SIDEBAR #58 - Travis Alexander forum

[YESorNO]

Condemned man's second thoughts about execution gain no traction

"Richard Masterson's lawyers told him not to testify, but the newly convicted Houston capital killer wouldn't listen. Under questioning by the prosecutor, he told jurors they would send him to death row if they followed the law and that he likely would become violent behind bars within weeks. Jurors took him at his word and sentenced him to die.

Now, after almost 13 years on death row, Masterson, 42, has changed his mind. In a recent petition to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Masterson charged, among other things, that his lawyers provided an insufficient defense by failing to develop and present mitigating evidence in his trial's punishment phase. A three-judge panel of the New Orleans court on Friday rejected the appeal.

Masterson was convicted of the 2001 murder of Darin Honeycutt, 35, a female impersonator known by the stage name "Brandi Houston." Testimony indicated that Masterson left a Montrose bar with his victim, then robbed and strangled him. The victim's friends found his nude body in his Montrose apartment two days later. Masterson later was arrested in Florida..."

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...s-second-thoughts-about-execution-6010286.php
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In re: RICHARD ALLEN MASTERSON,
Movant
Motion for an order authorizing
the United States District Court for the
Southern District of Texas to consider
a successive 28 U.S.C. § 2254 application

"...We thus conclude that Masterson has failed to meet the standard for a
§ 2244(b)(3) certification, and we DENY permission to file a successive habeas
petition. In light of the foregoing, we also DENY Masterson’s request for a stay
of execution." :denied:

http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/16/16-20031.0.pdf
---

Richard Allen Masterson

"Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Robbery
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder: February 9, 2001
Date of birth: March 5, 1972
Victim profile: Gay man
Method of murder: Strangulation
Location: Harris County, Texas, USA
Status: Sentenced to death on May 15, 2002..."

http://murderpedia.org/male.M/m/masterson-richard-allen.htm
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Scheduled Executions- Texas:

"01/20/2016 Offender Information Masterson Richard 999414 03/05/1972 W 05/15/2002 Harris.."

http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/death_row/dr_scheduled_executions.html
--

Texas Prepares for Execution of Richard Masterson on January 20, 2016

"Richard Allen Masterson's execution is scheduled to occur at 6 pm CDT, on Wednesday, January 20, 2016, at the Walls Unit of the Huntsville State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. Forty-three-year-old Richard is convicted of the murder of Darin Shane Honeycutt on February 9, 2001, in Harris County, Texas. Richard has spent the last 12 years on Texas’ death row...

Richard Masterson and Darin Honeycutt, who went by the stage name of Brandi Houston, met at a bar in Houston, Texas. The two went back to Darin’s apartment, where Masterson proceeded to place Darin in a chokehold to render him unconscious, allowing Masterson to ransack the apartment, stealing many items, including Darin’s vehicle. In the following days, Masterson was heard to make statements to different individuals suggesting that he had killed someone..."

http://www.theforgivenessfoundation...d-masterson-execution-date-of-january-20-2016
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State has enough drugs to carry out scheduled executions

"With the first execution of the new year scheduled next week, Texas prison officials said Wednesday that the state has a large enough supply of drugs to carry out the executions already scheduled for 2016.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has been forced to find nontraditional suppliers of execution drugs in recent years because the usual vendors refused to make their drugs available following scrutiny from death penalty opponents.

The state was struggling to replenish its supply of the powerful sedative pentobarbital over the summer, but was able to obtain enough doses to execute six inmates between June and November.

There are nine lethal injections scheduled this year..

Condemned murderer Richard Masterson is set to be put to death Jan. 20 for the 2001 slaying of female impersonator Darrin Honeycutt in Houston. Masterson strangled the victim and stole his vehicle following the murder.

The Houston Chronicle reports that the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals recently denied a petition filed by Masterson's attorneys to stay Masterson's execution, bringing into question the findings of the medical examiner who performed Honeycutt's autopsy. The petition also stated that Masterson was suffering from withdrawal symptoms when he confessed to the murder to authorities.

According to the Chronicle, the high court rejected the petition because the arguments could have been brought up in previous appeals. Masterson's attorneys plan to file additional appeals at the federal and state level.

