He Got Off Too Easy

by Donna Weaver

Florida death row inmate John Evander Couey died of cancer last week, and if you ask me, he got off too easy.

Six men and six women found Couey guilty of first-degree murder, burglary, kidnapping, and sexual battery in March 2007 for the rape and murder of nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford in 2005. The same jury also recommend, by majority vote, that Couey be put to death. The defense had urged jurors to sentence him to life in prison, putting psychologists on the stand who testified that Couey was mentally retarded. Florida law prohibits execution of someone judged mentally retarded. The prosecution called their own experts, who stated Couey was well aware of his actions when he kidnapped, raped, and murdered little Jessica.

Couey was a waste of skin who knew exactly what he wanted to do to Jessica Lunsford. He was also the veritable poster boy for the flaws in our justice system that contribute to the horrific deaths of innocent children like Jessie.

Couey’s rap sheet included no less than 24 burglary arrests, an arrest for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, and an arrest for indecent exposure. During a home burglary in 1978, he was accused of grabbing a girl in her bedroom, placing his hand over her mouth, and kissing her. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison but paroled in 1980. In 1991, Couey became a registered sex offender after he was arrested in Kissimmee, FL, on a charge of committing a lewd and lascivious act in the presence of a child. However, the criminal court progress docket for this case shows Couey was allowed to plead guilty to a reduced charge of attempted lewd act on a child. He was given credit for 135 days time served in a state prison.

How does one get arrested 27 times by age 46 and not still be incarcerated?

What about Couey’s housemates? According to CBS News reports, court documents state "Couey's timeline of events after he kidnapped Jessica Lunsford leaves open the possibility she was alive and in the house at the time of the first and possibly the second interview." Citrus County sheriff's deputies stopped twice at Couey's sister's single-wide mobile home while canvassing the neighborhood after Jessie was reported missing Feb. 24. At the first interview, shortly after the child was reported missing, deputies spoke to Couey's niece and her boyfriend. The second time, deputies spoke with the same niece and Couey's half sister. Jessica Lunsford lived just 150 yards away, and her abduction was all over the news. Authorities say the residents concealed the fact that Couey was staying at the trailer. This suggests to me that they may have known Couey kidnapped Jessica and had her in the house. DNA evidence proved that he raped the little girl on the bedroom mattress. Jessica’s fingerprints were also found on other areas in the bedroom. Police and prosecutors believe Couey kept her alive for a time in the bedroom closet.

How could four other adults living in such tight quarters not have heard or seen anything? One month later, Jessica was found near the trailer -- right where Couey told investigators he buried her alive. How could these four people not hear the plastic bags being wrapped around Jessie, or Couey outside digging a hole and then burying the little girl alive as she struggled, her little fingers poking holes through the garbage bags?

It is truly horrifying to contemplate that someone else in that household might have seen her or heard that little girl cry out, and did nothing to help her. If so, they are equally guilty of all charges and deserve the same punishment as the monster they protected with their silence.

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No Justice for Angie-Part 2

by Donna Weaver

Angie Yarnell and her mother, Marianne Asher-Chapman were very close. Angie was even maid of honor at her mother's wedding (Marianne and Angie pictured left). Mother and daughter talked on the phone frequently and saw each other often. So when Angie did not show up at her niece's birthday party at Marianne's home, her mother knew something was horribly wrong. She called and left several messages for Angie.

After leaving a final message that "if she (Angie) didn't call me by the next morning. I was going to drive to her house and bang on the door", it was Angie's husband, Mike, who showed up at Marianne's door. Mike took Angie's two dogs and drove to Marianne's Holts Summit home and told her that the last time he had seen Angie was exactly seven days before, on October 25, 2005. He said that Angie had left him for another man.

The following morning after Mike's visit, Marianne made the 90-minute drive from her house to Mike and Angie's Ivy Bend home. She says one of the first things she noticed was that 2 freezers were missing from the house. Marianne says that Angie had told her in a recent phone conversation about how she had been filling the freezers, stocking them up with meat for the coming winter. The same day, Marianne files a missing persons report with the Morgan County Sheriff's Office. She says another thing that went missing shortly after that was Mike's truck, and as far as she knows, there was no effort by law enforcement to locate either the truck or the freezers after she filed the missing persons report on Angie.

Two weeks later, Marianne received a postcard from Angie, postmarked November 8, 2003, saying that she was on her way to Texas with someone named Gary to visit Gary's family and that she would call when they were settled. It was this postcard that eventually proved to be Mike Yarnell's undoing.

Marianne says that Angie confided in her that there was trouble in her three year marriage to Mike. Angie said Mike was "verbally and emotionally abusive." Marianne also states that approximately 2-3 weeks before Angie disappeared Angie told her, "Mike said he didn't love me anymore and that he never loved me."

In the meantime, Ra'Vae Edwards kept the story of Angie's disappearance alive in the News Tribune hoping that someone would come forward with new information.

Mike Yarnell Disappears

Two years after Angie was reported missing, Marianne received a call from the Montel Williams Show. They had read Ra'Vae Edwards' coverage of Angie's story in the News Tribune and asked Marianne to appear on the show to talk about Angie's disappearance.

Five days after the segment aired on national television, Mike Yarnell disappeared. It seems Yarnell had a habit of disappearing when he was in trouble. Some years before marrying Angie, he fled to Mexico after going AWOL from the Navy. He was arrested there on drug charges and spent 3 years in a Mexican prison.

Then Marianne and Ra'Vae hatch a brilliant plan: Marianne, as his mother-in-law, files a missing person report for Mike Yarnell in March of 2008.

Yarnell is Found

Marianne's missing person report on Mike Yarnell eventually leads to his arrest--but not at first.

When Mike Yarnell applies for a job at an Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi, a background check is run as part of the employment process and it is discovered he is a not only a missing person, but a person of interest in the disappearance of his wife, Angie. However, when law enforcement in Morgan County are first notified that Mike Yarnell has been found, they told authorities in Biloxi to let him go.

Marianne was convinced the postcard she received from her daughter two weeks after her disappearance was not written by Angie. She suspected it was Mike who had written the note to her mother saying she was running away with another man.

Reporter Ra'Vae Edwards contacted Peggy Walla, a Forensic Handwriting Document expert who agreed to analyze the postcard. Comparing the writing to both samples of Mike and Angie's handwriting, Walla definitively determined that it was indeed Mike who had written and sent the postcard to Marianne saying Angie had left for Texas.

