Almost 2,000 Medical Examiners' and Coroners' Offices Investigated About One Million Deaths in 2004

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06/24/2007

Almost 13,500 Unidentified Human Remains on Record

WASHINGTON - About 2,000 medical examiners' and coroners' offices investigated almost 1 million human deaths in the U.S. during 2004, the latest year for which such data was available, the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. The data were compiled from the first national census of those offices, which are responsible for medical-legal death investigations.

Approximately 40 percent of all deaths in the United States were referred to medical examiners' and coroners' offices during 2004. About half (487,000) merited further investigation, the survey noted.

As of 2004, there were almost 13,500 unidentified human remains on record in medical examiner and coroners' offices across the country, but record- keeping practices varied. Aside from the remains on record, an estimated 4,400 unidentified human bodies are received in medical examiners' and coroners' offices in an average year.

Of those, an average of about 1,000 remain unidentified after one year; and about 600 undergo final disposition, such as burial, cremation or other means. Only half of medical examiners and coroners' offices in 2004 had policies for retaining records on unidentified human remains.

About 80 percent of the examining facilities in 2004 were county coroner's offices, most of which served small jurisdictions. Sixteen states had a centralized statewide medical examiner system, seven had a county medical examiner system, and 13 had a mixed county medical examiner and coroner system.

These offices employed an estimated 7,320 full-time equivalent personnel in 2004, most of whom were employed in offices serving larger jurisdictions. While only 6 percent of all offices served populations of 500,000 or more persons, these offices employed more than half of all personnel.

The examining facilities had estimated overall annual budgets of nearly $718.5 million, an average of $387,000 per office. County medical examiner budgets averaged about $715,000 per office, ranging from about $2.5 million in large jurisdictions to $18,000 in those serving small jurisdictions. County coroner budgets averaged $225,000, ranging from about $1.4 million in large jurisdictions to $41,000 among those serving small jurisdictions.

The report, Medical Examiners and Coroners' Offices, 2004, (NCJ-216756), was written by BJS statisticians Matthew J. Hickman and Kristen A. Hughes as well as Kevin J. Strom and Jeri D. Ropero-Miller, of RTI International. Following publication, it can be found at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/meco04.htm.

For additional information about the Bureau of Justice Statistics please visit the BJS Web site at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs.

The Office of Justice Programs (OJP), headed by Assistant Attorney General Regina B. Schofield, provides federal leadership in developing the nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice and assist victims. OJP has five component bureaus: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; and the Office for Victims of Crime. Additionally, OJP has two program offices: the Community Capacity Development Office, which incorporates the Weed and Seed strategy and OJP's American Indian and Alaska Native Affairs Desk and the Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART) Office. More information can be found at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov.

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SHALLOW GRAVE PREDATOR

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This is who these laws should be going after, which account for 10% or less of the people labeled a sex offender. So we are passing laws and wasting tons of money and time going after 100% of the people when we should be going after 10% or less. Why? I am just shocked at this story, and they let him out again! I don't even know what to say.... The picture explains what I think of this person. God help this man change his ways!!

06/24/2007

Paedophile who buried boy alive walks free after confessing: I'll do it again and won't get caught

An evil sex offender who tried to bury a schoolboy victim alive has been freed - despite telling social workers he plans to do it again.
- Now this is insane! If he said he'd do it again, why release this person? This is like not believing Muslims when they say "Behead all non-Muslims". You don't believe them until it's too late. Come on! People like this should be behind bars and getting help.

Gavin Murray, 42, confessed he had already picked out a target, claimed he would not repeat the mistakes that led to his conviction and said he would dig a "deeper" grave. He also vowed that, next time round: "I'll get away with it."

The shocked social workers alerted police, who charged Murray over the chilling remarks.

The monster was placed on remand but he was let out of jail after a sheriff ruled the evidence had been obtained by "unfair" means.
- Who cares? He should NOT be let out of prison!

Murray's conversations with the social workers can be revealed for the first time after the Crown last week dropped an appeal against Sheriff Alf Vannet's ruling.

Former council gravedigger Murray was jailed for eight years in 1985 after molesting a 13-year-old boy before hitting him on the head with a hammer, then burying him in a shallow grave.
- 8 years for taking a life? He should be in prison until he dies, period!

He was forced to eat earth and played dead, hoping Murray would leave the scene.

Last night leading politicians expressed concerns over the case. The Sunday Mail can also reveal how Murray:

Said he was having flashbacks of his previous attack and the same thoughts and dreams which preceded it.

