AL - Sheriff Says Murder Case Highlights Importance Of Sex Offender Registration (Just the usual lies)

Original Article

08/10/2012

By Robert Richardson

GUNTERSVILLE (WHNT) — The Marshall County sheriff said the Wednesday arrest of a murder suspect highlights the importance of registrations for convicted sex offenders.
- No it doesn't.  People who commit murder should be in prison for life, and true predators should be locked up longer, then the registry wouldn't be needed and you could actually investigate other crimes.  And this wasn't related to a sex crime, but two idiots fighting.

U.S. Marshals captured [name withheld #1] in Blount County.

[name withheld #1] is charged with the murder of [name withheld #2], and is also a convicted sex offender.
- This is a murder and has nothing to do with a sex crime, but, for shock value, they insert the fact the men wear the "sex offender" label.

Sheriff Scott Walls said if [name withheld #1] had been in compliance with his sex offender registration, it might not have changed the situation between [name withheld #1] and [name withheld #2], but deputies were already looking for him the last week of July and the murder happened August 1.

“If we had got our hands on him prior to that night, it could have saved that particular case,” Walls said.
- So you said this shows why the registry is needed, but he wasn't registered, or was just missing, so even if he was registered and not wanted, how would that have prevented this?  It wouldn't have!

[name withheld #1] was convicted in 1995 of sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl when he was 21.
- Yeah, so!  This is a murder, not a sex crime!

He moved from DeKalb County to Marshall County in April.

“Unfortunately when you get a sex offender moved to your county from another area, you don’t know anything about that person other than what they’ve provided when they registered.” Walls said.

State law requires quarterly check-ins for registered sex offenders, which Walls and his deputies do face to face.

Marshall County also requires registered sex offenders to call the sheriff’s office every month to verify their address and place of employment.

“If we don’t get those phone calls, we check immediately, so we’re only 30 days behind instead of that quarterly check that comes up every three months,” Walls said.

“It’s so important to know where these people are at. All the statistics indicate that they will re-offend, and we watch our sex offenders here in this county extremely close.”
- This is a lie, as usual, and not based on facts.  The fact is, ex-sex offenders have one of the lowest recidivism rates than any other criminal, except murderers.

Walls said [name withheld #1] was due to turn in at the sheriff’s office by July 30.

When he did not, they went looking for him, and Walls said [name withheld #1] wasn’t at his registered address on Blessing Road in east Albertville.

Investigators later learned [name withheld #1] was staying with his girlfriend, [girlfriend name withheld], at a house on Williams Bend Road in the Martling community, north of Albertville.

That is where [name withheld #2], died from stab wounds.

Investigators said [girlfriend name withheld] was there at the time of the stabbing, and was with [name withheld #1] for the eight days he was on the run.

Sheriff Walls said the Alabama legislature passed a law two years ago which makes it illegal to house or aid a sex offender in hiding from authorities.

“We like the changes in the law that have taken place so far,” he said.

“I think there will be some additional changes coming up in the next session or two in the legislature to fill in the loopholes and make that law a little more strict, so we can be sure of how we’re going to track those individuals.”

Deputies in DeKalb and Etowah Counties also searched for [name withheld #1], until U.S. Marshals caught the couple in a cabin at Boogie Bottoms in Blount County and brought them to the Marshall County Jail.

“It’s been a group effort and everybody did a fantastic job,” Walls said.

[name withheld #1] is charged with murder, failure to report, and failure to register a new place of residence.

[girlfriend name withheld] is charged with hindering prosecution and harboring a sex offender, which carries a punishment of one to 10 years in prison.

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