There is one more execution scheduled this month, one in February, three in March, two in April and one in June."

http://www.itemonline.com/news/loca...cle_6dd3cc39-184c-5e20-a1a4-9759b5eed4f0.html
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[YESorNO]

Alabama Inmate Seeks Stay Of Execution Following U.S. Supreme Court Ruling

"WASHINGTON — Just six days before his scheduled execution, the lawyer for Christopher Brooks has asked the Alabama Supreme Court to put Brooks’s execution on hold so the court can assess whether its capital sentencing laws remain constitutional following this week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down Florida’s capital sentencing scheme.

Alabama, like Florida, places the final decision of whether to impose death on the judge — not a jury. On Jan. 12, the U.S. Supreme Court held that “Florida’s sentencing scheme, which required the judge alone to find the existence of an aggravating circumstance, is therefore unconstitutional.”

Since that ruling, Alabama officials have defended their state’s law as having been previously upheld as constitutional and as being distinguishable from the part of the Florida law struck down this week. Criminal defense attorneys have said otherwise, and now — in Brooks’s case — one of those lawyers is asking the Alabama Supreme Court to step in.

“Mr. Brooks’ death sentence might be unconstitutional under Hurst v. Florida and, if it is unconstitutional, he is entitled to relief,” the lawyer for Brooks wrote, referring to this week’s decision. “Mr. Brooks’ death sentence should not be carried out while critical questions concerning the constitutionality of Alabama’s capital sentencing scheme remain unanswered.”

Brooks was sentenced to death in 1993 for the 1992 murder of Jo Deann Campbell, a sentence imposed by Judge James Hard. The jury had recommended a death sentence to the judge on an 11-1 vote..."

http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidne...-of-execution-following-us-supreme#.rrx9p06kW
--

Sisters remember Homewood victim as convicted killer nears execution

"Twenty-three years after her brutal death, and with her convicted killer just four days from his execution, Jo Deann Campbell's two sisters remember her as a bubbly person who was friends with everyone she met...

Jo Deann's body was found under her bed. She had been bludgeoned to death, by what was believed to be a barbell, and was naked from the waist down..."

http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2016/01/as_convicted_killer_nears_exec.html

(Jo Deann Campbell [special to AL.com])
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[YESorNO]

Defense attorneys for man accused of 2013 triple homicide in Barberton seek sanctions
against Summit County prosecutors, including dismissal of murder charges

"Defense attorneys in the triple-murder case against Eric Hendon are asking the to judge dismiss the case, remove the death-penalty specification or not allow the surviving victim to testify at trial.

Attorneys Don Malarcik and Brian Pierce said prosecutors withheld key evidence in the case and have been uncooperative in a prolonged battle over requiring Ronda Blankenship, the victim who survived the shooting, to provide personal information to the court, including medical records and any devices she used to communicate about the incident...

Jones gave prosecutors until Jan. 22 to respond in writing to the defense’s request for sanctions and scheduled a hearing on the issue for 1:30 p.m. Feb. 4.
Hendon is charged with aggravated murder for the New Year’s Eve 2013 shooting spree at the Barberton home of John Kohler, Blankenship’s boyfriend. Kohler, 42; his stepdaughter, Ashley Carpenter, 18; and her brother, David Carpenter-Kohler, 14, died of gunshot wounds to the head during a home invasion for a stash of marijuana and drug money. Blankenship, 39, was stabbed in the cheek and shot in the head, losing her left eye, but survived...

Eric Hendon’s trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 17..."

http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news...ncluding-dismissal-of-murder-charges-1.654612

WS thread: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...killed-in-Barberton-home-invasion-31-Dec-2013
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[coffeejunkie]

This says it all... -6 below here!!

[video=youtube;7MFJ7ie_yGU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MFJ7ie_yGU[/video]

 

[YESorNO]

Researchers confirm location of Salem witch trial hangings behind a Walgreens

"...To determine the spot, the team looked at eyewitness accounts of the hangings, then used modern-day aerial photography and ground penetrating radar not available a century ago.

The team made other interesting discoveries. They determined there probably never was a gallows at the site. More than likely, the executioners tossed a rope over a large tree..."

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...ls-hangings-location-confirmed-proctors-ledge
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Joy over Ebola victory crushed in Sierra Leone

"Freetown - The World Health Organization confirmed Friday a new death from Ebola in Sierra Leone just a day after west Africa celebrated the end of an outbreak which killed 11 000 people.

