Officer Tahreem Zeus Rana Arrested for Kidnapping, Murder, and Arson

Officer Tahreem Zeus Rana, 23, was arrested at an airport Thursday morning for kidnapping, murder, tampering with evidence, and arson while attempting to flee to Mexico.

Last Friday, Rana met up with a woman named Valencia Woodard, 26, after responding to an ad she had posted.  Woodard had been in Georgia from New York for less than a week, it is likely she moved to be closer to her eight year old daughter who was living in Georgia with her grandmother.

Detective Stephen Cushing reports that Rana picked her up, brought her to a dead end street not even a mile from his house, and shot her repeatedly with his .40 caliber glock issued by the department.

Rana then allegedly set her body on fire to destroy the evidence.  A city worker found her body, still burning, on the side of a road.

The department has issued a statement saying:

“We are shocked and saddened by these developments. The officer has been relieved from duty, and is in a non-enforcement status. Chief Turner will schedule an emergency hearing immediately today to determine the next course of action. We must allow the justice system to run its course. But these clearly are very disturbing allegations that are not in line with the expectations we have for our officers, and will be immediately dealt with.”

“Officers remember him actually walking to school here as a young boy saying when I grow up I want to be a police officer,” said Cushing according to 11Alive.  Psychopathic tendencies start early folks.

The killer cop waived his first court appearance on Friday will remain held without bond until his preliminary hearing, Sept. 12, in Fulton Superior Court.

Tulsa Officer Shannon Kepler Kills Daughter's Boyfriend

A Tulsa police husband and wife were arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old man on a street near downtown, and the couple's daughter said her father shot at her, too.

Shannon Kepler, 54, a 24-year veteran of the Tulsa Police Department, was booked into the Tulsa Jail on first-degree murder and shooting with intent to kill complaints. His wife, Gina, 48, also a Tulsa police officer, was jailed on an accessory to murder complaint.

The two weren't on duty at the time the shooting of 19-year-old Jeremy Lake occurred in the 200 block of North Maybelle Avenue about 9:15 p.m. Tuesday, police said. Shannon Kepler works at TPD's police academy and worked Tuesday, public information officer Jillian Roberson said. Gina Kepler is a patrol officer at the department's Gilcrease division, and did not work Tuesday, Roberson said.

Both are held at the Tulsa jail, police chief Chuck Jordan said, but are confined in an area away from other inmates they may have come into contact with on the job.

The gun involved in the shooting was not a service weapon, Jordan said. Police have not said whether the weapon has been recovered.

Police said an argument occurred between Lake and Shannon Kepler, who was in a black Chevrolet Suburban. Lake, who reportedly was with Kepler's daughter, was shot "two or three times" after he told Kepler that he was her boyfriend, according to an arrest report.

Lisa Kepler, the 18-year-old daughter of Shannon and Gina Kepler, spoke with the Tulsa World on Wednesday morning from the front porch of the home she shared with the homicide victim, who also was her boyfriend.

Lisa Kepler and Lake were walking back from Guthrie Green and were in the street in front of their home when a black SUV pulled up, and Shannon Kepler stepped out.

Lisa Kepler said her father shouted at her and that as Lake attempted to introduce himself, Shannon Kepler shot Lake.

Lisa Kepler said she had attempted to stop the shooting but then ran and hid behind a large rose bush in the front yard as her father fired a shot at her that missed. Lisa Kepler said she told authorities it was her dad who was the triggerman.

"I'm not scared of my dad," she said, in tears and openly wondering why he would shoot someone he didn't know.

Josh Mills, 23, a friend of Lake's, said he was also at the scene during the shooting. He said Shannon Kepler also fired a shot at Lake's 13-year-old brother, who was sitting on the front porch. The bullet ricocheted and grazed the boy in the upper arm, Mills said.

Mills said he had paramedic training and tried to stem Lake's bleeding and locate the bullet wounds. Mills said it appeared Lake had been shot in the chest and neck from about 3-feet away. Mills and Lake hadn't known each other long but had become close.

"He was like a brother to me for two weeks," Mills said, tearing up as he described how Lake died in his arms.

Lisa Kepler said her parents had kicked her out of their home recently because of poor "life decisions" she had made and dropped her off at the Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless. Lisa Kepler declined to say what those life decisions were.

"I really hope they rot in prison for a very long time," Lisa Kepler said of her parents.

A neighbor of the Kepler family, who wished not to be identified, said the husband and wife are "wonderful neighbors." She said the parents had "given and given" to their three daughters.

Friends and neighbors said the couple had adopted Lisa Kepler and her two siblings several years ago.

"They've done everything in the world for (Lisa)," the neighbor said.

She said Shannon and Gina Kepler were the type of neighbors who would shovel sidewalks or bring food over.

A second neighbor, who also asked for anonymity, said he was "tickled to death" two police officers lived nearby because it made the neighborhood feel secure. The neighbor said he didn't have a lot of interaction with the Keplers, whom he called "the perfect neighbors," but that Gina Kepler sometimes would stop in her patrol car and say hi to him.

"The whole neighborhood — it's unbelievable," the neighbor said when asked if he was surprised by the turn of events.

Lisa Kepler said the Day Center is where she met Lake, who offered to let her live with himself and his aunt, Pam Wilkins, within the past week. She said Lake was a sweet man and had been nothing but good to her since they had met.

Sandra Lewis, executive director of the Day Center, said Lake had never been a volunteer or employee with, nor a client of the center.

Lewis said she knew of Lake and that he "came around" sometimes. There weren't any incident reports involving him, she said. Lake would help carry in donations or pick up trash.

"He was always very helpful," Lewis said.

Wilkins, 50, said Lake had "a lot of love" for people, including those in the homeless community. She said her nephew was "the life of the party."

"No matter if we argued, he never let a day go by without saying, 'I love you,'" Wilkins said.

Police said Shannon Kepler turned himself in after investigators contacted his wife, Gina Kepler.

The couple are expected to be placed on paid administrative leave until they are charged, Roberson said.

Lake's death is the city's 27th homicide.

Prison Guards Tortured a Mentally Ill Man Until His Skin “Shriveled from his Body” & He Died

The purported details of Darren Rainey’s last hour are difficult to read.

“I can’t take it no more, I’m sorry. I won’t do it again,’’ he screamed over and over, according to a grievance complaint from a fellow inmate, as Rainey was allegedly locked in a shower with the scalding water turned on full blast.

A 50-year-old mentally ill inmate at the Dade Correctional Institution, Rainey was pulled into the locked shower by prison guards as punishment after defecating in his cell and refusing to clean it up, said the fellow inmate, who worked as an orderly. He was left there unattended for more than an hour as the narrow chamber filled with steam and water.

When guards finally checked on prisoner 060954, he was on his back and dead. His skin was so burned that it had shriveled from his body, a condition referred to as slippage, according to a medical document involving the death.

But nearly two years after Rainey’s death on June 23, 2012, the Miami-Dade medical examiner has yet to complete an autopsy and Miami-Dade police have not charged anyone. The Florida Department of Corrections halted its probe into the matter, saying it could be restarted if the autopsy and police investigation unearth new information.

