Tag: Crime

Posted on

Marines charged with rape of 12 year-old girl

http://www.starbulletin.com/news/20090724_marines_charged_in_rape_of_girl_12.html?page=1&c=y

Marines charged in rape of girl, 12

By Star-Bulletin staff and the Lawton (Okla.) Constitution

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jul 24, 2009

A Kaneohe Marine and two other Marines on the mainland have been charged in Oklahoma with first-degree rape of a 12-year-old girl.

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Pfc. Jordan P. Kinshella, 18, who was charged Tuesday for the alleged rape of the girl on April 1, according to court records.

Kinshella has been assigned to 1st Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, at Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay since May 24. He has been a Marine since Sept. 15 and has not deployed, according to the Marine Corps.

Kaneohe Marine spokesman Maj. Alan Crouch said yesterday that the investigation is ongoing, and no further details were available.

Media inquiries in Hawaii were being forwarded to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service in Washington, D.C.

Kinshella is among several Marines accused of having sex with the sixth-grade girl as part of what investigators call a bizarre and disturbing sex scandal, according to a Lawton (Okla.) Constitution report. The Marines were attending the U.S. Marine Battery at Fort Sill, Okla., which serves as a temporary school for Marines who take classes and undergo training.

Authorities allege 33-year-old Amy Rivera had befriended the girl and taken her to parties with the Marines at a hotel, the Constitution reported. The newspaper said Rivera was charged June 29 with procuring a child for lewdness or other indecent acts. Her bail was set at $7,500.

The girl’s parents, age 39 and 36, were charged last week with enabling child neglect, a felony punishable by up to life in prison, for allowing their daughter to stay with Rivera.

Comanche County District Attorney Fred Smith told the Army Times early this month that Rivera, of Fletcher, Okla., befriended the Marines after her husband deployed to Iraq, partying with them regularly. She began bringing the girl to the parties in March, with several Marines having sex with her until recently, Smith told the Army Times.

Lance Cpl. Logan Combs, 19, was arrested and charged on July 1 with first-degree rape that allegedly occurred on March 31. He is being held at the Comanche County Detention Center in Oklahoma in lieu of $30,000 bond.

On July 14, investigators also charged 19-year-old Pfc. Curtis G. Dorton with first-degree rape, which allegedly occurred on May 8. A warrant was issued for his arrest. Dorton is stationed at Twentynine Palms, Calif.

According to court records, police sought out the Marines after the 12-year-old told investigators she had sex with them and mentioned them by name, the Constitution reported.

The newspaper added that authorities believe several more Marines sexually assaulted the girl over several months, and they are working on tracking them down since they are no longer at Fort Sill.

Lawton Constitution reporter Malinda Rust and Star-Bulletin reporter Gary T. Kubota contributed to this article.

Posted on

Ex-Soldier sentenced to two life terms for murder

Updated at 2:50 p.m., Wednesday, July 1, 2009

‘I wasn’t the guy,’ Griffin says before being sentenced to two life terms

By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer

Undone by DNA evidence but still protesting his innocence, convicted double murderer Darnell Griffin was sentenced this morning to consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Advertisement

“I wasn’t the guy,” Griffin told relatives of Evelyn Luka, the woman he killed in 1999 while on parole for an earlier homicide. “I wasn’t there that night.”

Griffin was convicted in April of murdering Luka largely on the basis of DNA evidence collected from the victim in 1999 that was matched in 2007 to a DNA sample obtained from him by his parole officer.

Griffin, 50, was convicted in 1982 of murdering another young woman, Lynn Gheradi, in 1980 and was paroled from state prison in March 1996.

Griffin did not testify during the Luka murder trial, but this morning repeated his defense attorney’s argument that he had sex with Luka two nights before she was attacked but was at home with his wife the night of the assault.

Luka, 20, was found barely alive the morning of September 6, 1999, lying by the side of H-2 Freeway. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled and died the following month.

Luka’s brother, Air Force Maj. James Morimoto, was in court today and called Griffin “a waste of space.”

Morimoto told Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario he “fully endorsed” a sentence of life without parole but only because the death penalty is not available in Hawaii.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Takata called Griffin “a man compelled to satisfy his lust at any cost” and said he must never be released from prison.

“I’ve never seen a case like this,” Takata said.

His colleague in prosecuting Griffin, Leilani Tan, said she was “disgusted with what Mr. Griffin had to say” in court.