A 22-year-old woman was taken ill near the Guinean border on Thursday last week and died on Tuesday, local health officials said as the WHO issued a statement from Geneva confirming she was killed by Ebola..."

http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/joy-over-ebola-victory-crushed-in-sierra-leone-20160115
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The Surreal Drama of Actors Playing Sick for Med Students (with slideshow pics)

"FEW PEOPLE CAN say they’ve never faked the flu to skip school or stay home from work. The people who play sick in Corinne May Botz’s fascinating series Bedside Manner do so for noble reasons: Helping medical students learn how to diagnose patients and hone their bedside manner.

Her strange, almost surreal, portraits and detail shots show actors in medical gowns pretending to suffer from hemorrhaging, confusion, and other things. Medical schools call them standardized patients, and their peculiar performances are crucial in training sharp, thoughtful doctors...

Empathy is a key theme, and Botz wants viewers to consider what the patient is enduring—and the doctor as well. “My art’s reflections on empathy make viewers think not only about the burden placed on patients to act well,” she says, “but also what doctors feel as they struggle to live up to patients’ expectations of authority.”.."

http://www.wired.com/2016/01/corinne-may-botz-bedside-manner/?ncid=newsltushpmg00000003

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[YESorNO]

This Is Your Brain on Loneliness

"As we settle back into our routines after holiday celebrations, family visits, and New Year's kisses, many of us may feel a bit let down or isolated. For some this is a passing melancholy, but for others it's more serious. Everyone experiences loneliness sometimes, but most people don't know that it can trigger evolutionarily determined response patterns that actually undermine our ability to connect with others, creating a vicious cycle of pain and isolation...

It is not the number of our social connections that determines loneliness, but their quality -- even one close friend may be enough for a fulfilling social life, while hundreds of superficial or incompatible ones may only exacerbate one's isolation. And one of the loneliest places to be is trapped in an intimate relationship with a person we don't feel genuinely connected to...

...we have enormous power to shape our own experiences and decide how we will react to them. When our interpretations are colored by hyper-vigilance, we see rejection and attacks everywhere, and respond by withdrawing into further isolation or lashing out. But if we can take off those discolored lenses and re-engage our abilities to empathize, we would find that there's a good chance that person across the room might be feeling lonely too, and in need of some extra kindness. Shifting our focus from fear and hurt feelings to warmth and receptiveness can begin the journey out of isolation and into the comfort and joy of love that we all seek."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ruth-...-lon_b_8971994.html?ncid=newsltushpmg00000003
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My Motherless Mother

"“I need to talk to you,” my 90-year-old mother announced in a stern tone usually reserved for reprimanding a child.

Visiting her in Florida, I noticed increasing balance problems and short-term memory lapses, early signs of Lewy body dementia. She perched on the bench of the organ my father had learned to play in retirement.

And she began to recite, like someone eager to have her past documented by an oral historian:

“I grew up in an orphanage. My mother didn’t want me.”

I froze — eager to listen, afraid of what she’d reveal...."

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.co...emc=edit_ty_20160113&nl=opinion&nlid=73927810
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Scientists May Have Just Discovered The Key To Halting Alzheimer's

"Curbing brain inflammation may help people treat and prevent Alzheimer's disease, according to a landmark new study.

Researchers at the University of Southampton in England conducted a series of experiments showing a chemical that reduces neuroinflammation may have the potential to protect against the memory and behavioral changes associated with the disease that affects roughly 5.3 million Americans...

An overactive immune system can result in chronic inflammation, which previous research has linked to Alzheimer's. These new findings makes it increasingly apparent that inflammation is not a result of Alzheimer's as much as a key driver of the disease..."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/brain-inflammation-alzheimers_568fff10e4b0a2b6fb6fe1c4
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A Twist on Caring for a Parent: Move Into the Home

"...This vigilance, caregiving and companionship have become much simpler now that Mr. Geiwitz can look in on his mother just by walking down the hall. In 2014, he moved into Glen Meadows, the continuing care retirement community in suburban Baltimore that she had entered eight months earlier.

Now, each has a one-bedroom independent living apartment on the first floor.

Mr. Geiwitz often meets newcomers roughly his age who are scoping out the place for their parents. “They look at me strangely,” he said. “But to me, this is the future.”

You can see his reasoning. In yet another consequence of lengthening life spans, the adult children trying to care for people in their late 80s and 90s are likely to be approaching 70 themselves, or beyond it.