Armed with this new information, Marianne takes it to Morgan County investigators who travel in August 2008 to Biloxi where Mike Yarnell still resides. Yarnell spoke to authorities about his missing wife and admitted to sending the postcard to Marianne, but provided no other information at that time about what really happened to Angie.

Yarnell Confesses to Killing Angie

In early November 2008, Mike Yarnell is arrested in Mississippi and jailed in Morgan County, Missouri on charges of forgery and tampering with physical evidence for writing and mailing the postcard to Marianne, trying to make her believe that Angie was alive and well.

Then in December 2008, more than five years after Angie disappeared, Yarnell makes a startling confession to Morgan County detectives. He admitted that during a domestic dispute on Oct 26, 2003, he shoved Angie off of the deck of their Ivy Bend home causing her to fall 4 feet to her death. He said that "after he sat with her awhile, he freaked out, then loaded her body in the car intending to drive her to Versailles."

Yarnell said he freaked out again, turned the car around, returned home to pick up the couples' canoe, and drove Angie's body to a boat ramp on the Lake of the Ozarks. He said he then put Angie into the canoe and rowed about 4 miles to an island. But when Yarnell reached the island, he said his adrenaline rush had passed and he was unable to get Angie's body onto the shore and lost her in the water.

Detectives were unable to locate Angie's body where Mike said he left her.

The trial of Michael Shane Yarnell for the murder of his wife Angie had been set for September 2009. But on Monday, June 8, 2009, Mike Yarnell was sentenced to seven years in prison as part of a plea agreement for murdering his wife. Many people were incredulous over the deal made by Morgan County, Missouri Prosecuting Attorney, Marvin Opie just six months after Yarnell confessed to killing Angie.

Marianne says the confession and plea agreement doesn't change anything--she will continue to search for Angie's body. She believes that if Angie is found, her remains will tell a different story than the one Mike Yarnell confessed to.

Marianne says she feels obligated to help other families with missing loved ones. She says she keeps a sign on her refrigerator that says, "The duty of a good citizen is to keep her mouth open"

In 2007, Marianne, along with Peggy Florence, whose daughter Jasmine Haslag also disappeared, formed Missouri Missing, an organization dedicated to support families of missing persons and spread awareness in the cause of the missing and unidentified.

It is possible Mike Yarnell could end up doing as little as three years in prison for murdering his wife. In the meantime, Marianne Asher-Chapman's life sentence of heartbreak goes on.

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No Justice for Angie--Part 1

by Donna Weaver

Every family with a missing murdered loved one knows all too well how elusive justice can be-- myself included. But I cannot imagine how devastating it must be to finally have justice within your grasp only to have it slip right through your fingers.

The trial of Michael Shane Yarnell for the murder of his wife Angie had been set for September 2009. But on Monday, June 8, 2009, Mike Yarnell was sentenced to seven years in prison as part of a plea agreement for murdering his wife. Many people were incredulous over the deal made by Morgan County, Missouri Prosecuting Attorney, Marvin Opie.

As part of the plea agreement, Opie agreed to accept Yarnell's offer to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the first degree if all other charges against him were dismissed. Yarnell was originally charged with second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, first and second degree involuntary manslaughter, forgery, and tampering with physical evidence. Mr. Opie did not return a phone call at the time of this publication.

Ironically, it was the forgery charge that led to Mike Yarnell's confession years after the fact of murdering his wife Angie during what he claimed was a domestic dispute.

That Mike Yarnell is serving a prison sentence at all for Angie's murder can be attributed to the love and courageous perseverance of her mother, Marianne Asher-Chapman, and the tenacity and heart of one lone journalist, Ra'Vae Edwards, formerly a reporter for the News Tribune.

I hope you will be as outraged and horrified as I am over Mike Yarnell's plea agreement and sentence after reading how events unfolded in the disappearance and murder of Michelle Angela "Angie" Yarnell.

October 25, 2003 was the last day anyone saw 28-year-old Angie Yarnell alive. One week later, Mike Yarnell told Angie's family that she left him for another man after she failed to show up at her mother's home for her niece's birthday party.

Two weeks later, Marianne received a postcard from Angie, postmarked November 8, 2003, saying that she was on her way to Texas with someone named Gary to visit Gary's family and that she would call when they were settled. It was this postcard that proved to be Mike Yarnell's undoing.

Mike Yarnell didn't file for divorce. He knew Angie would never be coming back.

Tomorrow, in Part 2: Angie's disappearance, a botched investigation, and Mike Yarnell's surprising confession.

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This Month, We Remember . . .

by Donna Weaver

This month, we observe the anniversary of a national tragedy. April 19th marked 14 years since the devastating act of domestic terrorism perpetrated by political extremist Timothy McVeigh and conspirator Terry Nichols that not only destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building (pictured left), but ended the lives of 168 innocent men. women, and children, injured over 800 people, and forever ravaged the lives of their countless loved ones . . . those who survived . . . and a nation. Who could forget the photo (below) that captured the heartbreak of senseless, sudden loss that day.

Hundreds gathered last Sunday at the site of the bombing to commemorate the day where 168 empty chairs sat on the grass in place of the building that once stood there. Loved ones of the victims and survivors read the names of each of those killed and the crowd observed 168 seconds of silence for each life lost.

Several pieces of important legislation were enacted by the U. S. government as a result of the bombing of the Murrah building and its aftermath. Among those, The Anti Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214, (AEDPA) was signed by Congress to "deter terrorism, provide justice for victims, provide for an effective death penalty, and for other purposes.

Because the trials of the perpetrators and conspirators were moved out of state (from Oklahoma to Denver, Colorado), President Clinton signed the Victim Allocution Clarification Act of 1997, which allowed victims of the Oklahoma City Bombing, and those of any future acts of violence, to observe and offer victim-impact testimony at trials.

Clinton stated that "when someone is a victim, he or she should be at the center of the criminal justice process, not on the outside looking in."

Timothy McVeigh (pictured left) was arrested hours after the bombing for driving without a license plate and for carrying a concealed weapon. At his trial, the prosecution stated that McVeigh's motivation for the horrific act of domestic terrorism was his hatred of the U. S. government, which grew in part from the incidents at Ruby Ridge, Idaho in 1992, and the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas in 1993. The April 19, 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing occured on the anniversay of the end of the 51-day seige in Waco in which 50 adults and 25 children died after federal law enforcement launched a fiery assault. McVeigh was executed by lethal injection at a U. S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, on June 11, 2001. It was the first federal exection in 38 years.