Boasted he would commit another crime to lure police before attacking them with a claw hammer.

Brandished the hammer he planned to use.
- God! What more evidence do you need before you leave him in prison? He killed a human being, and that alone should be enough for him to remain in prison until he dies. Here he is saying he will do it again, and you still let him go. So it is you who will have to live with the fact, if he kills another person. Are we totally stupid or what?

Murray's conversations with social workers Jim Finnon and Karen Nicol were revealed at Airdrie Sheriff Court.

Mr Finnon told a pre-trial hearing that Murray said: "I've been having dreams for five or six weeks."
- As soon as I heard that, sorry, you are not getting out of prison. Well, actually, as soon as he was convicted of killing the child, beyond a shadow of a doubt, he'd be in prison until he dies, period, end of story.

Murray also said to him: "I'll get away with it. I made mistakes and I won't make those mistakes again."

And Murray told Mr Finnon he would "dig a deeper grave" and would not commit the crime locally to avoid detection.

He even said he had already identified another potential victim "far enough away" from his home.

North Lanarkshire social worker Mr Finnon was so concerned, he went with his boss, Karen Nicol, to Murray's Airdrie home.

Murray had a hammer and said he intended to assault police with it.

Mr Finnon asked Murray to repeat what he had said at the previous meeting.

Ms Nicol was so worried, she told Murray not to leave his home that weekend.

Police learned of the conversations - which took place in March last year - and Murray was arrested and charged with two counts of breach of the peace.

He was held in remand for a year and freed in March this year, despite the Crown opposing bail.

Murray's QC, Mark Stewart, argued that, under the terms of a probation order placed on Murray by a court after he assaulted a police officer in 2004, he was entitled - if not encouraged - to be open and frank.

The QC said it was unfair for a system to generate that amount of trust in someone then have it turned against them.

Sheriff Vanet admitted the case was "unusual" and he praised the evidence of the social workers.

He then upheld the argument that the evidence had been unfairly obtained.

But Labour justice spokeswoman Margaret Curran said last night: "When a previous offender gives any indication or warning of repeat offending, they must be dealt with immediately.

"Those supervising this individual should be considering using all means available to them, including a sexual offence prevention order, to protect the public."

Airdrie MSP Karen Whitefield said: "It is important that protocols are in place to protect staff in social, probationary and psychological services who deal with people with chronic mental illnesses or serious offenders.

"It is also vital these systems protect the public. I will be seeking assurances fromsocial services and the Crown Office." Murray was 20 when he attacked the 13-year-old in Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire.

He forced him into woods and made him remove his clothes, before committing an indecent act.

Murray then dug a hole in the hollow of an uprooted tree with a claw hammer.

He forced the boy to lie in the shallow grave, forced earth into his mouth and threatened to kill him.

Murray struck him on the head with the hammer and covered him with earth.

As the teenager struggled, Murray sat on his head.

The boy lay still, hoping Murray would think he was dead. He then scrambled from the hole and ran for his life.

But Murray caught him and put him back in the grave. The boy fled again and this time got away.

North Lanarkshire Council refused to say if Murray was under supervision.

They added: "The council and its partners, including Strathclyde Police, have responsibility for the management of people in the justice system and exercise those responsibilities in line with agreed protocols.

"Our priority is always to maintain community safety."

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Sex Offender Laws Prove Problematic

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This is the same crap that occurred with Christopher Barrios in Georgia. The father (a sex offender as well), was forced to move next to other sex offenders due to the law, and his son was killed because of it. So is that justice?

06/24/2007

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - When Sapulpa police told Nancy Phipps who her neighbors would be at a motel on the northern edge of Sapulpa, she burst into tears.

Phipps, who has a 16-year-old daughter, had moved into a motel with dozens of sex offenders, including child molesters, rapists and other sexual predators.

"When he pulled up that list, I just started crying," said Phipps, 42. "I told him, 'How are we going to be able to do this?'"

Because of a 2002 deferred sentence she received for flashing and soliciting an undercover officer while she says she was under the influence of prescription medication, Phipps is registered sex offender.

As lawmakers in Oklahoma and across the country increase the penalties and restrictions for convicted sex offenders, some low-level offenders like Phipps are getting caught in the net.

Oklahoma law prohibits any convicted sex offender from living within a 2,000-foot radius of any school, educational institution, playground, park or licensed child care facility. As a result, virtually 90% of large metropolitan areas like Oklahoma City and Tulsa are off limits to offenders.

