Caylee Anthony Update 10 May 2010

The Associated Press
Monday, May 10, 2010; 10:07 AM 

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Jurors in the trial of a Florida mother charged with killing her 2-year-old daughter will be picked from outside Orlando after attorneys argued residents there were tainted by negative media reports.

Chief Judge Belvin Perry ruled at a hearing Monday that the 12 potential jurors and six potential alternates in Casey Anthony's trial will be chosen from somewhere in Florida outside Orlando.
The judge says he will tell attorneys when he decides where to hold the trial, but that information will be kept secret until just before the trial begins.
Anthony has pleaded not guilty to murdering her daughter, Caylee, and said a baby sitter kidnapped the toddler. Her trial is set to start in May 2011.

Links for 21 April 2010

Fleur De Lawn
I love this drought resistant lawn seed mixed with strawberry clover, mini daisies, Sweet Alyssum, and other tiny flowers. It's not a high traffic lawn, but would be lovely surrounding a path. I'm trying to do something similar with bluebells and violets in my back lawn. $29.99/lb.

Haleigh's Family Told To Make Funeral Arrangements, Did Cops Find Body?
The police have told Haleigh Cummings' family how to have the girl officially declared dead. They can either wait 7 years for the State of Florida to issue a death certificate, or they can request a judge to issue a certificate before the 7 years have lapsed.

This Is Apple's Next iPhone
Apple managed to lose the next generation iPhone and Gizmodo got their hands on it. Looks like the new hardware will have a forward facing camera, and an improved back camera with flash. The back is also flat and their is an aluminum frame all around the thing. But I main uses for the phone (besides being a phone) are the camera apps.

Lauren London On The Controversy Surrounding Her Pregnancy: 'It Did Hurt My Feelings'
Lauren London discusses her pregnancy and baby boy(Whose name she has managed to keep private for 6months), and Lil' Wayne.

Brittanee Drexel Update 13 April 2010

Update: Myrtle Beach Police have identified three or four "persons of interest" (fancy speak for suspects) in the Spring Break disappearance of Brittanee Drexel. They have not released  the names of the suspects. Sadly, they also believe that the 17-year old is no longer alive. The tips that led to the identification of the persons of interest started rolling in during December. More information can be found here.

Caylee Anthony Update 7 April 2010

I guess no one told Casey Anthony to be careful who you talk to in jail, because they will sell you out in a second. Because that's what has happened.
 
CNN) -- A woman who befriended Casey Anthony in jail told police that Anthony confided she would "knock out" her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, so she could go out at night while the child slept, according to a police report.


The inmate, identified in the document as Maya Derkovic, of Ocala, Florida, told police in a jailhouse interview that she used to talk with Anthony through the jail's ventilation system. She said Anthony told her she regretted having a child so early in life, and gave three different versions of the events surrounding Caylee's disappearance.

Another inmate, Robyn Adams, of Altamonte Springs, Florida, told investigators that Anthony said she used chloroform on Caylee to help the child sleep, the police report said. The mention of chloroform is significant because investigators found evidence consistent with human decomposition and traces of chloroform in the trunk of a car that belonged to Casey Anthony after Caylee disappeared in June 2008.
Caylee's body was found six months later, in a trash bag and wrapped in a blanket in a vacant lot near the home of Anthony's parents.

Hundreds of pages of jailhouse letters and investigative documents released Tuesday afternoon provide a glimpse into the mind of a young woman who seemed to have a darting attention span and who found Jesus in jail, wrote about a troubled relationship with her family and dreamed of what life would be like when she went free.

They'd go on RV vacations, Anthony wrote Adams in a letter dating from 2008, when the two were being held at the Orange County jail in Orlando, Florida. She'd dye her hair red or blonde so nobody would recognize her. She'd write a book, maybe turn it into a movie.

Anthony's attorney, Jose Baez, has said he did not oppose the release of the letters because they contained nothing incriminating. The defense team elaborated on his comments in a statement released late Tuesday.

The letters "reflect the natural desire for companionship when isolated for 23 hours a day, and clearly demonstrate Casey's unconditional love for her daughter Caylee," the statement said. "Despite these intentions, it is obvious in the letters authored by Robyn Adams that her sole purpose and only goal in corresponding with Casey Anthony was to create 'leverage to get out of prison early.'"

Adams gave her letters from Anthonty to another friend, Tracey Neally, for safekeeping, according to the investigative reports. In her correspondence with Neally, Adams suggests the letters and notes might someday be worth something or lead to an appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

"Thanks for doing something with Casey Anthony's notes, I certainly can't keep them in my cell with me since she is so high profile," Adams wrote Neally in a letter dated October 27, 2008. "I cry every day for my children and she is inviting me to Costa Rica??? "

Adams was convicted on drug charges in 2009 and is now serving time in federal prison.
Anthony has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and her lawyer, Baez, has said she had nothing to do with Caylee's death.

Written in a vertical, girlish hand, Casey Anthony's letters and notes include jokes, drawings and nicknames such as "Cookie," which is what she sometimes called Adams. And, they include scattered references to Caylee. But they offer no insight into how the 2-year-old died.

Anthony writes that she had planned to take Caylee and move away from Orlando but "my plans got beyond tangled" when a nanny wouldn't say where Caylee was.