Terry Nichols was tried twice, once by the federal government, and once by the state of Oklahoma. He was found guilty of the federal charges of conspiring to build a weapon of mass destruction and of eight counts of involuntary manslaughter of federal officers. He was sentenced to life without parole. Although the State of Oklahoma sought the death penalty for 161 counts of first-degree murder, the jury became deadlocked on the issue of death and Nichols was instead sentenced to 161 consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.

A third conspirator, Michael Fortier, agreed to testify against McVeigh in exchange for a reduced sentence and immunity for his wife, Lori. In 1998, Fortier was sentenced to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay a $200,000 for failing to warn authorities about the attack. Fortier was released from prison in January 2006, and is living under a new identity in the Witness Protection Program.

This month also marks the tenth anniversary of the Columbine High School Massacre where teenagers Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris shot and killed 13 others before taking their own lives on April 20, 1999.

As the country observes the beginning of National Crime Victims' Rights Week today, I ask you to not only remember the victims of these and other highly publicized tragic crimes, but the hundreds of thousands of others—survivors, homicide victims, missing persons, and their families and loved ones left behind. To commemorate Crime Victims' Rights Week as well as the last week of Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month, Women in Crime Ink will feature other observance posts over the next several days from our contributors and from you, our readers.

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Three Arrested in Death of Anna Nicole Smith

by Donna Weaver

With little fanfare, an important development in the Anna Nicole Smith saga occurred last month.

Anna Nicole Smith's lawyer and former lover Howard K. Stern, 40, and doctors Sandeep Kapoor, 40, and Khristine Eroshevich, 61, are free on bail after being arrested and charged with giving her the prescription drugs that led to her death. Smith, 39, was found dead in her hotel room at the Hard Rock Cafe in Seminole, Fl on February 8, 2007.

Under Florida law, Stern, Kapoor, and Eroshevich can be charged at least with manslaughter by culpable negligence, and at most, first-degree homicide for illegally providing Smith with the drugs that ultimately killed her.

Two years ago, the psychiatrist who treated Anna Nicole Smith, Dr Khristine Eroshevich, was under investigation by California authorities. At that time, California medical board spokesperson, Candis Cohen, confirmed that Dr Eroshevich was being investigated in connection with Smith’s death, but declined to provide further details.

As I read through the medical examiner's reports and timeline of events, I noticed some disturbing findings regarding the actions of Dr Eroshevich, and others, contained in documents released by the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office. These findings raise questions that require answers.

The investigative report by Broward County Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Joshua Perper contains a timeline of events beginning with the arrival of Smith and her companions, which included Dr Khristine Eroshevich, in Florida.

"…At 8:30 pm the party checked in at the Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood. Maurice Brighthaupt, a friendand former body guard met them at the hotel. Anna’s temperature was taken by Dr. Khristine Eroshevich and was 105 degrees. Anna was told to have 911 call for transport to the hospital, but she categorically refused. She was given an ice bath and her temperature dropped to 97 degrees. She was given Tamiflu as well as 1000 mg of Ciprofloxacin with water. Chloral Hydrate was added for sleep. She fell asleep around 10 pm”

After Dr Eroshevich discovered Anna Nicole had a fever of 105, she told her “to have 911 call for transport to the hospital, but she categorically refused” Why did she ask an extremely ill patient with a dangerously high body temperature if she wanted to call 911? Then Dr Eroshevich proceeds to treat her for the fever and infection and give her a drug for sleep that is “a DEA Schedule IV controlled substance that is infrequently prescribed as a hypnotic agent which may cause respiratory and central nervous system depression, coma, convulsions, cardiac arrhythmias and death.

“3. Tuesday, February 6, 2007Anna Nicole Smith did not urinate and had a “pungent” odor and temperature of 100 degrees. She was at time depressed but she was able to watch television and appeared overall okay. She was given a bath and various fluids including pedialyte, chamomile tea and Fiji water. She felt well in the afternoon after a bath and was given chloral hydrate for sleep. She slept about two hours, then she watched television until 11 pm. She took another dose of chloral hydrate and asked for Soma, Klonopin, Valium, Topamax (unknown if she took these medicines).”

Anna Nicole still has a fever and is now presumably severely dehydrated evidenced by a lack of urination. Dr Eroshevich gives Anna Nicole fluids, a bath, and more chloral hydrate. Furthermore, autopsy test results show that Soma, Klonopin, Valium, and Topamax, were 4 of the 7 prescription drugs (plus 2 over-the-counter drugs for a total of 9), which included chloral hydrate, found in Anna Nicole’s system. It may be “unknown” if she took those medications at that time on February 6th, but she did take them in the days prior to her death.

“4. Wednesday, February 7, 2007Anna stayed awake in bed, watching television around 11 am. She was feeling better and ate breakfast/lunch (omelet of egg white and spinach). In the afternoon she was observed naked and sitting confused in a dry bathtub. She subsequently took a bath. In the evening she ordered 2 crab cakes and shrimp for dinner. Dr. Eroshevich left in the evening for California. Anna was upset and depressed over her friend’s departure. Maurice (“Big Mo”) Brighthaupt returned after Dr. Eroshevich left. Anna was still complaining of not feeling well. She was in the bathtub when Maurice Brighthaupt left for several hours returning between 8-10 pm. Anna was seen on the couch and Howard K. Stern was present but in the bedroom. Maurice went to sleep in the guest room and awakened around 4 am. When he checked the couch, Anna was no longer there and he assumed she had gone to sleep in her room.”

Soon after the still ill Anna is “observed naked and sitting confused in a dry bathtub”, no doubt due to a drug induced stupor, Dr Eroshevich leaves her with the 7 drugs that she has prescribed for Anna Nicole under false names and no medical supervision, then proceeds on her merry way back to California.

If this is how Dr Eroshevich “treats” her friends, who needs enemies.

The rest of Anna Nicole’s companions aren’t much better.

"5. Thursday, February 8, 2007Maurice woke up around 9 am. Around 9:30 am he went to Anna’s room and thought he saw her moving but was not certain. He told Howard he was going to have breakfast with his wife, Tasma. Mr. Stern awoke between 9-10 am and helped Anna to the bathroom. He then watched television in another room until King Eric called to inform him of his arrival at the airport. Mr. Stern then called Maurice to instruct him to pick up the guests (King Eric, his common-law wife, and another man). Upon the arrival of King Eric and his party at the hotel at around 12 pm, Mr. Stern called out to Anna who was still in bed to arouse her. One of the guests then urged him not to wake her so he did not call her again.”