“They told people that he had a heart attack,’’ said a source close to the prison system with knowledge of the case.

The shower treatment was only one form of punishment inflicted by the prison’s guards to keep mentally ill patients in line, according to the inmate/orderly and two other sources privy to the goings-on at the state prison.

The inmate/orderly, a convicted burglar named Harold Hempstead serving a decades-long sentence, filed repeated formal complaints, beginning in January 2013, with the DOC inspector general, alleging that prison guards subjected inmates — housed in the mental health unit — to extreme physical abuse and withheld food from some who became unruly. The complaints were sent back, most with a short, type-written note saying the appeal was being returned “without action” or had already been addressed.

In September, another inmate was found dead inside his cell. Richard Mair, 40, hanged himself from an air conditioning vent.

According to the police report, Mair left a suicide note in his boxer shorts claiming he and other prisoners were sexually and physically abused on a routine basis by guards.

DOC officials declined to be interviewed for this story. A spokeswoman said Friday that the agency would provide public records in response to the newspaper’s formal written requests, but no comments.

Over the past several weeks, the newspaper has requested maintenance records, grievance logs, prison death records, guards’ disciplinary records and emails by administrators, including DCI Warden Jerry Cummings.

As of Friday, the agency had released a handful of documents: a single report about a prison guard admonished for falling asleep on duty last year; brief, coded disciplinary records for Hempstead, Rainey and several other inmates who Hempstead says were also subjected to searing hot showers as punishment; and a heavily redacted copy of the DOC inspector general’s report on Rainey’s death.

On Friday, the Herald learned from three independent sources that Cummings and four of his top aides had been temporarily relieved of duty last week.

It’s not clear why Cummings and other administrators were suspended, or for how long.

The DOC did not respond to an email query about the suspensions late Friday.

Rainey’s family, meanwhile, finds the silence surrounding his death disturbing.

“Two years is a very long time to wait to find out why your brother was found dead in a shower,’’ said Rainey’s brother, Andre Chapman.

Rainey, who was serving a two-year sentence for possession of cocaine, was scheduled to be released in July.

Numerous complaints

Between January and February 2013, Hempstead filed numerous grievances and complaints with DOC officials about Rainey’s death, all alleging that the circumstances were being covered up.

His reports, replete with the names of other inmate witnesses and prison guards on duty that evening, describe what he and others purportedly saw and heard that night. The details in his complaints match the wording in the inspector general’s report — at least the parts not redacted.

The inspector general’s report said that the video camera in the shower area showed DOC officer Roland Clarke place Rainey in the shower at 7:38 p.m.

Hempstead said the shower had sufficient room for an inmate to avoid a direct hit from the spray, but that the extreme heat would eventually make the air unbreathable as the scalding water lapped at inmates’ feet.

Hempstead wrote that he and other inmates, whose cells are directly below the shower, began hearing Rainey’s screams about 8:55 p.m. It went on for about 30 minutes before it sounded like he fell to the shower floor, he said in his complaint.

The DOC inspector general’s report said Clarke found Rainey dead at 9:30 p.m. and called for medical assistance.

“I then seen [sic] his burnt dead body naked body go about two feet from my cell door on a stretcher,’’ Hempstead wrote.

Miami-Dade homicide investigators were called to the prison.

But another inmate, a convicted murderer named Mark Joiner, wrote in a letter to the inspector general that he was ordered to “clean up the crime scene’’ prior to the area being secured.

Early in the week after the incident, maintenance workers at the prison disabled the plumbing that fed the shower, Hempstead told the Herald in an interview at the prison.

Despite all his written complaints, Hempstead was never interviewed by anyone from the prison system, he said. Another inmate was spoken to, according to the report. That’s presumably Joiner, although the DOC will not divulge the name. The Herald is waiting for a transcript of that interview, which DOC officials said would be redacted of any information pertaining to an open criminal investigation.

As for the video camera in the shower area, the inspector general’s report noted that it malfunctioned right after Clarke put Rainey in the shower. As a result, the disc that may have recorded what happened was “damaged,’’ the report said.

The redacted report doesn’t say how Rainey’s body was found, whether the water was on or off when he was found or whether state investigators ever questioned any of the guards or nurses in the unit at the time of Rainey’s death.

The union that represents the prison guards was not aware of the incident as of this past week. No record was provided to the Herald to indicate that anyone has been held accountable for what happened.

A suicide note

Mair was found hanging in his cell on Sept. 11, 2013. A braided rope, made from cut sections of bed sheets, was attached to the ceiling air vent and looped around his neck, according to a Miami-Dade police report.

Tucked into a pocket sewed into his boxer shorts was a suicide note in which Mair, serving life for second-degree murder, described a litany of abuses against inmates in the mental health unit.

“Life sucks and then you die, but just before I go, I’m going to expose everyone for who and what they are,’’ he wrote.

“I’m in a mental health facility...I’m supposed to be getting help for my depression, suicidal tendencies and I was sexually assaulted.’’

He then goes on to allege that guards forced inmates in the unit to perform sex acts and threatened them if they filed complaints.

He said guards — identified by name in the note — gambled on duty, sold marijuana and cigarettes, and stole money and property belonging to inmates.

“If they didn’t like you, they put you on a starvation diet,’’ he wrote.

He also alleged that guards encouraged racial hatred by forcing white and black inmates to fight each other in the yard, claiming that the guards would place bets on who would win.

Mair’s next of kin was in prison in Maine and unavailable for comment.

There’s no evidence that the state inspector general’s probe into Mair’s death addressed any of the allegations in the suicide note.

The probe concluded that guards had been negligent in failing to adequately check on Mair the evening he killed himself.

Les Cantrell, state coordinator for Teamsters Local 2011 — the union representing the state’s 17,000 corrections and probation officers — said there has been a spike in prison complaints across the state. Employee turnover is staggering, he said, particularly among prison guards who are often forced to work long hours to compensate for officers they have lost and failed to replace.

“In general, we have a difficult time retaining good officers,’’ Cantrell said. “Assaults on officers have risen and inmates know they are short-staffed.

“It makes it unsafe for the officers and for the inmates,’’ he said.

The six-page inspector general’s investigation into Rainey’s death was completed in October 2012. DOC Inspector General Jeffrey Beasley closed the case, concluding there was not enough information to issue any finding.

“...the exact cause of death has not been determined by the Medical Examiner. Upon receipt of the autopsy report, it will be included in the investigative file,’’ the report said, noting that if “administrative matters” subsequently arise as a result of the autopsy, they will be addressed at a future time.

The report, which includes brief written statements by Clarke as well as other guards and nurses, has large passages that have been redacted — obscured with a black marker.

The Department of Corrections has not responded to requests from the Herald to provide the legal justification for each redaction, as required under the state’s public records law.

After Hempstead was interviewed at the prison by a Herald journalist on April 14, Miami-Dade homicide investigators also paid him a visit to interview him about the two-year-old case, he wrote in a letter emailed to Gov. Rick Scott last week through a family member.

