have gone willingly.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

Thank you very much for your response Grainne Dhu! I hope you are still feeling better. It is wonderful that your former kennel club would do demonstrations for the prisoners at Oakdale. I believe there is a show (I have not seen it) where prisoners are allowed to rehabilitate pit bulls and/or other dogs to be adopted. Animals can have such a positive effect on people's lives. I'm not sure prison is what DM needs at this point, although, he has built up a huge debt to society with such a long rap sheet . I do find it sad that he was not able to find help earlier on his life that made a positive change for him and that his family has and will ultimately pay that price.

Thank you for your kind wishes. It goes slowly but steadily, so I have nothing to complain about.

I'm sad for DM, too. It just seems so clear to me that our current approach to issues of addiction and the crime associated with it is just not working for anyone except those companies in the business of running prisons. Which leaves us (the greater society) with overcrowded prisons and then having to face releasing violent offenders sooner than optimal in order to alleviate crowding.

I don't have the link to hand but I do remember Drew Collins saying that DM is a good person to have around except when he is doing drugs.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

BBM, when Elizabeth and Lyric went missing I would have disagreed wholeheartedly. But since then we've had Jessica Ridgeway, Autumn Pasquale, Alanna Gallagher, and Willow Long. However, Jessica, Autumn, and Alanna were all found quite close to home which steers me away from a young killer for E and L. But I still think it is possible, especially if it was someone known to L & E who they could have gone willingly.

The other thing that makes me think the perp may be quite young is that people under the age of 25 or so who don't have any previous record tend to fly under the radar. The idea that someone who was 17 or 18 at the time may have committed the crime just doesn't occur to most people.

For instance, in the Jessica Ridgeway case, if the perp had not lost that rather distinctive looking cross, I doubt he would ever have become a suspect.

 

[Bootsctr]

BBM, when Elizabeth and Lyric went missing I would have disagreed wholeheartedly. But since then we've had Jessica Ridgeway, Autumn Pasquale, Alanna Gallagher, and Willow Long. However, Jessica, Autumn, and Alanna were all found quite close to home which steers me away from a young killer for E and L. But I still think it is possible, especially if it was someone known to L & E who they could have gone willingly.

I'm torn. At first I thought the perp might have been 30's or 40's. Then I too sort of felt maybe it was a younger perp - late teens/early 20's. Recently I have been leaning toward a much older perp, 50's/60's. Now with Grainne Dhu's and your post, I am back thinking perhaps much younger perp. I still think the person whomever and whatever age, the girls were familiar with them. It is scary to think this was a first kill for anyone, especially young perp. However, this person could have moved on and never commit another crime. Thinking of former cop John Tessier AKA Jack McCullough and the abduction and murder of Maria Ridulph.

SYCAMORE, Ill. – For most of five decades, it seemed no one would ever be held accountable for the murder of a 7-year-old Illinois girl snatched off a small-town street corner as she played.

Now, someone has.

Fifty-five years after Maria Ridulph vanished, her friends and family let out a deafening cheer in court Friday as a judge pronounced a former neighborhood teen -- now a 72-year-old man -- guilty of the kidnapping and murder. It was one of the oldest unsolved crimes in the U.S. to make it to trial.

The roar of approval soon gave way to loud sobs from those who knew the little girl whose body was found after a five-month search that drew national media attention and haunted people across the country. Jack McCullough, who was 17-year-old John Tessier at the time, showed no hint of emotion.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/09/15/former-cop-convicted-1957-murder/#ixzz2etCCyKtJ

 

[Bootsctr]

Thank you for your kind wishes. It goes slowly but steadily, so I have nothing to complain about.

I'm sad for DM, too. It just seems so clear to me that our current approach to issues of addiction and the crime associated with it is just not working for anyone except those companies in the business of running prisons. Which leaves us (the greater society) with overcrowded prisons and then having to face releasing violent offenders sooner than optimal in order to alleviate crowding.

I don't have the link to hand but I do remember Drew Collins saying that DM is a good person to have around except when he is doing drugs.

:tyou: :goodpost: Yes, I remember Drew saying that too.

 

[dotr]

OT..
Hope this visit is a welcome bit of good news in Iowa ..

http://www.680news.com/2013/09/14/r...ch-of-hollywood-with-visit-from-hugh-jackman/

"This Sept. 13, 2013 photo shows the the Metropolitan Theater in Iowa Falls, Iowa. When word got out that actor Hugh Jackman was visiting the small northern Iowa city for the reopening of its old movie theater"

 

[nikb]

The other thing that makes me think the perp may be quite young is that people under the age of 25 or so who don't have any previous record tend to fly under the radar. The idea that someone who was 17 or 18 at the time may have committed the crime just doesn't occur to most people.

For instance, in the Jessica Ridgeway case, if the perp had not lost that rather distinctive looking cross, I doubt he would ever have become a suspect.