“The jury has spoken. Justice was finally served. It was delayed but it was not denied,” said Tan.

Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Source: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090701/BREAKING01/90701063/+I+wasn+t+the+guy+++Griffin+says+before+being+sentenced+to+two+life+terms

Posted on

Hawai’i based soldier charged in death of fellow soldier

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Schofield soldier charged in death of comrade negotiating plea

Associated Press

BAGHDAD – A Schofield Barracks soldier charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a comrade in Iraq has entered plea negotiations instead of facing a hearing, the military said today.

Sgt. Miguel A. Vegaquinones, 33, of Havelock, N.C., also has been charged with lying to investigators in the death of Pfc. Sean P. McCune.

Vegaquinones had been due to face an Article 32 hearing – the military equivalent of a grand jury – but has entered plea negotiations instead, the U.S. military said in an e-mail.

McCune, 20, of Euless, Texas, died after Vegaquinones allegedly discharged a round of ammunition while cleaning his weapon, the military said. The death occurred after the two men had finished a guard duty shift on Jan. 11 in Samarra.

Vegaquinones and McCune were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, which is based at Schofield Barracks.

Involuntary manslaughter carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence, while making a false official statement can bring a sentence of up to five years, according to the military.

Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, is a former Sunni insurgent stronghold. It has seen a drastic drop in violence after local tribal leaders joined forces with the Americans against al-Qaida in Iraq.

It also was the site of a 2006 bombing that destroyed a golden-domed Shiite mosque, triggering months of retaliatory sectarian violence nationwide.

Source: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090618/BREAKING/90618018/Schofield+soldier+charged+in+death+of+comrade+negotiating+plea

Posted on

Wife sues Iraq vet accused of murdering son, stabbing wife and killing unborn child

Updated at 12:14 p.m., Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Big Isle man accused of killing son, unborn child sued by ex-wife

By Peter Sur
Hawaii Tribune-Herald

HILO – A Big Island man who has been charged with murdering his 14-year-old son and unborn child in a knife attack is being sued by his estranged wife.

Cheryl-Lyn Vesperas filed lawsuits last week against Tyrone Vesperas in Third Circuit Court on behalf of herself and her late son, Tyran Vesperas-Saniatan.

Tyran, 14, died on Kamehameha Day, 2007. The boy’s death stemmed from a physical confrontation between his parents, Cheryl and Tyrone, in the Ainaloa home the couple once shared.

Police have said that Tyrone Vesperas stabbed his estranged wife repeatedly in the abdomen with a military-issue combat knife, and Tyran was stabbed in the neck when he tried to intervene.

READ MORE

Posted on

Military mom sent to hospital for trying to kill daughter

Mother ordered to hospital

A woman is found not guilty by reason of insanity of trying to kill her daughter

By Star-Bulletin Staff and News Services

Jun 06, 2009

Elly Rivera was found not guilty of attempted murder by reason of insanity yesterday of choking her 4-year-old daughter into unconsciousness last year.

Elly Rivera has been committed to the State Hospital after choking her 3-year-old daughter into unconsciousness.

Rivera had said voices told her they were going to burn her family, and she needed to kill her children painlessly to preserve their souls.

“I’m just glad, seriously, that it was the mental illness, because I can’t imagine a biological mother doing this knowingly. That would be so spooky,” said Jeen Kwak, deputy city prosecutor.

Rivera told a court-appointed psychiatrist she choked her daughter Hailey because of the threats from voices.

She has a history of treatment for mental illness here and on the mainland. She said she stopped taking her medication because of their side effects, including weight gain, and because she had “faith that God alone would save me.”

After finding her not guilty of attempted murder, Circuit Judge Patrick Border ordered Rivera, 27, to remain in the Hawaii State Hospital for further treatment but allowed visits with her daughter under the supervision of her husband and hospital staff.

“The defendant’s treatment team at the State Hospital recommended it. I expect they know her condition and what would help her. More importantly, they thought it would help Hailey as well,” Kwak said.

Border ordered Rivera to the State Hospital last summer after a panel of mental health experts found her not mentally fit to stand trial.

When a city ambulance crew went to the Riveras’ military quarters at Hickam Air Force Base on Feb. 24, 2008, paramedics found her daughter breathing quickly in short breaths with occasional convulsions. Her face was red, and her lips were dry and pale. She went to Kaiser Medical center in critical condition.

