Deceased/Not Found GA - Shannon Melendi, 19, Atlanta, 26 March 1994

  • #121
maddie said:
The jurors were not told the sentence before deliberations, and were, in fact, told that we were not to concern ourselves with the sentence. After the verdict, the judge told us that the sentence was a mandatory life sentence. I don't know the criteria for "life" vs. "life without parole," but this case was based on circumstantial evidence, and that might have had something to do with the sentence. It's apparently the first conviction in Georgia in which there was no body and no crime scene. Legally, it's a huge problem not to have a crime scene or body, not only for lack of evidence, but for jurisdiction of prosecution. I would not be surprised to see that used as grounds for appeal.

The charges we were to decide were "malice" murder, felony murder, and kidnapping (the latter only if we found him not guilty of the two aforementioned charges). We found him guilty of the first two.



Thanks for that info. I'll never understand or figure out the judicial system.
Scott Peterson's trial was all circumstancial and he got 1st degree murder x 2 and then the death penalty. Circumstancial evidence can be pretty powerful.
Can you explain "malice" and "felony" murder please? It seems like they could have went for 1st degree murder (premeditated) and kidnapping.

Hopfully it will take years before he can find an attorney to file an appeal. Those things seem to take forever. By the time that might take place he will be up for parole. He won't get parole on his first try. Hopefully never.
 
  • #122
angelmom said:
I think there is also something about the law when the crime was committed. We just had this discussion when BTK was sentenced...something about the maximum penalty under the law at the time. It was infuriating. The law has come a long way as far as LWOP in 11 years.


You are so right and I should have thought of that. I forgot that this happened 10 yrs ago. My daughter's killer only got 27 yrs because he murdered her in 1993. He was on the run for 8 yrs and it is like he was rewarded for not getting caught for 8 yrs. If they had used today's laws he would have gotten LWOP or the death penalty.

I emailed one of our senators and asked how a person goes about getting a law changed. She said that it would probably never happen because the
AELU or whatever that organization is would fight it because of the criminal's rights!! I say to heck with their rights. They shouldn't get rewarded for not getting caught. I guess every state has the same law as I live in Washington state. I still want to see what I can do about this law.
 
  • #123
Bobbisangel said:
You are so right and I should have thought of that. I forgot that this happened 10 yrs ago. My daughter's killer only got 27 yrs because he murdered her in 1993. He was on the run for 8 yrs and it is like he was rewarded for not getting caught for 8 yrs. If they had used today's laws he would have gotten LWOP or the death penalty.

I emailed one of our senators and asked how a person goes about getting a law changed. She said that it would probably never happen because the
AELU or whatever that organization is would fight it because of the criminal's rights!! I say to heck with their rights. They shouldn't get rewarded for not getting caught. I guess every state has the same law as I live in Washington state. I still want to see what I can do about this law.

ITA!! I understand the concept, and I agree with it to a certain extent. We don't want the government getting carried away with their power. For example, if a law were passed making robbery a capital crime, you wouldn't want them to be able to round up robbers on old charges and put them all to death. (Unless it was your house they robbed, and then you might feel differently. :innocent: )

But I agree that it seems like they are being rewarded for not getting caught for so long. Something is seriously wrong with that. Especially for murder.

I guess the thing is, if they had been caught right away they would have had those same laws anyway, so the way the government is looking at it is that the criminal shouldn't be punished more harshly b/c they couldn't make the case until now. Otherwise, if someone committed a crime and the public felt that the sentence wasn't harsh enough, charges could be withheld until a new law was passed making the penalties more severe. That could get out of hand.

Okay, constitutionally I get it. As woman and a mother, though, I want BH to rot in jail until he dies. I'm conflicted. What else is new?
 
  • #124
Missing Student Remembered At Alma Mater
Man Convicted In Woman's Death; Her Body Is Never Found

UPDATED: October 17, 2005

MIAMI -- Shannon Melendi's alma mater is honoring her today.

Her father, Luis Melendi, will attend an assembly with the senior class of Southwest Senior High School this morning. Shannon Melendi disappeared 11 years ago while attending Emory University in Atlanta.