According to the letter, three corrections officers, including a sergeant, responded to the visits by threatening to set him up with false disciplinary reports and to place him in solitary confinement if he didn’t stop talking to the media and police.

He said he feared for his safety and wanted to be relocated to a different prison.

Last week, the Herald sought clearance to speak with Hempstead in the prison a second time after receiving a letter from him authorizing the return visit.

Jessica Carey, spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections, responded that Hempstead “had a custody classification which prohibits interviews at this time.’’

When pressed further about whether he was being punished, Carey said she had made “a mistake’’ and directed a Herald reporter to fill out a visitation form.

Neither Miami-Dade police nor the Miami-Dade medical examiner responded to requests for information about the Rainey case. Each say his death is still an open investigation, but did not address why it has taken almost two years.

Ex-Officer Kevin Canty Fatally Shoots Wife

News of the horror came from the mouths of mere babes.

“Daddy shot mommy!” two hysterical children — a 4-year-old girl and 7-year-old boy — screamed inside a Queens bodega. “Daddy shot mommy!”

Around the corner from the Casablanca deli on Saturday, cops were combing a bloody crime scene. An unhinged former cop shot and killed his wife in front of their two young kids in Ozone Park just before 11 a.m., police sources said.

Cops found ex-cop Kevin Canty, 43, stumbling around drunk near the corner of 97th and Centreville Sts. He was arrested without further violence.

Paramedics, meanwhile, were feverishly working on 40-year-old Jessica Mera. They took the mom from the couple’s home on 104th St., past the front door adorned with an Easter bunny decoration and into a waiting ambulance. Mera, blasted in the chest, could not be saved. She died at Jamaica Hospital.

As cops carted the dreadlocked gunman to the 102nd Precinct stationhouse, a neighbor took the traumatized children to the nearby deli.

"The boy told me personally: 'My dad shot my mom and there's blood all over,’” said the neighbor who asked to remain anonymous.

“My wife heard gunshots and the kids were running out on the street,” he added. “They were banging on car doors as cars were passing by. They were trying to get help, someone to listen to them.”

Before Canty was arrested, cops in body armor and carrying bullet-proof shields descended on the home. NYPD helicopters hovered overhead. A 911 caller told police that a man fitting Canty’s description was trying to open the doors of unoccupied cars a mile and a half away from the crime scene, authorities said.

Canty appeared delirious while handcuffed and repeatedly banged his head against the inside of a squad car window.

About 10 stunned friends and family of Mera’s had little to say as they lingered at the entrance of the emergency room.

“They are going through a really tough time right now,” said one man who only identified himself as Mera’s friend.

“You have no idea what this family has been through — this is only the tip of the iceberg.”

Several neighbors said the couple had four children, though it was unclear if any of them were from previous relationships.

The callous crime amounted to a stunning downfall for Canty, sources said. In July 2012 the former transit cop was hailed as a hero for helping save the life of a man who suffered a heart attack in the Union Square subway station.

Police sources said he retired last year due to a disability.

The nature of the disability was unclear.

Canty and his wife had a tumultuous relationship, several neighbors said.

“They were always fighting. They’d fight outside, they would fight everywhere,” said Joanne Bagley, 52. “They were not a happy couple. I guess it was inevitable.”

Shanique Varlack, 22, described Canty as a drunken terror who often threatened his wife.

“He told more than one person - 'I'm gonna kill this b---h one day,’” said Varlack.

“Everybody is just so distraught. He's a cop. He's supposed to protect us. He took an oath and now? He's a murderer. She did not deserve to die.”

The shaken deli worker who consoled the distraught kids said Canty and Mera were regulars.

 “I’d see him everyday,” deliman Fez Atlas said. “I knew what he’d want when he came in. He would come in, get a pack of Newports.

“His wife would come in, in the morning with the kids,” he added. “She’d buy the girl a bag of potato chips and the boy pistachios. Then this happened.”

A man in Laurelton, Queens, who only identified himself as Canty’s uncle-in-law said of the ex-cop, “He’s a nice guy. This is the first I’m hearing about this.”

But other neighbors said Canty had a menacing presence.

“He’s kind of a scary guy, kind of intimidating. You got to talk to him for him to talk to you,” said Danny Ali, 30.

“He told me he was a detective. About a year ago, I saw he had a broken hand. He said he broke it in a fight. He wouldn’t say more about it.”

Chris Ris said he often saw Canty around Ozone Park wearing construction boots and dusty pants, apparently on the way home from a job in construction. On nice days, Canty’s wife sat on the stoop with her children, Ris said. “To me he seemed like a nice guy,” said Ris, a music producer. “I’d never dream he’d kill his wife.”
News of the horror came from the mouths of mere babes.

Former Reserve Officer Raymond McCann Person of Interest in Death of 11-year-old

FOX 17 obtained the probable cause affidavit in the case of Raymond McCann, a former Constantine reserve officer, who is now being called a person of interest in connection to the killing of 11-year-old Jodi Parrack, a cold case from 2007.

On November 8, 2007, Parrack’s body was found in the Constantine Township Cemetery after she disappeared while walking home from a friend’s house a few blocks away.

McCann was arrested over the weekend and charged with perjury in connection to the case.

According to a four-page affidavit, over the course of an hour and a half, McCann suggested officers search the Constantine Township Cemetery where Parrack’s body was eventually found. Officers became increasingly suspicious because McCann, himself, did not take it upon himself to search the area.

“Furthermore, I am aware that the victim’s body contained injuries to both of her wrists, consistent with the application of handcuffs. Given the fact the McCann was a reserve police office at the time of this incident, he would have access to handcuffs,” stated the affidavit.

Albuquerque Cops Murder Homeless Man, Then Sick Dog on Him

A graphic video that shows a police shooting of a homeless man in the Albuquerque foothills is raising a firestorm of controversy, and it’s not the first time police there have faced backlash over citizen shootings.

Hundreds have posted outraged comments online and a public protest of the Albuquerque Police Department is planned for Tuesday evening after police last week released the helmet-cam video, which shows officers shooting at a homeless man March 16 who they said was illegally camping, reports CBS affiliate KRQE.

 In the video, the man, James Boyd, 38, appears to turn away before he is shot by police. Boyd later died. He was struck by at least one live round, but the medical investigator’s office hasn’t determined what killed him, reports the Albuquerque Journal.

According to an Albuquerque police spokeswoman, Boyd was carrying knives and threatening to kill the officers. But critics say the incident raises alarming questions about how Albuquerque police use deadly force.

“We’ve reviewed the video, and like many people who have seen it, we found it to be fairly disturbing,” Steve Allen, public policy director for the ACLU of New Mexico, told CBS News’ Crimesider. “It certainly does raise questions about why this tragedy couldn’t have been avoided.”

For critics, the police shooting is an all-too-common occurrence in Albuquerque. Boyd’s death marks the 22nd deadly police-involved shooting since early 2010, said Andrew Lipman, who chaired the city council’s Police Oversight Task Force.