Rivera’s husband called for the ambulance after the son told him Rivera tried to choke his sister.

Kwak said Hailey is doing well, and doctors report no sign so far of any long-term effect from what happened to her.

After Border rendered his verdict, Rivera asked him to grant her supervised visits away from the State Hospital.

He said he first wants a panel of mental health experts to examine Rivera and make its recommendation. The experts are to report back by the end of August.

Elly Rivera was found not guilty of attempted murder by reason of insanity yesterday of choking her 4-year-old daughter into unconsciousness last year.

[Preview] Mother Acquitted Because of Mental Illness
[Preview]

Elly Rivera has been committed to the State Hospital after choking her 3-year-old daughter into unconsciousness.

[ Watch ]
In partnership with KITV.com

Rivera had said voices told her they were going to burn her family, and she needed to kill her children painlessly to preserve their souls.

“I’m just glad, seriously, that it was the mental illness, because I can’t imagine a biological mother doing this knowingly. That would be so spooky,” said Jeen Kwak, deputy city prosecutor.

Rivera told a court-appointed psychiatrist she choked her daughter Hailey because of the threats from voices.

She has a history of treatment for mental illness here and on the mainland. She said she stopped taking her medication because of their side effects, including weight gain, and because she had “faith that God alone would save me.”

After finding her not guilty of attempted murder, Circuit Judge Patrick Border ordered Rivera, 27, to remain in the Hawaii State Hospital for further treatment but allowed visits with her daughter under the supervision of her husband and hospital staff.

“The defendant’s treatment team at the State Hospital recommended it. I expect they know her condition and what would help her. More importantly, they thought it would help Hailey as well,” Kwak said.

Border ordered Rivera to the State Hospital last summer after a panel of mental health experts found her not mentally fit to stand trial.

When a city ambulance crew went to the Riveras’ military quarters at Hickam Air Force Base on Feb. 24, 2008, paramedics found her daughter breathing quickly in short breaths with occasional convulsions. Her face was red, and her lips were dry and pale. She went to Kaiser Medical center in critical condition.

Rivera’s husband called for the ambulance after the son told him Rivera tried to choke his sister.

Kwak said Hailey is doing well, and doctors report no sign so far of any long-term effect from what happened to her.

After Border rendered his verdict, Rivera asked him to grant her supervised visits away from the State Hospital.

He said he first wants a panel of mental health experts to examine Rivera and make its recommendation. The experts are to report back by the end of August.

Source: http://www.starbulletin.com/news/hawaiinews/20090606_Mother_ordered_to_hospital.html

Posted on

Two Hawai’i-based USS Greeneville sailors held for brutal beating

Updated at 1:15 p.m., Friday, June 5, 2009

Hawaii sailor still held on high bail in N.H. attack

Associated Press

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – Two nuclear submarine sailors, including one assigned to help crewmates stay out of trouble, continue to be held on high bail, accused of brutally beating a man and leaving him near death on a Portsmouth, N.H., street.

One of the accused crew members of the USS Greeneville was on duty and driving a Navy “safe-ride” van, a shuttle service that picks up sailors, including those who might have had too much to drink while off duty.

In court Thursday, Seamen Gerald Smith of Hawaii and Sandy Portobanco of Inglewood, Ca., did not contest that police had probable cause to arrest them in last month’s beating of Stephen Huntress, a former town councilor in bordering Kittery, Maine.

Huntress still is hospitalized.

The sailors are being held on $200,000 bail.

Source: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090605/BREAKING01/90605043/Hawaii+sailor+still+held+on+high+bail+in+N.H.+attack

Posted on

Marine recruiter charged with pimping 14 year old girl

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090603/ap_on_re_us/us_recruiter_sex_charges

Marine recruiter charged with pimping girl, 14

AP

Tue Jun 2, 11:04 pm ET

HEMET, Calif. – Police have arrested a U.S. Marine Corps recruiter on charges of felony pimping and kidnapping and are looking into whether he used sex with a 14-year-old girl to entice potential recruits.

Staff Sgt. Bryan Damone Cunningham, 33, of San Pedro pleaded not guilty to seven felonies last Thursday after police in Orange discovered the teenage girl in a car with Cunningham and two other men. The two men, ages 18 and 19, were potential Marine recruits, police said.