They may be wearying of housekeeping and home maintenance just at the point when their parents need more help. Caregivers over age 75 spend 34 hours a week assisting their elders, a study by the National Alliance for Caregiving and the AARP Public Policy Institute reported last year..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/05/health/a-twist-on-caring-for-a-parent-move-into-the-home.html
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[YESorNO]

Ice Has Been Melting Near The North Pole Thanks To A Midwinter Heatwave

"Temperatures in the high Arctic are more than 20°C above normal, in a freak climate-change-driven heatwave..."

http://www.buzzfeed.com/tomchivers/bizarre-heatwave-in-the-arctic-brings-melts-ice-in-midwinter
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Deep Into the Darkness On Pluto

"."Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting..."
--Edgar Alan Poe

For all creatures of the earth, nothing is as fundamental as daylight, which blooms new memories and sheds light on life itself. The darkness can be numbing; isolation warps the mind...

For many, the Winter Solstice--derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still)--can be a black hole of depression and intense loneliness, brought on by deprivation of sunlight. Seasonal Affective Disorder, SAD, they call it...

As the sun hugs the horizon on the shortest day, there is no celebration for those of us with Alzheimer's or other dementias-- SAD on steroids. We stand still in the darkness. While the longest day, the Summer Solstice, has become a metaphor for the sunrise-to-sunset challenge of Alzheimer's, the shortest day is a symptomatic of the denouement of the disease--ever present at dusk.

Medical experts call the Alzheimer's phenomenon of end-day confusion and restlessness "sundowning," a period of increased uncertainty, agitation and drifting in a fog as light fades to black, a time of greater rage and mood swings in the shadows of the mind..."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-...mers_b_8835358.html?ncid=newsltushpmg00000003
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[YESorNO]

For you chocolate lovers...Covering Strawberries In Green Tea Chocolate
http://christmaskitchen.org/trending-in-japan-covering-strawberries-in-green-tea-chocolate/

For all our animal lovers...13 Hilarious Animal Criminals Working As Partners In Crime
http://www.earthables.com/animals-criminals-partners-in-crime-1555500958.html

And, for our Bus Trip...let's stop by here: http://www.earthables.com/moscow-during-orthodox-christmas-1557423210.html

Good morning Coffee :seeya: SIT and don't move (or you'll fall )

Moscow- some beautiful pics

especially these 2:

Too much snow and cold for me tho'

 

[YESorNO]

Crazy weather :scared:

The sun is shining and it's still snowing. :sheesh:

 

[YESorNO]

We need some funnies and such this AM, IMO:

Link: https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=ddbb61da1d87e7b49b4ccabe42d5af46&oe=5700FA10
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Link: http://i.imgur.com/NgCnXJj.jpg
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Link: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BAuPcZ5Ha...HBw/s1600/funny-old-people-number-cartoon.jpg
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Link: http://callhart.com/crazy/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/funny-cartoons-006.jpg
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Link: http://safr.kingfeatures.com/idn/ck...tLzIwMTYvMDEvTWdvb3NlLjIwMTYwMTA5Xzc2MC5naWY=
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Link: https://ikgeloofergeentweeperenvan.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/cartoon-smartphone1.gif
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Link: http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=229828&d=1440969112
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Link: http://lowres.cartoonstock.com/old-...ensioners-poor-pension-senior-bfrn364_low.jpg
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Link: http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/1StoneAge.jpg
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Link: http://assets.amuniversal.com/245640308eb401332cfb005056a9545d
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[YESorNO]

Ya sure got that right, Nore! :loveyou:

Chelly, I get all the important news and a lot I might never see/learn from right here, too. We have it all ---- news, chit-chat, health info, the weird and the beautiful, and a "therapist" when we need one. And don't forget the bus tour, household tips, friendship, coffee or your fav drink in PJ's. Gosh, but I love it here, even when I just feel quiet, it makes for good company.

BBM :blowkiss:

We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond.
~Gwendolyn Brooks

Link: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/...SsaFIlhvjs7nD9n-UpGbfChnmUwftHpvDwKovEi7FHs-t

 

[YESorNO]

The Weather Channel just said it's Snowman Day. :snowman:

Link: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q0cJLKxyO3s/VphINBW6elI/AAAAAAAADbE/SBGPBcTavRg/s640/IMG_9652.jpg

Of course we need an article to go with the pic (y'all know me :facepalm: )

A Really Short History of the Snowman

"Well, all right; snowmen and snowwomen have been around for much longer than the memories of anyone alive today. In fact, you’d need to have a Methuselahan memory to even approach the dim early days of characters made almost entirely out of snow.