Stern “called out to Anna who was still in bed to arouse her.” The least he could have done was actually enter the bedroom to check on her.

“Shortly after 12 pm, Maurice, Mr. Stern, King Eric, and the other male visitor left the room at the Hard Rock Hotel. Maurice left to take care of personal business and Mr. Stern, King Eric, and the other male guest left at the same time to pick up the boat. Maurice asked Tasma, his wife who is a registered nurse, to stay with Anna. She worked on the computer in Anna’s room while Anna remained in bed under the covers. King Eric’s common-law wife remained in an adjoining room. At about 1 pm Tasma Brighthaupt was on the phone with her husband, Maurice Brighthaupt. The boat captain’s wife, who had been in the guest room, came into Anna Nicole’s room because she thought Tasma was talking to Anna Nicole. When the captain’s wife realized Tasma was not talking to Anna Nicole, she went around Miss Smith’s bed and took a look at her. She then told Tasma to come take a look at Anna because she didn’t like the way Anna Nicole looks. Tasma hang up with Maurice and came around the bed. She saw Anna’s face slumped downward on her chest, her mouth open and without breathing sounds. Tasma Brighthaupt initiated CPR after calling her husband Maurice. She alternated mouth to mouth breathing with chest compressions, checking for a pulse until Maurice arrived.

1:38 pm Maurice returns to the Hard Rock Hotel and he took over resuscitation.

1:40 pm Seminole Emergency Medical Service was called.1:43 pm First patrol unit arrived to room 607.

1:46 pm Seminole paramedics arrived. CPR was continued.

2:43 pm Anna Nicole Smith arrived at Hollywood Memorial Hospital.

2:49 pm Anna Nicole Smith is pronounced dead and the Medical Examiner’s Office is notified.

4:15 pm Associate Medical Examiner, Dr. Gertrude Juste responds to scene of death pronouncement at the Hollywood Memorial Hospital.

4:59 pm Anna Nicole Smith’s body arrived at the Medical Examiner’s Office and is logged in.”

At about 1 pm, Mrs. Brighthaupt, who is a registered nurse, calls her husband before starting CPR, and does not call 911. The “Scene Report - Seminole Hard Rock Café” by Associate Medical Examiner Gertrude M. Juste, M.D. states information was initially provided by Seminole Detective Marian Bryant that Tasma Brighthaupt noticed something wrong with Smith at around 12:30 p.m. Maurice Brighthaupt arrives approximately 38 minutes later, and then 911 is called.

Dr. Perper’s final summary conclusions:

“D. HOW THE INCIDENT OCCURRED:

INGESTED EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF CHLORAL HYDRATE IN COMBINATION WITH THERAPEUTIC LEVELS OF OTHER MEDICATIONS.

E. PROBABLE TERMINAL MECHANISM:

RESPIRATORY DEPRESSION”

The report also states, “Chloral Hydrate was the most significant drug implicated in this fatality, however several other prescription medications also played a role in this death.7-10 Although the remaining pharmacologic agents were at therapeutic levels, each of these drugs is known to interact with chloral hydrate resulting in an increased risk of overdose.”

No matter what you think of Anna Nicole Smith and her behavior, in the eyes of the law, Anna Nicole’s life is no less valuable than anyone else’s is. Yes, Anna Nicole was an admitted abuser of prescription drugs, and this contributed to her death. However, this does not relieve Drs. Eroshevich and Kapoor of their responsibility for prescribing the potentially lethal combination of medications, or Howard K. Stern from giving them to the severely ill woman. Would Smith still be alive if 911 were called sooner so that she could receive proper emergency medical care? We will most likely never know, but the fact remains it was at the very least irresponsible, and at most, criminal, that help was not summoned sooner.

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Grief for the Missing

by Donna Weaver

Sometimes when a perpetrator is apprehended for the abduction and murder of a child or adult it is reported that they are a suspect in the disappearances of other victims. What is it like for the families of these victims who have no answers? Their heartbreak is something I call “suspended grief.” Currently, there are few resources and little information available to assist families of missing persons in coping with the specific elements of their “suspended grief.” Traditional victim assistance services are frequently not available to these families.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Crime Information Center (NCIC), in the U.S., there are an estimated 58,200 child victims of non-family abductions; 50,930 active missing adult cases; and 6,218 active cases of unidentified persons. However, most investigators and law enforcement agencies agree that this represents a fraction of the true number of cases since it is not mandatory for local police agencies to enter adult missing person cases in NCIC. Many cold cases were never entered into the system simply because of the limits of technological resources at the time, and I have found in some instances that cases originally entered in a local agency’s system were subsequently purged to make room for new cases.

For example, as of 2004, more than half (51%) of the nation’s medical examiners' offices had no policy for retaining records—such as x-rays, DNA, or fingerprints—on unidentified human remains. Sadly, there are many such cases sitting in boxes covered by layers of dust in local police storerooms and warehouses—or worse yet—none exist at all.

In 2007, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) called the number of missing persons and unidentified human remains in our Country a crisis, labeling it a “a mass disaster over time.”

The nation’s legislators are beginning to understand the magnitude of the problem of missing persons and unidentified victims in the United States. Congress recently implemented legislative provisions allowing families of missing persons to submit DNA samples to the FBI’s national CODIS database, previously used solely for criminal DNA identification, and cases are being retrieved from many thousands of individual police jurisdictions across the country, moving toward a uniform national reporting and filing system.

In the spring of 2005, NIJ assembled federal, state, and local law enforcement officials, medical examiners and coroners, forensic scientists, key policymakers, and victim advocates and families from around the country for a national strategy meeting in Philadelphia. The meeting, called the “Identifying the Missing Summit,” defined major challenges in investigating and solving missing persons and unidentified decedent cases. The result was the formation of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System or NamUS.

NamUS was set to roll out in three phases culminating in two fully functional searchable databases: the Unidentified Decedents database and Missing Persons database in 2009. This is a huge advancement in the cause for the missing and unidentified.

However, statistics alone cannot capture the fear, horror, frustration, and pain felt by those who know and love a missing person. So what is it like living day-to-day for many of those left behind ?

According to the psychology books, there are four stages of grief: shock and denial; intense concern; despair and depression; and recovery. Rarely does this occur as progressive stages towards the resolution of grief when a loved one is missing and presumed dead. Grief becomes “suspended” and those left behind become victims themselves. The act of confronting and expressing the emotions generally associated with grief does not bring relief or enable a progression to the next stage towards resolution and recovery. Therefore, the emotional changes associated with the four stages of grief can be experienced, and re-experienced, for long periods, sometimes for the rest of one’s life.