The girl, who has since been returned to her parents in Hemet, told police that she met Cunningham online and had sex with all three men. She also told police Cunningham wanted her to work as a prostitute and had tried to take her to Los Angeles County against her will.

Police said they are trying to determine if Cunningham may have been using the girl to entice Marine recruits.

“It’s not proven … but when you look at it, this is a grown man, a Marine staff sergeant,” said Hemet police Lt. Joe Nevarez. “Why would he be taking them out to have sex with a 14-year-old girl?”

Cunningham’s attorney, Dane Levy, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.

The two potential Marine recruits face felony charges on having sex with a minor.

Cunningham is being held on $1 million bail and has a court hearing June 18, said John Hall, a spokesman for the Riverside County district attorney’s office.

Hemet is east-southeast of Los Angeles.

Posted on

Pearl Harbor sailors arrested for beating in New Hampshire

2 in crew of Pearl sub held in N.H.

By Star-Bulletin Staff and News Services

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, May 24, 2009

Authorities in New Hampshire arrested and charged two crew members of a Pearl Harbor-based nuclear submarine with beating a man unconscious and threatening a witness on a Portsmouth, N.H., street.

The victim, a 48-year-old man, was found badly beaten shortly before midnight. He remained in critical condition yesterday at Portsmouth Regional Hospital with a broken skull.

Gerald Smith, 22, and Sandy Portobanco, 23, assigned to the USS Greenville, were charged with first-degree assault and witness tampering. They were being held at the Rockingham County Jail on $200,000 bail.

The USS Greenville is at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for extended maintenance, a Navy spokesman said.

Portsmouth police said Smith was driving a government van when he took offense to a comment the victim made. Smith and Portobanco confronted the victim and beat him, police said. They also allegedly threatened a witness before fleeing the scene.

Source: http://www.starbulletin.com/news/20090524_2_in_crew_of_Pearl_sub_held_in_NH.html

Posted on

Another US Marine accused of raping Filipina Victim shows clear sign of sexual assault-lawyer

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20090514-204984/Another-US-Marine-accused-of-raping-Filipina

Another US Marine accused of raping Filipina

Victim shows clear sign of sexual assault-lawyer
By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, Nikko Dizon
Reporter

INQUIRER.net Philippine Daily Inquirer

Posted date: May 14, 2009

MANILA, Philippines-(UPDATE 5) Another United States Marine has been accused of raping another Filipino woman, this time a 22-year-old-university student, whose lawyer described her as having showed “clear signs” having been sexually assaulted.

The woman, identified to the media only as “Vanessa” to protect her real identity, broke down as she read a prepared statement narrating her ordeal with the American soldier.

She said the alleged rape happened last April 19 inside a hotel in Makati City.

Lawyer Evalyn Ursua said there were “clear signs” Vanessa was raped.

“It was very clear she was raped. It was very violent. She had marks on her neck after the incident,” Ursua said.

However, the lawyer said that while Vanessa did not intend to pursue the case for now, they were prepared with documents to support a possible case such as medico-legal report.

“She just wants to bring out her pain and hurt. In a way, it’s a form of justice,” said Ursua.

The victim said she first met the soldier, alias John Jones, on April 10 when he approached her in a club at The Fort in Taguig, where she was going out with several friends.

“Jones” introduced himself as a US Marine and got her cellular phone number.

That night, upon Jones’s invitation, Vanessa together with her friends went to his hotel and had conversations with him. They went home the next day.

On April 18, she said she got a text message from Jones inviting her to go out. That same night, Vanessa was invited by a cousin and a male friend to go out. But after finding out that the place they entered was a “girly bar,” she asked her cousin and her friend to transfer to a wholesome bar.

They got to the bar at 3:15 a.m. of April 19. Few minutes after, she received a text message from Jones asking her whereabouts. Jones followed her there at about 3:30 a.m. accompanied by three women.

Jones asked her to go to the five-star hotel where he and his friends were billeted. He also told her that his girlfriend and other friends were in his room.

When they got to the hotel room, Vanessa found out there was no one else there. Jones told her that his friends were coming in five minutes.

They sat for a few minutes and chatted. After a while, Vanessa told Jones that she wanted to go home because Jones’s girlfriend might not like it seeing another woman in his room.

Jones suddenly stood up and slapped her, shouting at her, “Why do you do that?”