"I had asked her to take Cays for a few days so I could put the rest of our stuff together, money I had saved, new clothes, new everything. That's why I waited to report her missing, because she was and wasn't. I would give anything to go back to that day and to not have let Caylee out of my sight."
When she mentions Caylee, Anthony often quickly moves on to other topics. Recalling photos she has of Caylee, Anthony writes, "Great, I'm going to make myself cry," and then adds, "Hmmm ... I wonder what I'm missing for lunch?"

In another passage, Anthony writes of a paternity test that showed a former boyfriend wasn't Caylee's father, adding "Joy to the world! I despise that loser and I pity him ..." She professes "unconditional love" for her daughter, saying that if it weren't for that love, she'd "end whoever is responsible" but does not elaborate.

"Not a day goes by that I don't think about Caylee and wish that I could have protected her better," she writes on another occasion. "I tried my hardest and it wasn't enough."

She also writes about the difficulties of living with her parents as a single mother.
"My situation with living at home with Cays and my folks, staying home all day and going out at night looking for Mr. Right, same exact situation. I don't know one single mom who doesn't try to get their freedom regardless of how old they are."

She continues, "That's one of the biggest things that truly cuts me when I hear them talk about me as a mother -- I was a great Mom! And I love my daughter with everything that I have. I would give my life to have her back even for 5 minutes. It's so frustrating!"

Anthony had little good to say about her family, although she briefly expresses concern for her father following his suicide attempt, after Caylee's remains were found.

One passage is typical: "As far as my folks are concerned, it's only getting worse," she writes in a letter to Adams. "They're really good at putting on the supportive face/person for the TV, but behind the scenes, it's a daily battle. Ridiculous, unnecessary and downright shameful, but what are you going to do? I just have to keep my distance and hike up my Big Girl panties."

In one undated note, she said she was molested by a family member and questions whether she might also have been abused by another. She wrote that she felt she received no support from her family regarding the allegation.

"The Anthony family denies that there was any improper sexual behavior in their family nor was there ever a time when Casey told them of sexually inappropriate conduct," said Brad Conway, the Anthony family's lawyer. (Maybe this is why there is a mystery as to who Caylee's real father is.)

In her letters, Anthony also writes about what it is like to be infamous and incarcerated. She bristles at being a curiosity for people on tours of the jail.

"Another day, another series of rumors and ridiculousness. The life of a celebrity, huh? Right. If only I were old and ugly, then they wouldn't care."(Somebody should remind Casey that being infamous isn't the same thing as being famous. She isn't a celebrity, she is just another sideshow.)

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Links for 1 April 2010

Adam Walsh Murder Revisited: The Case Against Jeffrey Dahmer.
The Miami Herald is claiming that Jeffrey Dahmer could be responsible for Adam Walsh's murder. They seem to be ignoring the fact that most of Dahmer's victims were older, and he usually kept the heads. Their resources probably would have been better spent on looking for serial killers who were still active. But there probably isn't enough name recognition in that.
Health Care Bill Has Breaks For Nursing Moms
I used to pretend to be smoking. Companies never frown on that. You can just disappear whenever you like to smoke. And if companies can find time to allow you to smoke, which ruins your health, they can find time for you to pump.

The Ugly Truth About Angelina Jolie
InTouch Weekly interviewed a former bodyguard who claims that Angie is a bitch, the kids a basically props, and the magic is gone between Angelina and Brad Pitt. Isn't this the same old story that always gets published.

Selena Gomez Now Has An Official Site
And here is the link.

Caylee Anthony Update 19 March 2010

Like I have said all along, there is no way that Casey Anthony could pay for her expensive defense. And guess what, she has gone hat in hand to the judge in her case to ask for the State of Florida to pay. And guess what it probably will. Casey (and probably Jose Baez) knew that she couldn't afford to pay, so either publicity whore Jose should have worked pro bono or she should have use a public defender like all the others who can't afford a lawyer.


And it has come out that they have been making deals. Not movie or book deals, but deals none the less.

Attorneys for Casey Anthony, a Florida woman accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter, told a judge Thursday that state funding for her defense is needed, as their money has run out. "There is no dispute that Casey Anthony is indigent," J. Cheney Mason, the newest member of Anthony's defense team, said at a Thursday hearing.
Orange County Circuit Judge Stan Strickland, however, required Anthony's attorneys to testify about how their funds have been spent to date before considering whether to allow public funds to be used, and he resisted attorneys' efforts to account for the funding behind closed doors.
"My problem is, you're seeking public funds," Strickland said, telling attorneys they are "trying to punch and get out of the way at the same time." Affidavits submitted by the defense, he said, were "pretty light in terms of full disclosure." He had the attorneys testify in court Thursday.
Strickland deferred a ruling on the issue until he receives not only the defense attorneys' testimony, but also information from the Justice Administrative Commission, the state agency that oversees funding. The commission has opposed allocating funding for Anthony's defense, saying in court papers it has "severe concerns" about whether she qualifies for financial assistance.
Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter Caylee and has pleaded not guilty. Her trial is scheduled to begin on May 9, 2011. The state is seeking the death penalty against her.
Caylee Anthony's body was found in a lot near her grandparents' home in December 2008, six months after she went missing.

The grandparents -- Casey Anthony's parents, George and Cindy Anthony -- have supported their daughter but now are fighting foreclosure on their home, according to a complaint filed by Bank of America.