Just last month, convicted sexual predator Calvin "Butch" Hinton was found guilty of kidnapping and murdering the 19-year-old.

She disappeared in March 1994 from a DeKalb County softball park, where she was a scorekeeper and Hinton was an umpire.

Her body has never been found.

Melendi's father, Luis, a Miami photographer, worked diligently for 11 years keeping his daughter's case in the public eye.

http://www.local10.com/news/5105892/detail.html
 
  • #125
angelmom said:
Me too. Especially since I believe the interview he is talking about is the one that started the "Shannon Melendi - ten years later" thread, when her parents were trying to renew interest in the case. I was also moved to tears remembering the billboards and pleas for help when Shannon first disappeared. This explanation for why he waited so long to come forward strikes a truthful chord with me, and I think will with any jurors who have been in the area since Shannon's disappearance as well.

I admit to being completely baffled on the defense strategy, though. I cannot imagine what they are going to say. Anyone who had any doubts about Hinton's guilt had them erased when he burned his own house down and then confessed to it.

Obviously Howell has some shred of human decency if he wept for Shannon's family...unlike Butch.
You are a pretty good juge of character. I had planned on coming on here and not telling who I was and asking you who saw the trial which of the inmate witnesses seemed most credible and kind of beat around the bush but have changed my mind and will tell you now that Mr. Howell is someone I know well as he is my 15 year old son's father.

He is one of the mose decent people that I have ever met in my life and while out where he could be, he was a wonderful, caring, father and husband. He is someone who truly cares about people, particularly the young and innocent and I can imagine what was going through his mind as he sat and listened to Hinton basicaly telling him in a round about way of what he had done.

His arrest and detention has pretty much destroyed our family in that our son no longer has his father, we are pretty much barely getting by, nearly being homeless a good number of times due to his incarceration. Distance as well as my failing health has kept us from even getting to visit him, but they say that in every cloud there is a silver lining and if the things that we have been through are in any way responsible for putting him into the situation to where he could learn what he did and tell it to have this monster taken off of the street to help the Melendi family and probably save other families from this same nightmare, then I will take that as our silver lining.

I see too where some of you have noticed the astounding mere 4 year sentence that Hinton got for abducting a 14 year old girl, putting a knife to her throat and insinuating that he had indeed killed before, and that he only had to serve 15 months on that sentence, which was not his first along those lines either, when the drug offenders who were testifying were serving much longer sentences. There is something terribly wrong with this picture. Why on earth would they let a man who would harm a child out in 15 months?
 
  • #126
littlefeet said:
You are a pretty good juge of character. I had planned on coming on here and not telling who I was and asking you who saw the trial which of the inmate witnesses seemed most credible and kind of beat around the bush but have changed my mind and will tell you now that Mr. Howell is someone I know well as he is my 15 year old son's father.

He is one of the mose decent people that I have ever met in my life and while out where he could be, he was a wonderful, caring, father and husband. He is someone who truly cares about people, particularly the young and innocent and I can imagine what was going through his mind as he sat and listened to Hinton basicaly telling him in a round about way of what he had done.

His arrest and detention has pretty much destroyed our family in that our son no longer has his father, we are pretty much barely getting by, nearly being homeless a good number of times due to his incarceration. Distance as well as my failing health has kept us from even getting to visit him, but they say that in every cloud there is a silver lining and if the things that we have been through are in any way responsible for putting him into the situation to where he could learn what he did and tell it to have this monster taken off of the street to help the Melendi family and probably save other families from this same nightmare, then I will take that as our silver lining.

I see too where some of you have noticed the astounding mere 4 year sentence that Hinton got for abducting a 14 year old girl, putting a knife to her throat and insinuating that he had indeed killed before, and that he only had to serve 15 months on that sentence, which was not his first along those lines either, when the drug offenders who were testifying were serving much longer sentences. There is something terribly wrong with this picture. Why on earth would they let a man who would harm a child out in 15 months?