For Phipps and her daughter, it meant moving to one of a handful of seedy motels at the edge of Tulsa County outside the legal boundary where dozens of sex offenders have gone to live.

"It was horrible," Phipps said. "They were starting to knock on the door and call us on the phone. We were so afraid, I just said forget it. If they're going to come and arrest me, so be it."

Phipps has since moved to a homeless shelter in Tulsa while she searches for a safer place to move with her daughter.

"I'm just hoping I can find another place to live before they arrest me."

Because of a federal mandate, Oklahoma lawmakers did develop a tiered system for identifying sex offenders by placing them in one of three categories based on their risk level to society.

However, they chose not to apply the tiered system to residency restrictions and actually made some of the registration requirements, even for lower-level offenders, more restrictive.

In many cases, lawmakers implement harsh laws targeting sex offenders in reaction to a traumatic event like a child abduction and rape. The laws often result in unintended consequences, but lawmakers lack the political will to ease restrictions on sex offenders because of how voters may perceive them, said Jeffery Walker, a professor of criminal justice and criminology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
- It has been several years now, so I think the "unintended consequences" is old now. They know of the consequences, and are not doing anything to change the laws.

Sex offender registries and systems for notifying the public were good ideas, but residency restrictions and so-called "zones of safety" that prohibit sex offenders from going to certain places where children congregate have not proved to be effective, said Walker, who co-wrote a 2003 national review of sex offender and registration laws.
- The laws WERE working before they changed them. So put them back to how they were and all this mess you created would be over, and everyone can get back to their lives.

"Never underestimate our ability to screw up something good," Walker said. "We always have a tendency to take something too far, and what we wind up doing is overburdening the police. We keep piling up laws to where they can't deal with them all."

Another problem is that many sex offenders simply go underground and stop registering or stop complying with the law so that they can find a place to live.
- And this doesn't protect anybody, and makes the situation worse!

"We have seen, particularly since the residency restrictions went into place, an increase in the people not complying with the address restrictions," said Jim Rabon, the head of sentencing administration for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

Phipps acknowledges she's been tempted not to register, but says she wants to comply and find a safe place for her and her daughter to live.

"There are a lot of (offenders) here in Tulsa who are underground, because there is just no place to go. There is nowhere to live. You're just stuck," she said. "It's getting down to the wire for us and there's really nothing I can do about it."

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New laws will serve to further protect children from predators

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Instead of making a special Bill or law for police officers why don’t you hold them to the same standard as everyone else? When a police officer sexually violates a minor he or she not only destroys trust, but being in a position of power, responsibility, and authority is worse than a person not in that position. You are so kind to be so lenient. Again we see legislators and other people in positions of authority or power make laws that they don’t have to hold to, but will make others hold to more stringent laws. An officer who sexually violates a minor is a sex offender and ought to register as a sexual predator, a person who preys upon someone else’s child. The officer did not commit an act of incest but violated a child of someone else, a clear example of stranger danger, someone who pretends to be a token of safety and trust. He or she is a low life despicable person because they hide behind that badge, and now you even help them to continue doing so by making a Bill just for them to be lenient and so forgiving and understanding. This is pure putrid clap trap. (Comments by B.W.)

06/24/2007

Two measures recently have been introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives regarding sexual predators, and I am proud to have co-sponsored both of them. One bill represents our latest effort to prevent recognized predators from perpetrating more crimes. The other bill acknowledges the position of public trust peace officers occupy and creates a specific crime for instances in which peace officers engage in sexual conduct with a minor.

House Bill 241, introduced by Rep. Tracy Heard (D-Columbus), requires "any person required to register under Ohio's Sex Offender Registration and Notification Law who establishes or occupies residential premises within 1,000 feet of any school premises, recreation center, playground, or other place where it is reasonable to expect children to frequent or linger is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree and to require a court to order a violator to vacate the premises as part of any injunctive relief granted for the violation."

In plain English, this bill adds recreation centers, playgrounds and other places where it is reasonable to expect children to frequent or linger to the locations where sex offenders might not live. Given the fact many children do use these types of facilities and often do so outside with little supervision, it makes sense to add these types of locations to give sexual predators fewer opportunities to commit future crimes. Additionally, the bill also allows the court to issue an injunction that would prevent the predator from living in a home near any of these locations and violation of this injunction would be a contempt of court violation.