Lead defense attorney Jose Baez testified Thursday that the defense received and spent about $275,000 over the past year and a half. Of that, $5,000 came from an anonymous donor, $70,000 came from a former defense attorney, Todd Macaluso, and $200,000 came from ABC through a "deal" with Anthony. The terms of the deal were not released.

That money, he said, was spent on defense costs including travel, depositions and retention of experts. "It's been quite an expensive task," he said.

Rumors that Baez is to receive $700,000 after the trial are "completely false," he said. Baez and other defense attorneys testified they have no book or movie deals in the works.

Baez, who testified that he has spent about 2,500 hours on the case, has been paid an estimated $89,454, according to financial affidavits released by the court and written in what appears to be Casey Anthony's handwriting. Attorney Andrea Lyon has received $22,500, but testified Thursday that all of that money went back into costs associated with the case. "There's not a dime" left, she said.

Anthony wrote that both attorneys "were or are being paid by myself" and said that her income is "zero" and her assets are "zero." She did not list her debts or liabilities.

A third defense attorney, Linda Kenney Baden, testified that she is working pro bono -- for free -- on the case. Mason said he also is pro bono.

An attorney for the Justice Administrative Commission participated in the hearing by telephone.

Baez and Lyon say in a four-page motion that they are not asking the state to pay their legal fees but to assist with funding for other costs to defend Anthony. The defense is seeking help with costs that include service of subpoenas, investigative costs, travel, fees charged by experts to interpret forensic evidence, expert witness fees and the cost of depositions.

The defense attorneys say in their court papers that Anthony is entitled to financial assistance under the Constitution's Sixth Amendment, which protects her right to a fair trial. Because prosecutors have said they are seeking the death penalty, Anthony also is entitled to "the unique standard of care required for a capital defense," the attorneys say.

The central focus of the commission's response appeared to be based on Anthony's own financial affidavit: "Because the defendant has been able to provide over $110,000.00 in her defense, the JAC has severe concerns regarding the defendant's indigence," it said.

The commission cites Florida law, which requires the court to consider "when applicant retained private counsel" and "the amount of any attorney's fees and who is paying the fees." In regard to travel expenses, the response says that counsel will need to properly complete a travel voucher, but also states that "JAC does not pay for reimbursement of travel expenses for privately retained counsel."

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Caylee Anthony 25 January

Casey Anthony, the young Florida mother awaiting trial in the death of her daughter, Caylee, pleaded guilty Monday to check fraud and was sentenced to time served.
Anthony admitted stealing a checkbook from a friend, Amy Huizenga, and writing four checks worth nearly $650. She wiped tears from her eyes as she spoke briefly in court.
"I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm sorry for what I did," she said. "I take complete and full responsibility for my actions, and I'd like to apologize to Amy. I wish I'd been a better friend.
Attorney Jose Baez asked the court to give Anthony credit for time served and place her on probation in the check case. The judge agreed that Anthony already has spent more time in jail than any sentence she could receive in the check case.
Anthony has made full restitution, Baez said. Before her arrest, she had no prior criminal record, he added.

The guilty plea means Anthony now has six felony convictions on her record. Her arrest in the check case came during a highly-publicized police investigation into the disappearance of her daughter, Caylee.

Anthony has pleaded not guilty to murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.
The toddler's skeletal remains were discovered December 11, 2008, six months after she disappeared. The remains were bagged and partially buried in a swampy, vacant lot, and duct tape covered the child's mouth.
Police released documents last year showing they believed that Caylee was killed within days of the time she was last seen and that her body was in the trunk of her mother's car for "a period of time."
Authorities have said that the cause of Caylee's death is homicide by undetermined means.

Anthony's parents, George and Cindy Anthony, were present in court for the plea. George Anthony waved to his daughter as she was led from the courtroom.
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Caylee Anthony Update 11 December

A Florida mother charged with killing her 2-year-old daughter sobbed in court Friday as a prosecutor speculated aloud that the toddler was methodically drugged and suffocated with tape.
Casey Anthony cried as prosecutor Jeff Ashton suggested that Caylee Anthony's killer restrained her arms, dosed her with something that knocked her unconscious and put duct tape over her mouth and nose.
Ashton offered the scenario when explaining why he believes the case would qualify for the death penalty.
"Her killer would prepare some substance in advance that would render her physically unable to resist," said Ashton during the pretrial hearing. "If the killer looked at her face, maybe the killer saw her eyes ... First one piece (of tape), then two, then three so that no breath was possible."
The cause of Caylee's death remains unknown, but duct tape was found on the body.
Ashton offered the scenario in response to a defense request to bar prosecutors from seeking the death penalty.
Circuit Judge Stan Strickland said he would rule later.
Because the cause of death is still unknown, prosecutors are unable to prove that she suffered a heinous, cruel or atrocious death, which is the standard under Florida law for seeking the death penalty, said Andrea Lyon, one of Anthony's attorneys.
"The real reason the state has asked for the death penalty is because they wish to get as biased a jury as they possibly can," Lyon said. "It has the effect of coercing pleas in cases where that may in fact not be appropriate."
Anthony's attorneys contend that jurors in death-penalty cases, who are screened to eliminate those with moral objections to capital punishment, are more likely to convict defendants. The defense also says the threat of the death penalty could be used to coerce Anthony into making a plea agreement.
Anthony has pleaded not guilty and her trial is expected to start next year.

