MT - James Hurley, 12, tortured to death, W. Yellowstone, Feb 2020 grandparents & uncle arrested #1

[mickey2942]

@mickey2942 do you recall reading any local news reports regarding the maternal grandparents? I’m curious if they might have reached out to PB. Tysm.
(I’m sure Montanans see more news on this)

No, haven't seen anything new.

 

[Trudie]

I think this will be The gated community Batts will live out her days in. Montana has a very small women’s prison, imo.

https://cor.mt.gov/Adult/MWP

 

[mickey2942]

I think this will be The gated community Batts will live out her days in. Montana has a very small women’s prison, imo.

https://cor.mt.gov/Adult/MWP

Yes, the one in Billings. There were some lawsuits against the facility for the lack of vocational training for women. I actually think that facility is way too small. It is centrally located for services that women transitioning from prison need, and ability to see kids, family members.

They really need to build another prison for women, that facility is getting over crowded.

 

[Trudie]

Montana lawmakers hear juvenile sentencing, parole bill

Interesting

 

[Trudie]

Yes, the one in Billings. There were some lawsuits against the facility for the lack of vocational training for women. I actually think that facility is way too small. It is centrally located for services that women transitioning from prison need, and ability to see kids, family members.

They really need to build another prison for women, that facility is getting over crowded.

wonder if they contract with other prisons if they are seriously over capacity? I don’t think Batts will need transitioning or any vocational training.

Interestingly, MT doc claims 7/10 women are incarcerated for nonviolent crimes.
Montana Prison Report: 7 out of 10 female inmates committed non-violent crimes [KXLH.com]

 

[mickey2942]

Most of the crimes are drug related.

But, that is what they were convicted of, which doesn't mean that they are necessarily nice gals. I have seen some of the scariest antisocial behavior from teenage female drug addicts. I can't imagine grown women are any better.

 

[Dave F.]

Most of the crimes are drug related.

But, that is what they were convicted of, which doesn't mean that they are necessarily nice gals. I have seen some of the scariest antisocial behavior from teenage female drug addicts. I can't imagine grown women are any better.

You are correct that most of the women in the Billings prison are there for drug related crimes, but the atmosphere of the prison is very cordial and the population is well behaved. The prison has plenty of things to do. The lawsuits that you mention were very narrowly focused on vocational training.
Most of the women prisoners (literally all of the many I have known) just want to get out and try to get their kids back. Sadly, the success rate is not very good. IMO

 

[Dave F.]

Iirc, March 5 is the hearing to determine if chuncle will be tried as an adult. Will a decision be made then or will it drag on for a year?

The decision to try him as an adult has already been made. Under Montana law, that responsibility falls with the county attorney or state attorney general. The hearing is for defense motions to rescind that decision, and remand it back into the juvenile system. The odds of the defense being successful are not good IMO.

 

[Trudie]

Thanks @Dave F. surely no attorney can present just cause for chuncle to be tried as a juvie.

 

[Trudie]

You are correct that most of the women in the Billings prison are there for drug related crimes, but the atmosphere of the prison is very cordial and the population is well behaved. The prison has plenty of things to do. The lawsuits that you mention were very narrowly focused on vocational training.
Most of the women prisoners (literally all of the many I have known) just want to get out and try to get their kids back. Sadly, the success rate is not very good. IMO

I have never heard of a smaller prison! And Montana has only one for women.

 

[mickey2942]

Thanks @Dave F. surely no attorney can present just cause for chuncle to be tried as a juvie.

Doubt it. His size really is against him here.

It would be interesting to see how much time he gets. 14 years old. I actually feel bad for the kid, his life was already screwed up by being born to a loser Mother who let him grow up and be a monster.

I knew of a situation very similar to this, and in that situation, the bully was sent away to Job Corps. The problem in that house, was that the Father was getting so frustrated that he was abusive to the bully, and at risk of charges.