Lipman’s 11-member task force released recommendations in January calling for the creation of a totally new and independent body to act as a citizen oversight group for police.

The task force also called Tuesday for an independent review of Boyd’s shooting.
“They’re viewing this man as kind of the enemy, in a combat situation, and that’s not really what they’re there to do — they’re there to ensure public safety,” Lipman said. “…This man lost his life because he was illegally camping.”

youtube video

Three Officers on Leave After Death of Man Pepper-Sprayed and Beaten

Three police officers have been placed on administrative leave while officials investigate the death of a man outside an Oklahoma movie theater, police said Tuesday.

Luis Rodriguez, 44, died after five law enforcement officers pepper-sprayed and handcuffed him early Saturday morning after an altercation in a theater parking lot in the central Oklahoma city of Moore, said Police Chief Jerry Stillings.

But Rodriguez's wife, Nair, and daughter, Luinahi, have said that police beat him.

A spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner's Office said the cause and manner of death are pending.

Two on-duty officers, who were already at the theater for an unrelated incident, were alerted to a possible domestic disturbance and attempted to question Rodriguez, Stillings said. They were joined by three other off-duty officers — one from the Moore police department and two game wardens — who were working security at the theater.

Stillings said Rodriguez tried to leave and "took an aggressive stance." Officers attempted to detain him, but Rodriguez continued to be uncooperative, Stillings said, and officers used pepper spray to subdue him before handcuffing him. The man's wife and daughter have said he did not resist officers.

At that point, an ambulance was called — which, Stillings said, is common in situations where force is used — and Rodriguez was taken to a nearby hospital.

It's unclear when Rodriguez died, and Stillings refused to say whether or not Rodriguez was conscious when he was handcuffed.

Stillings said there are no indications that batons or other weapons were used. Moore Police spokesman Jeremy Lewis said it's under investigation whether other force, including punching and kicking, took place.

"Mr. Rodriguez made statements that the fight was a case of domestic violence," Stillings said during a news conference. "Domestic violence is a serious situation and officers are obligated to investigate all matters of suspected domestic violence."

Nair Rodriguez said that she slapped her daughter and her husband was trying to calm her down. Nair Rodriguez said her husband bypassed the officers in order to try and stop her from driving away. She said officers then took him down and started beating him.

A message was left at one phone listing for Nair Rodriguez. Other phone numbers rang unanswered, were wrong numbers or were disconnected.

Officers confiscated a partial cellphone video that Nair Rodriguez captured of the incident and obtained a search warrant to view and make a copy of it, Stillings said. There are no plans for the police department to release the video, but Stillings said it he didn't see anything inappropriate in the video. Police have attempted to return the phone to Nair Rodriguez on Tuesday but have been unsuccessful, he said.

The three Moore officers have been placed on paid administrative leave while the incident is being investigated. The officers have been with the department between 1 1/2 years and 6 years and have had no other incidents like this one, Stillings said.

The two game wardens have not been placed on leave, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation said.

The names of the officers involved have not been released.

Retired Officer Curtis Reeves Accused of Shooting Man in Movie Theater Denied Bail

The 71-year-old ex-police officer accused of shooting dead a man inside a Florida movie theater won't get the chance to go home -- at least for now -- after a judge Friday decided not to grant him bail.

Judge Pat Siracusa made his decision after two days of wrenching, evocative, at times seemingly contradictory testimony inside a Dade City, Florida, courtroom.

"The state did, in fact, meet their standard," Siracusa said of prosecutors argument that Curtis Reeves shouldn't be allowed to post bond. "And I am going to detain Mr. Reeves, pretrial. He will remain in custody."

Reeves' lawyer signaled his intention to appeal a decision that -- while not unexpected, given this is a homicide case -- he believes is unwarranted. The attorney, Richard Escobar, said that he's optimistic about not only the appeal on bail, but that a jury of six citizens will side with his client.

"Mr. Reeves is truly an innocent man," Escobar told reporters. "And we look forward to proving that at a jury trial at some point."

The widow of the man that Reeves killed, meanwhile, applauded Siracusa's decision.

"I'm just very happy and relieved," Nicole Oulson said. "... I have no doubt in my mind that it was the right decision."

Was it self-defense or an overreaction?

As Siracusa took pains to point out, his opting not to grant bail has nothing to do with his or others assessment of Reeves' guilt or innocence. That won't happen until trial.

The date for that hasn't been set, though Siracusa did schedule the next pretrial hearing for March 12.

That falls on one day under two full months since Chad Oulson was shot dead inside the Grove 16 theater in the Tampa suburb of Wesley Chapel.

Was the younger, more physically imposing Oulson killed in self-defense, as Reeves' lawyer claims? Or did Reeves overreact -- to the idea that Oulson was texting his toddler daughter as movie previews played -- by taking out his gun inside the theater and firing, as the prosecution argues?

The bail hearing, which began Wednesday and resumed Friday after a day off, served almost as a mini-trial in itself.

Both sides called witnesses, then often strongly challenged those put on the stand by the other side.

Reeves' daughter, Jennifer Shaw, testified that her father was supportive and even-keeled, having never erupted in anger at a stranger from her recollection.

The prosecution called a number of people who'd been in the Florida theater the afternoon of January 13.

Charles Cummings talked about overhearing Reeves and Oulson talking, and at one point, the latter said, "I'm just texting my 2-year-old daughter." Soon after that, a "very agitated" Reeves left the theater, then returned a few minutes later.

At that point, a fairly calm Oulson -- according to Mark Douglas Turner, a retired Air Force veteran who worked as a clandestine officer -- asked aloud whether he could check a voice mail from his daughter's babysitter.

The situation devolved after more words were exchanged. Alan Hamilton, an off-duty Sumter County sheriff's corporal, said he heard Oulson say, "I am trying to text my f**king daughter, if you don't mind" -- using graphic language that Reeves' lawyer said suggested Oulson was angry and threatening.

Popcorn flew in Reeves' direction soon thereafter.

"And almost immediately," recalled Turner, who said Oulson threw the bag, "the gun comes out and there are shots fired."

Reeves to police: Oulson 'scared the crap out of me'

Hamilton testified that, soon thereafter, Reeves' wife told her husband "that was no cause to shoot anyone."

Reeves responded by pointing his finger at her and saying, according to Hamilton, "You shut your f**king mouth and don't say another word."

On Friday, those in the Dade City courtroom got to hear from Reeves himself -- not because he took the stand, but because audio of his interview with police was played in court.

During that interview, Reeves told police he had "reason to believe (Oulson) was going to kick my ass" after Reeves confronted the 43-year-old Navy veteran over his texting during the previews to "Lone Survivor."

Reeves and his wife both told police that Oulson began using foul language, and Reeves left to talk to a theater manager. When he returned, Oulson stood up and turned to confront Reeves, he said.

"I see that he's very explosive, unnecessarily," Reeves told police. "It scared the crap out of me."