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Shaniya Davis Update 20 November

Mario McNeill, the pervert who murdered little Shaniya Davis, was charged with raping and strangling the girl. He has admitted to kidnapping Shaniya (Probably in hopes of getting a lesser sentence, not out of the kindness of his heart.) He will be charged with first degree rape of a child and first degree murder.

Her mother,Antoinette Davis is charged with trafficking and child abuse involving prostitution. They should charge her with slavery. I think that if they are going to charge her with human trafficking they might as well take it the extra step.

Where Was Shaniya Davis Killed?

Authorities in North Carolina said Wednesday that they will need to determine where the killing of a 5-year-old girl occurred before additional charges are filed in the case. The body of Shaniya Davis, who was reported missing in Fayetteville last week, was found Monday beside a road near Sanford, which is about 30 miles northwest of Fayetteville, police said.
The girl's mother, Antoinette Nicole Davis, has been charged with human trafficking and other offenses, and another suspect, Mario Andrette McNeill, has been charged with kidnapping in the case.
A Tuesday statement from the Fayetteville police says that jurisdiction is "governed by where the criminal conduct occurred. Right now, this is an ongoing investigation and as such we are still determining the details surrounding the death of the child."
On Wednesday, Fayetteville Police Chief Tom Bergamine said jurisdiction will need to be determined before other charges are filed.
He did not elaborate on what charges might be pending.
"Several of the details regarding the investigation have a direct impact on which county will assume jurisdiction and prosecute this case," Bergamine told reporters at a news conference.
"The district attorneys from the involved jurisdictions are discussing the matter and ultimately will make that decision," he said.
Fayetteville is in Cumberland County, while Sanford is in Lee County. The district attorneys from those counties did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment Wednesday.
Davis reported her daughter missing last week from their home in a mobile home park. According to police, surveillance video taken November 10 from a hotel in Sanford shows Shaniya in the company of McNeill.
"The investigation at this point indicates that Shaniya Davis was alive at the time she left the Sanford hotel," police said.
Following Davis' arrest over the weekend, police spokeswoman Teresa Chance said Davis had been "prostituting her child."

Shaniya's father, Bradley Lockhart, made a tearful appeal before reporters Tuesday afternoon, asking that "everybody makes it a point not to ignore, to look past a situation where a person, a child, or anybody might be in danger ... so that we don't have another tragedy like Shaniya."

 These perverts didn't need to kill that girl. What they did was horrible, but the sad truth is that it happens to thousands of children every year. But those unfortunate children are given the chance at escape: foster care, the other parent or relatives, even adulthood. But they killed Shaniya anyway. They should receive the death penalty if for no other reason than that. She would have been scarred for life, but she would have had a chance to build a better life sooner or later. And that crack head mother of hers is ten times more guilty than anyone. You don't prostitute your child to pay a drug debt. A mother's job is to protect her child from the evil out there in the world. There should be special punishment for her. It's the South, weren't they lynching people not too long ago.
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Steve McNair Update

A three-month CBS News investigation of the July shooting deaths of former standout quarterback Steve McNair and the woman authorities say was his girlfriend is raising serious questions about the police probe -- so much so that Nashville police late Monday night released new details about the case.

In the first of a two-part report on "The Early Show" Monday, CBS News Chief Investigative Correspondent Armen Keteyian had spotlighted some possibly faulty police conclusions.

The new revelations from police consisted of a 14-page case summary of their handling of the case. It provided some fresh details, including text messages between McNair and his 20-year-old girlfriend hours before the sexy young waitress allegedly shot him.

One message reflects a request for $2,000 from McNair to help pay her bills; others suggest she was stressed out and could hardly breathe, over money issues. Hours later, McNair transferred the money into her account.

But, Keteyian says in his second report, which aired on "The Early Show" Tuesday, CBS News has uncovered records of cell and text messages the Nashville police haven't made public.

Authorities have maintained from the start that Sahel "Jenni" Kazemi shot McNair, a 36-year-old married father of four who was almost a year-and-a-half into retirement, four times with a 9 mm pistol in the early morning hours of July 4 at a Nashville condo he rented with a friend before, police say, turning the gun on herself.

Police say she purchased the murder weapon from 33-year-old Adrian Gilliam Jr., a convicted felon who spent nine years in prison for second degree murder and attempted armed robbery. Gilliam told police he sold Kazemi the gun for $100, in a parking lot, two days before the deaths.

On July 8, Nashville Police Chief Ronal Serpas told reporters, "They transacted the deal ... and that, pretty much, is where that ends."

But gun powder residue tests on Kazemi's hands were inconclusive, and CBS News has learned there is little or no evidence on the gun sale -- just Gilliam's word.

So, Keteyian tracked Gilliam down to a Tennessee jail, where he's being held on federal gun charges related to the case.

In an exclusive interview -- no cameras were allowed -- Gilliam told Keteyian he sold Kazemi the gun on Friday, July 3, not Thursday, as police first said he did. Gilliam insisted to Keteyian that he barely knew Kazemi and couldn't even remember her name or how they met, describing a fleeting sort of relationship the U.S. attorney in Nashville, Edward Yarbrough, and Serpas portrayed as fact during a July 17 news conference.

"A casual exchange between two people," is how Yarbrough put it.

"He hardly knows who he's dealing with and yet he's selling a gun," Serpas said. " ... How they came together is probably happenstance."