At least, in that family, the bully kid was told his behavior was unacceptable, and if he continued that path, he was going to be sent away. He continued to misbehave, and there was follow through by the parents, on the consequences.

This family could have saved themselves so much grief, by just sending James Hurley back to his Mother.

 

[Trudie]

This family could have saved themselves so much grief, by just sending James Hurley back to his Mother.

. Exactly and why they did not, we will never know. In a lot of similar cases the grandma would treat her deceased son’s son like a king. But PB apparently despised James. I also think chuncle approaching and on puberty might have something to do with his extreme aggression.

 

[drama_farmer]

As clever as the moniker "chuncle" is, perhaps we could go back to using his initials? IME, mods tend to frown upon nicknames, and I'd like to avoid any thread cleanups, if possible.

 

[Lusitana]

Every family can have a "bad kid", it's the way the family deals with the child and the situation that mostly change things for the better or contribute to make it worse. These "parents" just let him do whatever he wanted to and even participated in it. This is not a case of a child with good, engaged parents that actually try to modify toxic and harmful behaviors and still don't succeed [because that does happen, some parents do try literally everything but nothing changes].

 

[Trudie]

Informative article about Montana State Prison
What lies west of Deer Lodge: A glimpse inside of the Montana State Prison

and a look at a massive uproar years ago
https://www.washingtonpost.com/arch...on-edge/2f9eabe7-7282-483d-bda6-898755019973/

 

[Crimescenetape]

This reminds me of the Sylvia Likens case.

When I read the story I thought the very same. The Baniszewski family kept the Liken girls for the $50 a month the parents sent. If I can throw out my opinion, the Sasser family kept Alex in their "care" for the Social Security payment they would have received after the father's death. May have received other income like child support from mother. My opinion, Alex was tortured and kept isolated because they didn't want him but he was worth a dollar amount. I am also surprised the family called 911 when they could have continued on receiving his monetary benefit for who knows how long until he was discovered missing or they came up with a plausible story he was suicidal or ran away.

 

[cocomod]

Every family can have a "bad kid", it's the way the family deals with the child and the situation that mostly change things for the better or contribute to make it worse. These "parents" just let him do whatever he wanted to and even participated in it. This is not a case of a child with good, engaged parents that actually try to modify toxic and harmful behaviors and still don't succeed [because that does happen, some parents do try literally everything but nothing changes].

Also, it appears from everything I have read, the "mother" actually perpetuated the abuse. She likely was the one to start the abuse and had the 14 year old participate. They didn't want James to "run away", or were they afraid he would get out of the house and tell on them? Possibly even call his mom and ask for help? He was a prisoner in this torture chamber.

 

[Lmustang89]

Poor James suffered horribly. His death was not quick and painless. This just makes me so angry. Hoping justice is served for all of them.

 

[Trudie]

Poor James suffered horribly. His death was not quick and painless. This just makes me so angry. Hoping justice is served for all of them.

This is soooo much worse than a quick death, imo. Until he eventually succumbed, it appears the torture was a daily event.
The delicious part is they chronicled their torture.
Duh....when they were lodged in the hotel, did none of them consider deleting videos? No, apparently not. I guess they think their videos/photos justify their abuse. I can think of no other reason to preserve evidence, but glad they did.

 

[Trudie]

Also, it appears from everything I have read, the "mother" actually perpetuated the abuse. She likely was the one to start the abuse and had the 14 year old participate. They didn't want James to "run away", or were they afraid he would get out of the house and tell on them? Possibly even call his mom and ask for help? He was a prisoner in this torture chamber.

Yeah, I imagine they did hold 24/7 watch over him for fear he’d get out of the house. I’d like to know if someone was home with him all day? If grands worked & the bio kids attended school, where was James? Possibly the adults worked split shifts, idk.
All 4 should be too ashamed to be seen. They should plead guilty & go away forever, imo. They might be dumb enough to think they can testify & persuade a jury they were justified.
Defense: did you love JH
PB: with all my heart, he just would not mind......