Oulson edged toward Reeves -- and "he's virtually on top of me" -- and Reeves told him either "no, no, no" or "whoa, whoa, whoa," he couldn't remember which, he told the police interrogator.

"He hit me with something. I assume it was his fist," Reeves told police. "I think he had a cell phone in his hand because I saw the blur of the screen. ... My face went sideways. My glasses came partially off."

In her own interview with police, Vivian Reeves backed much of her husband's story, spelling out the f-word for police as she described Oulson's language during the altercation.

Asked, though, whether she saw Chad Oulson strike Curtis Reeves, she replied no -- though she said it's what her husband told her after the shooting.

The same went for the various theater witnesses who testified earlier for the prosecution. None of whom said that they saw Reeves getting hit by anything beyond perhaps a bag or some kernels of popcorn before he opened fire.

Surveillance video captures theater shooting

Beyond hearing from various witnesses, the public -- thanks to the gathered media -- got their own glimpse of what happened inside that movie theater, thanks to surveillance video.

The jumpy, grainy footage shows Reeves return to his seat at 1:26:19 p.m., according to the video's time stamp. Six seconds later, Reeves appears to lean forward, but only for a second.

At 1:26:30 p.m., the video stops -- likely because the motion sensors weren't activated, according to previous testimony in Reeves' bail hearing this week -- but it starts recording again five seconds later.

That's when a hand extends in front of Reeves, from the seat where victim Chad Oulson was reportedly sitting, and appears to snatch something from Reeves -- the defense has repeatedly said Oulson threw popcorn -- and throws it into Reeves' face.

Reeves' right hand, the one Reeves told police he used to shoot Oulson, thrusts forward at 1:26:37 p.m. A strange dust falls in front of the surveillance video lens as theater patrons begin walking over to the area where Reeves remains seated.

It's the row behind where a mortally wounded Oulson -- after stumbling then collapsing on another moviegoer -- is taking his last breaths.

Couple describes encounter with Reeves

Officer Joshua Boren Shoots Entire Family then Kills Himself

More horrible news of a parent taking his or her life and the lives of their children. This time, it happened on Thursday in Spanish Fork, Utah. Reports say that 34-year-old police officer Joshua Boren shot his entire family dead, including his 55-year-old mother-in-law Marie King, his wife, Kelly, and his two children, 7-year-old Joshua (who was called Jaden) and 5-year-old Haley. He then reportedly took his own life. The family was found when officers became concerned after Boren didn't show for his night shift with the Lindon Police Department.

Authorities said that the couple appeared to be having marital difficulties, but despite that, they had all gone on a trip to Disneyland at Christmas.

Pictures show a family looking happy and healthy. The kids are smiling with painted faces; Kelly and her daughter dressed up like princesses at Disneyland. The husband wife are both athletic-looking and attractive. They had everything to live for. What could make someone feel that things are so incredibly hopeless that the entire family needs to be wiped out in such a horrifying manner?

It has been only two days since another family murder-suicide in Utah, that of Kyler Ramsdell-Oliva, whom police believe killed her 13-year-old and 6-year-old daughters before turning the gun on herself after her fiance moved out.

Kelly's Facebook page shows a beautiful young woman and her gorgeous, blonde children. "Kelly, how sadly ironic that you post a loving picture of your children the day you and them were taken from us. You will always be in my heart," a devastated friend posted on her wall. She also was a fan of working out and posting motivational quotes from Tony Robbins. In fact, it appears she had been struggling lately with making a major decision, and quoted Robbins:

Human beings have the awesome ability to take any experience of their lives and create a meaning that dis-empowers them or one that can literally save their lives.

Unfortunately, Kelly's life and that of her children were not saved.


Please call 1-800-273-8255 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in case you are worried about yourself or someone else.

Retired Captain Curtis Reeves Charged with Murder

An argument over texting inside a Wesley Chapel theater led to a fight and shooting that left a man dead and his wife wounded Monday afternoon.

The suspect is a retired Tampa Police captain, Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said.
Curtis Reeves, 71, now faces a second-degree murder charge.

"It's crazy. I never thought something like this would happen at our theater," said Leny Vega, a theater employee.

The shooting occurred at the Cobb Grove 16 Theater at at 6333 Wesley Grove Boulevard near State Road 54 and I-75 around 1:30 p.m.

The victims are identified as Chad and Nicole Oulson. Chad Oulson was texting before the movie started, Sheriff Nocco said. Sitting behind them were Reeves and his wife.

Nocco said Reeves asked Oulson to stop texting. When he didn't, Reeves went to the lobby to complain. When he returned to his seat, an argument ensued and then turned physical.

Reeves pulled a .380 pistol and shot Oulson, Nocco said. Witnesses told deputies Oulson had just texted his 3-year-old daughter. Oulson's wife had put her hand in front of her husband and was shot in the hand.

Reeves then sat down and put the gun on his lap. An off-duty Sumter County deputy happened to be in the theater and acted to secure the weapon.

Nocco said the movie, "Lone Survivor," had not yet started when the shooting occurred. It wasn't immediately clear how many people were inside the theater during the gunfire.

According to Tampa Police, Reeves retired from TPD as a captain in 1993 and was instrumental in establishing the department's first Tactical Response Team. In a release, a department spokesperson said there was no indication that Reeves had any contact with TPD since his retirement.

"Something happening like that in little Wesley Chapel is just, I never even thought it would happen," said theater employee Gabriel Mena.

Traffic in the immediate area was shut down. "It is absolutely crazy that it would rise to this level of altercation over somebody just texting in a movie theater," Nocco said.

In summer 2012, a man killed a dozen people and injured 70 at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. Twenty-six-year-old James Holmes is charged in the killings.

PHOTOS: Aurora shooting, trial of James Holmes

"When the first call came in and you're hearing a shooting at a movie theater, The first thing you think is those critical incidents that have gone on throughout the country. That's why we train for them," Nocco said.

Late Monday afternoon, Cobb Theatres issued the following statement:

“We are deeply saddened by the events that occurred earlier today, and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. The theatre is currently closed, and we are actively working with the sheriff’s office on this investigation. This was an isolated altercation between two guests that escalated unexpectedly. The safety, security and comfort of our guests and team members are always our top priorities, and we are truly heartbroken by this incident.”

Former Officer Timothy Burns Charged with Murder Dies

A former Durham police officer charged with murder in his wife's death died Friday at Rex Hospital.

Jail officials said Timothy W. Burns, died of a heart attack.

The Durham County Sheriff's Office said Burns was in custody at Central Prison when the decision was made to transport him to Rex Hospital in Raleigh.

He had been transferred from the Durham County Jail because his medical needs "were beyond [the jail's] capability to provide."

Burns was in police custody on a murder charge for stabbing his wife Maxine to death in November in their home.

Burns left the Durham Police Department in the 1990s

Officer Randall Kerrick Accused of Shooting Jonathan Ferrell

A North Carolina police officer accused of shooting and killing an unarmed man who had apparently been in an automobile wreck is scheduled to appear in court today to face a voluntary manslaughter charge.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Officer Randall Kerrick is charged in the case.