But Kazemi's cell phone records, obtained exclusively by CBS News, tell a dramatically different story.

The records show all incoming and outgoing calls and text messages from Kazemi's cell between June 15 and July 14.

Not knowing CBS News had the records, Gilliam's father gave CBS News the cell phone number he says belonged to his son -- a "pay-as-you-go-phone" that's now disconnected.

CBS News ran that cell number against Kazemi's records, and it revealed that, in the three weeks prior to the deaths, Kazemi and Gilliam apparently communicated almost every single day, at all hours -- more than 200 calls and text messages back-and-forth.

The records show that, on July 3, the last full day of McNair and Kazemi's lives, she and Gilliam exchanged 49 texts and calls, far more than any other day.

"These communications are obviously more than someone in a casual relationship," Dennis Farrell, a former commander of a New York homicide squad, remarked to CBS News.

Asked by Keteyian whether, "When it turns out that he has lied about this," it ratchets up his suspicion about "whether (Gilliam) even put the gun in her hands or not," Farrell replied, "Yes. There's many, many questions."

Private investigator Wayne Black, a former detective, says he finds it disturbing that Nashville police took Gilliam's word for anything. "He's not only convicted felon, "Black observed, "he's a big liar. ... So, why did he lie?"

The cell records also show Gilliam was one of the last people to speak with Kazemi. He called her at 12:02 a.m. on July 4. They spoke for three minutes -- just two hours before, police believe, the deaths occurred.

That, says Black, is "a big deal."

Adding to the intrigue: Records show four texts from the same number to Kazemi after her death, including one the day after police had interviewed Gilliam.

"What should be done?" Black repeated a Keteyian question. "It's simple: The police should investigate further."

After months of "no comment," late Monday afternoon, in response to questions from CBS News, Nashville police said investigators have long known Gilliam's relationship with Kazemi was "more involved than initially believed."

A spokesman admitted the department was aware of the volume of calls and texts outlined in Keteyian's report, saying it was part what he called "the continuing investigation" since Gilliam's arrest. But, he said, nothing to this point in any way alters the murder-suicide conclusion.

All it does, it seems, is "open up an entirely whole new set of questions about the case," Keteyian concludes. The "big question," he adds, one he'd "like to see a lot more answers about," is whether "it was really (Kazemi)" who killed McNair and herself.
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Atlanta Housewife's Ex Killed In Parking Lot Fight

Ashley Jewell, the onetime fiancé of Kandi Burruss, a castmember of Bravo's Real Housewives of Atlanta, has died from an injury sustained during a brawl outside an Atlanta strip club, TV station WBSTV reports.

"It appears he was involved in an altercation in the parking lot and he received a severe blow to the head," Atlanta Police Lt. Keith Meadows told the TV station. Jewell was taken to a hospital where he later died.

Jewell, known as A.J., appeared regularly on the hit reality show, often clashing with Burruss's mother, who disapproved of her daughter's relationship. He and Burrus ended their engagement earlier this year.

Burruss reacted to the death with the following messages on her Twitter page:

• im just in one of those moods where i dont wanna talk, i dont wanna b held & told its gonna b ok. i just wanna cry myself 2 sleep, alone.

• I could never n a million years imagine this happening. please pray for AJ's children. that's who im the most concerned 4.

• im bout 2 giv my swollen eyes sum rest now. i just wanted to say thanks 2 every1 for their prayers. i gotta get up & go 2 my uncle's funeral

Burruss's publicist Lisa Nelson told the Atlanta TV station that Burruss, 33, a singer-songwriter who recorded with the band Xscape and worked with TLC and Mariah Carey, was "stunned and speechless" when told the news.

Police said they have not determined a motive for the brawl, but the investigation is still under way.

"We have developed a person of interest and we've made contact with him to question him about the incident," said Lt. Meadows.

NeNe Leakes, Burruss's sometime rival on RHOA, also took to Twitter: "RIP AJ from the real housewives of Atlanta! My thoughts & prayers r with Kandi, his children & family"

Costar Kim Zolciak tweeted the following message: "please Pray for my dear friend Kandi and her loss.I adored AJ and he will be misssed dearly"
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Man Arrested and Released In Yale Killing

Update: Clark has been arrested for Annie Le's murder. Hopefully, they will keep his behind this time. What kind of police department is stupid enough to let this guy free, even if it was only for a short while. Didn't he have any unpaid traffic tickets or some made up crap that they could have held him on.

Police in New Haven, Conn., took Raymond Clark III, 24, into custody in order to execute a warrant to collect DNA samples from him, authorities announced. Police also collected items from the home Clark shares with his fiancée in Middletown, about 20 miles north of New Haven, before police released him early Wednesday.

Clark was not charged, nor was he officially named a suspect in the case of Yale grad student Annie Le, a bride-to-be who was found dead in a building near the medical school on Saturday. Police did name Clark as a "person of interest," however.

"We took him into custody to gather evidence from his body and his person," Police Chief James Lewis told reporters. Clark was released to his attorney at 3 a.m. Wednesday, according to New Haven police spokesman Joe Avery. Clark complied with requests for DNA samples Avery said, adding that Clark is now free to go wherever he wants.


Clark, who has been in the employ of Yale University for four years, worked in the basement where Le's body was found. According to reports, he failed an FBI lie-detector test and had scratches on his chest. A university source told the New Haven Register that Clark and Le likely knew each other, because he cared for the mice she used in her experiments.

