Predictors of a Batterer with the potential to be a Murderer

The most prominent lethality assessment was crafted by Jacquelyn Cambell of Johns Hopkins University. It relies on a 2003 study that compared hundreds of homicides committed by an intimate partner to hundreds of abuse cases where the victim lived.
1. The physical violence increases in severity or frequency over the last year.
2. The victim has broken up with the offender after living together during the last year.
3. The offender is unemployed.
4. The offender has threatened to kill.
5. The offender has used a weapon against the victim, or threatened the victim with a weapon.
6. The victim has a child who is not the offender’s.
7. The offender has forced the victim to have sex.
8. The offender has tried to choke (strangle) the victim.
Rugala, an FBI profiler turned consultants says, “It’s not an exact science but their are behaviors that can help predict homicide.”

Too Many To Stop

COUNTY IS OVERWHELMED
Chicago Tribune
March 12, 2009
By Megan Twohey
Frederick Goings was charged with domestic battery for allegedly choking Angela McClinton. He was later accused of punching Susanna Cornish, sending her to the hospital. The Chicago attorney also reportedly threatened to kill a family member of Nova Henry.
Each three incidents might have signaled the Cook County state’s attorney’s office that Goings was a risk of slaying an intimate partner and deserved attention from a special team of prosecutors. Though Goings was charged six times in domestic violence cases, he was charged six times in domestic violence cases, he was never flagged for aggressive action.
Last month, he was charged with the murders of Henry and an infant daughter fathered by former Chicago Bull Eddy Curry. They were found slain Jan. 25 in Henry’s South Loop townhouse.
The case, experts say, illustrates how difficult it is to target domestic violence offenders deemed among the most dangerous. Threat assessments built into the process don’t always work in an overtaxed legal system that handles 19.000 domestic abuse cases each year in Cook County.
Launched in 1997 to identify and actively pursue the most serious misdemeanor domestic violence cases, the state’s attorney’s Target Abuser Call, or TAC, program has won high praise. Each case handled be a team of prosecutor’s, investigator’s and victim advocates.
Prosecutor’s say convictions in cases handled by the unit have soared to as high as 73 percent. Going was among those receiving the regular form of prosecution, where conviction rate is a dismal 17 percent, officials said.
Records show that only one of the six domestic abuse cases did Going’s receive court sanction, when he pleaded guilty to assault and reckless conduct for an attack on McClinton and a male companion. he was sentenced to 2 years probation.
Advocates say TAC does not have the resources to go after all the offenders tagged as potentially dangerous……the program was pursuing 30 of 90 offenders identified each week as being high risk of committing murder.
According to TAC guidelines, prosecutors should consider whether an offender has a history of domestic violence, caused injury, threatened to kill the victim or members of the victim’s family or used a gun when making threats.
I personally prefer using the word strangle instead of choke…but here is the rest.
Choking a victim is one of the most important risk factors prosecutors should look for, although there is no no strict check list……
TAC investigators visit victims within 48 hours of the reported crime, explain options for then prosecution and collect additional evidence. Unlike regular domestic violence cases, TAC prosecutors remain in charge of their cases from start to finish.
Victim advocates maintain more contact with the victim.