Twenty-four-year-old Jonathan Ferrell, a former Florida A&M University football player, was killed early Saturday.

Charlotte-Meckleburg police say he had sought help at a nearby house. A woman answered the door and called 911 when she didn't recognize the man.

Officers responding to the breaking and entering call found Ferrell nearby. Ferrell ran toward the officers, who tried to stop him with a Taser. Police said he continued to run toward them when officer Randall Kerrick fired his gun, hitting Ferrell several times.

Ferrell died at the scene.

Former Officer Kills Man at Sports Bar

A former Chisholm police officer is facing possible murder charges after a shooting at a sports bar on Saturday night.

Authorities say a 47-year-old patron was killed and another suffered life-threatening injuries when the suspect opened fire with one of two handguns inside Jim's Sports Club Bar and Grill just before 10 p.m.

Department of Public Safety spokesman Andy Skoogman said that the suspect had been kicked out of the bar minutes earlier after an altercation with a group of people sitting in the bar with his former wife.

Skoogman said the suspect, a former police officer in the '80s, returned minutes after being kicked out of the bar with two handguns.

"He fired off 5 shots, injuring two people and fatally shooting a third person," Skoogman said. "All three were sitting at the same table as his ex-wife and all three were shot at close range.

"We believe this was a domestic dispute that took place in a public place. It escalated to an extremely violent situation and the true tragedy here is that the victims are all individuals who tried to keep the peace."

A third patron was also wounded in the shooting, and authorities say as many as 100 people may have been in the bar at the time.

Police say a bystander knocked out the suspect with a chair to end the shooting.

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More Information

Former Officer Pleads Guilty in Katrina Killing

A former police lieutenant pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiring to obstruct justice after federal officials say he helped cover for officers who killed two people on a bridge in the chaos following Hurricane Katrina.

Federal investigators say former lieutenant Michael Lohman knew two people shot to death as they crossed the Danziger Bridge had no weapons, but he and others filed false reports to make the shootings seem justified. Four other people were wounded.

Family members of the victims gathered at the downtown federal courthouse as Lohman arrived to enter his plea.

“We are very, very happy about the progress that the FBI and the US Justice Department have made,’’ said Dr. Romell Madison, brother of Ronald Madison, who was killed on the bridge.

“It’s a tremendous relief for us to see some sort of closure. The people of New Orleans should be relieved that there is still justice for everybody here.’’

Seven officers were charged with murder or attempted murder in the Sept. 4, 2005, shootings, just days after Katrina smashed levees and flooded 80 percent of the city.

But a state judge dismissed the charges in 2008.

Until Lohman’s plea yesterday, no one had been convicted in the deaths of Madison, 40, a mentally disabled man, and James Brissette, 19.

Four others were wounded.

Brian Macias Shot by His Father

The Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Friday identified the 17-year-old boy who was shot to death by his father in an unincorporated county area near Monrovia.

Brian Macias died Thursday night after his father fired on him during an argument inside a home in the 100 block of East Andre Street, Coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter said.

The shooting occurred around 6 p.m., sheriff's Deputy Aura Sierra said.

The boy's father is a reserve LAPD officer. He was not arrested, and authorities have not identified him.

 Los Angeles County Sheriff's homicide detectives are investigating the homicide.

They have said it appears to be self defense.

A group of young men who identified themselves as Macias' friends said Friday the teen was a senior at Monrovia High School.

They said said Macias aspired to go to college and become a police officer. They doubted that an argument between the teen and his father needed to end in death.

"He was always respectful to his father because his father was a cop and he wanted to be a cop," said Paul Gilbert, 17."He was just a nice kid, he didn't mean any harm to anybody."

Read more: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_14476695#ixzz0gzQk5cWn

Former Officer Robert Brooks Could Get New Murder Trial

A former Calverton Park Police Officer sentenced to life in prison for killing his fiancé, a Normandy Police Officer, could get a new trial. This comes after the Missouri Supreme Court threw out the conviction Tuesday, sending the case back to Jefferson County for a new trial.

Normandy Police Chief Frank Mininni calls Amanda Cates a great police officer and says he still struggles with her death.

Now, Chief Mininni and others are struggling with the Missouri high courts 14 page decision.

"I was shocked. I was in shock, said Mininni reacting to the decision."

The move throws out the conviction of former Calverton Park Police Officer Robert Brooks.

"I don't think you'd be human if it didn't make you angry," explained Mininni.

In August of 2007, Brooks was convicted of shooting and killing his 26 year old fiancé, Normandy Police Officer Amanda Cates.

The incident happened a year earlier at the Crystal City home that Cates and Brooks shared. Cates was a school resource officer at Normandy Middle School. Mininni, who sat through the first trial, says coping with Amanda's death has been tough.

The prospect of another trial is daunting.

Mininni told us, "I think the most difficult part of this is that were going to have to sit in a courtroom with Amanda's family again. Were going to have to re-live everything that happened night."

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors violated Brooks' constitutional rights by using his right to remain silent against him. The court ruled that during the trial prosecutors pointed out that Brooks would not tell them what happened the night of the killing after he was read his Miranda Rights.

The court said those statements by prosecutors implied that Brooks was guilty because he didn't talk.

Joe Yeckel and Michael Gross represented brooks at the Missouri Supreme Court.

"I felt that Mr. Brooks didn't get a fair trial the first go around and the Supreme Court is giving him another opportunity to have a fair trial," said Yeckel.

Memories of Amanda are at the Normandy Police Department and at a nearby park. Mininni says he's still waiting for justice for Amanda.

He told us, "We're confident that the outcome of this new trial will be the exact same as the last trial."

The Normandy Police Department and Cates family have started a scholarship in Amanda's memory.

A spokesperson with the Missouri Attorney Generals Office tells us they haven't decided yet whether to ask for another hearing on the case before the Supreme Court.

Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Forrest Wegge says he will re-try the case if it comes back to his office.

Former Officer Michael Lohman Preparing to Enter Guilty Plea

A former New Orleans police official is preparing to enter a guilty plea in connection with a federal probe of a deadly police shooting in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, two people familiar with the case said Tuesday.

Former police Lt. Michael Lohman is expected to enter the plea Wednesday in U.S. District Court, and he is cooperating with prosecutors, said the two people. They requested anonymity because the charge would not be announced before his court appearance.

It's unclear what charge he faces because the case hasn't been unsealed. Lohman wasn't one of the seven police officers charged in the shooting on the Danziger bridge several days after Katrina's landfall in August 2005. He helped oversee a department probe of the men's actions.

A lawyer for one of the original defendants said federal investigators have been looking into what they described as a "corrupt investigation" of the fatal shootings of Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old mentally disabled man, and James Brissette, 19.

The Justice Department's civil rights division opened its investigation after a judge threw out state murder and attempted murder charges against the seven in 2008. So far, lawyers for two other officers have identified their clients as targets of the current probe.

Sgt. Robert Gisevius, who was charged in state court with first-degree murder and attempted murder, received a letter informing federal authorities were targeting him. His attorney, Eric Hessler, said the letter accused him of using excessive force and participating in a "corrupt investigation" of the shooting. Hessler defended his client's actions.