According to the Los Angeles Times, only someone intimately familiar with the building's basement would have stashed her body there.

Clark's sister, brother-in-law and fiancée all worked at the university as well. He is to be married in December 2011. Le was to have been married last Sunday, the day her body was discovered. She disappeared Sept. 8.

On Tuesday, Le's family issued a statement through family friend the Rev. Dennis Smith. "The entire Yale community as well as our extended families and friends have been very supportive, helpful and caring," he said. "Our loss would have been immeasurably more difficult to cope with without their support."
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Second Safe Found In Murdered Florida Couple's Home

A safe found in the home of a slain Florida couple known for adopting special-needs children contained about $100,000, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN late Tuesday.

The safe is the second one belonging to Byrd and Melanie Billings of Beulah, Florida. The source said the suspects in the Billingses' shooting deaths believed the safe was the mother lode of valuables at the house, but were unable to get into it.

Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan would not confirm existence of a second safe and said he was "not at liberty to address that issue."

"I can only confirm the items we know were removed from the Billings home," Morgan said -- a small safe that contained prescription medication, family documents and some jewelry, and a briefcase that contained nothing significant.

Billings family attorney Crystal Spencer told CNN she had no comment because of the ongoing investigation.

Police have said a safe containing prescription medication, family documents and some jewelry was taken from the Billings home at the time of the slayings. It was found in a suspect's backyard, buried with bricks on top in what Morgan said was an "obvious attempt to conceal it."

Meanwhile, one of seven suspects charged with murder in the couple's deaths couple told police another suspect, believed by authorities to be the organizer of the slayings, was the lone gunman, according to court documents released Tuesday.

Frederick Thornton told police a man he knew as "Pat" was the organizer of the July 9 home invasion-robbery at the home, according to an affidavit in support of a search warrant.

Thornton said "Pat" -- whose description matches that of suspect Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr. -- was the "only shooter from the incident," according to the court documents.

The affidavit sought a search warrant for a minivan belonging to an eighth suspect, Pamela Wiggins, who is charged with being an accessory after the fact. In it, police said Thornton told authorities that after the robbery, he and the others involved rode in an older red van to an unknown location up the road, where a safe taken from the home was moved into a red minivan parked on the side of the road.

The group then met at an antiques store in nearby Gulf Breeze, Florida, where Thornton said he met a female who was in the minivan, the affidavit said.

The documents also said another suspect, Wayne Coldiron, admitted his involvement in the robbery and told police he went to a Gulf Breeze home that contained weapons used in the home invasion. A search of that residence found a number of firearms and ammunition, including a 9 mm handgun, the same caliber of weapon used in the homicides, according to the affidavit.

Coldiron told police a female named Pam was at that residence and drove a maroon-colored minivan, the document said.

In an interview with police, Wiggins denied any involvement in the robbery or the homicides, but said she was a friend of Gonzalez and he had a key to the residence "and permission to come and go as he pleased," according to the affidavit. Wiggins drives a red minivan, according to the documents. Property records indicate she also co-owns an antiques store.

Search warrant returns for Wiggins' van and suspect Donald Stallworth's vehicle were also released Tuesday. Numerous items were seized from both vehicles. Among the items found in Stallworth's vehicle were four 12-gauge shotgun shells, a pair of black gloves and two black stocking caps inside a backpack, the documents said.

Attempts by CNN to reach Wiggins and her attorney have been unsuccessful.

On Monday, Escambia County, Florida, Sheriff David Morgan said the suspects in the Billingses' slaying did a dry run of the attack at the couple's home about a month before they stormed the residence. And court documents said Gonzalez knew the victims and received financial support from them for a martial arts studio he ran.

Crystal Spencer, an attorney for the Billings family, said, "My understanding is, through speaking with the investigative agencies, that Mr. Gonzalez sought donations from a variety of community and business leaders and that perhaps Mr. Billings did not lend him money, but donated to this academy for children. It was ... a self-defense academy for children. But the connection goes no further that we are aware of."

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Murder and Mayhem Links 16 July

28 Year Old Babysitter Has Sex With 14 Year Old Boy, Asks Mom's Permission
Idaho babysitter, Summer Nelson was charged with having sex with a 14 year old boy that she was hired to sex with. She told the boy's younger siblings that she was in love with in.
Eighth Person Arrested In Florida Couple's Shooting Death
Florida police arrested Pamela Long Wiggins and charged with accessory after the fact of felony murder in the murder of Byrd and Melanie Billings. They are also searching for someone from the alarm company that was supposed to protect the Billings' home. The DEA has also become involved in the case.

Exchange Students Live American Nightmare
You always have to wonder how well the host families are investigated before exchange students are placed with them. I guess in some cases, not very well. Five exchange students were sent to Scranton, Pennsylvania where they were malnourished and neglected. One student was even placed in the home with a convicted drug felon and other ex-cons. The Aspect Foundation did nothing to help the children when complaints were made, Children and Youth Services finally removed the high school students.

Family Asks County For Damages After 8-Year Daughter Is Arrested
Evelyn Towry (who has Asperger syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder) was arrested after she acted out because she was unable to wear her special jacket in class. Her family is asking the county to pay half a million dollars in damages because the girl was handcuffed and taken to juvenile hall. The Bonner County Prosecutor's Office originally charged Evelyn with battery, but later dropped the charges.