I agree re: the Jessica Ridgeway perp. I was so, so upset when I found out he was 17 and could potentially be charged as a minor. I think the first words out of my mouth were "Damn it why isn't he 18??"

In terms of who did whatever they did to L&L, I used to think they had to be in their 30s or 40s but now I really do wonder if it was someone young and it wasn't all that planned out, they just happened to get "lucky." Almost from the beginning I've thought it was more than one person. I can understand how it could be only one person, I've just always felt like it was more than one. I can't ignore the drug connection either, but in some ways it just seems TOO obvious if someone with a drug connection did it. Not to be gross, but I think they'd have at least attempted to bury the girls. I think whoever did it didn't care that the girls were out in the open.

JMO and subject to change tomorrow...

 

[Bootsctr]

OT..
Hope this visit is a welcome bit of good news in Iowa ..

http://www.680news.com/2013/09/14/r...ch-of-hollywood-with-visit-from-hugh-jackman/

"This Sept. 13, 2013 photo shows the the Metropolitan Theater in Iowa Falls, Iowa. When word got out that actor Hugh Jackman was visiting the small northern Iowa city for the reopening of its old movie theater"

Oh my gosh! That is fantastic! I love Hugh Jackman and just the one picture of the building shows just how beautiful and detailed it is. I would love to visit it.

Here's a bit of the description from the article:

The theatre, built in 1899, originally housed a grand opera house that featured performers like actor Otis Skinner and composer John Philip Sousa. Known first as the Metropolitan Opera House, it was converted into a movie theatre around the 1950s and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“It is the dominant thing on main street,” Hamilton said. “It’s a gorgeous building.”

The three-story building has multiple stained-glass windows inside, as well as chandeliers and a lobby mural that once graced the ceiling of the original opera house theatre. There’s a ballroom on the top floor.

I wish there were more pictures of the building. It sounds like a dream! No wonder Hugh is attracted to it. :heartbeat:

 

[SapphireSteel]

Oh my gosh! That is fantastic! I love Hugh Jackman and just the one picture of the building shows just how beautiful and detailed it is. I would love to visit it.

Here's a bit of the description from the article:



I wish there were more pictures of the building. It sounds like a dream! No wonder Hugh is attracted to it. :heartbeat:

Hugh is a great guy, and first and foremost he is a Theatre actor. Not movie theatres, he's actually properly trained for the stage possessing a degree from West Australian School of Dramatic Arts (among others).

It's one of the reasons Australian actors tend to do so well - proper training, then often cutting their teeth in our "soaps" where they work like dogs and are just part of an ensemble. We don't "do" fame down here.

Good for the work ethic and the ego.

ETA: another example of a classically trained Aussie is Mel Gibson. I know he's a bit of a joke these days, but those who can remember his Mad Max days thought "where does this guy come from?" NIDA, the National Institute for the Dramatic Arts. Mel is trained for Shakespeare, so is Hugh, Cate Blanchett, and Sam Worthington.

Somewhat o/t I know, but a relief from pondering the nasty side of Iowa, for me anyway.

 

[Milgirl]

:tyou: :goodpost: Yes, I remember Drew saying that too.

Well, I guess prison will be just the place for Dan Morrissey to be a good person. He will be off drugs there, It seems it has been very rare for him to be drug free otherwise. imo

The sentencing judge made a statement concerning Morrissey;


Morrissey has a lengthy criminal history and admitted he has drug problem, but he says the drug issues stem from grief associated with his daughter’s murder.
The judge thought otherwise — calling him a habitual offender. He said Morrissey has negatively impacted every person he’s come in contact with in his life and that the best thing for the community and himself — is 90 years behind bars.





http://whotv.com/2013/09/13/prison-term-90-years-for-morrissey/

 

[SapphireSteel]

Well, I guess prison will be just the place for Dan Morrissey to be a good person. He will be off drugs there, It seems it has been very rare for him to be drug free otherwise. imo

The sentencing judge made a statement concerning Morrissey;


Morrissey has a lengthy criminal history and admitted he has drug problem, but he says the drug issues stem from grief associated with his daughter’s murder.
The judge thought otherwise — calling him a habitual offender. He said Morrissey has negatively impacted every person he’s come in contact with in his life and that the best thing for the community and himself — is 90 years behind bars.





http://whotv.com/2013/09/13/prison-term-90-years-for-morrissey/

The "grief" excuse probably didn't work for him because he has a long, long, long history of serious offending, way before 12 July 2012.
:facepalm:

Q - how does one accrue that many felonies, and still be out walking around? :waitasec:

 

[Milgirl]

The "grief" excuse probably didn't work for him because he has a long, long, long history of serious offending, way before 12 July 2012.
:facepalm:

Q - how does one accrue that many felonies, and still be out walking around? :waitasec:

Excellent question.