House Bill 209, introduced by Rep. Tony Core (R-Rushsylvania), would expand the offense of "sexual battery" to include peace officers who have sexual relations with minors who are not spouses of the officer. The current law would treat peace officers the same as any other person who is younger than 26 and has sexual relations with a minor between the ages of 16 and 18. This includes possibly not having to register as a sexual offender if convicted.

I co-sponsored HB 209 because I think it is appropriate to expect peace officers to respect the positions of authority they have in our communities (especially over minors), to hold them to a higher standard and to charge them with a higher felony degree when they perpetrate such actions, because not only have they violated the rights of a minor but they also have abused and violated the trust our community and state have placed in them.

As your state representative, I always am ready and willing to discuss any issue regarding state government with you. Please feel free to contact me by mail at 77 S. High St., 10th Floor, Columbus, OH 43215-6111; phone at (614) 466-2500; or e-mail at district91@ohr.state.oh.us. with any compliments, complaints or comments that you may have. As always, thank you for the opportunity to serve as your state representative.

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HIS ONLY CRIME IS TRYING TO HELP

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I do not know all these facts here, but it sounds like the police just want someone to blame so they are going after this man. Who knows, only time will tell who the real criminal is.

06/24/2007

MISSING MADDIE SLURS HAVE RUINED ROB'S LIFE, SAYS AUNT

THE Brit accused of kidnapping four-year-old Madeleine McCann has begged his family: "Tell the world I am innocent."

Dad-of-one Robert Murat is still the only official police suspect in the hunt for Maddie, who vanished 52 days ago from a Portuguese holiday apartment.

But last night his aunt Sally Everleigh told how new DNA evidence will reveal her nephew did NOT snatch Maddie.

And she told how his life has become a "living hell" since he was named as the prime suspect - despite acting as an interpreter for cops in the aftermath of the youngster's disappearance in the resort of Praia da Luz.

Sally, 56, said: "Robert is completely innocent but his life has been ruined by the most disgusting and cruel allegations imaginable.

"His only crime was wanting to do anything he could to help find a missing four-year-old girl.

"As a father himself, he knew Kate and Gerry McCann must have been going through hell.

"But, suddenly he was accused of taking Madeleine himself - and branded a paedophile, a pervert and God knows what else."

She said Murat, 33 - whose daughter Sofia is Maddie's age - has been driven to the brink of suicide since he was arrested 11 days after the tot vanished.

And Sally told The People how the divorced businessman:

INSISTED no child-porn was found on computers seized by police from the home he shares with mum Jenny, 71:

DENIED accusations he was involved in depraved sex acts;

REFUTED reports cops found sick videos when they searched his home;

DISMISSED claims he is part of a bizarre love triangle with his girlfriend and her ex; and

OFFERED to take a lie detector test to prove his innocence.

Murat confided in his aunt during a series of tearful meetings at the guesthouse she runs in Burgao, just a few miles from Praia da Luz.

Sally said: "Rob feels he has been the victim of character assassination and doesn't know how or when he will be able to get on with his life.

"And he is worried sick how all of this will affect Sofia as she grows up - is she going to get bullied because her dad is 'that Maddie man'?

"He says he met the McCanns very briefly and offered to help them in any way he could.

"But he says he NEVER set foot in their apartment.

"He feels bitterly sorry for the McCanns and is desperate for Madeleine to be found.

"He truly wants if for their sake - NOT just because it will help put him in the clear."

Murat's German girlfriend Michaela Walczuch, her estranged husband Luis and Russian business associate Sergey Malinka were also quizzed by cops after Murat's arrest.

Sally said: "Michaela is a lovely woman and she and her daughter adore Rob.

"But she still lives with her husband - so people wanting to blackenRob have said they must be involved in some kind of threesome.

"The truth is she's a Jehovah's Witness and, because of her religion, she has to wait until their divorce comes through before they begin a sexual relationship. They haven't even got that far." Sally also slammed reports that Murat criticised Maddie's parents for leaving their daughter in the apartment while they went out to dinner.

She said: "Rob has NEVER blamed them - he couldn't be that cruel and he hasn't got a bad bone in his body.

"Everything he says is twisted because people believe the sick gossip.

"If the police would allow it, he says hewould happily take a lie detector test to prove his innocence. But would that put an end to this?

"He has had hate mail - really awful stuff - and he thinks he will get physically attacked in the street.

"Someone went up to his mother the other day and shouted, 'Give that child back!'

But she's 71, for God's sake.