I have found in my discussions with victims whose loved one is missing that they usually compare feelings they have experienced at the death of someone else close to them, as if in a desperate attempt to understand or gain a frame of reference in order to try to cope. Virtually all of these surviving victims have pointed out that the emotional changes they feel because their loved one is missing and presumed dead bears little resemblance to the grief they felt when someone else they love had died.

Emotional changes are commonly intensified and prolonged when a loved one is missing. Often these feelings are compounded by guilt—wondering if they did all that they could to find the person, or guilt related to going on with life, such as dating, re-marrying, or having more children because it is often perceived as giving up on the missing person before there is proof of death.

When missing person cases go cold, surviving loved ones frequently feel betrayed and abandoned by police and the justice system, which adds to their feelings of despair, helplessness, isolation, and anger. As the passing of time starts to be counted in years . . . hope, no matter how slight, often remains of finding a loved one alive, even as survivors struggle to balance this with the acceptance of the inevitable death of their missing loved one.

Prolonged intense concern also is often inevitable for many victims. The need to keep the memory of the missing person alive becomes an alternative to the overwhelming despair and depression caused by considering the reality of never finding their loved one, or knowing what their loved one experienced, or who is responsible for their disappearance and death. In many cases, “what if” and countless other questions are all survivors have in the absence of knowing the details of their loved one’s fate.

Dealing with and controlling thoughts of the missing person suffering similar horrifying fates known to have happened to other victims who were discovered months or years after they disappeared is very difficult. How can a person put such a terrible experience behind them when they do not have the barest of details to reconcile the event in their mind?

Currently, traditional victim resources related to missing persons cases generally serve victims of disaster, war, or genocide. In these types of situations, the cause of the disappearance is usually known to some degree, if not readily apparent, and large numbers of people have suffered a similar experience at once. Those left behind when a child is abducted by a stranger, or an adult disappears because they may be a victim of foul play, cannot relate to those circumstances or the emotional effects on their lives. Perhaps because in the case of war or disaster people come together as a group for support and recovery of a shared experience which is a result of something, the cause of their pain is an event shared by all, or a known, common enemy.

These are but a few of the particular issues that influence the emotions of these grieving survivors. And it is but one more consideration in determining the devastation to individuals, and the cost to society as a whole, when offenders are permitted to be free to offend again.

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Back from the Dead

by Donna Weaver

Bennie Harden Wint was declared dead nearly 20 years ago when he disappeared while swimming off Daytona Beach, FL on September 25, 1989. Wint and his then-fiancee, Patricia Lynn Hollingsworth, had left their home in South Carolina after Hurricane Hugo, and talked of their wedding plans while staying in Daytona, according to the original police report. He also left behind a grieving mother and 4-year-old daughter from a previous marriage.

Wint's body was just found—alive—during a routine traffic stop in North Carolina where he has been living with his common-law wife and teenage son under an assumed name.

Last Saturday, when a patrol officer pulled him over for having a broken light on his license plate in Weaverville, North Carolina, the man said his name was James Sweet, but could produce nothing to prove his identity. Weaverville police Sgt. Stacy Wyatt became suspicious when Sweet's name did not show up in any official databases, and arrested and booked him under the name "John Doe" for suspicion of driving without a license and giving false information.

Under questioning, the man admitted he faked his own death in 1989, and that he was in fact Bennie Wint. Wint explained to Wyatt how easily he made his getaway. "He told me he swam to the shore in knee deep water, walked off and never looked back."

Wyatt was skeptical at first, and did a little research on the Internet. What he found was a post on PeopleSite.com from a woman named Christi McKnight who said she was Wint's daughter. In the posting, dated February 5, 2007, McKnight said she was four years old at the time of her father's disappearance and that she was searching for her father in hopes of helping her dying grandmother.

"Doctors say she should have been dead a year ago, but they say she's holding on to one thing, and we believe that she is holding on to my father," McKnight wrote. "Benny is believed to have been seen in Florida back in '89 - '90 and some have said they've seen him in Hartsville, South Carolina, where his family is from."

Evidently, Wint's family members were not the only ones who had doubts about his death. Volusia County Beach Patrol Officer Scott Petersohn stated, "Even back then, it struck everybody as odd that we didn't recover the victim," he said. "That almost never happens." Drowning victims who aren't immediately found by the patrol, he said, typically are located floating in the water by the sheriff's helicopter or are washed up by the tide days later.

Wint's story was confirmed when he was positively identified through fingerprints taken when he was arrested on the current traffic violations. His reason for perpetrating his "disappearing act"? Wint was "paranoid" because he believed he was wanted on charges stemming from his involvement in a large-scale drug trafficking ring in South Carolina and he also feared for his life. Authorities confirmed there are no outstanding warrants for Wint.

At this time, officials say Wint in not facing any charges for faking his own death.

News reports do not say whether or not Wint has made contact with his dying mother or daughter who have been going through a living hell these past 20 years. Having a loved one myself missing for over 25 years, I understand their agony all too well. What I can't imagine doing is reconciling in my mind both being grateful he is alive and the pain of realizing he knowingly, callously, and selfishly put us through all we have suffered.

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Torture - American Style

by Donna Weaver

Imagine how you would feel if you saw a plaque commemorating the life of Osama Bin Laden hanging at the site where the World Trade Center once stood.

The plaque pictured left hangs in a place of honor in City Hall in Richmond, Indiana, the birthplace of Dan A. Mitrione, Sr. Richmond's son, and former police chief, will certainly live eternally in the memories of the citizens of Uruguay, and most Latin Americans for that matter. That he is remembered with reverence by the majority of people in that part of the world, however, is not only highly doubtful, it is an incredible insult to the loved ones of hundreds of thousands disappeared and murdered persons in Uruguay, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic. For them, the name Dan Mitrione is synonymous with the father of the Latin American Death Squads, and although August 10th was the thirty-eighth anniversary of his death, the mere mention of his name is still enough to strike fear, horror, pain, and rage in their hearts and minds.

If the name Mitrione sounds familiar, it may be because you recognize it from previous posts I've written referring to disgraced former FBI agent, Dan Mitrione, Jr. That's right, the apple, it seems, did not fall far from the tree. Dan, Jr., you may recall, was the agent who went bad while heading up Operation Airlift--one of the FBI's first major undercover drug operations in the early '80's. It is believed my husband, Gary Weaver, and Jairo Sanchez were murdered in 1983, casualties of Airlift.