Story of abuse strikes home

classic behavior of the battered women

Dear Robyn Rihanna Fentry:
I was maybe 7 years old when this happened.
My old man had been kicked out of the house for being an abuser and a cheat. Now, here he comes a few days later, begging forgiveness. Mom wouldn’t open the door, so he pleaded his case through the mail slot, promising to do better, promising to change. mom stood firm. I, on the other hand , stood bawling like, well…a kid who missed his dad.
“Dad, I want you to come home,” I wailed.
“I want to,” he said, “but your mother won’t let me.”
So naturally, I turned on her. “Mom, why won’t you let Dad come home?”
Still she held out. Finally, he left our door. We watched him walk toward the car. Halfway to the curb, though, he was seized by some dark impulse that wheeled him around and sent him hurling toward the window. I ducked before he kicked it in, Mom didn’t.
She took him back not long afterward. And he beat her on a regular basis until the day, about eight years later, terminal cancer rendered him to weak to do so. I’ve always regretted whatever part of me caterwauling played in influencing her to let him return.
Ms Fenty, I know you’ve got a lot of people in your business right now, each with an opinion about how you should run your life. I would only beg you to try to hear what you are being told: If this guy did what you did what you say he did, you need to drop him like a rock. “This guy,” of course, being your boyfriend, singer Chris Brown. Last week, court papers were released detailing the alleged Feb. 8 altercation between the two of you. They tell how you and Brown, 19, were in a Lamborghini, leaving a music industry party in Beverly Hills, when you confronted him about a text message on his phone from his old girlfriend. How he allegedly told you he was going to beat the expletive deleted out of you when he got you home. How he allegedly pushed your head against the window, punched you with his right fist while steering with his left. How he allegedly choked (strangled) you, through your phone out of the window(interfering with 911), put you in a headlock, bit you.
You can understand, perhaps, why many of us find it incomprehensible that you were reportedly spotted with him apparently reconciled, just days later. Incomprehensible, yet not surprising at all. On the contrary, it is the classic behavior of the battered women. They tell themselves it was their fault. They tell themselves it was a one time thing. They tell themselves he really is a good guy at heart. They tell themselves their love will change him.
They tell themselves everything but the truth: that the man they love is damaged and dysfunctional. And that, absent some intense and committed therapy, he will do it again.
Yes, you’re right. I’ve got a nerve. I don’t know you. Indeed, before this incident, I barely knew of you.
But this issue strikes a resonant chord with me for obvious reasons. You deserve—everyone deserves—to be with someone you don’t have to fear, someone who will not abuse.
Written by Leonard Pitts columnist for the Miami Herald E-mail lpitts@miamiherald.com

Torture and Abuse of a Child

Portage police found extension cords, pliers and a brand new hacksaw, shovel and a rake inside that Portage home. Clerc told the police the pliers were used to torture a 11 year old boy who was found locked in an upstairs closet inside a bedroom.
The search warrant says the closet where the abused 11 year old boy was kept had been nailed shut. The search warrant says , “There was an injury to his head. There appeared to be a large burn on the thigh and he had streaks of what appeared to be blood on him.
The charges against the four include hiding Tammie Garlin’s body and the abuse of the 11 year old boy. The boy told authorities he was repeatedly burned with hot water by the four, including by his sister Felicia, who laughed as she burned him.
The boy said the four would tie his hands behind his back and his legs together and then put him in the bathtub where they would run scalding hot water over him, the complaint said. During such occasions, they would threaten to drown him.
The boy said they also scalded his mother who was found murdered in the back yard, she to was forced into the closet.
His sister, Clark and Sisk also strangled him multiple times, and pinched and kicked him in the stomach and face, the boy told authorities.
The boy said he was whipped almost daily with a belt and extension cords, and typically forced to get naked and locked in a closet in his sister’s bedroom, where she slept.
Law enforcement officials have said it was the worst case of child abuse they’ve seen.
The boy also told authorities that, at first, his mother participated in abusing him, but the she herself became a victim of the same abuse, sometimes being scalded with him in the bathtub.
A 15 year old girl and three adults were charges Wednesday with murdering the girls mother, burying her body and torturing the girl’s little brother. The girl helped bury her mother, 36 year old Tammy Garlin.
Suspects Michael Sisk, Candace Clark and Micheala Clerc were indicted with a slew of charges. The three adults, all in their 20’s and the teenager were charged with a total of 43 counts altogether, Clark and Sisk were denied bail. Felecia Garlin is charged with murder as she was a full participant and not coerced.
Barbara L. Knox, MD Medical Director of UW Hospital Child Protection Program reports the following:
The physical examination of ACG….overall-grossly burned with significant new and old injuries from serial beatings and malnourishment. Specifically, ACG had large ulcerated area on the top of his scalp, multiple cutaneous injuries around the rest of his scalp, a front upper tooth missing, several other burn marks on his face and scalp, multiple burn and loop marks (from reported extension cord beatings) throughout the torso, burns on both hands and swollen arms , burn scars on his legs and knees, extensive burns on both feet. Dr. Knox also reports that some parts of the physical exam could not be completed because ACG’s injuries caused him too much discomfort for these portions of the exam. Dr. Knox also reports that ACG showed absence of significant muscle mass. ACG was unable to walk because of the extensive burns on his feet. The radiology exam of ACG showed abnormalities, likely due to dehydration. ACG’s final comment to Dr. Knox during his interview was “I don’t want to hurt no more.”
The interviews also reveal the individuals have been living in the following States over the past year: Florida, Maine Tennessee, Kentucky, Colorado and Wisconsin.
Four children are in need of donations and here is where you can Make donations:
Amcore Bank, 611 E. Wisconsin St., Portage, WI -53901-
Portage National Bank, 2830 New Pinery Road. portage, WI -53902-
Associated Bank, 222 E. Wisconsin St. Portage, WI.,-53901-
Community Bank Portage, 2930 New Pinery Road, Portage WI, -53901-
U.S. Bank, Portage Downtown, 238 W. Wisconsin St., Portage WI -53901-