"By all accounts, he was involved in a situation where a reasonable person would be in fear for his life," he said.

Steve London, a lawyer for New Orleans police Sgt. Arthur Kaufman, said his client also received a letter informing him he is a target of a federal investigation. The letter doesn't specify why, but Kaufman worked on the department's investigation of the bridge shooting. Kaufman wasn't one of the seven who faced state charges.

London said his client denies any wrongdoing.

"My client is a 30-year police veteran with not one complaint, has received many awards and is considered an exemplary officer," he said.

Lohman, who retired earlier this month, helped supervise the department's investigation of the fatal shootings, said Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Donovan Livaccari.

Lohman's attorney, Dylan Utley, and U.S. Attorney Jim Letten wouldn't comment Tuesday.

Police superintendent Warren Riley said, "We hope that justice is served," declining to elaborate.

The case is among several involving New Orleans police in Katrina's aftermath that are being probed by the federal government. The others include the fatal shooting of Danny Brumfield Sr. outside the New Orleans convention center; the death of Henry Glover, whom witnesses claim died in police custody; and the fatal police shooting of a Connecticut man, Matthew McDonald.

Survivors of the Sept. 4, 2005, shootings on the Danziger bridge have said the officers fired at unarmed people who were crossing to get food at a grocery store. Madison and Brissette were shot and killed by police; four other people were wounded.

The officers acknowledged shooting at people on the bridge, but said they did so only after taking fire.

Katrina struck on Aug. 29, 2005. In its aftermath, levees broke, flooding 80 percent of New Orleans. Chaos gripped the city, and looting was reported in some areas. Rescuers sometimes said they thought gunfire was directed at them.

Survivors of the bridge shooting said in civil suits that they were ambushed by the officers who jumped out of the back of a rental truck.

Daniel G. Abel, a lawyer for the Brissette family, said they are grateful for investigators' work on the case.

"This first conviction bolsters their hope that the individuals responsible for these and related crimes will be brought to justice," Abel said.

Gisevius, Sgt. Kenneth Bowen, Officer Anthony Villavaso II and former Officer Robert Faulcon Jr. each faced first-degree murder and attempted murder charges in the case. State district Judge Raymond Bigelow also threw out attempted first-degree murder charges against Officer Mike Hunter Jr. and Officer Robert Barrios and attempted second-degree murder charges against Officer Ignatius Hills.

Faulcon resigned from the police force; the other officers were assigned to desk duty after their indictment.

Former Officer Tommy Swint Kills Self

Montgomery County Tree trimmers were working in Jefferson Township when a worker noticed something strange in a trash heap.

Amid the broken furniture and other junk, he saw "a blanket that was formed as a body," he later told Montgomery County sheriff's detectives.

It was Dec. 17, 1991. What he saw was actually a quilt, which had been taped around a woman's body. The woman was nude from the waist down. Under the quilt were two plastic trash bags, one over her legs and one over her head and torso. Those bags were taped together.

The woman had no identification, but wore several pieces of jewelry. Her panties, pants, jacket and shoes were inside the bag over her legs.

Coroner's investigators identified Tina Marie Ivery through her fingerprints. Ivery, 33, a known drug user and prostitute, was strangled. A family member last reported seeing her three days earlier.

There were no suspects. For 16 years, there were no good leads. Then Tommy Swint entered the case.

A review of the Ivery case file reveals that Swint was not the only suspect authorities looked at, but he became the best one. He committed suicide Feb. 3, the same day he was indicted in Ivery's murder.

Swint always wanted to be a police officer. Sworn in as a Trotwood officer on July 16, 2007, he resigned six weeks later after Richmond, Ind., police informed Trotwood officials that Swint was a suspect in the disappearance of Marilyn "Niqui" McCown.

The two had worked together at the Dayton's Montgomery Education and Pre-Release Center, a state prison. McCown was last seen at a Richmond Laundromat in July 2001. Her SUV was found four months later at a Harrison Township apartment complex.

The Dayton Daily News reported Swint's resignation in October 2007. A month later, a confidential informant told Dayton police they should look at Swint as a suspect in Ivery's death.

Detectives soon learned that Swint was born in 1966 and raised in Alabama. He joined the Marine Corps in 1986 and was stationed in Japan and Panama. Swint would later admit to having sex with prostitutes in both countries.

In December 1989, he went absent without leave and fled to Dayton, where he had relatives. Swint was arrested and returned to Camp Lejeune, N.C., in June 1990.

In a letter requesting a discharge after his return, Swint wrote that his father never told him that he loved him, that he had experienced significant racism growing up in the South, and that he was the only of his siblings to graduate high school.

"I became a very big celebrity in high school because I was very good in sports," Swint wrote. "My high school loved me and so did my whole town and city."

He also wrote that while he was thankful for the discipline the corps gave him, "I really wanted to be a military police but ended up as a grunt."

The Marines discharged Swint "under other than honorable conditions," according to records. Swint moved back to Dayton.

For the rest of his life, Swint would pursue jobs in security and law enforcement. He applied to the sheriff's office in 2007, but was turned down. He told interviewers he had tried to join the Ohio State Highway Patrol in 1995.

He also told Trotwood interviewers he had applied with Beavercreek, Wright State University, Butler Township and Sinclair Community College police departments. He also admitted to Trotwood that he had pleaded guilty to passing bad checks in 1992.

Several former co-workers of Swint wrote glowing recommendation letters for him. But Trotwood also knew about a 2006 incident in which he received a written reprimand for threatening a female captain at the pre-release center.

"If I have anything to say to you, I will say it in the parking lot," Swint reportedly said. "You don't know who you are missing with. I'm Officer Swint."

But there's no record of Swint telling Trotwood about his AWOL incident or Niqui McCown.

Dayton cold case detectives investigating Swint interviewed his friends and relatives. They shared stories about prostitutes and Swint's visit to a gay club, even though Swint said he hated prostitutes and gays.

Interviewed by police in May 2008, a former girlfriend said Swint had dated Ivery. She also said the blanket Ivery was wrapped in looked familiar to one Swint carried in his car.

Her nephew, who lived with her when Swint was there, told police in April 2009 he remembered seeing a blood trail from the basement window through the grass to the trunk of Swint's car.

The nephew also mentioned a blanket missing from his bed in the basement. Shown a picture of the quilt Ivery was wrapped in, the nephew said it was very similar to the missing blanket.

The Miami Valley Regional Crime Laboratory had been analyzing DNA evidence long before Swint came to investigators' attention. Records show the lab was running tests by November 2005.

There were four semen stains on the back of Ivery's jacket, and one on the front, but they came from different men. There was also a blood stain on the quilt.

The lab did not have a DNA sample for Swint. But Richmond police had an oral swab from him. In April 2008, they agreed to share the sample with the lab.