Vanessa told Jones anew that she wanted to leave and went towards the door but Jones lifted her and hurled her unto the bed. Jones repeatedly slapped her using his left hand while his other hand was pressing on her neck.

Vanessa resisted and pushed Jones, while cursing him. But Jones was already on top of her, kissing her lips, and breasts.

“Nagawa ni Jones na ipasok ang kanyang ari sa akin. Patuloy ko syang pinapalo pero sinasangga niya ito. Maya-maya, napagod na si Jones, tumayo at kinuha ang kanyang cellphone. Dali dali akong tumayo [Jones was able to have sexual intercourse with me. I continued hitting him but he was parrying my blows. After a while, Jones got tired, stood up, and took his cellphone. I immediately stood up],” according to the fact sheet she read during the press conference.

She broke down after reading this.

Vanessa said she then immediately collected her clothes and got dressed inside the bathroom. Jones tried to prevent her again from leaving the room, but Vanessa insisted.

When she got out of the room and was near the elevator, Jones followed her and she overheard him talking on the phone and asking for security personnel “to attend to a lost girl.”

Vanessa immediately sought help from hotel personnel when she got to the lobby. A female personnel, who introduced herself as head of the security, assisted her. She told the personnel that she was raped.

Vanessa called up her sister and narrated the incident. Soon after, they came to pick her up and went straight to the police station to report the incident.

At about 10 a.m. of April 19, she went to a hospital for a medico-legal examination. The next day, she went to Gabriela to seek their help.

The militant group said in statement that they were able to confirm that the man was a US soldier listed in hotel records as “from Joint US Military Assistance Group (Jusmag)/Balikatan.”

In 2005, a Filipina identified only as “Nicole” also accused a US Marine, Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, of raping her in Subic.

In 2006, Smith was convicted and sentenced to up to 40 years by a local court, which he appealed before the Court of Appeals.

Earlier this year, “Nicole” recanted her allegation.

Smith was acquitted by the appellate court last month.

Posted on

Soldier kills five comrades at Baghdad base

washingtonpost.com

Five U.S. Soldiers’ Deaths Came at Hands of Comrade, Military Says

Gunman Opened Fire at Baghdad Base, Wounded Three Others

By Ernesto Londoño
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, May 11, 2009 1:30 PM

BAGHDAD, May 11 — An American soldier opened fire on comrades Monday on a large military base in Baghdad, killing five and wounding three, the U.S. military said.

The shooting at Camp Liberty, one of the largest bases in Baghdad, occurred about 2 p.m.

Lt. Col. Brian Tribus, a U.S. military spokesman, said the gunman was taken into custody.

A U.S. military officer in Baghdad said the shooting occurred at the base’s combat stress clinic.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the incident shook up soldiers, many of whom are in their third and even fourth tours. Some broke down in tears, he said.

“A lot of soldiers are wondering why,” the official said. “We will be asking as leaders: What could we have done? How could have we protected the soldiers?”

Most military facilities in Iraq have combat stress clinics, where soldiers seek counseling and are at times prescribed medicine for anxiety and depression.

The Army is grappling with a growing incidence of suicide cases, which military leaders attribute to the stress inflicted by multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

A Defense Department official in Washington said three people were wounded, but he did not know if they were military or civilians.

“It’s some form of isolated incident, an unfortunate one at that,” he said.

The military did not immediately say what the motive might have been.

“Anytime we lose one of our own, it affects all of us,” said U.S. military spokesman Col. John Robinson. “Our hearts go out to the families and friends of all the service members involved in this terrible tragedy.”

The incident was among the deadliest attacks for U.S. troops in recent months. It appears to be the deadliest incident in which U.S. deaths were caused by a fellow U.S. soldier since the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

The shooting was particularly chilling for soldiers based at Victory Base Compound, which includes Liberty, because it is regarded as one of the safest installations for U.S. troops in Iraq.

Control to the compound is tightly restricted, but American soldiers carry weapons on base.

Also on Monday, the military said an American soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in southern Iraq. The attack occurred Sunday at 2 p.m. in Basra province. U.S. soldiers recently deployed additional troops to the province to replace British troops, who formally ended their mission there last month.

Liberty is one of three U.S. military bases adjacent to Baghdad International Airport.

Staff writer Ann Scott Tyson contributed to this article.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/11/AR2009051100265_pf.html

Proudly powered by WordPress