(((littlefeet))) I'm sorry for your family's troubles. I agree with you that some good comes from even the worst situations, and Mr. Howell's testimony has clearly done a world of good. I know I'm not the only one who appreciates him coming forward, as hard as it must have been. I hope he can find his way when he gets out. You will all be in my thoughts. Thanks so much for sharing with us.
 
  • #127
Thank you Angelmom for your kind reply. I know that it is hard sometimes to be able to tell what the real man is behind the orange jumpsuit as all you might see are the orange jumpsuits....... I was glad to see that some in the courtroom as well as here saw the man and not just the orange garb.
 
  • #128
CBS News 48 Hours Examines Melendi Case

Jan 20, 2006
Troy Roberts' Reporters Notebook On Melendi case

(CBS) MIAMI When Shannon Melendi, an ambitious 19-year-old sophomore at Emory University in Atlanta, disappeared in March 1994, authorities believed she had run away. Police even thought it might be a college prank. Nearly two weeks later, a mysterious phone call changed the course of the investigation.

Melendi grew up in a high-profile Miami family. Her parents say she was born to be a leader and dreamed of becoming a Supreme Court Justice. While at college, Melendi worked as a scorekeeper at a softball park, which was the last place she was seen.

Melendi’s roommate, Athena Perez, says she became worried when her friend didn’t return to the dorm room the evening of March 26. The next day, Perez and her friends found Melendi’s abandoned car with the keys in it and called police. Perez says the officer who came to the scene took information, but was very laid back about the incident and told her to drive Melendi’s car back to campus.

Deeply concerned about her roommate, Perez called Melendi’s parents, who immediately left Miami for Atlanta. The Melendis say the police told them they thought their daughter ran away, not to worry and that she’d return. The Melendis insisted to police that their daughter would never run away.

Continued:

http://cbs4.com/topstories/local_story_020211650.html
 
  • #129
I am watching it now on 48 hrs.......
 
  • #130
this story is so sad, is anyone else watching it?
 
  • #131
48 Hours did a tremendous job covering this story on tonight's show.

Sexual predator's need Life without Parole sentences to PROTECT THE PUBLIC. The tragedy of this beautiful young woman DEMANDS the justice system recognize that Justice is not delivered by them what is to be delivered by them is the PROTECTION of the citizenry from the knowledge that FUTURE VICTIMS are not pleasures for these animals that are plagueing our country. Justice is delivered by the creator WE DEMAND PROTECTION BE PROVIDED BY OUR GOVERNMENT - OUR JUDICIARY - OUR LEGISLATURES.

The criminal advocates will state that only a small percentage of these predator's REOFFEND, to that I say BS. The missing persons lists demonstrate the REOFFENSES of these creatures.

Here's an idea: The passing of a law which enables the giving of sodium pentathol to Convicted Murderer's to ascertain if they are SERIAL KILLERS. All indicator's with Hutin are THAT HE IS.
 
  • #132
I thought that 48 hrs. also did a good job detailing everything that the LE didn't do at all or did wrong in the investigation. And it does look as though they are starting to take responsibility for that. Recognition is the first step in making sure it doesn't happen again. Action is the second step, and I hope they have made some changes in their treatment of missing persons.
 
  • #133
mysteriew said:
I thought that 48 hrs. also did a good job detailing everything that the LE didn't do at all or did wrong in the investigation. And it does look as though they are starting to take responsibility for that. Recognition is the first step in making sure it doesn't happen again. Action is the second step, and I hope they have made some changes in their treatment of missing persons.
i cant believe how LE was, they need to step up to the plate...I couldnt believe that they let her friend drive her car home...
 
  • #134
I also want to say what a great job 48 hours did. Its sad how LE didn't take it seriously and let so much evidence go. That was 10 years ago. If anything like that happened now it would be all over the news!
I was also very curious weather Butch disappeared from the game for a while, or what happened.
Its sad- they found so many women's clothing in the burn pile and none belonging to his wife or Shannon. So many other unknown women out there were killed by this psycho!
 