In May, the lab matched Swint's DNA to the semen on back of the jacket. Swint also could not be excluded as the source of the blood stain on the quilt. On October 21, 2008, detectives visited Swint at the Harrison Township home he shared with his wife. They showed him a picture of Ivery and the blanket. He denied knowing her or ever seeing the blanket.

Then a lab worker found a partial fingerprint onthe adhesive side of the tape that had been wrapped around Ivery's body. The original investigators missed that in 1992.

By this time, Swint had moved to Alabama. Dayton detectives, working with local law enforcement, got a search warrant to obtain Swint's fingerprints.

After Swint gave his fingerprints, he was again shown a picture of Ivery. Again he denied knowing her, but said he thought she was pretty. The officers asked him if he had killed her and he said no.

Then the officers told him his DNA matched evidence at the scene.

"I have nothing to say about that," Swint said.

After some more discussion about the DNA, Swint ended the interview.

"With all due respect, we need to bring this interview to close," Swint said. "I am sure I will see you again. My attorney would not want me to get into this."

On Nov. 25, the crime lab matched the latent print to Swint's left middle finger. By mid-December, a three-prosecutor panel was reviewing the evidence.

On Feb. 1 and 2, prosecutors presented evidence to the grand jury, which indicted Swint just before noon on Feb. 3. An hour later, Swint shot himself in the head as officers approached his Phenix City, Ala., house.

Tommy Swint took the answers to investigators' questions with him.

Records show the detectives were looking at Swint in other cases. Swint's DNA was tested, but did not match, evidence taken from another prostitute homicide, according to an e-mail Montgomery County Assistant Prosecutor Tracey Tangeman sent to other prosecutors.

They should keep looking, said Art Jipson, a sociologist and director of criminal justice studies at the University of Dayton. Jipson recommended doing "geographical profiling," looking at all unsolved homicides in the areas where Swint lived and worked.

It is common for serial killers to be drawn to careers in law enforcement or the military because they like the idea of using force and having authority over others. However, Jipson said, it's equally common for them to fail in those professions, either because they can't get through the screening processes or because they do not submit well to authority themselves.

"Everything you're telling me raises the hackles on the back of my neck," Jipson said. "This guy really fits the profile."

___

Information from: Dayton Daily News, http://www.daytondailynews.com

Former Officer Denis Yevsyukov Sentenced to Life for Shooting

A former police major who went on a shooting rampage last year at a Moscow supermarket, killing two people and wounding others, was sentenced to life in prison on Friday, a spokesman for the Moscow City Court said.

Denis Yevsyukov, the former major, confessed to killing one of the victims, but said he could not remember much of the episode. The shooting provoked widespread anger in Russia, where video of Mr. Yevsyukov stalking the supermarket aisles, firing at fleeing customers, has been played repeatedly on television.

His lawyers said they would appeal the sentence.

Officer Jeffrey Grahn Kills Wife, Shoots 2 Others, Then Kills Self

The Clackamas County sheriff's sergeant who shot and killed himself and his wife Friday night had filed for divorce last August, but neighbors said the couple were still living together and appeared to be on good terms.

Jeffrey A. Grahn killed his wife, shot and killed another woman, then wounded a third woman before shooting himself at a crowded Gresham restaurant Friday night, police said.

Grahn of Boring killed his wife, Charlotte Grahn, 47, and her friend Kathleen Hoffmeister, 53, of Gresham. The two women were socializing at the M&M Restaurant and Lounge with their friend Victoria Schulmerich, 53, of Gresham, whom Grahn also shot. Schulmerich was in critical condition Saturday night at OHSU Hospital.

Grahn, 46, opened fire about 9:30 p.m., police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene, as was Hoffmeister. Charlotte Grahn was taken to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, where she died Saturday afternoon.

The Grahns had four children, ages 13 to 23.

Police released few details about the shooting Saturday, saying only that it involved a domestic dispute between the Grahns. Officers from the Gresham Police Department, the agency investigating the incident, gave no motive for the shootings and did not say whether Grahn used his service weapon. They also didn't say how many shots Grahn fired.

Grahn, a 15-year veteran of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, joined the department in February 1995 and was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 2003. He served as the head of security of Clackamas County Courthouse but had been reassigned as a swing shift supervisor away from the courthouse a year ago, according to Jim Strovink, a spokesman for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office. He had no criminal record.

In 2007, Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts issued a commendation to Grahn and to another deputy for their work while the courthouse was being renovated. Both deputies suggested security upgrades to go with the remodel.

"Sgt. Grahn also supervises transportation to and from the courthouse, and he's worked miracles with a limited staff," Roberts said in a news release at the time. "He has enhanced communication between the sheriff's office and judicial and legal staffers. He expanded the use of plans, mission sheets and briefings to improve security. Once the courthouse was completed, it wasn't just an upgrade of a building -- it was an upgrade of an entire system."

The shooting was the second in downtown Gresham in the past two weeks.

Police and Gresham Mayor Shane Bemis held a news conference Saturday to assure the public that the city is still safe.

A replica of a chef stands at the door of the closed M&M Restaurant and Lounge on Saturday morning. The M&M was the scene of a shooting Friday night.Two men who had been smoking outside the restaurant Friday night said they heard a shot and saw a blonde woman drop to the pavement. Then a man ran back into the lounge and they heard two more shots. The men said they often visit the M&M, at 137 N. Main Ave., and described it as a low-key club. A jazz band was playing there Friday night.

Business owner Cissy Heitzman, who wasn't present when the shooting occurred, said the restaurant has been at that location for about 25 years. The area, just north of Powell Boulevard, has a variety of small businesses, including several eateries, a toy store, a furniture outlet and a skate/snowboard shop.

On Saturday afternoon, neighbors of the Grahns quietly discussed the tragedy.

Dean Phelps and Steve Bates, who live on either side of the Grahns, said the couple often had neighborhood barbecues.

"They weren't people who stayed to themselves," Phelps said. "They were good people. And they did a lot of things together as a family."

Phelps said he knew the Grahns had filed for divorce and that they had seen a marriage counselor. He said he didn't talk to the couple about that aspect of their life.

Just a week ago, he said, Grahn, his wife and their youngest son came over to Phelps' home after Colts quarterback Peyton Manning threw a pivotal fourth-quarter interception in the Super Bowl. "They both knew I was a big Colts fan," he said, and they brought over a box of tissues to console him after the Colts' loss.

Grahn was the type of person who would stop whatever he was doing to help a neighbor, Phelps said. One time, Grahn helped Phelps with a plumbing problem at his house.

Phelps said Grahn was once in the building industry and that he'd built the three-vehicle shop next to his four-bedroom, three-bath house at Southeast Sylvian Way near the center of Boring. The house is at the end of a cul-de-sac.

Charlotte Grahn often stopped by the Phelps home.

"We'd have a knock on the back door," he said, "and it'd be Charlotte seeing what we were up to."

The couple had planned a trip together to Las Vegas for their daughter's 21st birthday, Phelps said, which they'd done for their eldest son when he turned 21.

Phelps said he viewed the trip as an indication the couple would reconcile.

"We hoped they'd get through this," he said.