Trial Begins For Man Charged In Strangling

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
By Marie Rohde
mrohde@journelsentinel.com

After Calvin Pirtle took his live-in girlfriend to work and dropped off her kids at school, he brought another women home, where they had sex before he killed her and hid the body in the basement, according to opening statements at his murder trial Tuesday.
But Pirtle’s attorney told a Milwaukee County jury Tuesday that his client was not guilty of the first degree intentional homicide charge he faces because he never intended to kill 21-year old Yasmine Tatum-Massey on September 17, 2008.
“It was not an intentional act,” said Scott Anderson. “It was a reckless act.”
In his opening statement, Assistant District Attorney mark Williams painted the jury a picture of a gruesome crime and it’s discovery.
When Pirtle’s girlfriend got home she found large pools of blood on the carpet.
Pirtle, 30, said it was his. She found a pair of women’s shoes and a curling iron, and he said they were gifts to her.
Her suspicions mushroomed when Pirtle told her to stay out of the basement, Williams said.
Later that evening , when police arrived at the house next door on unrelated matter, she asked them to come to her apartment….and see the blood. They left when Pirtle said it was his.
“That night she didn’t sleep,” Williams told the jury. “She wanted to go to the basement.”
Early the next morning she slipped out of bed and discovered the 21 year old victim’s body, in a garbage bag stuffed in a trash barrel…..When she heard Pirtle, she pretended to do laundry.
The girlfriend then called 911, Williams said. Pirtle caught her on the phone and when she insisted that he tell her what happened , he said:
“I was giving someone a tattoo and they didn’t want to pay me and I lost it.”
The victim died of strangulation but was badly beaten and stabbed twice, Williams said.

Internet Teen Sex Trade

Feds Arrest Alleged Online Pimp In Sacramento

Stephen McKesson, 22, allegedly used online bulletin board Craigslist to market and traffic teen prostitutes in the Sacramento area.

An alleged high-tech pimp has been arrested and accused of trafficking teenage prostitutes, according to authorities.

Stephen McKesson, 22, allegedly used online bulletin board Craigslist to market and traffic teen prostitutes in the Sacramento area, some as young as 13 years old. Federal investigators accuse him of using playing cards with provocative pictures of teenagers to market them to strangers.

Investigators say they caught up with the suspect when a friend of one of the teens recognized her in an online posting and called police.

McKesson raped and beat the teens to force them to obey him, authorities said. Some of the teen girls even gave birth to his children.

He is now facing a laundry list of charges for those allegations, and is being held without bail.
CBS5
What do I think….? Call us….comment…..let us help you…..
300.000 children forced into sex slavery every year in the U.S. If we can not protect our children then what are we?
GET INVOLVED
For info on how to help or items to include in a care package, call the local Coalition Against Human Trafficking: 525-4807

Send your tax-deductible donations to the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking to: 9260 Cove Ave., Pensacola, Fla., 32514

Re: Witnessing Domestic Violence Search….