Caylee Anthony Update 15 July

It has been a year since Cindy Anthony made the 911 call reporting her granddaughter, Caylee missing. Since then Casey has been charged with murder, and then the toddler's body was found near the family's home.
(CNN) -- One year ago, a sheriff's dispatcher in Orange County, near Orlando, Florida, received a strange 911 call. A small child was missing -- and had been for a month.

The child's grandmother was frantic, talking a mile a minute. But her mother seemed unemotional, disconnected from the drama around her.

So began the Caylee Anthony case, a mystery that became a nightly fixture on cable television and captivated true-crime buffs across the country.

Today, the tot's 23-year-old mother, Casey Anthony, is in jail, charged with first-degree murder, and faces the death penalty if convicted. She denies harming her daughter or having anything to do with her disappearance.

Her attorney, Jose Baez, has said that once all the facts are known, it will become clear that his client is innocent.

While reports of missing children are not unusual -- a Haleigh and a Haylee are two recent examples -- several elements came together in the Caylee case to make it a high-profile news story, said Robert Thompson, who heads the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University.

"The fact that it's a toddler had that really dramatic, 'this is our worst nightmare' thing. It doesn't get any more dramatic than that," he said. "Then, of course, there's Casey herself."

The 30-day delay in reporting Caylee's disappearance, along with the frequent release of police documents containing the personal details of the family's life, whetted the public's appetite.

"By that time, it becomes self-fulfilling," Thompson said. "Once the story gets into the inbox of places that cover this thing -- Dateline, America's Most Wanted, Greta van Susteren, Nancy Grace, Geraldo -- it becomes a packaged drama. We want to know how it turns out."

Caylee's body was found December 11, six months after she disappeared and just a few blocks from her grandparents' house. The remains were bagged and partially buried in a swampy, vacant lot.

Duct tape covered the child's mouth. But the cause of Caylee's death is just one of many questions that remain unanswered a year later. And the answers are not likely to come soon, if at all. Casey Anthony's trial, originally scheduled to begin October 12, has been pushed back until some time next year.

Thousands of pages of court files have been made public. Police questioned Anthony's friends and boyfriends, pored through her cell phone records, went through her computer, and seized her digital photo albums. They even analyzed her sleep patterns. But the picture that emerges is far from clear.

The story begins at about 9:40 p.m. on the evening of July 15, 2008, with Cindy Anthony's call to 911. The call capped a day in which she and her husband, George, a retired police officer from Ohio, received an impound notice and tracked down their daughter's abandoned white 1998 Pontiac Sunbird -- and then their daughter, Caylee's mother, who was staying with a boyfriend.

"I found out my granddaughter has been taken," Cindy Anthony told the 911 dispatcher. "She has been missing for a month. Her mother finally admitted that she's been missing. ... We're talking about a 3-year-old little girl!"

"I need to find her," Cindy Anthony continued. "I told you my daughter was missing for a month. I just found her today, but I can't find my granddaughter. She just admitted to me that she's been trying to find her herself. There's something wrong. I found my daughter's car today, and it smells like there's been a dead body in the damn car."

George Anthony told police later that the car gave him "a bad vibe."

"I got within three feet of it. I could smell something. You look up and you say, please don't let this be. Please don't let this be," he said in a July 24 police interview.

A cadaver dog confirmed for police the scent of human decomposition in the car trunk. Casey Anthony's friends told police she said she hit an animal with the car. But many of her stories did not check out, investigators said.

Although Casey Anthony has frequently fallen out with her parents, they have always insisted that she is innocent. They haven't visited her in jail for months, in part because authorities record the visits and release them to the public.

During the search for Caylee, some say Casey Anthony didn't behave the way one would expect of a worried mother. She went to nightclubs and sent hundreds of text messages to friends, according to cell phone and text transcripts and investigative reports released by police.

Those phone and text records also showed that she hardly mentioned her missing daughter.

At one point, police analyzed her sleep patterns, finding that the cell phone calls and text messaging ceased for only three or four hours a night at about the time Caylee disappeared.

For weeks, curiosity seekers camped out in lawn chairs outside the Anthony home, where the family had posted large flyers asking, "Where is Caylee?" When the crowd grew unruly, Cindy Anthony waved a hammer and George Anthony shouted back at the hecklers.

Authorities say they also found traces of chloroform, a knock-out drug, in the trunk of Casey Anthony's car. And they said that on her computer, they found Internet searches of missing children and chloroform Web sites.

Investigators first labeled Casey Anthony a person of interest, and later, a suspect. She was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder on October 14.

But Thompson, the pop culture professor at Syracuse, cautions that the final curtain hasn't fallen on this drama.

"It isn't necessarily a slam dunk," he said. "We have the JonBenet Ramsey case to show that we may think one thing, and it isn't so." Early in that investigation, authorities said John and Patsy Ramsey were "under an umbrella of suspicion" in their daughter's death, but they later were cleared.

"These things are capable of twisting around," Thompson said. "But that's another element that makes them interesting."
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Have They Found Natalee Holloway

Natalee Holloway's father flew a search dog and handler to Aruba to search for the missing teen's body on Friday, although prosecutors said they have no new leads in the case.

Ann Angela, a spokeswoman for the Aruba Prosecutors' Office, said the dog is searching a small reservoir in northwestern Aruba that witnesses have previously identified as a location where Holloway's remains might be found.