The problem is that in any given year, we hardly get to know the denizens of the front lawn or sledding hill before they’re off in the vapor; usually without a fare-thee-well. Unlike the season of their visiting, there are no flyers trumpeting their pending arrival, no countdown to their visit and no TV Bio’s to give us a deeper understanding of their heritage and ethnicity.

It’s kind of like the people you know from church – you see them every week (perhaps?) but you don’t know their name, where they live, how they earn a living, or much of anything except that they sleep during the sermon and always dodge out before the final prayer.

The English word history comes from a French word that means “story”. If you were to ask, “what’s the story of the snowman?” our response would be necessarily short because we haven’t spent enough time to gather the facts...."

http://www.harrisburgmagazine.com/Home-Garden/December-2012/A-Really-Short-History-of-the-Snowman/

Link: http://www.rd.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/36-december-who-knew-snowman-pa.jpg

:snowflake::snowflake::snowflake::snowflake::snowflake::snowflake::snowflake::snowflake::snowflake::snowflake::snowflake::snowflake::snowflake:

:snowball::snowball:

 

[Niner]

Hey everyone! :wave:

Regarding the snow on Red Square, Moscow picture: I've been there, but when I went in 1977 - NO ONE could walk on the "Red Square" - it was guarded by soldiers; you had to walk around it. We went in the summer - no snow! :snowball:

Happy Snowman Day :snowman: YESorNO! :tyou: for the funnies!! :laughcry:

Not much to report from here.... same old stuff!

See you all later!

:seeya:

and let's see if I can add this picture...

 

[Caylee Advocate]

History's Most Sadistic Killer




http://www.ozy.com/flashback/historys-most-sadistic-serial-killer/40585?ref=otherstories

 

[Susza]

My DH thought he was immune to all viruses as is he exposed to them all the time. Nope. He has had some laryngeal, hoarse, respiratory mess this week. The week before it was a GI virus. Thank fully, he is relegated to certain areas of the house. Mainly all of it except within 20 feet of me. I wear a mask or hide under the covers and hold my breath. Very scientific.

Poor boy! I hope he'll feel better soon.
And you, keep on holding your breath

 

[Caylee Advocate]

Eagle's Guitarist, Glenn Frey Dead At 67.


Snipped from a song he co-wrote: "It's Your World Now"


It's your world now
My race is run,
I'm moving on
Like the setting sun.

No sad goodbyes
No tears allowed,
You'll be alright
It's your world now.

 

[coffeejunkie]

History's Most Sadistic Killer




http://www.ozy.com/flashback/historys-most-sadistic-serial-killer/40585?ref=otherstories

That was just one of many crimes, including 21 murders and more than 1,000 rapes of young boys and men, Panzram admitted to committing. Unlike charming and cunning serial killers Ted Bundy or Rodney Alcala, Panzram remained brutally honest. “For all of these things, I am not the least bit sorry,” he seethed in his autobiography, penned from his prison cell. “I hate the whole damned human race including myself.”

Now that is scary!!!!!!

 

[YESorNO]

Another couple of inches of snow fell today :sigh:
I shouldn't complain because the winter has been very mild so far (I should shut up because the gods will be angry :facepalm: )

[video=youtube;XOlmjx-pbGA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOlmjx-pbGA[/video]

 

[YESorNO]

Eagle's Guitarist, Glenn Frey Dead At 67.


Snipped from a song he co-wrote: "It's Your World Now"


It's your world now
My race is run,
I'm moving on
Like the setting sun.

No sad goodbyes
No tears allowed,
You'll be alright
It's your world now.

Glenn Frey, Eagles Guitarist, Dead at 67

"Glenn Frey, Eagles guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, passed away Monday. He was 67. "It is with the heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of our comrade, Eagles founder, Glenn Frey, in New York City on Monday, January 18th, 2016. Glenn fought a courageous battle for the past several weeks but, sadly, succumbed to complications from Rheumatoid Arthritis, Acute Ulcerative Colitis and Pneumonia," the Eagles wrote in a statement Monday..."

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/glenn-frey-eagles-guitarist-dead-at-67-20160118

Link: http://mediamass.net/jdd/public/documents/celebrities/1256.jpg


[video=youtube;-ZxRGNB5J_0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZxRGNB5J_0[/video]

RIP :candle:

 

[YESorNO]

[video=youtube;kCdjvTTnzDU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCdjvTTnzDU[/video]