What to do?

First and most importantly…..call the police.
File a police report of what you’ve witnessed.
Dial 911 !
Be proactive……STOP THE VIOLENCE!
YOU MAY BE SAVING A LIFE OR MORE.

Wisconsin Strangulation and Suffocation Law

In 2008, the legislature enacted Wisconsin Act 127 creating Wisconsin Statute 940.235, entitled Strangulation and Suffocation. The Strangulation and Suffocation Law defines and provides penalties for a person who engages in intentional strangulation and suffocation. The law closes a loophole that allowed batterers to avoid serious penalty for committing dangerous acts of strangulation and suffocation, a crime which many consider attempted homicide. this new law makes strangulation a felony.
KEY ELEMENTS OF STRANGULATION AND SUFFOCATION STATUTE 940.235 STRANGULATION AND SUFFOCATION
(1) ELEMENTS OF A CLASS H FELONY;COURSE OF CONDUCT
Whoever intentionally impedes the normal breathing or circulation of blood by applying pressure on the throat or neck or by blocking the nose or mouth of another person.
(2) ELEMENTS OF A CLASS G FELONY;COURSE OF CONDUCT
Whoever violates sub (1) is guilty of a class G felony if the actor has previous conviction under this section or a previous conviction for a violent crime, as defined in s. 939.632(1)(e)1.

939.22 WORDS AND PHRASES
(10) “Dangerous weapon” means any firearm, whether loaded or unloaded; any device designed as a weapon and capable of producing death or great bodily harm; any ligature or other instrumentality used on the throat, neck, nose, or mouth of another person to impede, partially or completely, breathing or circulation or blood;any electric weapon, as defined in s. 941.295(4); or any other device or instrumentality which, in the manner it is used or intended to be used , is calculated or likely to produce death or great bodily harm.
(23) “Petechia” means a minute colored spot that appears on the skin, eye, eyelids, or mucous membrane of a person as a result of localized hemorrhage or rupture to a blood vessel or capillary.
(38) ” Substantial bodily harm” means bodily injury that causes a laceration that requires stitches, staples, or tissue ashesive; and fracture of a bone; a broken nose; a burn; a petechia , a temporary lose of consciousness, sight or hearing, a concussion; or a loss or fracture of a tooth.

Symptoms Of Strangulation

Symptoms can include: neck pain; neck swelling; difficulty breathing; difficulty swallowing; nausea and vomiting; lightheaded; loss of memory; loss of control of urine; loss of control of bowels; fainting or loss of consciousness; voice changes (raspy, hoarse, unable to speak); red eyes; sore throat; headache; coughing;red spots/petechia; miscarriage; and weakness or numbness of the arms or legs.

Strangulation & Suffocation

Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence Legal Department, does not constitute legal advice.

Strangulation accounts for 10% of all violent deaths annually in the U.S> To completely close the Trachea, thirty-three pounds of pressure must exerted per square inch. However, only 11 pounds of pressure placed on both carotid arteries for 10 seconds causes loss od consciousness. There are four different types of strangulation: manual, chokehold, ligature and hanging. Manual choke hold and ligature are used by perpetrators of domestic violence against their victims. Unlike the others, hanging is self inflicted. Strangulation can result in a variety of symptoms, although many survivors have no minimal visible external symptoms. Some injuries, such as memory loss, will only be able to be identified upon further examination. many strangulation victims do not remember being strangled, or will not offer that information, unless the are specifically asked.
TYPES OF STRANGULATION USED IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Manual (also called throttling): The use of bare hands.
Chokehold (also called sleeper hold): Elbow bend compression.
Ligature (also known as garroting): Use of a cordlike object, such as a rope, belt, chain, clothing (pantyhose, bra, tie), etc.
Hanging: Self inflicted.