"The precise pain, in the precise place, in the precise amount, for the desired effect."

The motto made famous by American, Dan Mitrione, Sr., while instructing Latin American police forces in the art of torture.

Mitrione trained at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia before being recruited in 1960 to work for the Office of Public Safety (OPS) under the direction of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). It was no secret that the OPS was a CIA front. Many CIA agents operated abroad under cover of the OPS, although Mitrione was not one of them. After stints in the Dominican Republic and Brazil, Mitrione was sent to head up the OPS mission in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1969.

Mitrione was certainly not the first to implement torture of political prisoners in Uruguay, but by the time he arrived in Montevideo, he had made some distinct refinements to torture techniques and the practice became routine on persons considered to be political insurgents. According to former New York Times correspondent A. J. Langguth, "One of the pieces of equipment that was found useful was a wire so very thin that it could be fitted into the mouth between the teeth and by pressing against the gum increase the electrical charge. And it was through the diplomatic pouch that Mitrione got some of the equipment he needed for interrogations, including these fine wires."

In his book, Killing Hope, William Blum writes: "Things got so bad in Mitrione's time that the Uruguayan Senate was compelled to undertake an investigation. After a five-month study, the commission concluded unanimously that torture in Uruguay had become a "normal, frequent and habitual occurrence", inflicted upon Tupamaros as well as others. Among the types of torture the commission's report made reference to were electric shocks to the genitals, electric needles under the fingernails, burning with cigarettes, the slow compression of the testicles, daily use of psychological torture ... "pregnant women were subjected to various brutalities and inhuman treatment" ... "certain women were imprisoned with their very young infants and subjected to the same treatment"

Once a thriving democracy, severe economic decline gave rise to student demonstrations, street violence, and labor strikes and gave birth to a highly organized, intelligent group of revolutionaries called Tupamaros. Their members held key positions in government, banks, universities, and the professions, as well as in the military and police."Unlike other Latin-American guerrilla groups," the New York Times stated in 1970, "the Tupamaros normally avoid bloodshed when possible. They try instead to create embarrassment for the Government and general disorder. "

In an interview given to a leading Brazilian newspaper in 1970 that astonished Uruguayans and Americans alike, the former Uruguayan Chief of Police Intelligence, Alejandro Otero, declared that US advisers, and in particular Mitrione, had instituted torture as a more routine measure; to the means of inflicting pain, they had added scientific refinement; and to that a psychology to create despair, such as playing a tape in the next room of women and children screaming and telling the prisoner that it was his family being tortured. "The violent methods which were beginning to be employed," said Otero, "caused an escalation in Tupamaro activity. Before then their attitude showed that they would use violence only as a last resort."

Excerpted from Killing Hope:

Dan Mitrione had built a soundproofed room in the cellar of his house in Montevideo. In this room he assembled selected Uruguayan police officers to observe a demonstration of torture techniques. Another observer was Manuel Hevia Cosculluela, a Cuban who was with the CIA and worked with Mitrione. Hevia later wrote that the course began with a description of the human anatomy and nervous system ... Soon things turned unpleasant. As subjects for the first testing they took beggars, known in Uruguay as bichicomes, from the outskirts of Montevideo, as well as a woman apparently from the frontier area with Brazil. There was no interrogation, only a demonstration of the effects of different voltages on the different parts of the human body, as well as demonstrating the use of a drug which induces vomiting -- I don't know why or what for -- and another chemical substance. The four of them died.

On another occasion, Hevia sat with Mitrione in the latter's house, and over a few drinks the American explained to the Cuban his philosophy of interrogation. Mitrione considered it to be an art. First there should be a softening-up period, with the usual beatings and insults. The object is to humiliate the prisoner, to make him realize his helplessness, to cut him off from reality. No questions, only blows and insults. Then, only blows in silence. Only after this, said Mitrione, is the interrogation. Here no pain should be produced other than that caused by the instrument which is being used... During the session you have to keep the subject from losing all hope of life, because this can lead to stubborn resistance. "You must always leave him some hope ... a distant light."

"When you get what you want, and I always get it," Mitrione continued, "it may be good to prolong the session a little to apply another softening-up. Not to extract information now, but only as a political measure, to create a healthy fear of meddling in subversive activities." The American pointed out that upon receiving a subject the first thing is to determine his physical state, his degree of resistance, by means of a medical examination. "A premature death means a failure by the technician ... It's important to know in advance if we can permit ourselves the luxury of the subject's death."

On July 31, 1970, Dan Mitrione was kidnapped by the Tupamaros. They demanded the release of 150 political prisoners in exchange for his life. With the strong support of President Nixon, the Uruguayan government refused. Ten days later on August 10, 1970, Mitrione was found shot to death in the back seat of a stolen car. He had not been tortured.

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Seeking Truth and Justice . . . 25 Years Later

by Donna Weaver

Twenty-five years ago this month, my husband Gary suddenly vanished without a trace. This year, just as I have every year before, I find myself reliving the moments I last saw his face and heard his voice. And I become more determined than ever to find his remains and bring his killer to justice.

I met Gary in December of 1981. One year later we were married and the following spring we were blessed with the birth of our twin daughters. I was the luckiest girl in the world—I was in love and married to my best friend, and I had two beautiful, healthy, and happy babies. Like many new families just starting out, money was a little tight and when Gary was offered an opportunity to make some extra money fixing diesel engines in the Bahamas, I encouraged him to take the job, assuring him the girls and I would be fine for the 2 or 3 days he would be gone.

I last spoke to Gary on the morning of December 9, 1983 when he called to say he was almost finished with his work and had just purchased his plane ticket at the airport in Nassau to return home the next day. We happily talked of the plans we had for after I picked him up at the airport. We were going straight to my Mothers of Twins club Christmas party where the babies would sit on Santa's lap for the first time—something Gary was excited about as he had been eagerly anticipating the girls’ first Christmas almost since the day they were born. The following day, December 11th, was to be our first wedding anniversary. We were laughing on the phone about the prospect of eating the top of our wedding cake with the babies—all of us with our fingers! And I had a surprise for him—one of the babies had started to say Da-Da while he was away, and I couldn’t wait to see his face when he heard it for the first time. So many happy days ahead!