Holloway, from Mountain Brook, Ala., disappeared in May 2005 in the Aruban capital Oranjestad. She was 18 at the time.

Angela said neither police nor prosecutors have any new information in the case, but they gave Dave Holloway permission to search.

Dave Holloway did not immediately return a message seeking comment. His attorney, Vinda de Sousa, told The Associated Press he insisted on another search of the reservoir after a witness who identified it as a possible location passed a lie detector test in the U.S.

De Sousa said she does not know how long the dog and its handler will remain on the island, nor how much Holloway is paying for the search. She added that the search had been planned for some time.

Holloway's mother, Beth Holloway Twitty, said she was not aware of the development and declined further comment.

Natalee Holloway was last seen leaving a bar with Dutch man Joran van der Sloot on the final night of a high school graduation trip.

No trace of her has ever been found despite extensive searches involving hundreds of volunteers, Aruban soldiers, FBI agents and even Dutch F-16 jets.

Dutch prosecutors have said authorities still lack proof they need to convict Van der Sloot, who has been arrested twice and released for lack of evidence.
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Coleman Family Murder Update 10 July

The coroner's inquest in the Coleman murders is today. A pathologist will testify that Sheri, Garett, and Gavin Coleman were dead before Chris Coleman even left the house. The inquest jury will determine if the cause of death was natural, homicide (Duh, isn't that obvious.), accident, suicide, or undetermined. The outcome of the coroner's inquest has no bearing on Chris Coleman's murder charges, and is just seems to be a waste of money.

Steve McNair Was Cheating On Wife And Mistress

Girls, this is why you should never date a married man. If he cheats with you, he will cheat on you.

Former NFL star Steve McNair died at the hands of a girlfriend who faced mounting debts that included payments on a Cadillac Escalade he'd helped her to buy, and who suspected him of seeing yet another woman who was not his wife, Nashville police say.

"We can't put ourselves in the minds of people who do these terrible, irrational acts, but there is evidence she was spinning out of control," police chief Ronal Serpas told a news conference Wednesday.

Gunshot residue tests suggest Sahel Kazemi, 20, used both hands to fire the 9mm pistol recovered at the downtown Nashville condo where both she and McNair, 36, a quarterback who took the Tennessee Titans to the 2000 Super Bowl, were found dead Saturday afternoon, police said.

McNair was seated on a sofa and likely asleep in the early morning hours of July 4 when Kazemi shot him in the left side of his head from a distance of a few feet, according to investigators. She then shot him two more times in the chest, and once more on the right side of his head from close up.

Kazemi subsequently sat next to McNair and shot herself on the right side of her head, collapsing into his lap and eventually falling to the floor atop the dropped gun, police said.

"She, to us, was still a little kid and probably couldn't handle the pressure," Kazemi's nephew, Farzin Abdi, told the Tennessean. "She was only 20 years old, and he cheated on her and on his wife, too ... We never knew about financial troubles."

Kazemi, a waitress whom McNair began dating several months ago, told family and friends that McNair planned to divorce his wife for her, although no divorce record has turned up.

The murder-suicide capped 48 hours that began with Kazemi's arrest for DUI at 1:30 a.m. on July 2. McNair was with her in the Escalade at the time, and bailed her out of jail. About 5 p.m. that same day, she bought the pistol for $100 from a man to whom she had tried and failed to sell her Kia automobile. Earlier, Kazemi had learned that her roommate was moving out, which would double her rent to around $1,000. Kazemi also was liable for payments on both the Kia and the Escalade, which she co-owned with McNair.

Police also revealed that Kazemi recently had learned of another woman she believed to be romantically involved with McNair. On Friday, July 3, Kazemi remarked to an associate, "My life is a ball of s---, and I should just end it."

Clocking out of her job at a Dave & Buster's restaurant at 10:07 that night, Kazemi went to her apartment and then to the condo that McNair rented with a buddy. McNair arrived between 1:30 a.m. and 2 a.m. to find her Escalade parked outside.

"Murder-suicide is clear given all of the evidence," police said in a statement.

McNair's wife, Mechelle, with whom he had four sons, has made no public comment. The co-winner of the NFL's Most Valuable Player honor in 2003 with the Tennessee team, McNair retired in 2008 after finishing his career with the Baltimore Ravens.
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Murder and Mayhem Links 8 July

Casey Anthony Case: October Trial Date Canceled
Casey Anthony's trial for murdering her daughter, Caylee has been postponed until 2010. No new date has been scheduled, but there is a hearing on 21 January.

Rulings On Coleman's Records At Joyce Meyer's Is Postponed
A judge needs another two weeks to decide if the Joyce Meyer Ministry must turn over Chris Coleman's employment records as part of Sheri Coleman's family's civil suit. Chris had told his mistress that he was going to divorce his wife and marry her, despite rumors that the ministry doesn't employ the divorce. But it is a rather hypocritical policy when you consider that Joyce is divorced.

Haylee Headed To Foster Care Upon Her Return
Haylee Donathan will go into foster care when she returns home from California. A court has decided that it wouldn't be in her best interest to return her to her grandmother, Mary Watson. Basically the court decided that since Mary has raised two crazies it is best not to allow her to mess up a third child.

Haylee's mother took her on a month long, cross country trip with a convicted child molester. And the uncle is a convicted rapist. Foster care may be her best chance at a normal life.