"People Rob has known for years have snubbed him in the street and others are spreading the rumours they've heard. The lies about him have been scandalous - total fantasy.

"Police are meant to have found child porn on his computer - but the only pictures of a child are of his own daughter.

"Some reports say videos of 'extreme sexual violence' were seized - but no videos were taken at all.

"Hearing some of the accusations was such a shock that he actually passed out.

"We have had to call a doctor out twice because he has fainted."

Sally went on: "Robert has gone through some very dark moments and wondered if there was any point carrying on.

"But then he says, 'I've got my daughter to think about'. He can't let her down. "It's just so hard hearing the scandalous stuff people have made up about him and knowing he is not able to defend himself."

Murat, who has lived in Portugal with mumJenny since his break-up with wife Dawn two years ago, was quizzed by cops for 11 hours over Maddie's disappearance.

He willingly gave a DNA sample - and sources have told relatives it will prove he was not at the McCann's apartment.

But he will remain an official suspect until police formally hand back paperwork linking him to the inquiry.

Meanwhile, Portuguese law bans him from talking publicly about his ordeal.

And his family have not spoken out for fear of hampering the police investigation - and the McCanns' campaign to find their missing daughter.

But nowMaddie's parents have handed over the publicity campaign to a professional.

And a family member said: "We feel we can stand up for Rob without treading on anyone's toes. We feel the time has come for the British government to put pressure on the police to clear his name.

"The police have no evidence against him - so why does he still have this black cloud of suspicion hanging over him? British officials seem to have washed their hands of Robert and he has had to suffer the most awful slurs.

"At times he has been so low we have worried that he is suicidal. I've seen him curl up in a foetal position with his head in his hands and just cut himself off from the world."

Sally told how Murat recently looked after her business while she and hubby Ralph - Jenny's brother - went off for a few days.

She said: "The guestswere regulars and friends and Rob seemed to get a boost from their support. He could keep his mind occupied instead of all the terrible worries.

"We got back last week only to bewoken at 7am by a police raid.

"They searched the place on the night Robert was arrested in May but for some reason they came back again - and found nothing.

"Therewere 20 police and two dogs and they spent more than three hours searching our house and grounds.

"All the guests had to get up and show their passports.

"The police seemed almost apologetic when we asked how long all this was going to go on and said, 'Not much longer'.

"We don't blame them for doing their job. But we believe Portuguese law needs changing so in future no one has to suffer like Rob has.

"He is 100 per cent innocent and the victim of an appalling injustice and character assassination."

No member of Murat's family has been paid for this article

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More Hard Time For Judge In Sex Toy Case

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06/23/2007

TULSA - For the second time in less than a year, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board has unanimously denied parole for convicted sex offender Donald Thompson, ex-Creek County district judge.

Thompson’s wife Paula had asked the board for leniency, saying that her husband would return to Sapulpa where the couple resides. She said he would operate a car wash and tend their rental properties. Thompson didn’t attend the hearing.

Thompson, 60, is serving four, one year sentences in state prison after being convicted last year of indecent exposure for using a penis pump while presiding over four trials in 2002 and 2003. He was also fined $40,000

Richard Smothermon, special prosecutor, argued that Thompson had learned nothing from his conviction, thought he was above the law and had refused sex offender counseling. He told the board that he had recordings of Thompson engaging in phone sex with his alleged mistress Angela McClanahan since Thompson’s incarceration. Prison calls are recorded.

The parole board had also voted unanimously in December to deny Thompson parole. He is scheduled for release in October if he is given credit for good behavior.

The former judge had claimed the penis pump was a gag gift from a friend for his 50th birthday. Despite eyewitness accounts, Thompson claimed he wasn’t guilty of masturbating on the bench as charged and said the local police were out to get his client because Thompson had made rulings unfavorable to them.

Thompson had turned down a plea deal pre-trial which would have spared him prison with a guilty plea to three misdemeanor counts of outraging public decency. The plea deal would also have allowed him to keep his $93,468 annual pension.

Thompson, a former state legislator, had been a judge for nearly 23 years before he retired in 2004 amid the allegations. His attorney had admitted that Thompson had purchased another penis pump after a doctor who was treating him for erectile dysfunction and other medical problems had recommended it

After the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System ruled to withhold Thompson’s retirement benefits of $7,789 a month—$93,468 annually—Thompson appealed, saying he should collect his pension while he’s sitting in prison.

His pension appeal will be heard following his release from prison.

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