  • #135
Shannon Melendi was a 19-year-old college sophomore at Emory University when she disappeared without a trace on March 26, 1994. Shannon’s parents immediately told police their daughter had been kidnapped but authorities dismissed that theory until a mysterious phone call and a clue would take this investigation to a whole new level.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/18/48hours/main1219166.shtml

This is the transcript for the 48 hrs. piece.
 
  • #136
mysteriew said:
Shannon Melendi was a 19-year-old college sophomore at Emory University when she disappeared without a trace on March 26, 1994. Shannon’s parents immediately told police their daughter had been kidnapped but authorities dismissed that theory until a mysterious phone call and a clue would take this investigation to a whole new level.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/18/48hours/main1219166.shtml

This is the transcript for the 48 hrs. piece.
I wonder if he buried her remains somewhere at or near the airport? he would have exclusive knowledge of the area and had access to many areas of it.
 
  • #137
My family and I thought 48 Hours did an excellent job. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Shannon's little sister. My family and I were so embarrassed that we didn't inform you guys about the program. You all were so wonderful to us throughout the trial. For those of you who missed it, 48 Hours will rerun the segment sometime next month. I will keep you posted as to the date and time.

 
  • #138


Hi Everyone,

Please help us keep Shannon's murderer behind bars.

When it is time for Hinton to go before the Parole Board in thirteen years, they will look at his file. Letters in his file asking to keep him behind bars and serving his full life sentence for the murder of Shannon Denise Melendi will be looked at during the analysis. The letters should be sent more than once a year, we need to fill his file.

Here is the information that you need to write and help us keep him off the streets so he may never hurt another family.

Victim Services Office

State Board of Pardons and Paroles

2 M.L. King, Jr. Drive, SE

Suite 458, East Tower

Atlanta GA 30334


REF: GDC ID#0001201616 (Colvin C. Hinton, III)


The telephone number of the Victim Services Office is 404.651.6668; their email address is [email protected].


Should you want any further information on Hinton or the prison (Georgia State Prison in Reidsville) go to
www.dcor.state.GA.US under Dept. of Corection Info. choose Georgia Inmate Query a dialog screen will appear and you will need to press I agree to the terms as stated under Select Identifier: choose GDC ID Number in Enter Number: type in 0001201616 and press Next A picture of Hinton will appear with information on him and the name of the prison

God bless,

The Melendi Family
 
  • #139
(CBS4/AP) ATLANTA The man accused of killing Shannon Melendi has been convicted of the crime, but the case is still not over for the Melendi family. Now, the man convicted of murdering the 19-year-old Emory University student is appealing his case.

Colvin "Butch" Hinton was sentenced to life in prison for the 1994 murder of Shannon Melendi, and is serving his time in a Georga state prison. He says he should not be there, because the jury which convicted him should not have been told about his criminal past.

The appeal also says the jury should have been told of F-B-I speculation that the Emory sophomore might have been killed by an unknown drug dealer or a boyfriend.

Hinton's appeal will be the first decided by the Georgia Supreme Court in which authorities never found the victim's body or a scene where a killing took place.

Hinton is accused of abducting Melendi after a softball game at the complex where they both worked. Hinton had been a suspect for years, and was even convicted of setting fire to his home in what police believed was an effort to eliminate evidence of the murder.

Police and Melendi’s family still do not know what happened to her body.

http://cbs4.com/topstories/local_story_039074817.html
 
  • #140
According to the Georgia Supreme Court's website, they haven't granted cert yet. I hope they throw his appeal out, since its clearly a load of rubbish. For starters, prosecutors can bring in past offenses if it shows a pattern of behavior. And, based on the posts from the juror, that's what he did. Second, if the defense really thought that someone else did it, they had plenty of opportunity to bring that up at the trial. If they didn't, then too bad for them. The appeal based upon inadequate assistance of counsel rarely wins. The attorney literally has to sleep through the whole trial or not show up, and even then its a hard sell.

This guy makes me so mad. I hear so much about the internal prison social caste system. So why is this guy still alive? I think they ought to open a can of prison justice on his behind.:furious:
 

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