On December 10th, I stood eagerly waiting at the airport gate with the babies next to me in their double stroller. Gary didn't come home on the plane that day, and I never saw him again. He disappeared without a trace, and the last time anyone saw him was 45 minutes after I last spoke with him on the telephone the day before. I had very little information about who Gary was working for and where he was staying in the Bahamas.

It wasn't until the year 1999 that I learned Gary disappeared and was most likely murdered somewhere on Andros Island as a result of FBI Operation Airlift.

I learned of Airlift and its dirty little secrets by an amazing stroke of luck. I was working as a part-time bartender in Fort Lauderdale when I happened to see a copy of the weekly news magazine New Times laying on the empty bar when I arrived at work. Staring up at me from the cover was a full page photograph of an elderly man with the caption "Oldfella." I'm not sure why, but that face captivated me. I brought the paper home with me that night, but didn't pick it up again until two days later. After reading the feature article by Bob Norman, the circumstances of Gary's disappearance seemed to fit. Although I didn't recognize any of the names mentioned in the article, I felt certain that I would at last discover what had happened to my husband. I contacted Norman and asked him about other names he may have learned that were not included in his article, which told a tale of drug smuggling, murder, and a corrupt FBI agent. The first name he gave me was Randy Krugh. "Oh my God" I replied. "Randy Krugh was Best Man at my wedding!"

The corrupt former FBI agent in the story, Dan Mitrione Jr. went bad while heading Operation Airlift, a major undercover drug smuggling investigation. Immediately after resigning from the FBI in June 1983, Mitrione became business partners with his murderous confidential informant, Hilmer Sandini. Their business partnership dissolved when a plastic explosive was found under Sandini's car in 1984. Fortunately, the bomb was discovered before it went off, potentially killing many innocent people. Although it kept its findings secret at the time, the FBI issued an internal memo stating their belief that it was Mitrione who planted the bomb:

"This investigation, which is being conducted by a special FBIHQ [headquarters] investigative team, has been severely hampered by recent developments indicating a strong likelihood that Mitrione is culpable in the attempted murder of Sandini."

In March 1985, the former agent was convicted of violations of the bribery statute and drug trafficking. The special FBIHQ investigative team was headed by agent John Morris of the FBI's Boston office. At the time, Morris also supervised agent John J. Connolly who was recently convicted of murder in Miami, Florida. It was also discovered that Morris took bribes from his confidential informants just weeks before coming to Florida to head the Mitrione investigation.

Gary was not the only person to disappear and be murdered during the Airlift debacle. After Bob Norman's four part New Times series, "Finding Gary", I was contacted by the family of Jairo Sanchez (pictured right) who said their loved one disappeared the same day as my husband, and they did recognize the names, dates, and places in the articles. After meeting with them, Norman wrote a fifth installment to the series—"Finding Jairo."

Twenty-five years later we have almost all of our answers, and I believe that soon, those responsible for the murders of Gary Weaver and Jairo Sanchez will answer for what they have done.

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Black Friday Shoppers Cause Death of Wal-Mart Employee

by Donna Weaver

One person was killed and three others injured at a Long Island, New York Wal-Mart when the crowd of over 2,000 people crashed through the glass storefront doors just before 5 a.m. as management prepared to open the store to Black Friday bargain hunters.

Jdimytai Damour, of Jamaica, Queens, was pushed to the ground as hundreds stepped over, around and on the 34-year-old Wal-Mart employee as they rushed into the store.

"Nobody was trying to help him," said shopper Nakea Augustine, who was in the line. "They were rushing in the store, rushing, rushing, rushing."

Witnesses reported that shoppers were asked to leave by other store workers, some of them crying. Others ignored the pleas that they stop shopping, move to the front of the store and exit. Many just kept on shopping. The incident began when people who had gathered well before 5 a.m. in the rear of the line began pushing, cascading the people in the front into the sliding supermarket-type doors, which were literally knocked off their hinges, said Nassau Police Det. Lt. Michael Fleming.

This horrific lack of concern for another human being is more common than you might think. Social psychologists call it the “bystander effect.” Studies show that people are more likely to assist someone in trouble when they are alone, and a group of bystanders is less likely to render aid. The larger the group is, the less chance that someone will help. Some of the factors that may contribute to the bystander effect are degree of danger, not knowing what to do, embarrassment, and diffusion of responsibility.

In this day and age, many of us are hesitant about stopping to help someone because we may be putting ourselves in danger. This would certainly be an issue here for many patrons—it was a very dangerous situation—but it obviously wasn't a concern for others who chose to try to continue shopping and walking around the store. Embarrassment is no excuse. However, it is understandable that many of us would not know what to do to extricate ourselves when caught up in a stampede. But what about what caused the stampede in the first place? Greed and a general lack of concern for the safety of others are big contributing factors here for diffusion of responsibility.

Diffusion of responsibility is when individual members of a group are unwilling to take personal responsibility for their actions because the responsibility is shared by all. Therefore, the responsibility of each group member is lower than it would be for each individual. We have all seen this shameful behavior in cases of fan violence, riots, as well as acts of violence against individuals.

Police are placing the bulk of the blame on Wal-Mart. "I can't stress enough how the onus is on them," said Det. Lt. Kevin Smith, the county police's chief spokesman. Wal-Mart has defended its security planning, saying it anticipated the large crowds, hired more personnel and put up barricades.

Social psychologists may call it diffusion of responsibility. In this case, I call it murder. Although it will be difficult to identify individual shoppers, every effort should be made to do so. Every single person who trampled, stepped over, or ignored Jdimytai Damour as he lay dying on the floor should be held legally accountable for his death.

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"Donnie Brasco" Refuses to Testify at Murder Trial

by Donna Weaver

Last month I wrote about the start of the murder trial of former FBI agent John Connolly, Jr. The prosecution has rested and this week the defense began calling its witnesses. One of those witnesses is perhaps one of the FBI's most famous agents, Joseph D. Pistone, AKA Donnie Brasco (pictured left). You'll notice Mr. Pistone is standing at a podium, speaking into a microphone, and is not attempting to disguise his appearance in any way. There are several such photographs available on the Internet. So why did Pistone refuse to testify in defense of his old friend John Connolly unless Judge Blake granted his request for an order allowing no photographs or filming of Pistone on the witness stand?

If you are not already familiar with former agent Pistone's legendary undercover work for the FBI, you may recognize the name Donnie Brasco from the 1997 film of the same name starring Johnny Depp and Al Pacino. The movie depicts the six years of Pistone's life spent undercover as jewel thief Donnie Brasco. Pistone claims that as a result of his infiltration of the Bonanno crime family a $500,000 hit was put out on him for his perceived betrayal when it was discovered he was an FBI agent just doing his job.

According to The Boston Globe:

Judge Stanford Blake offered to let Pistone take the stand wearing a hat and sunglasses, but defense attorney Manuel L. Casabielle said that wasn't good enough because Pistone had told them that his wife didn't want him to be photographed at all.

Casabielle explained that after Pistone infiltrated New York's Bonanno family in 1976 and helped put away numerous mobsters, the five New York Mafia families had allegedly put a contract on his life.

"He's not in witness protection,'' said Blake, noting that in the decades since he went undercover Pistone has been a very public figure, promoting his two books, appearing on television, and all over the Internet -- his face clearly recognizable.

Holding a recent photograph of Pistone that had been pulled from a website, Blake said, "Unless his disguise was combed back thinning hair and glasses that were so crystal clear you couldn't see them, there does not appear to be any disguise.''

Blake said he just couldn't justify an order barring photographs of Pistone. However, the judge said he would find Pistone in contempt if he refused to comply with a subpoena from the defense seeking his testimony. But, Connolly told the court he didn't want to force Pistone to take the stand.

"He's a friend of mine,'' Connolly told the judge. "His wife is a friend of mine. I know his children. If something happened to him I couldn't live with myself.''

Years ago during the course of a missing person investigation, I received some personal photos from one of the "bad guys" involved in another undercover FBI operation. I was astonished when I was told the identity of one of the persons in two of the photographs—Joe Pistone. After I received the photos, I set out to find the famous former agent. I have to tell you it wasn't that difficult. I was certain I had the right guy, went to his house, and walked right up and knocked on his door using a pretext in an attempt to obtain an ID photo of him—pretty standard stuff. A rather nervous, confused-looking woman answered the door. It appeared no one else was at home. I waited, watching the house for a while, but he never showed. I did not have the time to put any more effort into the surveillance then. Of course, if I am ever again ready to interview Pistone regarding my case, all I have to do now is show up at one of his book signings or some other public appearance.

The old contract-out-on-my-life-for-over-a-quarter-century excuse for not testifying in defense of his long-time pal (Connolly and Pistone pictured left at Connolly's retirement in 1990) seems pretty lame to me. Could this just be a ploy by the defense to cast doubt on Connolly's guilt by implying his actions in handling his confidential informants could be likened to the undercover work of Pistone/Brasco? If so, this ploy may well backfire for the defense. By not putting Pistone on the stand, it gives the impression of more smoke and mirrors attempting to cover up FBI arrogance and possible wrongdoing.

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Ex-FBI Agent John J. Connolly, Jr. on Trial for Murder

by Donna Weaver

There are no surprises, so far, in the Miami murder trial of former Boston FBI agent, John J. "Zip" Connolly, Jr. The 68-year-old Connolly's life hangs in the balance as he stands trial for the May 2005 indictment on one count of murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder— charges stemming from his association with his former high-echelon confidential informants James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi. In 2002, Zip was sentenced to ten years for racketeering and obstruction of justice.

The Victim

In May 2005, John Connolly was charged in the 1982 murder of John B. Callahan, an accountant for World Jai Alai in Miami. Connolly allegedly supplied information to Bulger regarding Callahan being questioned in the 1981 murder of World Jai Alai's recently deceased owner, Roger Wheeler. Callahan was shot to death, his body, with a dime placed face up on his chest, was found in the trunk of his car parked in a Miami parking lot. As part of Whitey’s plan to branch out in Florida, Callahan had been skimming profits from World Jai Alai. Wheeler suspected Callahan was cooking the books and ordered an audit in 1981. Before the audit was completed, Wheeler was shot and killed. Another retired Boston FBI supervisor and boyhood friend of Whitey Bulger, H. Paul Rico was employed by World Jai Alai as a security consultant at the time. Rico was alleged to have set up the hit on Wheeler, but in Jan. 2004, soon after his indictment for Wheeler’s murder, Rico died in prison just days before his trial.

The Witnesses

It's going to be a tough case to make for Assistant District Attorney Michael Von Zamft and Boston federal prosecutor Fred Wyshak who say they plan to call approximately 30 witnesses to testify against Connolly. Among them is a veritable Who's Who of the infamous Boston underworld with a total of at least 45 murders committed between them. The trigger man employed by Bulger in the Callahan and Wheeler murders, Winter Hill Gang hit man, John Martorano has already testified, describing the murders in detail. Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi testified yesterday that Connolly accepted approximately $235,000 in bribes over the years. Connolly's former boss, John Morris (pictured above), has not yet taken the stand. Morris also admitted to accepting bribes from Bulger and Flemmi at Connolly's 2002 trial, but was given immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony.

Where's Whitey?

A week before Connolly's trial began, the FBI increased the reward for the capture of James "Whitey" Bulger from $1 million to $2 million. Bulger made the FBI's Most Wanted List in 1999 thanks to his FBI handler. Part of Connolly's 2002 racketeering conviction was for protecting Bulger and Flemmi from prosecution and warning them to flee in 1995 before their indictment.

Unanswered Questions

While Connolly steadfastly proclaims his innocence, I seriously doubt he will take the stand in his own defense, but these are some questions I would like the answers to:

1. How can you claim you had no clue that your CIs were murdering people? If other FBI agents and supervisors were, in fact, also aware of the homicidal tendencies of your CIs as you claim, isn’t that conspiracy to commit murder?

2. If John Callahan’s murder was a result of information you provided to your CIs in order to protect them, why are you then not guilty of murder? Did you think your CIs would send Mr. Callahan on an all-expense paid vacation to the South Pacific?

3. Why did you dismiss Mr. Halloran’s information for “lack of evidence”? After Halloran was murdered, and with the addition of the murders of Callahan and Wheeler did you consider this still to be a lack of evidence?

4. Why did so many missing person and homicide cases (despite the best efforts of the real cops), including the Callahan murder, remain unsolved for so many years? As these missing and murdered victims were all involved in some manner with your CIs, did you not see a pattern there?

5. Are you incredibly stupid, or are you incredibly arrogant?

6. Did your former FBI boss, the bribe-taking John Morris, become involved with the Callahan murder investigation while he was in Miami in 1984, when he was supervising an internal FBI probe into the criminal activities of former FBI agent and drug smuggler Dan Mitrione? Why hasn’t Morris also been indicted for John Callahan’s murder?

And last, but not least . . .

7. How many people would still be alive if you had not betrayed the public’s trust?

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